Music Banter - View Single Post - Bulldog's Armchair Guide To Elvis Costello

Bulldog · 01-18-2009, 01:23 PM

Spike
[Tracks 1-11]
1989, Warner Bros Records, Ocean Way (LA), Southlake (New Orleans), Windmill Lane (Dublin) and Air Studios (London)

Following the breakup of the Attractions, Elvis Costello was finally able to take some well-earned time off (following about 10 years of virtually constant touring and recording). Upon the end of his final tour with the Attractions for a good few years to come, and a few holidays around the world, Costello was called into the studio again, this time by a certain Paul McCartney. The general consensus was that, after the release of his Press To Play album in 1986 (which I actually quite like, but that's beside the point), McCartney was in decline as an artist. The batch of 10-odd songs that Costello and McCartney co-wrote in 1987 would end up in a variety of places, one of which was the ex-Beatle's own Flowers In the Dirt album. Two of these songs, namely Veronica and Pads, Paws and Claws, would be given the full studio-treatment by Costello for his own album-in-the-making.

That album, 1989's Spike, is basically the sound of an artist with a lucrative new record deal enjoying near-total artistic freedom. What that basically means is that Costello was able to make an album in a very drawn-out and expensive way, by which no two instruments (with the exception of the occasional use of horn arrangements) are played together, being recorded one by one on top of his own voice, rhythm guitar and a very sparse drum machine beat. This also culminated in an album which sounds more like a compilation than a cohesive studio effort - put simply, if no two tracks sound the same, then they certainly are all very unique from eachother indeed. It's as unique a mainstream album as I've ever heard, and in my opinion (along with The The's Mind Bomb, Talk Talk's Spirit Of Eden etc) one of the best musical products of the 80s.

1. This Town
The only one of these tracks which has dated even slightly is the album opener; a very complex and heavily-produced rocker (which makes use of that whole echoey-drum thing that was around a lot in them days). Listening closely you can just about hear the very distant backbone of the song, that being the acoustic guitar chord-progression, and how it's simply swamped by every other instrumental contribution. In other words, it's this album by numbers - basically a show of how effective the building-block approach to songwriting can be if placed in the right hands. 8/10

2. Let Him Dangle
One way in which Costello develops as an artist with this album is that he starts to deal with much meatier lyrical matters, concentrating not so much on the wordplay he was known for but instead delivering an up-front and blatant message, as he does with this folkish telling of the story of the Derek Bentley case. The best way to describe this song is as British folk-rock brought to a studio in 1989. 7/10

3. Deep Dark Truthful Mirror
Here's the first of many real U-turns (sound-wise) that the album takes, as Costello works his way through a slice of smooth jazz on the back of a virtuoso performance from Allen Toussaint on the piano. Backed by Toussaint's own horn section, this is truly one of Costello's best recordings. 10/10

4. Veronica
The first of a handful of Costello/McCartney songs on the album, Veronica would be Costello's last top 20 hit (barring a rather rubbish song for the Notting Hill soundtrack). It's a sweet and pretty pop song dedicated to Costello's Alzheimer's-afflicted grandmother and very powerfully written indeed;

'Is it all in that pretty little head of yours?
What goes on in that place in the dark?
Well I used to know a girl and I could have sworn
That her name was Veronica
Well she used to have a carefree mind of her own
And a delicate look in her eye
These days I'm afraid she's not even sure
If her name is Veronica'

Don't let the word 'pop' put you off though. While it's probably the most flat-out commercial song on the record, it's earnest and thought-provoking lyric over a wonderfully-arranged backing track really leaves a mark, as any truly great song should. Another one of Costello's finest without a doubt. 10/10

5. God's Comic
The pace slows right down here as the overall sound of the album takes another U-turn, this time with a folkish tale of a comedian finding God in the North Pole complete with a jazzy horn section to back things up. Again, we see the effect of Costello's approach in the studio turning a rather tame song (judging by the unspectacular demo of it) into something more worthwhile. It does meander a little though, and there are better songs around here... 6/10

6. Chewing Gum
...like this one for instance. The bass, spiky guitar interludes and occasional blasts from the horns make this easily the funkiest song Costello ever wrote and another album highlight. 9/10

