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Album Details

• Artist: Elvis Costello
• Album: The Very Best Of
• Label: Rhino
• Year of Release: 2001
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: jpenso on 2005-04-05

When trying to give someone an accurate picture of who Elvis Costello is as a musician it's really hard to put him into one category because Elvis Costello has a track record of making the albums he wants to make, regardless of what people expect. Whether it's the scathing commentary filled rock of his early days, or the new wave experimentations of the 80's, to the exploration of classical music that he has displayed in his latest work with collaborations with Burt Bacharach. Rhino has gone ahead and created a compilation that really captures Costello's career and all of the avenues he has followed. The album has all the hits you would expect to find like "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace Love & Understanding", "Radio Radio", and "Pump it Up", but what really makes this 2 CD collection shine is the hidden gems like "Shipbuilding" that do not get the recognition that his biggest hits get. The best thing about going out and buying this compilation is listening to the songs and hearing the evolution of Elvis' songwriting as he matures from the angry young man of his early years to the mature voice that speaks from experience. If you are looking for an introduction to Elvis Costello this is the set for you and if you already own most of his discography you might just want to go ahead and buy the ones yo don't own unless you were looking for a compact version of what you already own, either way this album is a good buy.

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