Elvis's last great album

Pretty self-explanatory
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Jackson Monk
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Elvis's last great album

Post by Jackson Monk »

Ok, so the man has recorded some great songs in the past few years, but what was his last truly great album?

I loved North and I can appreciate TDM, bu his last brilliant record for me was Painted From Memory.

Views welcomed. 8)
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Jack of All Parades
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Jack of All Parades »

I am in your corner with this one Jackson. Am previously on record regarding my thoughts on "Painted From Memory"- just a joy from song one to the end- a perfect example of how EC can work within the great American Songbook and this one time with the assistance of one its practitioners. Like you have a great respect for "North" and again have shared my thoughts on previous occasions. Of late might work up enthusiasm for a cobbled together album from elements of TDM and Momofuko- the rest of his efforts over the past dozen years are hard to get emotional about. They just exist for me though the interview recently to promote his Italy concerts is intriguing as he hints at a breakthrough with his soon to be released new album. I am eager to hear it.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Miclewis »

Maybe I'm crazy, but I thought Secret, Profane, and Sugarcane was a great album. Before that, I would have to say The Delivery Man.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Jeremy Dylan »

Well, The Delivery Man is my favourite Costello record, so obviously my opinion of his recent period is fairly high. I think it's possible American Ransom (or whatever it's called) could end up as his best album to date, based on the material likely to be on there.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by scaredcrow »

Hi, I'm new here- what's the general consensus on WIWC? I think it's a great album, though not his best. Still, it's easily up there with Brutal Youth, which I understand is pretty celebrated, as far as I'm concerned. I never clicked with North, but agree that The Delivery Man is a great album.

I think the 'problem' with EC's output this decade has been that he's seemed a bit sluggish in his performances somehow. Inconsistent as Spike may be to some, he seemed to really throw himself into every idea back then, whereas he's recently tended to plough specific furrows on each record. I don't know if EC made a conscious effort to reign in his focus, but impossible ambition is what characterises his very best work for me.

Which is why the new LP is so promising- it sounds as though it will be musically diverse and full of shifts in tone and mood. When I saw him play last week, I couldn't believe his energy.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by martinfoyle »

North is definitely his strongest collection in recent years, IMO, once you trim away the bonus tracks. The new tracks on the Dublin bootleg were the most Rock tracks, so that bodes well for the new album being a stronger effort than 'Profane.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Poor Deportee »

OK, deep breath!

WIWC is absolutely one of EC's worst records in my view. The first four tunes are great fun, but then it sinks like a stone. Not to say it's unlistenable...just that too many of his creative decisions are bad ones (did we need two 'Dusts?' An endlessly and pointlessly extended 'Alibi'? Or 'Dissolve' and 'Daddy,' which scarcely would have made the cut for 'Taking Liberties?' 'Soul for Hire,' meanwhile, comes off as an ironically soulless writing exercise, and 'Radio Silence' has everything except an interesting melody. Even 'Tart' could be more sharply written. In short, this is EC as semi-sick craftsman).

I respect North more than enjoy it. I have a similar reaction to PFM, although part of the problem there is that I don't find his studio vocals all that enjoyable when paired with those songs. Too oversung. And the songs themselves are maybe too much about 'craft' rather than real feeling at times (e.g., Toledo; there's less to it with every listen) but excellent nonetheless.

TDM is a very strong record. 'Great' might be pushing it, but I strain to determine just why that is. Maybe it's the overwrought reading of a so-so song in 'The Judgement,' at a key point on the album.

I REALLY enjoy Momofuku. The simple truth is that - like it or not - EC's true metier is as a ferociously gifted pop songwriter, and he will usually be at his best when throwing together sharp, incisive, immediate pop songs. Still, this album achieves absolute greatness only at its heart, with the one-two punch of 'Stella Hurt' and 'Mr Feathers' (John Lennon eat your heart out!). The material preceding and following that golden 7 minutes, while highly enjoyable, is a bit too spotty to hit consistent 'greatness.' ('American Gangster Time' flirts dangerously close to self-parody, 'Drum and Bone' just isn't that great, etc.).

