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Run the opening seconds of “Veronica,” from Elvis Costello’s 1989 Spike backward to hear an otherworldly “I buried Elvis” whispering between the 0s and 1s. I missed it the first time around – my bad, what with McCartney guesting like the song was “Revolution 9.” That’s career death sneaking into the ham-fisted grooves of “This Town” and “Let Him Dangle” – the unmistakable music hall-rhythm (is that a tuba, or are we near the gents?), blue-collar British roots music, as in the McCartney-penned “Those Were the Days” (sung by Mary Hopkin) and “When I’m 64.” It goes well with a few pints, a couple of chip butties, and a football riot – not even a cry for help but a suicide message from artist to audience.
Venom – Costello’s trademark – bleeds nicely through My Aim Is True; on Spike, 12 years down the road, it gushes like a brick-size aneurysm. One of Costello’s inner chips – contents always under pressure – seems to have slipped, or else he’s just given up trying. Still, he nearly redeems Spike’s cast of characters – witless mobs, child-molesting priests, cheating girlfriends, and Maggie Thatcher, among others – on bile alone. Yeah, some of the songs aren’t bad, and his voice, well, everyone knows about his voice. But Costello broke his audience in with My Aim Is True, one of the best pop albums – with tunes like “Miracle Man,” “Alison,” “No Dancing,” and “Watching The Detectives” – of that decade. The album is smart, snide and bursting with hook after irresistible hook.
Of course, the reissue of these two, along with 1996’s All This Useless Beauty, might seem beside the point – the originals are in print, and who needs a cleaned-up version of a relatively recent recording? Which might, or might not, be where the “bonus” disc that comes with each album fits in, included are unreleased originals – although Costello himself once said that he’s written a lot of bad songs – and demos of the songs that were released. Those are often quite compelling – Costello singing and on many accompanying himself with just an acoustic guitar, as if he were on Unplugged.
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