Audio CD review:
Elvis Costello & the Attractions - The Very Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions

Elvis Costello & the Attractions - The Very Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions

Band: Elvis Costello & the Attractions Title: The Very Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions Rating: Release Date: 1994-10-25 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: Alison 2: Watching the Detectives 3: (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea 4: Pump It Up 5: Radio, Radio 6: (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding? - Elvis Costello, Lowe, Nick 7: Oliver's Army 8: Accidents Will Happen 9: I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down - Elvis Costello, Banks, Homer 10: New Amsterdam 11: High Fidelity 12: Clubland 13: Watch Your Step 14: A Good Year for the Roses - Elvis Costello, Chesnut, Jerry 15: Beyond Belief 16: Man Out of Time 17: Everyday I Write the Book 18: Shipbuilding 19: Love Field 20: Brilliant Mistake 21: Indoor Fireworks 22: I Want You

Elvis Costello & The Attractions In fact, he is such a good lyricist that like Bob Dylan, his talent sometimes is overlooked. Costello has had a long and distinguished career as a singer/songwriter. I believe this CD gives a good survey of his early to middle work. One of my favorites here is 'Good Year For the Roses. '. The best single disc collection. Then I got this disc, and now I often make the point. "Elvis Costello" was a name I always heard, but I never really made a point to listen to his music. These 22 songs are incredible, and I wish I gave them a chance sooner. I was also suprised by how many songs I knew, even if not by title. This includes his hits "Alison", "Watching The Detectives", "Pump It Up", and "Everyday I Write The Book". But what's really great, is that most of the other tracks are better. "Oliver's Army", "Man Out Of Time", "New Amsterdam", and "Brilliant Mistake" are amazing. It's hard to believe this is out of print. I guess people will have to get the 2-disc "Very Best Of Elvis Costello" instead, which I assume may be twice as good. Quite possibly the best songwriter of the entire rock era. Costello has written some of the best tunes of anyone in the entire rock era, and as a lyricist puts the lie to the considered opinions of Alan Jay Lerner, Sammy Cahn, etc. "The Very Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions" contains some infuriating omissions--I particularly miss "No Action" and "The Angels Want to Wear My Red Shoes," not to mention "Almost Blue"--but this is probably as complete as a one-disc collection of Costello's best can be. , who insisted that all rock songwriters were illiterates. Songs such as "I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea," "Oliver's Army," "Radio Radio," "High Fidelity," "Alison" and "Every Day I Write the Book" are a treasure trove of incisive wit, cynicism and tenderness. Meanwhile, I understand there's also a two-volume "Very Best" that is probably the better buy, but this will more than do if your funds and time are limited. Buy the cd for a musically unimaginative friend. Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate them. I hate greatest hits collections. The idea that an artists entire career should be compressed down to 15 or so pop singles disgusts me. However, as this is the only Elvis Costello album i own to date (but not for long), I have to review this one. Before listenin to this i was fairly familiar with Elvis Costello, through radio, the internet and what have you, and had always told myself that i would buy one of his cds when i came across one [inexpensive] enough. After receiving this as a gift recently, ive decided not to wait that long, and have changed "when i find a cheap album" to "as soon as i have any money at all, regardless of what bills i have to pay at the time. " His work is really that good. . its a pefect blend of punk, pop, and soul, without trying too hard to be either one. The songs are very catchy, and the set is very complete;it really is the kind of artist anyone could enjoy, regardless of taste. I recommend that you get one of Elvis Costello's other cds for yourself, (seeing as you've made the effort to look him up already), and buy this for a friend who maybe isnt as musically open as you are. They'll thank you. You know its good, and so do I. ;). A welcome introduction to Elvis Now, Elvis Costello had never made a big impression on me -- he was always off in the periphery of my attention, being smarmy and intellectual and lightweight (perceptions I've since abandoned). So I'm listening to the radio station at work, and "Watching the Detectives" comes on. At the end of the second verse I hear the lines "I don't know how much more of this I can take/She's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake". And the hair stands up on the back of my neck. And I get a chill down my spine. And then at the end of the song, when he sings "Even if it took a miracle to get you to stay/It only took my little finger to blow you away", I jumped out of my chair and did cartwheels down the hall (okay, not really. . . but I felt like it). And I thought to myself "This is what good pop-songwriting is supposed to be: catchy, upbeat melodies that, upon closer inspection, hide ridiculously morbid but lucid imagery". Reminds me a lot of the Police's best singles ("Every Breath You Take", "Roxanne", "I Can't Stand Losing You"). Mania hidden behind faux-reggae rhythms. So I get the album for that one song, only to discover that it holds several more nuggets, some of which I am semi-familiar with but never paid close attention to. "Allison" literally hurts to listen to, it's so close to the bone. In the vocals to "I Don't Want to go to Chelsea" you can hear Elvis' snarled lip and clenched teeth. "Radio Radio" has great energy (and is fun to bang out on a guitar). "What's So Funny. . . ?" brushes off the idea that a pop-song needs to rhyme, and is so good you think Elvis actually wrote it himself (kudos to Nick Lowe, who is the most recent addition to my list of favourite pop-bass players). "Everyday I Write the Book" gets caught up in crappy '80's-style production, but manages to be beautiful nonetheless. So it's apparent that I'm an Elvis-newbie, and have spent much of my time with this album listening to only the popular singles. I admit it. And why not? They're all great songs. That's what a greatest hits album is for: a quick introduction to an artist's work, which should eventually lead to an immersion in their whole catalogue. Anyway, what I've found so far is pretty damn good. And I should mention that the Attractions were a great band, off of which thousands of derivatives were spawned in the eighties. You can see a complete list of all Elvis Costello & the Attractions discography, or go back to the Elvis Costello & the Attractions tabs