Imperial Bedroom: overrated?

[Neil.]

Hi all,

Is it heresy for me to suggest that this album is a tad overpraised? In the recent poll of best Attractions albums, it was up there.

Because it's Elvis's first album to be full of orchestrations, people tend to think of it as a masterpiece (as the advertising at the time also played up) - as a Sergeant Peppery, everything-but-the-kitchen sink production. Goeff Emerick producing, with the Pepper connection, added to the myth.

But stripping the album down to songs, I find that a lot of them are second-rate Costello (although admittedly even second-rate Elvis is most people's career peak).

Beyond Belief, Man Out Of Time, You Little Fool, Long Honeymoon and Town Cryer and Almost Blue are superb, classic songs with masterly playing and amazing production - if I'm making an Elvis compilation for anyone I find it painful to leave any of them off.

But what about the rest of the songs? Some lovely productiony bits, some great instrumental touches, but really, as songs, are they so great? Little Savage, Pidgin English, Kid About It, Tears Before Bedtime, Boy With A Problem, And In Every Home (very clunky singing and arrangement reminiscent of Mike Batt)... all sound quite fragmentary.

The Loved Ones and Human Hands and Shabby Doll are the best of this lesser bunch, but again, they don't quite take off.

I think the reason is the layered production has constrained the singing somehow. Elvis sings at more or less the same pitch, or register, throughout (I'm no muso, so forgive me if I'm wrong on the technical terms!) But he sings in quite a low key, which makes him sound a bit tired and jaded.

Nothing wrong with that - Man Out of Time's weary vocal is perfect for the massive, epic sound it's set in, and Long Honeymoon's lazy vocal is deliberately there as a cynical narrator character looking down with a jaded smirk on the sad obliviousness of the cheated wife - but when ALL the songs are sung like that, it doesn't show Elvis's vocal range off to best effect, and gets a bit samey. He sounds clapped-out by the time "...And In Every Home" rolls around.

Also, though the production is layered and often fascinating, it's a little bit trebly all the way through, with not a lot of oomf in the bass. Perhaps it was deliberate for a shimmering, silvery sound, but a little bit of bottom would've made it just that much better.

I wouldn't introduce Elvis to anyone with this album. Blood & Chocolate would be my choice - strong, amazingly punchy and melodic songs throughout, but not too many to take in at first listen (Get Happy ties as a favourite but it's too much to take in for a new listener, and This Year's Model, my other top three is a classic with the classic Attractions sound, but perhaps just a little limited in style to show off Elvis's variety to a new convert).

God, I'm pompous, spouting my opinions, but I've always felt like a heretic for not totally loving Imperial Bedroom!

[wardo68]

Hey, that's what this board is all about, as far as I'm concerned. We all love EC, but from different angles. And sometimes the same ones.

In my case, Imperial Bedroom was the one that really sucked me in. I'd heard various 'hits' over the years (that was back when MTV showed music videos, and a lot of the ones they played were the classic Elvis clips) but when I heard IB in '85 I was struck by the diversity and depth of the music.

But I agree with your other choices. I'm more likely to introduce him to others with TYM, GH or B&C. Then if those work, I give them IB.

[lostdog]

I don't really rate Little Savage or - sometimes - Boy With A Problem, but I love the rest. The first side in particular is absolutely faultless, IMO.

I understand what you say about a certain similarity of tone, but I happen to love that slightly washed up vocal sound! And it's the bond that kind of holds everything else together.

Having said that, it's not my favourite EC record: I probably prefer KOA, GH and B&C, but it's definitely up there. I certainly don't think IB is a sarced cow with an inflated value.

[BlueChair]

Imperial Bedroom is sometimes my favourite EC album, but not always. I find it cycles between IB, GH and B&C and I think that's part of the beauty of Elvis' career... that he has three albums that different and that good. I think the Beatles and Bob Dylan are the only other artists with whom I don't have a defined favourite album.

[verbal gymnastics]

Is it heresy for me to suggest that this album is a tad overpraised?

...

God, I'm pompous, spouting my opinions, but I've always felt like a heretic for not totally loving Imperial Bedroom!