Secret Profane and Sugarcane...on the first go-around, I was lukewarm. But after giving it a rest and returning to it, I think there IS a truly great EC record buried in that album. First, it's one of the most exquisite sounding albums he's ever recorded. From vocals to the instrumentation, it's just sheer sonic candy. Second, as I said in another thread, it represents a major step forward in his writing - extending TDM into baroque historical narrative of a kind I've never heard before in popular music. Parts of this record truly summon a mythic, lost America in all its terrible beauty and awfulness. But - you know there's a 'but' -only parts. I would say that had he dropped the redundant takes on 'Complicated Shadows' and 'Hidden Shame,' the lyrically drab 'All Time Doll,' and the execrable 'She Handed Me a Mirror,' we'd have ourselves the most recent great EC album. As it is, the album doesn't achieve lift-off until song #7, and even though it's masterful thereafter, that's just too much dead wood to hack through in order to make the album 'great.'

So what's his last 'great record?' KOA...or, to be generous, 'Spike.' I know that's a controversial pick, but that album is just such a crazy quilt of ideas and musical energy, I think it stands up. I'd also add that The Juliet Letters is a tour-de-force. Whether you call it 'great' or not would likely hinge on whether you think EC's voice is up to the material (I waver on this), but it's definitely something completely unique.

Sorry to be so long-winded about all this. :oops:
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Jeremy Dylan »

I'm happy to see someone sticking up for SPIKE, but I you seem to want to drop most of my favourite songs from SP&S - I'll fight to the death to preserve that version of Hidden Shame!
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Jackson Monk
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Jackson Monk »

Very interesting and not long-winded at all PD.

Agree with you on a lot of this, especially with regard to WIWC. It is on of the few EC records I rarely play, with the exception of 2 tracks - Episode of Blonde and My Little Blue Window. I too failed to see the point of Dust 2 :?
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Jeremy Dylan »

No love for 45?
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Ypsilanti »

Welcome Scared Crow!

I may be flayed alive for saying so, but I agree that WIWC is a wonderful record--I listen to it often and enjoy it immensely--it's a marvel, a joy--packed full of sonic awesomeness, bitterness, wit, a specific point of view.

I suspect that I may be the only member of this board who more or less prefers the later work to the early stuff--not that I'm crapping on those early records (except for "Trust", which I'm just allergic to)--I'd rather look at EC's whole, long, loopy career arc--after all, he's a real artist, not just some jerk-off pop singer--and what he has produced--his body of work--his life's work is surely worthy of being considered as such.

In light of that, it's obvious that over the course of 30 years, Elvis has grown, matured, gained in wisdom, grace, skill as a musician, developed more nuanced attitudes about politics & human relations. He's traveled everywhere and thus sees the world differently--etc, etc. He's grown up--and all of that--the whole journey is right there in the music--the evolution from smartass kid to old man father. It's fascinating, particularly when you factor in all his collaborations and partnerships and see how those influences have impacted his work, as well.

So when I hear MAIT, it sounds to me like a rookie effort--probably the best rookie effort ever, but that's what it really is. And in my eyes, each record has been a step (sometimes a leap) forward. And, OK, it isn't always so clear cut--it is a crooked line, but in my eyes--for the most part--all of the later records surpass all of the early records because they have the strength & richness of experience helping to push them up the hill.

