Apropos Of Nothing, January 27, 2013: Difference between revisions
(Create page for Apropos of Nothing's review of ''My Aim Is True'') |
(formatting (no quotes on lp titles, just italics)) |
||
Line 11: | Line 11: | ||
Take a close look at that cover photo - does that look like the face of a man who, more than 30 years later, would host the likes of Tony Bennett and President Bill Clinton on a television program where they talked about (and sang) music? | Take a close look at that cover photo - does that look like the face of a man who, more than 30 years later, would host the likes of Tony Bennett and President Bill Clinton on a television program where they talked about (and sang) music? | ||
''My Aim Is True'' is rightly considered to be one of the greatest debut albums in the history of rock and roll. It's as if this version of Elvis left the musical womb fully formed, ready and raring to go. And even though The Divine Mr. C would up the ante less than a year later with the remarkable ''This Year's Model'', an album featuring a tougher sound provided by his own band (The Attractions; on the debut, the featured band was a Bay Area group called Clover), ''My Aim Is True'' is a great album in its own right. | |||
Like many other albums of that era, I first learned about | Like many other albums of that era, I first learned about ''My Aim Is True'' from reading a Greil Marcus review in [[Rolling Stone, December 1, 1977|Rolling Stone]]. I don't think I have a copy of the review in my collection, but I remember it being a "dual review," of both Costello's record and the new Randy Newman album, ''Little Criminals''. Marcus saw similarities between the two, although he found the Newman record disappointing, and the Costello exciting, even groundbreaking. Looking back more than 35 years later, you can see why Marcus was tempted to make the comparison, although Elvis' early records would eventually stray far from Newman territory. | ||
For the most part, it is the music on an album that first grabs me, as opposed to the lyrics. But Costello is an amazing lyricist, and it was hard not to pay immediate attention to gems like these: | For the most part, it is the music on an album that first grabs me, as opposed to the lyrics. But Costello is an amazing lyricist, and it was hard not to pay immediate attention to gems like these: |
Latest revision as of 20:33, 23 October 2020
|