National Ransom - November 2010

[cwr]

I have to admit I'm baffled by how many people are either indifferent towards or actively dislike the title track, which I think is a really strong album opener both musically and lyrically.

Despite the familiar "You Belong To Me" organ part (which EC denies being intentional but I still suspect is a deliberate musical in-joke-- "You Belong To Me" and "National Ransom" both evoking some sort of capture/hostage type situation), this doesn't sound much like any other EC song. I remarked, upon first hearing it, that it sounded like a lost Traveling Wilburys track, and I mean that in a good way. The lyrics are really playful and clever, even for EC.

I know all this is subjective-- some people like some songs, some people don't-- but I'm really surprised that EC delivers a song like this and almost every person who comments about it doesn't much care for it.

(I may be overlooking a few people who've praised it along the way-- I'm not claiming to be the ONLY one who likes it, just commenting on the general vibe "against"...)

[Jackson Monk]

Yep. Agreed. I think it's a pretty great opener.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Listened again on dog walk/Sainsbury's shop and thought 'hmmm, why hasn't it grabbed me?' as it undoubtedly has some great songs on it. Opener is part good and part a bit lumbering. Jimmie and Moon are indeed excellent, I Lost You is fun, Dr Watson is dead good, One Bell Ringing too. I think, then, my greatest complaint is length. I find it hard to endure a record that outstays its welcome so much, just too much filler. His voice sounds excellent on it, I think. Lyrics seem pretty strong, arrangements and production are great. There's hope yet.

[Jackson Monk]

Listened again on dog walk/Sainsbury's shop and thought 'hmmm, why hasn't it grabbed me?' as it undoubtedly has some great songs on it. Opener is part good and part a bit lumbering. Jimmie and Moon are indeed excellent, I Lost You is fun, Dr Watson is dead good, One Bell Ringing too. I think, then, my greatest complaint is length. I find it hard to endure a record that outstays its welcome so much, just too much filler. His voice sounds excellent on it, I think. Lyrics seem pretty strong, arrangements and production are great. There's hope yet.

I am very very fond of Bullets for the New Born King. An awesome song, even if I haven't fecking clue what it's about!

Fair point about the length, although that's easily remedied in this ipod age. If there were reason to edit, I'd take out, Spell that you Cast, Jezebel and That's Not The Part Of Him You're Leaving. They are all ok, but they do have that 'bonus' track feel about them.

[Who Shot Sam?]

I've been slowly getting into this over the past few days. "Jimmie" is a fantastic song - one of EC's best in a long long time. Unfortunately I only have the vinyl and my pre-amp went tits up, so until I have a replacement later this week I won't be able to dive in further.

I do find it slightly annoying that EC offers a vinyl version that can be bought at a slight premium but does not bother to include a free digital download, as most new vinyl does these days.

[jardine]

I agree re: length. that's why, lately, i've taken e.c. at his word that this is "a double."
it gets interesting if you make it two 8-track l.p.s. and easier to listen to "one album" at a time.

1. National Ransom
2. Jimmie Standing in the Rain
3. Stations of the Cross
4. A Slow Drag With Josephine
5. Five Small Words
6. Church Underground
7. You Hung the Moon
8. Bullets for the New-Born King


1. I Lost You
2. Dr Watson, I Presume
3. One Bell Ringing
4. The Spell That You Cast
5. That's Not The Part of Him You're Leaving
6. My Lovely Jezebel
7. All These Strangers
8. A Voice in the Dark

I then find that, for me, the bulk of the "ok" stuff is on album two (1, 4, 5, 6), with only two oks on l.p. one (1 and 5, although the SOUND of fsw is so fantastic, i keep slipping), so it does almost make it like a cd and a bonus disk of other stuff that happens to have, i think 4 absolute gems (watson bell strangers dark)

[alexv]

I still love this record. So, I'm going to try and address the one issue that keeps popping up, not because I want to change anyone's mind but simply because the criticism raises an interesting issue, to me at least: when is an artist better served to do a single record rather than go all out with the double record approach?

