Audio CD review:
Elvis Costello - Spike (With Bonus Disc)

Elvis Costello - Spike (With Bonus Disc)

Band: Elvis Costello Title: Spike (With Bonus Disc) Rating: Release Date: 2001-08-21 Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: ...This Town 2: Let Him Dangle 3: Deep Dark Truthful Mirror 4: Veronica 5: God's Comic 6: Chewing Gum 7: Tramp The Dirt Down 8: Stalin Malone 9: Satellite 10: Pads, Paws And Claws 11: Baby Plays Around 12: Miss Macbeth 13: Any King's Shilling 14: Coal-Train Robberies 15: Last Boat Leaving 16: Miss Macbeth (demo) 17: ...This Town (demo) 18: Deep Dark Truthful Mirror (demo) 19: Coal Train Robberies (demo) 20: Satellite (demo) 21: Pads, Paws And Claws (demo) 22: Let Him Dangle (demo) 23: Veronica (demo) 24: Tramp The Dirt Down (demo) 25: Baby Plays Around (demo) 26: Put Your Big Toe In The Milk Of Human Kindness (demo) 27: Last Boat Leaving (demo) 28: The Ugly Things 29: You're No Good 30: Point Of No Return 31: The Room Nobody Lives In 32: Stalin Malone (vocal version)

Give it a second chance. I did. I had followed him since his first album and when this came out I snapped it right up. This is one that I decided was the end for Elvis. After many tries I gave up on it. Fast forward to 2007. I find it hard to find anything worthwhile in the new music scene so I decide to pull some older CD's. This one is stunning and I just can not figure out why I shelved it. Well the bottom line is that we all are flawed but Elvis rocks!. Don't like Spike I'm not one of them. Some fans like 'Spike'. 'Veronica' is a classic and 'Deep Dark Truthful Mirror' is solid, but the rest of the songs here are hit and miss. . . mostly miss. Still one of my favorites Some of the punkish energy of his first few albums are replaced here with a more jaded realism, but the lyrics show his growth as a songwriter. I think I own every Elvis Costello album ever made, and I have to say this one is probably my favorite. "God's Comic" has some of the funniest lines I've ever heard, and "Tramp the Dirt Down" is one of the most scathing anti-Thatcher songs ever recorded. It's a must for any music lover, especially Costello fans. Costello At His Creative Best However, I liked Spike from the start and had it on CD already but decided to get the Rhino reissue when I saw how much the listener gets for just a little money. Though I've been an Elvis Costello fan almost since the beginning, some of his albums have been a little harder to get into than others. Well, not only do you get better sound quality than previously, you get a load of mostly very worthwhile demos and outtakes as your bonus. My favorites on Disc 1 are: the sneering This Town; the anti-gallows anthem Let Him Dangle; the call to introspection of Deep Dark Truthful Mirror; the playful Veronica; the melancholy God's Comic, the horn-driven Chewing Gum; the clever, hate-filled anti-Thatcher screed Tramp The Dirt Down; the horn-based instrumental Stalin Malone; the dreamy Satellite; Miss MacBeth; Coal Train Robberies; and the plaintive Last Boat Leaving. That's almost the whole disc, you say. Well, that's how good it is! The bonus disc offers even more songs. Many of them are acoustic, demo versions of the fully fleshed-out songs on Spike. My favorites here mirror those on disc one, but I think the addition of the vocal version of Stalin Malone and the jaunty Point Of No Return do much to make the Rhino set a must-have. About the only one that sounds out of place is You're No Good. I had enough of that when Linda Ronstadt's rendition was played on the radio ad nauseum. Spike finds Elvis Costello at his creative best. Though I disagree philosophically with him on many points, I respect the way he approaches issues he cares about because he seems to have real viewpoints based on rational thought rather than just parroting someone else's nonsense about whatever is the cause du jour like some musicians I can think of. The quality of his songwriting keeps me coming back again and again. If you have not already done so, you should add this edition of Spike to your CD collection. Its one that will never gather dust in mine!. Becoming Elvis Costello breaks away from the Attractions and becomes Elvis. This is the album where Mr. For the first time Elvis shows us his great sense of humor along with his obvious songwriting and performing skills. There are several glimpses of what is to come in the future, but my particular favorites are "Veronica" and the beautiful "Satellite" with Chrissie Hynde lending her beautiful vocals to the perfomance. A must for any Elvis Costello fan, or any fan of music, for that matter. You can see a complete list of all Elvis Costello discography, or go back to the Elvis Costello tabs