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ivan@stellysee.de
| From | Stewart Mason <flamingo@theworld.com> |
| Subject | Re: Goodbye Cruel World |
| Date | Fri, 13 Aug 2004 14:31:00 -0400 |
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At 07:56 AM 8/13/2004 EDT, DanAbnrml9@aol.com wrote:
><<NP: GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD (bonus disc) -- Elvis Costello (Based on
re-hearing
>this album a couple of weeks ago and then buying the new Rhino double-disc
>Tuesday, I have to say: this record is actually not nearly as bad as I
>recalled it being at the time. Inappropriately produced, yes, and with
>filler, but there are a handful of extremely strong songs here.) >>
>
>I too have been buying these up as they come out and am sort of shocked
that
>this album isn't nearly as bad as I'd heard. In particular the very
>'80s-sounding Daryl Hall collaboration "The Only Flame In Town"... it's
dated, yes,
>but I have an appreciation for art and architecture that can be pegged to
>their exact moment of inception. I actually think "Goodbye Cruel World" is
fairly
>decent. People talk about this being the worst Costello album, but it's
>heads above "Mighty Like A Rose" and miles ahead of the bland "North"
I actually haven't gotten around to hearing NORTH yet, although being fond
of both ballads and Canada (although I'm non-committal on Diana Krall), I
might be more predisposed to it than some. Although MIGHTY LIKE A ROSE
partially deserves its bad reputation, I think there are some extremely
underrated songs on there that someday will be re-appraised, most notably
"Georgie and Her Rival," "So Like Candy" and "Invasion Hit Parade."
My vote for most completely useless Costello album: ALL THIS USELESS
BEAUTY, by some distance.
I have not been keeping up with the Rhino reissues at all: in fact, the
four I got at Newbury Comics #1 on Monday (the new releases of ALMOST BLUE,
GCW and KOJAK VARIETY, plus a copy of MY AIM IS TRUE that was mis-priced
with a $9.99 starburst although all the other copies were $15.99) were the
first ones I've bought. I know that some of the demos for the album that
originally became Wendy James' NOW AIN'T THE TIME FOR YOUR TEARS (speaking
again of underrated albums -- although it includes quite possibly the worst
song EC has ever written, "The Nameless One," and is completely
inappropriately produced, there's some truly excellent Primitives-style
blonde-pop on there, far superior to any of Transvision Vamp's records)
appeared on CD singles around the time of BRUTAL YOUTH. Have those been
gathered up at last?
S
S
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