Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

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Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Pulling WIWC off the shelf and playing it was a disquieting experience a month ago. It is now almost ten years to the date this album appeared and with each succeeding year I have grown to like it less. I am reminded of a quote from some piece on the record when it first appeared which went something like this[and it was a fun play on another critic from many years ago] "a pun is to Elvis what luminous vapors are to the traveler; he follows it at all adventures, it is sure to lead him out of way, and sure to engulf him in the mire." How true when it comes to this album. WIWC too often relies on tired stylistic effects coupled with overwrought and overwritten lyrics. I never thought I would say this but this is a record that seems to have been put out just to have product out in the marketplace at a given moment. The previous experiments in genre writing have not gone over well so let's revisit the old glory days of the late 70's and 'tart' up the arrangements with some new studio gimmickry-what ultimately is tedious obligatory tape loops and odd beeps and guitar noise added to seem au courant. You have for the most part an assemblage of songs that are claustrophobic with their packed verbiage and overlong time spans which are filled with EC's seeming intent to fill the space with the least obvious melodic progressions. What was anger and vitriol from a young man seems almost a parody coming from a 45 year old elder statesman who is coming into his middle age as a recording artist and a soon to be happily married man.

The songs themselves are too often filled with mundane and tired choruses coupled with a senseless guitar distortion. What worked so well in the early years- sprightly melodies coupled with virtuoso wordsmithing has now been replaced with the seemingly tired attempts of an older artist to seem current and yet connected with his youth. The results are dull. That hurts me to say. It just does not work for me. Repeated listens have left most of these songs lifeless for me.

15 Petals is just blaring latin infused horns presented in an irritating and blaring nasal vocal. There are too many obtuse character sketches lacking the exciting hooks that in the past would have redeemed them like Tart, Spooky Girlfriend or Soul for Hire. The two Dusts are limited conceits. When I was Cruel#2 is likeable with its disparaging of gossips, newspaper editors and what not but it ultimately stretches out into a long bore. 45 plays with that number and its associations quite well but gets destroyed by its lazy repetitions. Episode of Blonde is just self-parody- coming dangerously close to recycled Dylan- with its dysfunctional lyric. Dissolve is just boring distorted guitar as an exercise. Radio Silence has moments and is a political song that avoids being a rant for me like so many of his other efforts in this genre. The two songs that work, My Little Blue Window and tear off your own head, do so because they recycle the past to good effect with strong hooks, incisive lyric and a tightness that is greatly missing on the majority of the album's songs.

This is the one album in his catalog that I feel is just product. It fails to strike me as inspired, heartfelt music. It has a the feel of going through the motions; of trying to recapture a creative energy that peaked decades earlier. It is a lazy, uninspired piece of work. I feel this because as usual whenever the material is weak the vocals begin to strain and that happens too often on this record.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by FAVEHOUR »

Well, he wasn't a soon to be happily married man when he was making this record. Quite the opposite, I'd wager.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by Top balcony »

Christopher

I agree with most of your points above, however completely disagree about 45 which I regard as one of his finest compositions - albeit best preformed simply accompanied by Steve.

It's interesting that Bedlam continues in his live set to this very day ( ok if VG is reading this he'll point out it's actually to the day-before-yesterday!).

In terms of where I place it on my personal league table, it features at the bottom end of the "band records", just below it's science fiction twin Momofuku. So ahead of Painted and North in my affections.

However in it's favour it did provoke gigs in the UK by Elvis Costello and the Imposters.

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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Colin- glad to read it at least brought you performances by the band. Just sorry it was in support of such weak new material.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by wardo68 »

Warning: heavy acronym usage ahead.

I'm right there with you, Christopher. This was the first album of his that didn't stick with me no matter how many times I played it. Each of its predecessors, from MAIT all the way up to PFM, had been absorbed relatively easily, to the point where I could Name That Tune within the first few bars. I thought that might have been due to simple familiarity, from hearing the albums so often. But even albums I didn't love as much as others (PTC, GCW) managed to "stick". And that includes the Ryko bonus tracks, and most of the Rhino ones.

But for some reason, WIWC didn't take. As it stands today, the only songs from it on my iTunes are "45", "Doll Revolution", "Alibi", "Daddy Can I Turn This" and "Little Blue Window". But even with those, I'd be hard pressed to sing along word for word. And I don't think it's me -- I think the album just isn't very good.