So for me, the "Last Great Album" is going to be the very last one he makes before he finally dies, hopefully as a very, very old & contented man.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Bladders »

Well the one that I play most from recent times at present is the itunes live EP from "The Delivery Man" I really enjoy the live and relaxed sound.
I have purchased the last three CD's but cant really say I have listened to them properly yet, so I wont comment on them.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by sheeptotheslaughter »

Painted from Memory for me is his last great record and certainly in England it did not get the airplay it deserved which I think could have made it a major seller.
North has some great songs but is sometimes hard to listen to in one sitting but certainly if the iPod is on shuffle and the odd song comes on they sound great.
Momofuku was a very good album IMO almost a return to the form of the old Attractions days.
WIWC has its moments, but isn't great.
I must admit I don't get the great love in of The Delivery Man, sure there are some very good songs on there but there are also 3 or 4 stinkers. Needle Time, She's Pulling Out The Pin, Bedlam, to me are just a tuneless racket. God sound like an old man.
As for Secret, Profane and Sugarcane I just not a lover of it at all. Maybe it's an English adversion to Bluegrass. Certainly my least favorite Elvis record of all. Hopefully American Ransom isn't SPS 2 and is more varied. I have been over impressed with the new songs when he played them at the RFH the other Sunday but I have stayed away fromn the Versions on here so I hear them fresh when it is released.


Sorry I sound like I don't like Elvis, all the albums of the noughties have moments and are good to very good. But to me not up with the great albums of the past. I still believe for an artist to be going as long as Elvis has an still make decent music is an achivement in it's self.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by charliestumpy »

Although I like them all because they are EC, I play the ones up to 'Brutal Youth' quite a lot, and those since and including BY not much - old memories ...
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by krm »

charliestumpy wrote:Although I like them all because they are EC, I play the ones up to 'Brutal Youth' quite a lot, and those since and including BY not much - old memories ...
very good summary. Beside from that, I do actually give The Deliver Man a go every now and then!
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by wordnat »

WWIC, despite some wonderful songs, already sounds somewhat dated due to its harsh, "trendy" production. Whenever EC goes the "flavor of the month" route (PTC, GCW, SPIKE), he fails....
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Re: Elvis's last great album

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Any close reading of the interview promoting EC's coming Italy shows cannot but leave a reader with a concrete sense that even EC is distancing himself from the majority of the material on SP&S. As he says they no longer play most of the material in concert, odd in that this is your most recent product. Even clearer that he feels his sound and musical focus has now shifted.

As Poor Deportee says-
"Second, as I said in another thread, it represents a major step forward in his writing - extending TDM into baroque historical narrative of a kind I've never heard before in popular music. Parts of this record truly summon a mythic, lost America in all its terrible beauty and awfulness. But - you know there's a 'but' -only parts. I would say that had he dropped the redundant takes on 'Complicated Shadows' and 'Hidden Shame,' the lyrically drab 'All Time Doll,' and the execrable 'She Handed Me a Mirror,' we'd have ourselves the most recent great EC album. As it is, the album doesn't achieve lift-off until song #7, and even though it's masterful thereafter, that's just too much dead wood to hack through in order to make the album 'great."

I humbly suggest you may have already heard something akin to your hoped for crop from a 'new creative furrow' in the Band's "The Band"- I know EC has cited its impact upon him in the past. If he can come close to that produce in his next 'crop' of songs, you are most right, there could certainly be a new album to revel and rejoice about.

As to "Momofuku", besides the strong songs you cite, what makes it work for me is the speed with which it was produced-no fussing about in the studio-get the track down and move on. It approaches that "throwing together sharp, incisive, immediate pop songs" you[and I] enjoy. I hope that is what is offered on the new album.

"EC may stun us all by finally synthesizing all the materials he's been playing with over the last 15 years into some dazzling new achievement." Really hope your wish PD[and mine] does come to fruition out of that furrow.
Last edited by Jack of All Parades on Fri Jul 09, 2010 4:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by wardo68 »

North. Before that, PFM. Honorable mention to TDM.
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Jackson Monk
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Jackson Monk »

wordnat wrote:WWIC, despite some wonderful songs, already sounds somewhat dated due to its harsh, "trendy" production. Whenever EC goes the "flavor of the month" route (PTC, GCW, SPIKE), he fails....

