Rank All This Useless Beauty

[King Hoarse]

1. You Bowed Down
2. Distorted Angel
3. Complicated Shadows
4. The Other End Of The Telescope
5. I Want To Vanish

6. Shallow Grave
7. All This Useless Beauty
8. Little Atoms
9. Why Can’t A Man Stand Alone?
10. It’s Time
11. Poor Fractured Atlas
12. Starting To Come To Me


What do you guys and dolls think?

[Who Shot Sam?]

1. All This Useless Beauty
2. Distorted Angel
3. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?
4. I Want To Vanish
5. The Other End Of The Telescope
6. Poor Fractured Atlas
7. You Bowed Down
8. Little Atoms
9. Complicated Shadows
10. Starting To Come To Me
11. Shallow Grave
12. It's Time

[wardo68]

1. Little Atoms
2. All This Useless Beauty
3. Complicated Shadows
4. The Other End Of The Telescope
5. Poor Fractured Atlas
6. Starting To Come To Me
7. You Bowed Down
8. It’s Time
9. Distorted Angel
10. I Want To Vanish
11. Shallow Grave
12. Why Can’t A Man Stand Alone?

Again, some of the songs I prefer in other versions. This ranking is strictly based on this set of recordings.

[Extreme Honey]

1. Poor Fractured Atlas
2. Distorted Angel
3. Complicated Shadows
4. All This Useless Beauty
5. Little Atoms
6. The Other End...
7. Shallow Grave
8. You Bowed Down
9. Starting To Come To Me
10. It's Time
11. I Want To Vanish
12. why can't a man stand alone? (thanks fish)

I really can't see why this album is so dramatically underrated. I could listen to this just as much as IB or MLAR or any other great elvis costello album.

[Fishfinger king]

1 You bowed down
2 Starting to come to me
3 Little atoms
4 All this useless beauty
5 Distorted angel
6 Shallow grave
7 It's time
8 I want to vanish
9 The other end of the telescope
10 Complicated shadows
11 Why can't a man stand alone? (Extreme honey: you missed this)
12 Poor fractured atlas

[noiseradio]

1. Shallow Grave
2. Complicated Shadows
3. The Other End Of The Telescope
4. Starting To Come To Me
5. Why Can’t A Man Stand Alone?
6. All This Useless Beauty
7. Little Atoms
8. Distorted Angel
9. It’s Time
10. Poor Fractured Atlas
11. You Bowed Down
12. I Want To Vanish

[oily slick]

1. All This Useless Beauty You Bowed Down It's Time The Other End Of The Telescope Complicated Shadows Distorted Angel Why Can't a Man Stand Alone? Little Atoms Starting To Come To Me Poor Fractured Atlas Shallow Grave I Want To Vanish

[oily slick]

1. All This Useless Beauty
2. You Bowed Down
3. It's Time
4. The Other End Of The Telescope
5. Complicated Shadows
6. Distorted Angel
7. Why Can’t A Man Stand Alone?
8. Little Atoms
9. Starting To Come To Me
10. Poor Franctured Atlas
11. Shallow Grave
12. I Want To Vanish

[The Deliveryman]

1. Distorted Angel
2. It's Time
3. Little Atoms
4. All This Useless Beauty
5. The Other End Of The Telescope
6. I Want To Vanish
7. Starting To Come To Me
8. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?
9. You Bowed Down
10. Shallow Grave
11. Poor Fractured Atlas
12. Complicated Shadows

[manoutoftime]

I want to vanish
Why can't a man stand alone
Poor Fractured Atlas
Distorted angel
Complicated Shadows
You Bowed Down
Its Time
Other End of Telescope
Little Atoms
All This Useless Beauty
Shallow Grave
Starting to come to me

[BlueChair]

I have an extremely soft spot for ATUB... I love the whole thing, but here's my order:

1. All This Useless Beauty
2. You Bowed Down
3. Complicated Shadows
4. Distorted Angel
5. The Other End Of The Telescope
6. I Want To Vanish
7. Why Can’t A Man Stand Alone?
8. Poor Fractured Atlas
9. Little Atoms
10. Shallow Grave
11. It’s Time
12. Starting To Come To Me

[laughingcrow]

1 Poor Fractured Atlas
2 You Bowed Down
3 The Other End Of The Telescope
4 Shallow Grave
5 Distorted Angel
6 Complicated Shadows
7 Why Can’t A Man Stand Alone?
8 All This Useless Beauty
9 I Want To Vanish
10 Starting To Come To Me
11 Little Atoms
12 It’s Time

[alexv]

1 Poor Fractured Atlas
2 It’s Time
3 All This Useless Beauty
4 The Other End Of The Telescope
5 Little Atoms
6 Starting to Come to Me
7 You Bowed Down
8 Distorted Angel
9 I Want To Vanish
10 Shallow Grave
11 Why Can't A Man Stand Alone
12 Complicated Shadows

[Branst]