As I said on my blog (plug plug), one of the problems is that he gives over two lengthy tracks (the title track and "Episode of Blonde") to atonal rants, wanders through two equally dull versions of the same song ("Dust") and loud bashes in the place of rockers ("Dissolve", "15 Petals"). "Soul For Hire" was a decent song given a lousy production (as was "Oh Well"). "Tart" just misses, and "Spooky Girlfriend" should have been given to Gwen Stefani and ignored.

I much prefer the "No. 1" version of the title track, which at least is an actual song, as included on Cruel Smile, but even the inclusion of that song (and "Oh Well", both also in my iTunes) on WIWC wouldn't make up for the rest of the sins.

Then again, I think North is a masterpiece, so I'm obviously a moron.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by Jack of All Parades »

No you are not! As your blog readily attests. And North is a very good album!
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by the_platypus »

I actually quite like this record-- I think it is made up of many strong pop songs. "Episode of Blonde" and "15 Petals" are powerhouses. I also happen to love "Spooky Girlfriend"-- but then, I am a fan of a lot of modern hip-hop/R&B which this song seems modeled after.

"Tart" is an absolutely lovely song, and I love the meandering melody in the verses of "My Little Blue Window". The title track is a compelling, dark and bitter tale. I love the use of electronic elements-- the loops and synth makes this album the last time Elvis sounded cutting-edge and forward-thinking, everything since seems to be looking at the past. I like the notion of EC finding a place for himself in the post-Yankee Hotel Foxtrot, Kid A world. It's exciting, and while I do love most of what he's done since, it feels like retreating.

The few songs that I don't really like are the straight-ahead rockers. "Tear Off Your Own Head" is kind of a bore, and is "Dissolve" even a tune? I can't remember.

To me, the near fatal flaw of this record is the way it was engineered-- painfully compressed, zero dynamic range, headache-inducing bass. If this had been produced differently, if the performances had been given a little room to breathe, this might be in my personal Top 10. As it stands, it is, to me, a really strong collection of songs that never quite gels together-- but still pretty great. I certainly rank it above anything in the first three records, which to me seem undeserving of the worship they get here.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by verbal gymnastics »

Top balcony wrote:It's interesting that Bedlam continues in his live set to this very day ( ok if VG is reading this he'll point out it's actually to the day before yesterday
Is this a deliberate mistake to lure me in given that Bedlam isn't on WIWC? :wink:
FAVEHOUR wrote:Well, he wasn't a soon to be happily married man when he was making this record. Quite the opposite, I'd wager.
Absolutely.

Whilst WIWC has its moments (and for me these are Radio Silence, Episode of Blonde, My Little Blue Window and WIWC no. 2) it's not a favourite album of mine. I've long since said that Oh Well and Soul for Hire are fillers.

But as Colin said, we got a UK tour which was excellent.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by cwr »

I think WIWC is a fun album, but it's certainly less vital than, say, his previous "returns to form" (ie B&C and BY). Of course, it's also a record where he really went out on a limb and tried something different sonically rather than simply get back in the studio with a combo. Not all of it has aged well, but some of it has.

The good: I think there are some funny songs on here - "Spooky Girlfriend" and "Episode Of Blonde", along with the title track, are more overtly humorous than is usual for EC. "Tart" and "My Little Blue Window" are both fun and catchy, and I enjoy both versions of "Dust."

The bad: he ruined "45", which sounded great on Leno when it was a heartfelt piano-and-guitar song. That plodding drumbeat, the handclaps, the aggressive "whoo" backing vocals-- none of it serves the song. He did the same with b-side "When I Was Cruel No. 1", which was an absolute KILLER in concert, and feels soulless on record. It's interesting to note that these are two of the most overtly autobiographical songs he had released at this point, and he botched them both in the studio. "Dissolve" is as disposable a track as he has ever recorded, "Tear Off Your Own Head" was an okay recording but was a poor choice for single as it sounded pretty unimpressive on TV show appearances. People went nuts for "Alibi" in concert and on record at the time, but I think it sounds like somone doing a parody of an angry Elvis Costello song. And "Soul For Hire" feels out of place, a song written for a specific context that seems jarringly out of place on a regular record of songs.