Of course it's not heresy. You are entitled to your own views about any particular album. Elvis told a story about the reissue of Goodbye Cruel World saying about this being his worst album. At some stage a fan produced a dog eared vinyl copy that had obviously been loved and meant a lot to the fan concerned.

I think Imperial Bedroom is rightly hailed as a classic. I really like it but my favourite Elvis album changes on different days depending on the mood I'm in.

[Emotional Toothpaste]

I agree with you Neil. Its a great album, but I don't find myself listening to it as much as GH, B & C, KOA, and at least 5 or 6 others. I rarely listen to it, except when I want to hear two or three tracks. And I really like Shabby Doll. Damn it, now you got me wanting to listen to the whole CD.

[Extreme Honey]

In fact, if it wasn't for the least popular tracks in IB I probably wouldn't listen to the album. Night Time, Town Cryer, Pidgin English and Little Savage add to the mystique this album offers. The best thing about IB is how good it is and how little it is known.

[Mr. Average]

I believe Imperial Bedroom to represent the best balance of Elvis material held under one title. It has everything. The orchestral support doesn't make or break any of the songs. It isn't the pullthrough...it's the fine balance of the content.

I have heard many derogate the record for its inclusion of Pidgin English, Boy With, and Little Savage (imagine that! a personal fav) yet these very same people incessantly hum of the "Ten Commandments of Love", the fact that "the Lamb Lies with the Lion", or they "Came home drunk/Talkin' in circles". ALl of the songs may not grab like others, but they all share an unparalleled staying power that I find in no other album. That said, depending on my mood, I may suggest to someone to start with TYM or GH.

[verbal gymnastics]

Spare me the theatrics ...

Imperial Bedroom is important for one thing and one thing alone. It is the album from which my moniker comes from.

Actually, EH raises a point. Are we talking about the original release or the reissues? Night Time of course wasn't on the original release.

Neil - have you heard the Conversation With...LP where Elvis talks in great detail about the songs on Imperial Bedroom? It is worth hearing.

I used to love playing the vinyl and then having to move the arm back to Town Cryer as this is my favourite song on the album. "Just a little boy lost in a big man's shirt" was my favourite line.

[noiseradio]

I think IB is a great record, one of the best he ever made. And its production is stellar. But, I have to say that it's not even in my top five. That's not a slam on IB as much as it is stellar praise for my top five. I think it's perfectly understandable why so many peope feel IB to be his crowning achievement. But I don't understand people who think it's head and shoulders above the rest. If it's the best, it's barely so. I happen to think TYM, Blood & Chocolate, Get Happy!!, Trust, and Armed Forces are all better records. But that's just me.

None of this is heresy.

[E*C*RIDER]

overrated? Naaaaah
masterpiece? Sure.

A great release, both a progression AND departure from the Get Happy, Trust & the country run... neither coming or going! The Rhino re-issue bonus disc gives me even more reason to love "Imperial Bedroom"

[E*C*RIDER]

overrated? Naaaaah
masterpiece? Sure.

A great release, both a progression AND departure from the Get Happy, Trust & the country run... neither coming or going! The Rhino re-issue bonus disc gives me even more reason to love "Imperial Bedroom"

[King Hoarse]

Most of the songs are top notch and the ones that aren't are still damned enjoyable. I've listened to it for ten years and it's still growing on me. Not my fave yet, but maybe the only EC album that can stand several repeated (sober) listenings after all this time. The arrangements are lovely and still sound fresh but I agree that the sound is too trebly for its own good.

EC & the Imposters play remarkably few songs from this record considering its elevated status. Surely a lot of the layered vocals would sound good live now that Davey's in the band. I can't think of a song I'd rather hear them do than The Loved Ones (except maybe Radio Sweetheart).

[bambooneedle]

I like IB a lot, but I don't love it. It's got too much of a sooky attitude for several of the songs.