7. Tramp the Dirt Down
Using the Uileann pipes, fiddle and bouzouki as it does, this is one of a couple of places here where Costello shows off his Irish ancestry in musical form. The slow, gentle and somewhat pensive recording of this song do another meaty lyrical subject matter a whole lot of justice. I won't say what it's about exactly, but this verse should give things away nicely;

'When England was the whore of the world
Margaret was her madam
And the future looked as bright and as clear
As the black tarmacadam
Well I hope that she sleeps well at night
Isn't haunted by every tiny detail
'cos when she held that lovely face in her hands
All she thought of was betrayal' 7/10

8. Stalin Malone
A jazzy instrumental interlude between sides of the album, it's essentially just a jam from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (the horn section used throughout the album). 5/10

9. Satellite
This soaring ballad is propelled nicely by one Michael Blair's musical contributions, those being the percussive flourishes of the tympani, marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel and bells, which underpins a richly poetic way to describe looking up softcore porn;

'She looks like she learned to dance
From a series of still pictures
She's madly excited now
She throws her hands up like a tulip
She looks like an illustration of a cocktail party
Where cartoon bubbles burst in the air
Champagne rolls off her tongue like a second language'

Costello is on top vocal form here, and Chrissie Hynde's (formerly of the Pretenders) backing vocal really helps to set up a truly memorable chorus and another great song. 9/10

10. Pads, Paws and Claws
The second McCartney co-write is this quirky and skewiff number, the occasional rogue, screeching guitar chords thoroughly derailing this interesting number from the standard rock 'n' roll structure. Yet another tune which sticks out like a sore thumb on the tracklisting (and let's face it, virtually the whole album is made up of such things), and certainly a lot more raw and somewhat unpolished than a lot of the songs on the album. It certainly bares a lot more of a resemblance to the man's earlier work too. 7/10

11. Baby Plays Around
Like Lovable from King Of America, Baby Plays Around is another co-write from Costello and his then-wife (former Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan). It's definitely the lightest and most unembellished song on the album, being an acoustic rock ballad framing a sorrowful lyric, which speaks for itself really;

'It's not open to discussion anymore
She's out again tonight
And I'm alone once more
She's all I have worth waiting for
But baby plays around'

Nothing earth-shattering, but a nice little song all the same, and a bit of light relief from heavy production methods which shape the rest of the album. 6/10

