Your favorite Elvis Costello albums?

Branst · Post by **Branst** » Mon Sep 15, 2003 11:25 pm

What are your favorite Elvis Costello albums in order?

Mine :

Imperial Bedroom
Get Happy!!
Punch The Clock
Trust
Blood & Chocolate
This Year's Model
All This Useless Beauty
Brutal Youth
King of America
Goodbye Cruel World
Armed Forces
My Aim Is True
Mighty Like A Rose
Spike
When I Was Cruel
The Juliet Letters
North (haven't heard yet)
Kojak Variety (haven't heard yet)
Almost Blue (haven't heard yet)
For The Stars (haven't heard yet)
Cruel Smile (haven't heard yet)

Sour Milk Cow · Post by **Sour Milk Cow** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 12:01 am

Branst wrote:What are your favorite Elvis Costello albums in order?

From most to least:
Blood & Chocolate
Get Happy!!
Brutal Youth
Mighty Like A Rose
Trust
Punch The Clock
The Juliet Letters
King Of America
Imperial Bedroom
When I Was Cruel
Spike
North
My Aim Is True
All This Useless Beauty
This Year's Model
Kojak Variety
Armed Forces
Almost Blue
Goodbye Cruel World

Man, that's hard. I better click "submit" before I change my mind.

Post by **BlueChair** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 5:43 am

for me:

Get Happy!!
Imperial Bedroom
Blood & Chocolate
Brutal Youth
Armed Forces
All This Useless Beauty
King Of America
Spike
This Year's Model
Mighty Like A Rose
Trust
My Aim Is True
When I Was Cruel

Don't own (yet):
Punch The Clock
The Juliet Letters
North
Kojak Variety
Almost Blue
Goodbye Cruel World

Poppet · Post by **Poppet** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 9:50 am

i'll have a go:

Blood & Chocolate
This Year's Model
All This Useless Beauty
Brutal Youth
Imperial Bedroom
When I Was Cruel
Kojak Variety
Cruel Smile
Painted From Memory
Armed Forces
Mighty Like A Rose
My Aim Is True
Spike
For The Stars

not heard:
The Juliet Letters
Get Happy!!
Punch The Clock
Trust
North
King of America
Goodbye Cruel World
Almost Blue

by the way, i'm lying. i can't pick a favorite among the top two. then, the #2 is among the next four, etc. etc.

gotta send before i start moving them around again. PFM wants to move down, but then it moves back up again. setting it in stone for today now. hitting send.

Post by **BlueChair** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 11:55 am

YOU HAVEN'T HEARD GET HAPPY!?!?!!??!?!?!!?!? GO OUT THE STORE RIGHT NOW AND BUY IT

Gilbert · Post by **Gilbert** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 12:11 pm

You also must buy King of America, although all of them have classic Costello moments.

It's hard to imagine going through life with KOA and Get Happy!!
Get in there and enjoy yourself!

Poppet · Post by **Poppet** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 12:48 pm

Get Happy is on order. It's being shipped w/ North. that and one other re-issue, can't remember which one of the set i chose. decided i needed to not spend all my disposable income at once.

waiting on KOA, unless it shows up cheap and shiny somewhere when i least expect it.

HolyCoatAndHat · Post by **HolyCoatAndHat** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 2:03 pm

I would add that Trust is also vital EC and you must buy it along with KOA and GH.

SoLikeCandy · Post by **SoLikeCandy** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 2:49 pm

Imperial Bedroom blew me away when I was 15, and began my love affair with Elvis Costello.

King of America made me want to like Country music, though I stopped at Willie Nelson and Johnny Cash.

Brutal Youth was the coolest old-guy album I'd ever heard.

Blood and Chocolate proved that stalkers can be sexy.

When I Was Cruel is a new favorite, just because EC proved he can be cruel and kind in the same breath.

HungupStrungup · Post by **HungupStrungup** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 3:25 pm

SoLikeCandy wrote:When I Was Cruel is a new favorite, just because EC proved he can be cruel and kind in the same breath.

