Review:

on 2011-03-01 CharlesMartel Said:

This is a solid album of the best songs and hits from the man who earned himself the label of the thinking man's punk. All his classic stuff is here, together with a number of his later hits when he experimented with different styles of music. Declan McManus' talent as a songwriter could not be in doubt if you listen to this. This is thoughtful and clever stuff. Mr Costello is one of those artists I simply did not have the money to explore in the days when he first emerged on the scene. By the time I came round to revisiting his work again in the early noughties, as my self-imposed musical hiatus drew to a close, I was looking at purchasing either a huge back catalogue or going out and getting a damn good compilation. I am glad I chose the latter.

The reason for this is simple. His early stuff is undoubtedly the best and I would have resented shelling out for a load of CD's from the eighties onwards where there was perhaps one track worth listening to an each amid a residue of unappealing filler. People might knock compilations but without them my music collection may well have omitted a huge number of significant artists entirely.

The album kicks off with the incomparable "Alison" and quickly moves through his early singles including classics such as the keyboard driven "I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea" and the infectious stomping rhythm of "Pump It Up". In spite of the label he attracted, Costello was never a punk. He was just too talented a musician and a songwriter for that. Yet because of the time he broke onto the scene he will forever be landed with that label.

"Oliver's Army" often gets the highest plaudits from his work, and manages to bridge the divide between a new wave track with a message and some snappy pop which could appeal to the mainstream masses. Yet I do not share the love for that track and never really did. Costello's use of the term white n****r might be frowned on today but wasn't back then (shit the Stranglers back then could title a song "I Feel like a Wog" and get away with it). No, it was just that it seemed too commercial for my personal taste. However, my own personal favourite is "What's So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding", with its rolling melody and catchy, down-tone refrain. Yet there are so many good tracks here to begin with. To listen to this album as a whole is a true trip down memory lane.

The only reason that this does not get a much higher rating is for purely subjective reasons. You see, I don't like his later stuff as much as I do his early work, and so once you pass 1982, I start to go off this CD pretty quickly. It is as if memory lane turned from a pleasant leafy walk in the country along a familiar path into a foreboding and dark skulk in the woods not knowing where the hell you are. Somehow as Elvis Costello got older he became more introspective and more concerned with preserving his reputation as someone pushing the boundaries. His flirtation with country music was perhaps one of the more lamentable examples, but hell I always found "A Good Year for the Roses" to be excessively maudlin. You have to admire Costello's attempt to pursue a career challenging your fanbase across two decades. Few can get away with that, and Costello was not one of them. Still, this album is well worth getting if you want a solid summary of Costello's work.
Rating: 7/10