01-18-2009, 01:23 PM	#43 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	Spike [Tracks 1-11] 1989, Warner Bros Records, Ocean Way (LA), Southlake (New Orleans), Windmill Lane (Dublin) and Air Studios (London) Following the breakup of the Attractions, Elvis Costello was finally able to take some well-earned time off (following about 10 years of virtually constant touring and recording). Upon the end of his final tour with the Attractions for a good few years to come, and a few holidays around the world, Costello was called into the studio again, this time by a certain Paul McCartney. The general consensus was that, after the release of his Press To Play album in 1986 (which I actually quite like, but that's beside the point), McCartney was in decline as an artist. The batch of 10-odd songs that Costello and McCartney co-wrote in 1987 would end up in a variety of places, one of which was the ex-Beatle's own Flowers In the Dirt album. Two of these songs, namely Veronica and Pads, Paws and Claws, would be given the full studio-treatment by Costello for his own album-in-the-making. That album, 1989's Spike, is basically the sound of an artist with a lucrative new record deal enjoying near-total artistic freedom. What that basically means is that Costello was able to make an album in a very drawn-out and expensive way, by which no two instruments (with the exception of the occasional use of horn arrangements) are played together, being recorded one by one on top of his own voice, rhythm guitar and a very sparse drum machine beat. This also culminated in an album which sounds more like a compilation than a cohesive studio effort - put simply, if no two tracks sound the same, then they certainly are all very unique from eachother indeed. It's as unique a mainstream album as I've ever heard, and in my opinion (along with The The's Mind Bomb, Talk Talk's Spirit Of Eden etc) one of the best musical products of the 80s. 1. This Town The only one of these tracks which has dated even slightly is the album opener; a very complex and heavily-produced rocker (which makes use of that whole echoey-drum thing that was around a lot in them days). Listening closely you can just about hear the very distant backbone of the song, that being the acoustic guitar chord-progression, and how it's simply swamped by every other instrumental contribution. In other words, it's this album by numbers - basically a show of how effective the building-block approach to songwriting can be if placed in the right hands. 8/10 2. Let Him Dangle One way in which Costello develops as an artist with this album is that he starts to deal with much meatier lyrical matters, concentrating not so much on the wordplay he was known for but instead delivering an up-front and blatant message, as he does with this folkish telling of the story of the Derek Bentley case. The best way to describe this song is as British folk-rock brought to a studio in 1989. 7/10 3. Deep Dark Truthful Mirror Here's the first of many real U-turns (sound-wise) that the album takes, as Costello works his way through a slice of smooth jazz on the back of a virtuoso performance from Allen Toussaint on the piano. Backed by Toussaint's own horn section, this is truly one of Costello's best recordings. 10/10 4. Veronica The first of a handful of Costello/McCartney songs on the album, Veronica would be Costello's last top 20 hit (barring a rather rubbish song for the Notting Hill soundtrack). It's a sweet and pretty pop song dedicated to Costello's Alzheimer's-afflicted grandmother and very powerfully written indeed; 'Is it all in that pretty little head of yours? What goes on in that place in the dark? Well I used to know a girl and I could have sworn That her name was Veronica Well she used to have a carefree mind of her own And a delicate look in her eye These days I'm afraid she's not even sure If her name is Veronica' Don't let the word 'pop' put you off though. While it's probably the most flat-out commercial song on the record, it's earnest and thought-provoking lyric over a wonderfully-arranged backing track really leaves a mark, as any truly great song should. Another one of Costello's finest without a doubt. 10/10 5. God's Comic The pace slows right down here as the overall sound of the album takes another U-turn, this time with a folkish tale of a comedian finding God in the North Pole complete with a jazzy horn section to back things up. Again, we see the effect of Costello's approach in the studio turning a rather tame song (judging by the unspectacular demo of it) into something more worthwhile. It does meander a little though, and there are better songs around here... 6/10 6. Chewing Gum ...like this one for instance. The bass, spiky guitar interludes and occasional blasts from the horns make this easily the funkiest song Costello ever wrote and another album highlight. 9/10 7. Tramp the Dirt Down Using the Uileann pipes, fiddle and bouzouki as it does, this is one of a couple of places here where Costello shows off his Irish ancestry in musical form. The slow, gentle and somewhat pensive recording of this song do another meaty lyrical subject matter a whole lot of justice. I won't say what it's about exactly, but this verse should give things away nicely; 'When England was the whore of the world Margaret was her madam And the future looked as bright and as clear As the black tarmacadam Well I hope that she sleeps well at night Isn't haunted by every tiny detail 'cos when she held that lovely face in her hands All she thought of was betrayal' 7/10 8. Stalin Malone A jazzy instrumental interlude between sides of the album, it's essentially just a jam from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band (the horn section used throughout the album). 5/10 9. Satellite This soaring ballad is propelled nicely by one Michael Blair's musical contributions, those being the percussive flourishes of the tympani, marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel and bells, which underpins a richly poetic way to describe looking up softcore porn; 'She looks like she learned to dance From a series of still pictures She's madly excited now She throws her hands up like a tulip She looks like an illustration of a cocktail party Where cartoon bubbles burst in the air Champagne rolls off her tongue like a second language' Costello is on top vocal form here, and Chrissie Hynde's (formerly of the Pretenders) backing vocal really helps to set up a truly memorable chorus and another great song. 9/10 10. Pads, Paws and Claws The second McCartney co-write is this quirky and skewiff number, the occasional rogue, screeching guitar chords thoroughly derailing this interesting number from the standard rock 'n' roll structure. Yet another tune which sticks out like a sore thumb on the tracklisting (and let's face it, virtually the whole album is made up of such things), and certainly a lot more raw and somewhat unpolished than a lot of the songs on the album. It certainly bares a lot more of a resemblance to the man's earlier work too. 7/10 11. Baby Plays Around Like Lovable from King Of America, Baby Plays Around is another co-write from Costello and his then-wife (former Pogues bassist Cait O'Riordan). It's definitely the lightest and most unembellished song on the album, being an acoustic rock ballad framing a sorrowful lyric, which speaks for itself really; 'It's not open to discussion anymore She's out again tonight And I'm alone once more She's all I have worth waiting for But baby plays around' Nothing earth-shattering, but a nice little song all the same, and a bit of light relief from heavy production methods which shape the rest of the album. 6/10 Last edited by Bulldog; 02-15-2009 at 07:56 AM.