I really agree with this...although I still quite like PTC.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

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As to "Momofuku", besides the strong songs you cite, what makes it work for me is the speed with which it was produced-no fussing about in the studio-get the track down and move on. It approaches that "throwing together sharp, incisive, immediate pop songs"
Quite true! But in spite of the "no fussing about" approach, it really comes across that all the players had a good time making that record. It seems relaxed and fun. Another nice thing about Momofuku is the variety in the songs--quite a sharp contrast between, say, "Turpentine" and "Harry Worth", for example. The record is something of a sampler--but not in a bad way--the songs are still threaded together just enough to make a cohesive whole--a real album.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by deerfried »

"Greatness" is a difficult word to quantify. I love/admire/cherish many parts of virtually every Elvis record, but when I think of his truly GREAT albums, I don't think he's had one since King of America. In my mind, that was the last time he put out a truly indispensable, balls-to-the-wall masterpiece. (And his other works of greatness are: Imperial Bedroom, Trust, This Year's Model and Armed Forces).

Like I said, there are wonderful, spellbinding aspects in all of Elvis's work, and I have played more recent albums like River in Reverse, WIWC, PFM, etc hundreds of times. But yeah, they all have their flaws, some more glaring than others.
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Jackson Monk
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Jackson Monk »

deerfried wrote:"Greatness" is a difficult word to quantify. I love/admire/cherish many parts of virtually every Elvis record, but when I think of his truly GREAT albums, I don't think he's had one since King of America. In my mind, that was the last time he put out a truly indispensable, balls-to-the-wall masterpiece. (And his other works of greatness are: Imperial Bedroom, Trust, This Year's Model and Armed Forces)
No Get Happy!!??? :?

All personal opinion, but GH comes second only to IB for me.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by charliestumpy »

I am a sad plonker who rather than learn how to be a great musician (there's other things in life...) amongst other things 'collects' audio from about 50 great artistes ... I rank Costello up with Beatles/Dylan ...

I must play his albums etc since mid-90s more ....
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Jeremy Dylan »

deerfried wrote:I don't think he's had one since King of America. In my mind, that was the last time he put out a truly indispensable, balls-to-the-wall masterpiece. (And his other works of greatness are: Imperial Bedroom, Trust, This Year's Model and Armed Forces).
More and more I think I just see Costello as a completely different artist to the rest of you. I think he started off with two brilliant albums, dipped slightly with ARMED FORCES, then steadily declined through the 80s and had only occasionally excellent records (KOA, Blood and Chocolate, maybe even Spike) up until The Delivery Man (my favourite of his albums), and I've loved almost everything from then on in. I think he stayed with the Attractions way too long, and he got hit badly by the 80s disease due to having a prominent keyboard player. I think, in many ways, he's the best he's ever been now. Certainly the best he's ever been as a singer.
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Re: Elvis's last great album

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Jeremy, you have hit upon the whole beautiful point of Mr. Monk's exercise- this particular artist is expansive enough to engage a broad range of admirers. That expansiveness will, I hope, keep him going for many more years and me, as well as you, engaged, as well. How dull would it be if we all liked the same thing? I am not surprised by your personal choices for a "great' album, given your contemporary country/alternative bent in your '00s list; that works for you because the particular part of EC's oeuvre that speaks to your taste is represented in your choices. I would never want anyone to think just like me. I much prefer that they like what they like and defend it passionately and with grounded reason. There is nothing lazier in my mind than the general statement that I like it all. That shows a mind on cruise control. We are not constructed mentally to work like that; our engagement with the world requires selection and evaluation. The late David Foster Wallace has taught me many things and amongst those things is the notion that one needs to think and be engaged with the world. As he says "the ability to do that with ourselves[think critically], to treat ourselves the way we would treat a really good, precious friend" is essential to our engagement with the world.
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