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

Bulldog · 01-25-2009, 03:28 PM

Mighty Like a Rose
1991, Warner Bros Records, Ocean Way and Westside Studios (London)

Despite its dividing critics and fans alike nicely down the middle, Spike had become Costello's biggest-selling record since 1979's Armed Forces, which is quite an accomplishment given the eclectic and noncommercial nature of the album as a whole. To follow it up, Costello opted for the same wall-of-sound approach to recording his songs. Mighty Like a Rose (named after Vaughn de Leath's ditty of the same name) is, then, something of a stylistic sequel to Spike, only this time the results of the studio sessions are even more bafflingly eclectic and ultimately difficult than the ones which preceded it. Therefore, this is arguably Costello's most experimental and off-the-wall album (although it the same could be argued for Spike and When I Was Cruel). Lyrically, the yarn-spinning themes which populated Spike were dispensed with and replaced with the anger, disenchantment and melancholy present in his earlier work (sometimes even taken to their extremes).

1. The Other Side Of Summer
To kick things off we're a great little piece of surf pop, which is itself twisted into nasty, dark and sinister pastiche of the Beach Boys. It's basically the perfect musical backdrop for a poem which goes out of its way to prove that 'there's malice and there's magic in every season'. Here's a verse for you peruse;

'Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"?
A poor little schoolboy who said "we don't no lessons"?
The rabid rebel dogs ransack the shampoo shop
The pop princess is downtown shooting up
And if that goddess is fit for burning
The sun will struggle up the world will still keep turning'

Some of my personal favourite Costello lyrics here, and a terrific song for sure, again showing how effective the wall-of-sound technique can be. 10/10

2. Hurry Down Doomsday (the Bugs Are Taking Over)
From there the album steers itself more towards good old rock 'n' roll territory, although the confusingly skewiff nature of this recording hides that notion nicely (to the untrained ear anyway). Jim Keltner's percussive contributions and James Burton's blasts of guitar make for a very strange-sounding rock song indeed - making for a nicely unsettling musical backdrop for a lyrics which begins with 'the man in the corner of this picture has a sinister purpose, in the Teeming Temple Of the Railroad Kings' who's 'planting a trashy paperback for accidental purchase'. It's possible that the target of this particular tirade was none other than Costello's former bassist Pete Thomas, who at the time had recently published an autobiography which accused Costello of having a major identity crisis (along with a lot of skeletons in his cupboard). Needless to say, Costello was pretty pissed about this.

Anyway, a good song which helps the mood of the album along that little bit further. 7/10

3. How To Be Dumb
If Hurry Down Doomsday wasn't a dig at Bruce Thomas though, this is about as blatant as having a pop at someone comes;

'Now you've got yourself a brand new occupation
Every fleeting thought is a pearl
And beautiful people stampede to the doorway
Of the funniest fucker in the world
They're here to help you satisfy your desires
There's a bright future for all you professional liars'

Say what you like about the Costello lyrics you might have heard before, but this here is about as downright nasty as he ever got. Again, backed up musically by a suitably furious rock arrangement. 7/10

4. All Grown Up
And here the album changes musical direction dramatically again, as Costello croons his way through a glorious and soaring piece of chamber pop, punctuated as it is by Fiachra Trench and Gavin Wright's orchestral arrangements. 8/10

5. Invasion Hit Parade
Featuring none other than Costello's father Ross MacManus on the trumpet, this bitter and angry song tells the tale of hypocrisy involved in the mass media's role in wartime coverage which, it's safe to assume, was inspired by the events of the Gulf War. The lyrics are, again, among Costello's finest and most evocative;

'The liberation forces make movies of their own
Playing their Doors records and pretending to be stoned
Drowning out a broadcast that wasn't authorised
Incidentally the revolution will be televised
With one head for business and another for good looks
Until they started arriving with their rubber aprons and their butcher's hooks'

That and the distortion which precedes the song (making it seem almost as if we're tuning into a pirate radio station) really help to paint a very strong image for us. If it weren't for the fact that it's slightly overlong, this'd be another well-earned ten. 9/10

6. Harpies Bizarre
Getting by as it does on the back of some terrific woodwind arrangements, Harpies Bizarre is a massively interesting tune, combining elements of classical music (which Costello was slowly beginning to take a keen interest in) and rock music structures. A terrific melody behind some another set of inspired lyrics, it's another one of the man's true greats... 10/10

7. After the Fall
...which is juxtaposed nicely by the softly-sung, uncluttered nature of this acoustic folk number. Grim, depressing, atmospheric, wonderful lyrics and another very good song indeed.9/10

8. Georgie and Her Rival
With its strong allusions of the new wave sounds of yesteryear, Georgie and Her Rival is, along with the opening track, the most musically upbeat and commercially viable tune on the album. That said, it still stays true to the ideas behind the album, and it's plain to hear yet another very complex and well-constructed song yielding some more very fine results. 8/10

9. So Like Candy
Being another one of the songs Costello had written with Paul McCartney some four years earlier, this grim and moody, new wave-afflicted tune was the second choice as a single release (the first being the Other Side Of Summer). Although the verses tend to meander a little musically, it's another well-honed and thought-out song with an infectious chorus. 8/10