I was thrilled with the record back in 2002, however. It had been a long wait for a "band" album since 1996's ATUB, and it was just so exciting to have him back with Steve, Pete, and new member Davey. However, I remember thinking at the time that it was maybe the least impressive use of Steve on any album, and I have to say that the Steve Nieve who has been featured on Costello albums ever since seems like a tamed creature, rarely given the chance to shine or showboat the way he did on the early records. I wonder why that is. He feels utterly wasted on WIWC, and while Steve is obviously still awesome in concert, I can't say that I can think of too many standout performances by him on the records he's done with Elvis in the past decade, while the records from TYM to B&C are chock full of amazing star turns by SN.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by Jeremy Dylan »

I love 45 and Doll Revolution, but I the rest of the record has failed to leave much of a lasting impression on me. I may grow to like it more someday. 45 was one of the highlights when I saw him at Royal Festival Hall last year. Great opener.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by krm »

wardo68 wrote: Then again, I think North is a masterpiece, so I'm obviously a moron.
In that case, then I am not alone!
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by pophead2k »

Episode of Blonde is one of EC's best songs and was a concert highlight. I think 15 Petals is his most autobiographical song regarding the dissolution of his relationship to Cait. Tart is just lovely. I also like Spooky Girlfriend, the title song, My Little Blue Window and I get the Dust songs stuck in my head quite often. Radio Silence is a great closer, but I probably wouldn't enjoy it as much in another position on the album.

Less successful are Soul for Hire, Dissolve, Daddy Can I Turn This? and Doll Revolution. I loved Alibi when it first appeared, but am less fond of it now. It needs editing and arranging. I'm not a huge fan of 45 for reasons less clear to me, but I do admire the lyric.

Overall, a strong album, but I think part of why I liked it is that it was a reassurance that ECs rock and roll days were not yet behind him.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by sulky lad »

cwr wrote
However, I remember thinking at the time that it was maybe the least impressive use of Steve on any album, and I have to say that the Steve Nieve who has been featured on Costello albums ever since seems like a tamed creature, rarely given the chance to shine or showboat the way he did on the early records. I wonder why that is. He feels utterly wasted on WIWC, and while Steve is obviously still awesome in concert, I can't say that I can think of too many standout performances by him on the records he's done with Elvis in the past decade, while the records from TYM to B&C are chock full of amazing star turns by SN.
Spot on CWR. It always stunned me that after the triumphant "back to basics performances of 1998 and 999 with just guitar and Steve, after a lull, Elvis produced an album that completely neutered Steve's contributions apart from the magnificent piano tour de force of Episode Of Blonde ( which to my mind has the most catchy chorus of anything on WIWC.) I also love North - in certain moods - but it doesn't really allow Steve to push the songs to their limits either, there really hasn't been much of the genius that is Steve since some of the mood pieces from ATUB,imho.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by And No Coffee Table »

cwr wrote:However, I remember thinking at the time that it was maybe the least impressive use of Steve on any album, and I have to say that the Steve Nieve who has been featured on Costello albums ever since seems like a tamed creature, rarely given the chance to shine or showboat the way he did on the early records.
In the case of When I Was Cruel, there's the explanation that the basic tracks were recorded without him.
Costello: I didnt want to make something that I had already made before. Reforming the Attractions wasnt an option because of the personality thing, so I set out to make the record on my own. I messed around with gadgets I could program with these crazy beats no drummer would ever play, and it got me moving a different way with the electric guitar. Predominately this is a rhythm record, which you can hear on songs like Tart and My Blue Window. We cut the record as a trio in Dublin in six days with just guitar, bass, and drums. Then I kidnapped Steve Nieve of the Attractions from this tour with a French actress called Vanessa Paradis - he leads a glamorous life! - and brought him to Dublin to add his keyboard. Then I worked on singing, we mixed it, and it was done.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by Top balcony »

verbal gymnastics wrote:
Top balcony wrote:It's interesting that Bedlam continues in his live set to this very day ( ok if VG is reading this he'll point out it's actually to the day before yesterday
Is this a deliberate mistake to lure me in given that Bedlam isn't on WIWC? :wink:
Do I own up to stupidity or stealth?

Anyway it worked....