And I'm going to take up Jardine's approach, because I think a parsing of the songs is useful, particularly since a lot of the criticism from The Board deals with the notion that the record is uneven (the "one-third" theme).

I think that's a fair point, but have argued that when you record a double album, as EC has done here, and can point to at least five great songs, you've got a pretty damn good piece of music, even by EC's standards. Maybe EC is being hurt here by the length of the record, which has happened to him before in the post-CD years as his records have gotten longer and longer.

So, here are my standouts:

1. You Hung the Moon
2. Voice in the Dark
3. Jimmie Standing in the Rain
4. Bullets for the New-Born King
5. A Slow Drag With Josephine

I think these five songs would stand out in any EC record. As you look through the comments on The Board, each of these songs has received a lotta love and very little criticism. Not since KOA, in my opinion, has any EC record had five songs as varied and as strong as these. Bullets is folk-EC like he's never done; Jimie and Josephine are period songs done perfectly; and in Moon and Voice he's hit it out of the park.

Then come some songs that are not up to that high level but are nevertheless excellent:

6. Five Small Words
7. Church Underground
8. Stations of the Cross
9. That's not the Part of Him You're Leaving

Again, lots of folks on The Board love these songs too, or at least have only minor reservations. I like them too, particularly since each song stands out from the other: Five is poppy and country; Stations is almost baroque; Church is redeemed by the Beatles feel and the great chorus; and Leaving is soulful but not strained.

Then come the skippables:

10. I Lost You
11.One Bell Ringing
12. The Spell That You Cast
13. My Lovely Jezebel
14. All These Strangers

Are these bad songs? I don't think so. The worst that can be said is that it's run of the mill EC stuff, particularly I Lost You, Spell and Jezebel. Those three songs, I would agree, can be seen, depending on your point of view, as boring, derivative, been there/done that, filler type songs. And a lot of folks on the Board have taken that approach. Strangers and Bell, for me, are tuneless and drag on. But these last two songs have a lot of support from The Board, so again it's tough to argue that they are skippables, but for the sake of this exercise I'll go along with that.

And I dislike only two songs:

15. Watson (I know many posters love this song; I don't; it's just me and so it pops up here on my list; my bad)
16. NR

So, what do you have? I would say you have seven songs that are either unnecessary or just plain bad (and I note that Watson is a song that many of folks here seem to like a heck of a lot), and nine songs that are terrific. So, for me, it's really that half the double record is superb and the other half is middling. And the middling stuff comes with an asterisk: it's middling only because the other stuff is so great.

Is it GH, IB, TYM, Trust level stuff? Not for me. But it's right up there with KOA in my estimation as a really adventurous effort. I use the word adventurous on purpose, because for all of his genre-hopping over the years, this record, like PFM, is one where the ambition is rewarded, and he comes up with the goods. So many times his limitations get the best of him, but not here.

Maybe it's just too long, but think about how many times that charge is levelled, justifiably, at artists who muck up a good record with shitty, self-indulgent stuff. That's not what I see happening here. Even the one third that can come out is certainly listenable. And I would argue that the great songs redeem them.

[Jackson Monk]

One Bell Ringing skippable?

Not for me. I think it's a really powerful song. One of the best on the album.

[jardine]

me too re one bell ringing, esp. the byrds/coltrane/bass clarinet/dolphy sound that could be a hissing of summerlawnsness thingy.

re dr. watson. i find that i really need to click into the old testament, black birds hanging upsidedown invisible republic looms and honeycombs weird what-the-hell-is-going on kind of feverish thing in order to love it fully.

i'd certainly rank it above trust, and yep, back to king of america (although pfm looms in there, as does north, but in ways that are so different than this--nr seems more, not "genuine" exactly, but something...hmm)

[docinwestchester]

One Bell Ringing skippable?

Not for me. I think it's a really powerful song. One of the best on the album.

Amazing version on Jools Holland's show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqRMWEaSYXw

[sweetest punch]

http://www.wickedlocal.com/northofbosto ... ht-in-2010

MUSIC: Five albums you should have bought in 2010.