In the right measure, of course.

the poisoner · Post by **the poisoner** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 6:57 pm

this is too bloody hard.
fortunately, the only album i do not have nor heard is 'north'.
i have been buying each as they come out since 1979 so it's been spread over a l o n g time.
i can only give my favorites and only in very rough order;

my aim is true
punch the clock
imperial bedroom
armed forces
trust
juliet letters
get happy
this year's model
when i was cruel

beyond that it is too hard to discern.
each album further down has songs i cannot imagine not having but on the whole i think them weaker than the cream
still too soon to know and just about glad
tears at the birthday party
good year for the roses and honey hush
deportee and sourmilk cow blues
tramp the dirt down and deep dark truthful mirror
tokyo storm warning (that'd be a good one for the 'exciting' game)
even april after all

Copenhagen Fan · Post by **Copenhagen Fan** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 2:47 am

IMPERIAL BEDROOM all the way to the bank..........now Candy Candy Candy and I agree once more.

SoLikeCandy · Post by **SoLikeCandy** » Wed Sep 17, 2003 7:41 am

Cope, I think you and I are kindred spirits...damn, that's scary...

I can remember the first time I heard "Beyond Belief" with headphones, and marveling at the production. A whole choir of Elvii, harmonizing and rolling with weird chord changes--majorly cool. Hearing him perform "Beyond Belief" live was one of the high points of my EC experience.

Copenhagen Fan · Post by **Copenhagen Fan** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 2:24 am

Candy....yes! I remember Tears Before Bedtime and Human Hands as well as The Loved Ones....I had never heard anything like it before. Of course I had heard other stuff by Elvis, but these hit me like a ton of bricks the first moment I heard them! The production, the chords the melodies...all very original at the time.

Jackson Doofster · Post by **Jackson Doofster** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 3:01 am

Get Happy!!
Imperial Bedroom
King of America
This Year's Model
Trust
Taking Liberties
Armed Forces
Brutal Youth
The Juliet Letters
All This Useless Beauty
Blood & Chocolate
When I Was Cruel
My Aim Is True
Mighty Like A Rose
Punch The Clock
Almost Blue
Goodbye Cruel World
Spike
Out of Our Idiot
Painted From Memory
For the Stars
Kojak Variety
Cruel Smile
Deep Dead Blue

Jury out for a little while: North (I expect it to be middle ranking)

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Thu Sep 18, 2003 5:04 pm

I can't get over how many people are actually ranking "Goodbye Cruel World" over "Painted from Memory" and "For the Stars" -- I think you're all clearly insane!

Well, that's taste for ya! Here is my contrarian list....Although I have to say that I think older works tends to get an edge, not because it's "better," but because we've all had more time to sort of live with it. Not fair, really. Also, I should say that first fourteen albums are all pretty much 9's or 10s. There's a fairly precipitous drop for me right after "For the Stars"

This Year's Model
Imperial Bedroom
Spike
Trust
Blood and Chocolate
Get Happy!
My Aim Is True
Painted from Memory
When I Was Cruel
Mighty Like a Rose
King of America
Brutal Youth
For the Stars
Almost Blue
The Juliet Letters
Punch The Clock
All This Useless Beauty
Kojak Variety
Goodbye Cruel World

North (haven't heard yet)
Cruel Smile (haven't heard yet)

so lacklustre · Post by **so lacklustre** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 4:55 pm

Get Happy!
Trust
Mighty Like A Rose
Armed Forces
When I Was Cruel
This Year's Model
Imperial Bedroom
Spike
Brutal Youth
My Aim Is True
All This Useless Beauty
North
Blood and Chocolate
King Of America
Painted from Memory
Almost Blue
Punch The Clock
Goodbye Cruel World

laughingcrow · Post by **laughingcrow** » Fri Sep 19, 2003 5:33 pm

Oh man...I found this soo hard to do. I think this is it, but I know my minds going to change after it's posted. It's the middle bit that's hardest...

Imperial Bedroom
Spike
Get Happy!!
Punch The Clock
This Year's Model
King of America
My Aim Is True
Blood and Chocolate
All This Useless Beauty
Mighty Like A Rose
Brutal Youth
Armed Forces
The Juliet Letters
When I Was Cruel
Trust
Out of Our Idiot
Almost Blue
North
10 Bloody Marys and 10 Hows your fathers
Live at the El Mocambo
Kojak Variety
Painted From Memory
Goodbye Cruel World
For The Stars
Cruel Smile

Haven't included the Harvey or Harle stuff (I like them, but they're either not EC or non-spoken), or Deep Dead Blue (cos I have been looking for it for years, only to realise I could get it from US amazon this week, so is winging its way to me)

Elvis Costello Fan Forum

Your favorite Elvis Costello albums?

Your favorite Elvis Costello albums?

Re: Your favorite Elvis Costello albums?

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