West Chester University Quad, March 14, 1989: Difference between revisions
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The record buying public, however, is a bit wary considering what Costello has released in recent years. For those who are looking for a collection of angry rockers like his ''My Aim is True'' or ''This Year's Model'' albums, or twenty dancable ditties like ''Get Happy'', they won't find it in ''Spike''. | The record buying public, however, is a bit wary considering what Costello has released in recent years. For those who are looking for a collection of angry rockers like his ''My Aim is True'' or ''This Year's Model'' albums, or twenty dancable ditties like ''Get Happy'', they won't find it in ''Spike''. | ||
First, let's look at what Costello has recorded in the past five years. Aside from last year's compilation album, ''Out of Our Idiot'', it has been two years since Elvis went into the studio. When he came out he brought with him ''Blood and Chocolate'', an album which reunited him with The Attractions and recreated the raw sound of his earlier records | First, let's look at what Costello has recorded in the past five years. Aside from last year's compilation album, ''Out of Our Idiot'', it has been two years since Elvis went into the studio. When he came out he brought with him ''Blood and Chocolate'', an album which reunited him with The Attractions and recreated the raw sound of his earlier records, despite this, the album saw meager sales and received little or no airplay. | ||
In 1986 | In 1986, Costello paired up with T-Bone Burnett and various studio and country musicians to record ''King of America'', which, like most of his records, received overwhelming critical acclaim and sold about a dozen copies. Fans are already drawing parallels between this album and ''Spike'', in which The Attractions are noticeably absent. | ||
When Costello released ''Goodbye Cruel World'' in 1984, the critics and his fans wished he had meant it. Elvis himself admitted that this was a bad album. The critics agreed: it's a loser. | When Costello released ''Goodbye Cruel World'' in 1984, the critics and his fans wished he had meant it. Elvis himself admitted that this was a bad album. The critics agreed: it's a loser. | ||
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It's not all doom and gloom though in ''Spike''. In "God's Comic," Costello uses his witty cynicism to create a hysterical image of God on a waterbed ''"drinking a cola of a mystery brand, reading an airport novelette, listening to Andrew Lloyd-Webber's 'Requiem'."'' | It's not all doom and gloom though in ''Spike''. In "God's Comic," Costello uses his witty cynicism to create a hysterical image of God on a waterbed ''"drinking a cola of a mystery brand, reading an airport novelette, listening to Andrew Lloyd-Webber's 'Requiem'."'' | ||
Musically, this is Costello's most diverse album. Traditional Irish folk instruments mesh with New Orleans-style horns to create sounds never before heard on a pop album. It's an album chock full of international instruments: Spanish guitar, Indian harmonium | Musically, this is Costello's most diverse album. Traditional Irish folk instruments mesh with New Orleans-style horns to create sounds never before heard on a pop album. It's an album chock full of international instruments: Spanish guitar, Indian harmonium, Chinese cymbal, lung maracas, glockenspiel, Sousaphone and even an Oldsmobile hubcap. | ||
Costello has effectively used the Sousaphone in place of the electric bass guitar on several tracks. One such song, "Satlin Malone," an instrumental with lyrics (included on the album sleeve), is a jazzy vehicle for the antics of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band accompanied by drums alone. | Costello has effectively used the Sousaphone in place of the electric bass guitar on several tracks. One such song, "Satlin Malone," an instrumental with lyrics (included on the album sleeve), is a jazzy vehicle for the antics of the Dirty Dozen Brass Band accompanied by drums alone. |
Revision as of 02:47, 26 June 2015
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