[alexv]

I find it hard to judge IB strictly on the merits, and as a result probably end up overrating it, cause it's not just about the songs. It's EC's Sgt. Pepper for me. Has he done something better since? Maybe, but whatever that may be it's not the watershed that IB was. Is Abbey Road better than Pepper? Maybe, but Pepper came first, and its impact is greater. Songs like Almost Blue, Beyond Belief, Man Out of Time, Tears Before Bedtime, Town Cryer, Long Honeymoon, Kid About It, and Shabby Doll came across then in a much different way than today. They were truly surprising, almost revolutionary. Jazz piano, French accordion, syrupy strings (that worked), and ornate orchestrations just were not synonymous with EC back then. We had inklings, particularly in Trust, but IB was something totally different, in both intent and execution. Someone listening to those songs today, after being exposed to EC's genre hopping for all these years, can genuinely judge them on the merits, with songs from PFM. North, KOA, Spike, MLAR and others serving as apt comparisons. And in some cases, the newer songs may, overall, be deemed as better than the IB songs. But, for me, no matter how good a newer song may in fact be, the songs of IB are the EC songs that most matter, because they were the ones that signaled the possibilities to come. Having said that, and just to show that I am not a total IB freak, You Little Fool and In Every Home always seemed the weak songs on that record, and Pidgin was kinda iffy.

[Mr. Average]

I find it hard to judge IB strictly on the merits, and as a result probably end up overrating it, cause it's not just about the songs. It's EC's Sgt. Pepper for me. Has he done something better since? Maybe, but whatever that may be it's not the watershed that IB was. Is Abbey Road better than Pepper? Maybe, but Pepper came first, and its impact is greater. Songs like Almost Blue, Beyond Belief, Man Out of Time, Tears Before Bedtime, Town Cryer, Long Honeymoon, Kid About It, and Shabby Doll came across then in a much different way than today. They were truly surprising, almost revolutionary. Jazz piano, French accordion, syrupy strings (that worked), and ornate orchestrations just were not synonymous with EC back then. We had inklings, particularly in Trust, but IB was something totally different, in both intent and execution. Someone listening to those songs today, after being exposed to EC's genre hopping for all these years, can genuinely judge them on the merits, with songs from PFM. North, KOA, Spike, MLAR and others serving as apt comparisons. And in some cases, the newer songs may, overall, be deemed as better than the IB songs. But, for me, no matter how good a newer song may in fact be, the songs of IB are the EC songs that most matter, because they were the ones that signaled the possibilities to come. Having said that, and just to show that I am not a total IB freak, You Little Fool and In Every Home always seemed the weak songs on that record, and Pidgin was kinda iffy.

Great analysis.

[hes a fine figure of a ma]

Imperial Bedroom is Elvis finest hour, which has stood the test of time .

I agree Blood & Chocolate is underated however its way behind IB in my opinion.

He still has another couple great albums in him

[migdd]

Just a couple?

[verbal gymnastics]

Jazz piano, French accordion, syrupy strings (that worked), and ornate orchestrations just were not synonymous with EC back then.

Let alone the world's first backwards accordion

[noiseradio]

I think the world's first backward acordion is on Big Sister's Clothes, and isn't that on Trust?

I will say of IB that it was an absolute thrill to hear EC and Allen Tousaint (and the rest of the band on this last tour) play "Tears Before Bedtime," which Elvis indicated they hadn't even played live when IB came out. Killer.

[The Gentleman]

EC & the Imposters play remarkably few songs from this record considering its elevated status. Surely a lot of the layered vocals would sound good live now that Davey's in the band. I can't think of a song I'd rather hear them do than The Loved Ones (except maybe Radio Sweetheart).

Offhand, I can think of performances by EC&I of:

Beyond Belief
Tears Before Bedtime
Shabby Doll
Man Out of Time
Almost Blue
Human Hands
You Little Fool

(EC has also performed "The Long Honeymoon" in recent years, but I can't recall if he's done it with The Imposters or not).

Either way, that's a good chunk of the album.

[And No Coffee Table]

(EC has also performed "The Long Honeymoon" in recent years, but I can't recall if he's done it with The Imposters or not).

He has.

"The Loved Ones" is a terrific suggestion though.

[King Hoarse]

I stand corrected but they rarely come in chunks, do they? There is the perennial Almost Blue and then maybe one more if you're lucky. The other year in Stockholm they played Human Hands AND You Little Fool and it felt sensational, which is weird. Whereas you wouldn't be surprised (or excited, I dare say) to hear 5 or 6 This Years Model tracks on any given gig.

[migdd]

At the Tabernacle in Atlanta in 2005 he opened the show with Man Out of Time and Shabby Doll back to back (!!!) and played Almost Blue later in the set.