10. Couldn't Call It Unexpected no:2
Just a twenty-odd second interlude between two songs. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band returned to Costello's service to record this very unremarkable instrumental. 2/10

11. Playboy To a Man
As it fades out though, we're taken straight into this frenzied number; another one of the Costello/McCartney co-writes of yesteryear. A furiously up-tempo, kind of playful and razor-backed effort at the same time, it's another pick of the litter for me (even if the lyrics aren't all that interesting). 9/10

12. Sweet Pear
Opening with a pastiche of the Beatles' Don't Let Me Down riff, this slow-burning effort (in spite of boasting a great vocal performance) is, if truth be told, a pretty mediocre song and one more low-point of an otherwise very fine album. 5/10

13. Broken
One of the best and most miserable rock ballads I've ever heard, simply because the instrumentation goes leaps and bounds to try and avoid that particular stereotype. This Cait O'Riordan-penned song is underpinned by ghostly organ flourishes, and the lyrics just make it all the more haunting and memorable;

'If I am frightened, then I can hide it
If I am crying, I'll call it laughter
If I am haunted, I'll call it my imaginary friend
If I am bleeding, I'll call it my wine
But if you leave me, then I am broken
And if I'm broken, then only death remains' 10/10

14. Couldn't Call It Unexpected no:4
Such a song couldn't prepare you any less for the playful, jaunty waltz that is the closing track. Again, it's a musical backdrop which contradicts the lyrics (concerning that damn fear of death and the non-existence implied). It brings a mazy and quite bizarre album to a fitting close, boasting some more of Costello's most deep-cutting and meaningful lyrics;

'Please don't let me fear anything I cannot explain
I can't believe I'll never believe in anything again' 9/10

The Outtakes.
Just Another Mystery: Opening with an infectious horn figure, this song doesn't quite live up to that initial promise, but still would have made a fine addition to the album.

Forgive Her Anything: Another crack at recording a song which was left off of Blood and Chocolate, this is a much more inferior version than the aforementioned one.

It Started To Come To Me: Demoed, but never taken into the studio, this very promising song could have been shaped into great tune. Thankfully, it would be a few years later.

So, summing up then...
An album which baffled fans and critics alike and is, for some strange reason, often seen as one of Costello's worst. Needless to say, I don't think so at all. It's a very challenging and difficult album for sure but, like Spike before it, really stands up as a great piece of work once it clicks. While not quite as consistently great as that album was however, it's still one of Costello's best.