I was there trivia : At the Mountford Hall show on 7th Sept 2002 Elvis invited local Liverpool musician Steven Kennedy to partly re-create the studio line up and join the ensemble on stage to perform (for the last time?) Little Blue Window.

Shamefacedly Colin Top Balcony
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by Poor Deportee »

Well, it seems that there is a quasi-consensus that this is not among Elvis's better efforts. That's a bit of relief to me, since rabid enthusiasm for this dreary album would really rattle my faith in this board's collective judgement!

Christopher began this thread by sharing his view that this was one of EC's most transparently cyncial efforts - basically 'product' designed to cash in. That's possible, but I always prefer not to impugn the intentions or integrity of artists. It's enough, to me, to say that this is simply as uninpsired a collection of songs as EC has ever recorded. The problem is not just in the engineering, although I agree that that doesn't help. The lion's share of these songs are frankly substandard, conspicuously lacking the genuine creative energy and effervesence manifest in, say, National Ransom. The term 'self-parody' has come up a few times in this thread. That's because this album gives us Elvis Costello playing the role of Elvis Costello, minus the creative ebullience of the real thing.

It starts out pretty decently. '45' is not as clever as it thinks it is - too many forced rhymes - but as an opener it whets your appetite. 'Spooky' is sonically intriguing and has its moments, although it's always a red flag to me when musicians write about the music industry. Now 'Tear Off Your Own Head' is more like it. I think this is one of EC's more under-rated cuts, and that people miss the fact that it's an absolutely spot-on spoof of the pseudo-feminism exemplified by acts like The Spice Girls and Lady Gaga. 'Tear off your own head,' indeed: we're Barbie dolls and that's oooo so empowering! Makes ya puke. Plus the track just sounds great: a demented outtake from Revolver, as someone or other pointed out.

WIWC #2: I can see the criticism, but I really rate this song very highly indeed. Unlike the grotesque 'Episode of Blonde' this is genuinely Dylanesque its cast of memorable characters and the (sordid) world it opens up. The key to the song, for me, is the final verse/chorus, in which EC's narrator drops the usual pretense of superiority. Sure, the proceedings are pathetic, but so is he for being among them, and he knows it. He loses the exchange with the hapless editors. 'Look at me now...' What begins as externalized critique ends up internalized. Superbly observed all around, the song is a small tragedy of excess, corruption, and compromised dreams.

Sadly, there are few such moments thereafter. 'Soul' is another one of EC's snide and tiresome assaults on an America he presumes to understand from TV shows and his tour bus. 'Petals' is a case study in uninspired EC; not a word of it needed to be written, not a line of it is worth remembering, no part of the melody is worth bothering with. Only the horns add interest. 'Dust?' A pleasant enough little confection; too bad it's let down by its insipid final couplet, which I can imagine some open mic bore singing with great intensity. A minor cut, 'Dust' absolutely didn't need to be reiterated under pitiful excuse of the lame pun. I could go on, but won't, save to say that 'Alibi' compounds these follies by dragging out an excruciating and musically banal self-parody for seven minutes, 'Daddy' is garbage, 'Episode' is a great chorus betrayed by soncially unpleasant verses (although at least there's some modest lyrical gems scattered amidst the rubble here), and 'Radio Silence' is an interesting, albeit self-important, lyric, completely lacking anything even resembling a convincing melody. That leaves 'Little Blue Window' as the only credible composition after the first iteration of 'Dust.'

Phew. Can you tell I don't like it? :lol:

What's sadder than this spectacle of EC with writer's block is that his fan base - i.e., folks like us - mostly raved about this and hailed it as a return to form. For myself, I tried hard to like it, but eventually resigned myself to the fact that, after the first four tunes, this thing might constitute his single most offensive effort. What a relief that he subsequently recovered his muse. More records like this would have been truly painful.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by the_platypus »

Yes, how sad that some people liked this album.

... Come on, huh?
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by Poor Deportee »

the_platypus wrote:Yes, how sad that some people liked this album.

... Come on, huh?
No...sad that they hailed it as some stellar return to form, is what I said.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by the_platypus »

It is, technically, a return to form-- a guitar record after a 6-year absence from guitar records. Why does it bother you that some people hailed it? It certainly didn't seem to encourage him to move further in this artistic direction.

