To give you a nice, short introduction, Elvis Costello (real name Declan MacManus) is without a shadow of a doubt one of the most important artists in music to me. Put simply, if it weren't for him I wouldn't be who I am today, so the thread that follows this post should be a fitting and deserved tribute to him. On top of that, for a guy who's been so prolific down the years, he does unfortunately get very much overlooked by the majority of music fans, despite boasting a relatively consistent and stylistically-varied a back-catalogue that easily puts him up there with the truly great talents in the industry. If you want to find out why, read on.
You'll find an index of every album reviewed along with the link to a sampler regarding it in the index section that starts
here.
Here's the run-down of the contents of this thread...
1977 - My Aim Is True
8/10
1978 - This Year's Model
8.5/10
1979 - Armed Forces
6/10
1980 - Get Happy!!
9.5/10
1981 - Trust
10/10
1981 - Almost Blue
6/10
1982 - Imperial Bedroom
10/10
1983 - Punch the Clock
4/10
1984 - Goodbye Cruel World
2/10
1986 - King Of America
9/10
1986 - Blood and Chocolate
9/10
1989 - Spike
10/10
1991 - Mighty Like a Rose
9/10
1993 - The Juliet Letters
[w/ the Brodsky Quartet] 7/10
1994 - Brutal Youth
7/10
1995 - Kojak Variety
5/10
1996 - All This Useless Beauty
8.5/10
1998 - Painted From Memory
[w/ Burt Bacharach] 7/10
2002 - When I Was Cruel
8/10
2003 - North
4/10
2004 - The Delivery Man
8.5/10
2006 - The River In Reverse
[w/ Allen Toussaint] 9/10
2008 - Momofuku
6/10
2009 - Secret, Profane and Sugarcane
7.5/10
*Glossary of ratings*
1-3/10 = Not worth the jewel case it comes in.
4-5/10 = Strictly for completists only.
6-7/10 = Solid, but not truly brilliant.
8/10 = Very good.
9/10 = Fantastic.
10/10 = Essential.