(...)
‘National Ransom,’ Elvis Costello

“You can’t hold me, baby, with anything but contempt,” Elvis Costello sings amid dueling guitars on the explosive title track that opens his latest album, “National Ransom” (Hear Music). It’s a classic Elvis indictment — this one taking on corporate greed, among other things — and an indicator that we may be about to experience Costello in full-on acerbic rock mode.

Nothing wrong with that, but Costello quickly disabuses us of that notion. The second track, “Jimmie Standing in The Rain,” is a character study of a lost soul that wouldn’t be out of place in Weill’s “Threepenny Opera.” It’s positively literary — “Nobody wants to buy a counterfeited prairie lullaby in a colliery town,” he notes almost matter-of-factly in one deceivingly elaborate verse — and a sure sign that when it comes to the whole of “National Ransom,” all bets are off.

The album takes us on a true musical journey, through rock, cabaret, country, Americana and vaudeville, and the results are both dizzying and stunning. That 30 years on Costello can show such versatility and heart bodes well for both him and us. And the fact that he can still be pretty prickly doesn’t hurt either.

DOWNLOAD: “National Ransom”
(...)

----------------------------------------
http://www.wickedlocal.com/northofbosto ... -from-2010

MUSIC: 21 great songs from 2010

(...)
7) “All These Strangers,” Elvis Costello: Lilting and literate, the only song this year to name-check Benghazi and Belgrade.
(...)

[alexv]

Jackson, Doc, Jardine, your positive take on One Bell is not surprising. I can't think of one song on NR that our very diverse group consistently dislikes. On the other hand, there are lots of songs we all, apparently, like/love whatever you want to call it. And just a few, I would say the trio of Jezebel/Spell/I Lost You, that there is some negative consensus on. And it's not really negative, just a sense that the songs are things EC can do in his sleep.

[jardine]

i agree with those three alexv. and in two there is still that very small bit that accelerates--"i looked in her eyes and through that window i fell" plus leon's pianer in one case (not russell's best, but sonically refreshing to hear), the weird chord change right at the chorus of spell, plus i love the line "come back baby or at least tell me where you are going" and "here we go" (but the solo that follows doesn't live up to it)--still makes them not a bore.

I lost you and the title song might be the only two i find actually a bit yawny

[taramasalata]

One Bell Ringing to me is once more one of these Elvis songs that relly make the difference, that lend this awesome NR- collection of marvellous tunes that FINAL gemstone that makes the treasure so much more valuable. This hushed quiet greatness in which he is delivering the words, with that brass arrangement, like you, Jardine, pointed out so perfectly, underlying the refrain, to me it’s magic! Besides all the other more obvious Elvis classics, it’s these very unlikely songs like Beyond Belief, Pills and Soap, My dark life, Impatience, The sweetest punch or When I was cruel No.2 that raise Elvis musically above some of his peers like Tom Waits or duller ones like Springsteen, he’s so amazimgly gifted.
One thing this thread quite clearly demonstrates (once more!) is the individual’s subjectivity in reacting to music (among other experiences). To my ears, NR isn’t one second too long, the two weaker songs, Spell and Jezibel (there really seems to be accordance), help to take breath among the intensity, just to segue into that wonderful final with the new classics All these strangers (the way he sings those last words „if I could“ makes me shiver) and Voice in the dark.
Best record of his since PFM (and I liked most of his 2000s stuff, except for North, which is the only record in his collection I really find hard to stand, not even thinking of wanting to hear it, except for the both fantastic Still and Impatience).

[docinwestchester]

I lost you and the title song might be the only two i find actually a bit yawny

The studio version of I Lost You is definitely "meh"...but I thought it made for an excellent show opener here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwYi8GTzzzI

[Otis Westinghouse]

For me too it's a standout. Unique sound and feel. Agree with what you say, Taramasalata.

I'm warming to the LP, it has depth, but I can't see how you'd compare it to the quality of KOA. OK, that's a patchy record, but it has some absolute classics on too, and the patchy parts are still fun.