I personally find it a very strong record, I still listen to it a lot-- I would probably listen to it more if it didn't induce hearing fatigue thanks to its horrible sound quality (how was this even released like this? The levels are brickwalled to the max-- it's like it was produced by Rick Rubin or something). I love every other record he released in that decade, but I'm happy he made this rhythmic, beat-driven oddity of an album.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by cwr »

I think the things that really work on WIWC are excellent, great fun. By chance, "Tart" came up in shuffle mode on my morning commute, and I think that track is as good as anything he's done in the 00s.

I think he tried something different, and some of it worked and some of it didn't. In some cases, the sonic approach he adopted kind of ruined the songs (as in "45") but when I don't think the title track would have worked as well if it had been recorded any other way. It makes it a minor EC album, but there is still much to like on it. I'm glad he made it, warts and all. I think, for instance, that Momofuku is a better "return to form" album overall, but I think its highs don't go quite as high as WIWC, and its lows don't dip as low...
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by the_platypus »

Yeah, "Tart" is a great little tune.
I think he tried something different, and some of it worked and some of it didn't.
I would agree with that. And I'm glad he did. I know it probably won't happen at this point, but I do wish he'd follow his musical curiosity down more futuristic paths-- too much of the last decade has been spent looking backwards and not forwards (not within the context of his own catalog, but within music in general). That's why I was so excited when I heard "National Ransom no.2". Whoa, check it out, he's doing something new, something interesting, something dark and dissonant and compelling... and then he went ahead and rearranged a version with The Imposters that sounds like a lame This Year's Model outtake. :|
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by Jack of All Parades »

Tart has always seemed to me an abysmal mess and this by PD effectively explains why:

"Well, 'Tart' is just a weak composition that doesn't bear too much soulful thought. In EC's later work, two issues crop up here and there: the neat lyric with no really convincing melody (Invasion Hit Parade, SciFi Twin, etc.) and the neat melody/sound with no really convincing lyric (Tart, All Time Doll, etc.). His account that it isn't about anything much rings true to me. Just a bunch of portentious and not-particularly-inspired imagery gesturing toward some vague and only mildly convincing analogy between physical taste and emotional experience. (Oddly for him, the pun on 'tart' - as in slattern - seems to be implied rather than fully realized here).

In truth, I don't even care for the way the bottom drops out in the lurch to a more rock-and-roll style at the end of each verse, nor do I find the pseudo-hysteria of the chorus particularly believable. As with so much of that album, the inspiration isn't really there."

Momofuku, in comparison to WIWC, stands head and shoulders above it. Its highs are stronger and its lows are still far above the bulk of WIWC. Electronic froufrou and distorted guitar do not make for an interesting sound if you have bankrupt musical ideas. WIWC was and continues to be a sad failure in his catalog.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by the_platypus »

Oh, I guess I was wrong then. My bad.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by Jack of All Parades »

No, you are not wrong. If you like a song, like it. I would love to read why you like it instead of a bland it is 'a great little tune'. You might have a perspective on the song that I fail to see or hear.
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Re: Straining to outlive the past re:WIWC

Post by the_platypus »

I just really love the melody. Play the vocal melody on a piano and it is such a wistful, elegant tune.

I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't have it in me to write a longwinded essay about why I like a song-- if a melody hits me, then it just does. I've offered my thoughts on other aspects of the record-- the brickwalled, compressed production, the 21st century stylistic direction of the record but I can't delve too deeply into why I like a song. It is a lot easier to point out how a song fails, in my perception-- which I know you guys love to do.

Lest I be labeled a fanboy with no critical eye-- I have no problem with people disliking a record, or posting why. Criticism is a good thing. I do take issue with the level of histrionic nastiness that it seems to constantly be presented with. A song can't just be unappealing, it has to be an "abysmal mess". A record can't just be below-par, instead it is referred to as a "sad failure" with "bankrupt musical ideas". I know we are all EC fans and we each have our own likes and dislikes (I for one never listen to "My Aim is True"-- I find it a quaint, somewhat boring album by a young artist who hadn't quite grown into his own potential) but the acerbic, often disdainful nature of these posts is sometimes a little jarring. It is, after all, only music, and music should be a joyful thing.

I know you are a fan, Christopher, and have been one far longer than I... this is not to be a jerk towards you, rather explain why my own posts in these threads sometimes come across as exasperated or annoyed.
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