features in: Album Chart of 1982 → ● Album Chart of the Decade: 1980s → ● 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die  |
The seventh Costello is widely regarded as a masterpiece, his absolute peak according to many. Sure, it's well crafted, structured and arranged, but where's the excitement? Why do I find it so relentlessly unaffecting I wonder? Production duties were handled by ex-Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick, who had recently just produced Paul McCartney’s “Tug O War”. That kinda safe beat chore acts as a warning sign for sure. Exemptions from my boredom are few, in fact I'd look to three tracks only for any semblance of rebel affection, all on side one. In an almost empty gin palace, the character in the giddy opener “Beyond Belief” is experiencing a battle with the bottle, nothing so novel. Alas, that mini-high dissipates quickly, until “Man Out Of Time” kicks in 4 songs later. Recalling past-glories from both his new wave and country phases, it's very much the outstanding piece here. A burdended soul with “a mind like a sewer and a heart like a fridge” harbours regret and desperately seeks salvation. It's 5½ minutes of intriguing drama, never quite resolved: “Somebody's creeping in the kitchen, There's a reputation to be made, Whose nerves are always on a knife's edge, Who's up late polishing the blade”. “…And In Every Home” is straight from the Randy Newman school of pop cinescopics, and comes complete with an uplifting shot of brassy parumpumpumpum. It pays to be open to new directions. It also pays to be wary.
The Jukebox Rebel
26–Mar–2006
| Tracklist |
| A1 | [02:34]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Beyond Belief (Declan MacManus) New Wave |
| A2 | [03:02]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Tears Before Bedtime (Declan MacManus) Pop |
| A3 | [04:48]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Shabby Doll (Declan MacManus) Songwriter |
| A4 | [04:15]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - The Long Honeymoon (Declan MacManus) Cerebral Pop |
| A5 | [05:26]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Man Out Of Time (Declan MacManus) Cerebral Pop |
| A6 | [02:50] Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Almost Blue (Declan MacManus) Crooner / Cabaret |
| A7 | [03:23] Elvis Costello and The Attractions - …And In Every Home (Declan MacManus) Cerebral Pop |
| B1 | [02:48]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - The Loved Ones (Declan MacManus) Cerebral Pop |
| B2 | [02:43]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Human Hands (Declan MacManus) Cerebral Pop |
| B3 | [02:45] Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Kid About It (Declan MacManus) Pop Ballad |
| B4 | [02:37]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Little Savage (Declan MacManus) New Wave |
| B5 | [02:12]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Boy With A Problem (Declan MacManus, Chris Difford) Pop Ballad |
| B6 | [03:58]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Pidgin English (Declan MacManus) Pop |
| B7 | [03:11]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - You Little Fool (Declan MacManus) Pop |
| B8 | [04:16]  Elvis Costello and The Attractions - Town Cryer (Declan MacManus) Pop Ballad |