9/10

01-25-2009, 03:28 PM	#50 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	Mighty Like a Rose 1991, Warner Bros Records, Ocean Way and Westside Studios (London) Despite its dividing critics and fans alike nicely down the middle, Spike had become Costello's biggest-selling record since 1979's Armed Forces, which is quite an accomplishment given the eclectic and noncommercial nature of the album as a whole. To follow it up, Costello opted for the same wall-of-sound approach to recording his songs. Mighty Like a Rose (named after Vaughn de Leath's ditty of the same name) is, then, something of a stylistic sequel to Spike, only this time the results of the studio sessions are even more bafflingly eclectic and ultimately difficult than the ones which preceded it. Therefore, this is arguably Costello's most experimental and off-the-wall album (although it the same could be argued for Spike and When I Was Cruel). Lyrically, the yarn-spinning themes which populated Spike were dispensed with and replaced with the anger, disenchantment and melancholy present in his earlier work (sometimes even taken to their extremes). 1. The Other Side Of Summer To kick things off we're a great little piece of surf pop, which is itself twisted into nasty, dark and sinister pastiche of the Beach Boys. It's basically the perfect musical backdrop for a poem which goes out of its way to prove that 'there's malice and there's magic in every season'. Here's a verse for you peruse; 'Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"? A poor little schoolboy who said "we don't no lessons"? The rabid rebel dogs ransack the shampoo shop The pop princess is downtown shooting up And if that goddess is fit for burning The sun will struggle up the world will still keep turning' Some of my personal favourite Costello lyrics here, and a terrific song for sure, again showing how effective the wall-of-sound technique can be. 10/10 2. Hurry Down Doomsday (the Bugs Are Taking Over) From there the album steers itself more towards good old rock 'n' roll territory, although the confusingly skewiff nature of this recording hides that notion nicely (to the untrained ear anyway). Jim Keltner's percussive contributions and James Burton's blasts of guitar make for a very strange-sounding rock song indeed - making for a nicely unsettling musical backdrop for a lyrics which begins with 'the man in the corner of this picture has a sinister purpose, in the Teeming Temple Of the Railroad Kings' who's 'planting a trashy paperback for accidental purchase'. It's possible that the target of this particular tirade was none other than Costello's former bassist Pete Thomas, who at the time had recently published an autobiography which accused Costello of having a major identity crisis (along with a lot of skeletons in his cupboard). Needless to say, Costello was pretty pissed about this. Anyway, a good song which helps the mood of the album along that little bit further. 7/10 3. How To Be Dumb If Hurry Down Doomsday wasn't a dig at Bruce Thomas though, this is about as blatant as having a pop at someone comes; 'Now you've got yourself a brand new occupation Every fleeting thought is a pearl And beautiful people stampede to the doorway Of the funniest fucker in the world They're here to help you satisfy your desires There's a bright future for all you professional liars' Say what you like about the Costello lyrics you might have heard before, but this here is about as downright nasty as he ever got. Again, backed up musically by a suitably furious rock arrangement. 7/10 4. All Grown Up And here the album changes musical direction dramatically again, as Costello croons his way through a glorious and soaring piece of chamber pop, punctuated as it is by Fiachra Trench and Gavin Wright's orchestral arrangements. 8/10 5. Invasion Hit Parade Featuring none other than Costello's father Ross MacManus on the trumpet, this bitter and angry song tells the tale of hypocrisy involved in the mass media's role in wartime coverage which, it's safe to assume, was inspired by the events of the Gulf War. The lyrics are, again, among Costello's finest and most evocative; 'The liberation forces make movies of their own Playing their Doors records and pretending to be stoned Drowning out a broadcast that wasn't authorised Incidentally the revolution will be televised With one head for business and another for good looks Until they started arriving with their rubber aprons and their butcher's hooks' That and the distortion which precedes the song (making it seem almost as if we're tuning into a pirate radio station) really help to paint a very strong image for us. If it weren't for the fact that it's slightly overlong, this'd be another well-earned ten. 9/10 6. Harpies Bizarre Getting by as it does on the back of some terrific woodwind arrangements, Harpies Bizarre is a massively interesting tune, combining elements of classical music (which Costello was slowly beginning to take a keen interest in) and rock music structures. A terrific melody behind some another set of inspired lyrics, it's another one of the man's true greats... 10/10 7. After the Fall ...which is juxtaposed nicely by the softly-sung, uncluttered nature of this acoustic folk number. Grim, depressing, atmospheric, wonderful lyrics and another very good song indeed.9/10 8. Georgie and Her Rival With its strong allusions of the new wave sounds of yesteryear, Georgie and Her Rival is, along with the opening track, the most musically upbeat and commercially viable tune on the album. That said, it still stays true to the ideas behind the album, and it's plain to hear yet another very complex and well-constructed song yielding some more very fine results. 8/10 9. So Like Candy Being another one of the songs Costello had written with Paul McCartney some four years earlier, this grim and moody, new wave-afflicted tune was the second choice as a single release (the first being the Other Side Of Summer). Although the verses tend to meander a little musically, it's another well-honed and thought-out song with an infectious chorus. 8/10 10. Couldn't Call It Unexpected no:2 Just a twenty-odd second interlude between two songs. The Dirty Dozen Brass Band returned to Costello's service to record this very unremarkable instrumental. 2/10 11. Playboy To a Man As it fades out though, we're taken straight into this frenzied number; another one of the Costello/McCartney co-writes of yesteryear. A furiously up-tempo, kind of playful and razor-backed effort at the same time, it's another pick of the litter for me (even if the lyrics aren't all that interesting). 9/10 12. Sweet Pear Opening with a pastiche of the Beatles' Don't Let Me Down riff, this slow-burning effort (in spite of boasting a great vocal performance) is, if truth be told, a pretty mediocre song and one more low-point of an otherwise very fine album. 5/10 13. Broken One of the best and most miserable rock ballads I've ever heard, simply because the instrumentation goes leaps and bounds to try and avoid that particular stereotype. This Cait O'Riordan-penned song is underpinned by ghostly organ flourishes, and the lyrics just make it all the more haunting and memorable; 'If I am frightened, then I can hide it If I am crying, I'll call it laughter If I am haunted, I'll call it my imaginary friend If I am bleeding, I'll call it my wine But if you leave me, then I am broken And if I'm broken, then only death remains' 10/10 14. Couldn't Call It Unexpected no:4 Such a song couldn't prepare you any less for the playful, jaunty waltz that is the closing track. Again, it's a musical backdrop which contradicts the lyrics (concerning that damn fear of death and the non-existence implied). It brings a mazy and quite bizarre album to a fitting close, boasting some more of Costello's most deep-cutting and meaningful lyrics; 'Please don't let me fear anything I cannot explain I can't believe I'll never believe in anything again' 9/10 The Outtakes. Just Another Mystery: Opening with an infectious horn figure, this song doesn't quite live up to that initial promise, but still would have made a fine addition to the album. Forgive Her Anything: Another crack at recording a song which was left off of Blood and Chocolate, this is a much more inferior version than the aforementioned one. It Started To Come To Me: Demoed, but never taken into the studio, this very promising song could have been shaped into great tune. Thankfully, it would be a few years later. So, summing up then... An album which baffled fans and critics alike and is, for some strange reason, often seen as one of Costello's worst. Needless to say, I don't think so at all. It's a very challenging and difficult album for sure but, like Spike before it, really stands up as a great piece of work once it clicks. While not quite as consistently great as that album was however, it's still one of Costello's best. 9/10 Last edited by Bulldog; 01-25-2009 at 03:54 PM.