1. I Want To Vanish
2. All This Useless Beauty
3. Poor Fractured Atlas
4. Shallow Grave
5. The Other End Of The Telescope
6. Starting To Come To Me
7. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone
8. You Bowed Down
9. Little Atoms
10. Distorted Angel
11. Complicated Shadows
12. It's Time

[bambooneedle]

1. The Other End Of The Telescope
2. All This Useless Beauty
3. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?
4. Poor Fractured Atlas
5. It's Time
6. Little Atoms
7. You Bowed Down
8. I Want To Vanish
9. Shallow Grave
10. Complicated Shadows
11. Starting To Come To Me
12. Distorted Angel

[Goody2Shoes]

1. The Other End Of The Telescope
2. All This Useless Beauty
3. It’s Time
4. You Bowed Down
5. Little Atoms
6. Starting To Come To Me
7. Distorted Angel
8. Complicated Shadows
9. Poor Fractured Atlas
10. Shallow Grave
11. Why Can’t A Man Stand Alone?
12. I Want To Vanish

[invisible Pole]

01. All This Useless Beauty
02. You Bowed Down
03. I Want To Vanish
04. The Other End Of The Telescope
05. Distorted Angel
06. Poor Fractured Atlas
07. Little Atoms
08. Complicated Shadows
09. Starting To Come To Me
10. It’s Time
11. Shallow Grave
12. Why Can’t A Man Stand Alone?

One of my favourites, but strangely enough had not much problem with ranking it. (places 3-5 may change depending on the mood)

[MistakenForLilies]

1. You Bowed Down
2. Distorted Angel
3. Little Atoms
4. Complicated Shadows
5. It's Time
6. All This Useless Beauty
7. I Want To Vanish
8. The Other End Of The Telescope
9. Poor Fractured Atlas
10. Shallow Grave
11. Starting To Come To Me
12. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?

[noiseradio]

I'm genuinely surprised by how many people seem to rank "Shallow Grave" near or at the bottom. That song kicks ass.

[Turquoise Pajamas Pt Deux]

1. It's Time
2. I Want To Vanish
3. You Bowed Down
4. All This Useless Beauty
5. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?
6. Distorted Angel
7. Complicated Shadows
8. Little Atoms
9. Starting To Come To Me
10. The Other End Of The Telescope
11. Shallow Grave
12. Poor Fractured Atlas

[mood swung]

some of EC's best, lyrically. imo.

1. The Other End (Of The Telescope)
2. I Want To Vanish
3. Complicated Shadows
4. You Bowed Down
5. Shallow Grave
6. Starting To Come To Me
7. It's Time
8. Little Atoms
9. All This Useless Beauty
10. Distorted Angel
11. Poor Fractured Atlas
12. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?

10-12 are fairly interchangeable, but PFA features that englishter pronunciation of "squirrel" that always makes me smile.

[Emotional Toothpaste]

One of my favorite albums, this is a tough one.

1. Poor Fractured Atlas (you gotta love the phrase, "A woman wouldn't understand it", and its a great song and beautiful melody)
2. I Want To Vanish (I was worried after first hearing this that this was Elvis' swan song from the biz)
3. All This Useless Beauty
4. Distorted Angel
5. The Other End (Of The Telescope)
6. Starting To Come To Me
7. Little Atoms
8. Shallow Grave
9. Complicated Shadows
10. You Bowed Down
11. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?
12. It's Time ( the only clunker on the whole album)

[Chrille]

I havn't listened as much to it as the other albums yet. I think it's very good but personally I think he's got too much vibrator up his ass. Anyway, here here goes:

1. Shallow Grave
2. Poor Fractured Atlas
3. Starting To Come To Me
4. I Want To Vanish
5. Distorted Angel
6. Complicated Shadows
7. All This Useless Beauty
8. Little Atoms
9. The Other End Of The Telescope
10. You Bowed Down
11. It's Time
12. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone

[MegJS]

1. Poor Fractured Atlas
2. Why Can't A Man Stand Alone
3. I Want To Vanish
4. Distorted Angel
5. The Other End Of The Telescope
6. Starting To Come To Me
7. It's Time
8. Little Atoms
9. Shallow Grave
10. Complicated Shadows
11. All This Useless Beauty
12. You Bowed Down

1-3 - they are among the most exquisite, refined, subtle and elegant songs I've ever heard, sound like classics.
4 - another pop masterpiece
6 - it's so... fresh, don't know why, when I hear it I always imaging a fair.

edit
I was listening to "Riding To Vanity Fair" while writing this. So instead of "fair" I first wrote "vanity".

[strangerinthehouse]

1. Little Atoms
2. Complicated Shadows
3.The other End of the telescope
4. Why can't a man stand Alone (I find myself singing this one a lot)
5. All this Useless Beauty
6. I want to Vanish
7. Poor fractured atlas
8. Distorted Angel
9. Shallow grave
10. it's Time
11. You Bowed Down
12. Starting to Come to Me