which album next?

[guidedbyvoices]

I personally find Get Happy & Imperial bedroom WAY overrated.

Get Blood & Chocolate, and King Of America for his not-so-fast other side. Trust is really great too.

[spooky girlfriend]

lawngnome: get King of America - right now!

[Who Shot Sam?]

I personally find Get Happy & Imperial bedroom WAY overrated.

Oh... kay.

Why?

[lawngnome]

lawngnome: get King of America - right now!

Thats the one I was thinking of. Its obvious that the re-issue is worth it from other threads here (I do my homework!) so I think its a go. Thanks.

[SweetPear]

I personally find Get Happy & Imperial bedroom WAY overrated.

Oh... kay.

Why?

Yeah, why?

[charliestumpy]

Get Happy - the most recent re-re-re-release with extra bonus disc, as has been mentioned. 'Punch The Clock' has some nice singles which are always great listening when thy're often played on radio. My advice is to buy them in chronological order, but that's only how I bought them as they were released. I never did really play 'Spike' and 'Blood And Chocalate' and Mighty LAR' enough probably ... Do not neglect also most recent 2-disc version of 'Almost Blue' ...

[guidedbyvoices]

Well, I got into Costello later - when Spike was new. Saw Veronica on SNL and bought Spike, and then got MLAR when that came out, and only after juliet letters & brutal youth did I start to dig into the older stuff. I personally don't love a lot of the Get Happy stuff that are obviously favorites - Can't Stand Up isn't bad, but I hate high fidelity. And Imperial Bedroom, interesting ideas, but not many of the songs grab me. And this is sacrilege, but I don't like Beyond Belief. It's not horrible, but I'd rather hear a million other songs first.

For the record, I do like some songs on both - I don't think there's any of his albums without anything great on there. But they haven't aged well in my opinion. So here's what I deem worthy from

IB: Long Honeymoon / Man Out Of Time / Almost Blue / Loved Ones. I'd only rate MOOT as one of my top tier Costello songs

GH: New Amsterdam / Black & White World / Human Touch / Beaten To The Punch / So Young / Just A Memory

I'd rate New Ams & So Young as top tier, though I like the rest better than my 2d tier stuff from IB.

That said,also to know where I'm coming from, here's my top 5 albums & songs.

KoA / B&C / Juliet (I think I'm a minority here) / Trust / MAIT (honorable mention to the Spike bonus disc that doesn't sound dated)

I Hope You're Happy Now / Brilliant Mistake / Sulky Girl / Olivers Army / I Want You (and that cover of She Loves The Jerk)

[Monkey Girl]

You need to listen again - it's a stone cold masterpiece.

Absolutely. True of most Elvis music...listen to it more than once before you decide!

[oily slick]

When I Was Cruel. It will shock your senses, and should make you want to backfill with a ferocious curiosity about everything that happened inbetween.

[Chrille]

You should get Spike just to get the worst Costello album out of the way, if you intend to get them all. It doesn't get worse than that ;).

My biggest problem with Spike are bloated G.E.S-like choruses (G.E.S is a silly Swedish pop group), it's McFartney's fault I'm sure ;). Also, the songs are way too long. As mentioned though, the demos on the new 2-disc reissue are much better.

[normabuel]

I had assumed that the two CD "Best of" the poster mentions is "Girls Girls Girls." If it isn't, then that is a "no-brainer" next pick up for our poster.

If it is, then the next album to buy should consider what I call the Gx3 delta factor. This means how many songs on the album and NOT on Girls Girls Girls make the album worth buying. Using this factor, Trust and B&C drop down (all of the strongest songs are on Gx3), GH and BY (the latter of which issued after Gx3) rise to the top.

And I guess I am alone in urging he buy ATUB.

[wardo68]

My advice is to buy them in chronological order, but that's only how I bought them as they were released.

I agree with that. You've already started from the beginning, more or less -- keep going until you get to the end. That's what I did 20(!?!) years ago, and it's kept me interested ever since.

[SweetPear]

When I Was Cruel. It will shock your senses, and should make you want to backfill with a ferocious curiosity about everything that happened inbetween.

Good point, OS.....I totally agree.

[goodbyegirl]

TRUST - One of the best. Great upbeat springtime music.

[strangerinthehouse]

I started with Brutal Youth and then found myself going almost in chronological, skipping PTC and GCW, order from there. Trust is definately a likeable starter but i definately agree that Spike is worth listening to.