Reno Gazette-Journal, November 9, 1986: Difference between revisions
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Nor can we ignore the Attractions, one of the premiere backup bands in the business today. While the album ends unconvincingly on a mixture of self-pity and suicidal defiance, it is a worthy addition to Costello's "rogue's gallery" and should be owned by any Napoleon Dynamite fan. | Nor can we ignore the Attractions, one of the premiere backup bands in the business today. While the album ends unconvincingly on a mixture of self-pity and suicidal defiance, it is a worthy addition to Costello's "rogue's gallery" and should be owned by any Napoleon Dynamite fan. | ||
Anyway, the usual cast of characters is here: women flipping through lovers like Rolodex cards, the rejects becoming either burned-out derelicts or homicidal maniacs. The hypnotic bondage of love is encapsulated in "I Want You," which rivals in its obsession the John Lennon song of the same name. This longish ballad also demonstrates the strengths and weaknesses of Costello's singing. While the honest heartache of the opening lines is awkwardly expressed by El's froglike croaking, his voice gains dimension as the sarcasm gradually deepens. | |||
"Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head" would be better served by George Jones or John Anderson, who could bring to it the proper sense of country melancholy. By contrast, Napoleon D.'s show-stopper is "Battered Old Bird," a bitterly poignant | |||
study of the effects of domestic strife on children. | |||
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Latest revision as of 04:37, 17 March 2017
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