This year has made me conclude that if artists want to put out 'double albums', they should have the backing to increase the unit manufacturing cost a tad and put them out on double CDs. The incomparable Ms Newsom managed to do a triple. I don't agree that in these days of disaggregated iTunesness it makes no differ. Of course it does! The artefact is what the artist puts out as their work. It matters hugely.

That said, I Hope is rather good. Don't know the 1964 original, but it's more memorable than some of the stuff on the CD proper.

National Ransack is OK but is pretty well all filler, seems to me.

WSS: if you ordered the vinyl off the official site, you'd get a download of it too, I think.

[Otis Westinghouse]

The original of 'I Hope' is gorgeous:


And if you ain't had the pleasure of the Elv cover:

[Jackson Monk]

Can I just say that I love 'I Lost You'. Great pop song for me.

[migdd]

I too love I Lost You. It has that Armed Forces mentality of a miserable feeling cloaked in a happy pop melody. That little trick that EC is so good at doing. There's much more to it than meets the ear, I feel.

[sweetest punch]

http://axcessnews.com/index.php/articles/show/id/21303

10 best records of 2010 - 'Those Were The Days'

(...)
6. NATIONAL RANSOM - Elvis Costello (Hear Music Trademark of Starbucks)

The illustration of that bad wolf as a carpetbagger sneaking off with all the money (done by Tony Millionaire) is what caused me to buy this record. And then I found out it was produced by T Bone Burnett, and that only improved my outlook all the more. 16 fascinating songs; Elvis Costello's songwriting has only improved through the years. No one can measure up to the way he handles a lyric line, wordsmith of the highest order. As best I can tell, these songs were written with the Great Depression in mind, where our times seem to mirror the Thirties. It's like a play or a movie, where we jump around to different times or places. Still trying to put this puzzle together?
(...)

-------------------------------
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-2 ... beech.html

Arcade Fire Beats Robert Plant, Cee Lo Green to 2010’s Best CD

(...)
VETERAN ROCK: “Le Noise” (Warner) is Neil Young’s punning title of a CD featuring producer Daniel Lanois and a lot of feedback on periodically excellent songs. Eric Clapton’s “Clapton” (Warner) is likeably laid back, while Tom Jones blows them both away with impassioned singing on “Praise & Blame.” Even more powerful voices came from beyond the grave: Elvis Presley with the remix album “Viva Elvis” (RCA) and Johnny Cash with “American VI: Ain’t No Grave” (Lost Highway).

Elton John’s album with Leon Russell and comebacks for Gil Scott Heron, John Mellencamp and Elvis Costello were welcome. Britain’s Paul Weller continued his purple patch with “Wake Up The Nation.”
(...)

[Ypsilanti]

I have to admit I'm baffled by how many people are either indifferent towards or actively dislike the title track, which I think is a really strong album opener both musically and lyrically.

Despite the familiar "You Belong To Me" organ part (which EC denies being intentional but I still suspect is a deliberate musical in-joke-- "You Belong To Me" and "National Ransom" both evoking some sort of capture/hostage type situation), this doesn't sound much like any other EC song. I remarked, upon first hearing it, that it sounded like a lost Traveling Wilburys track, and I mean that in a good way. The lyrics are really playful and clever, even for EC.

I know all this is subjective-- some people like some songs, some people don't-- but I'm really surprised that EC delivers a song like this and almost every person who comments about it doesn't much care for it.

(I may be overlooking a few people who've praised it along the way-- I'm not claiming to be the ONLY one who likes it, just commenting on the general vibe "against"...)

Yeah--I like the title song just fine. Certainly not my absolute fave, but by no means skipable. For me, it's not inconsistent with other Imposters full-on rock & roll songs (of which there aren't actually that many), such as "Dissolve" or "American Gangster Time". I'd also say it's part of his canon of hard-driving, lyrically intricate songs with apocalyptic themes, like "Tokyo Storm Warning" or "Hurry Down Doomsday" or "Doll Revolution". That's a long tradition in Elvis' music--one I'm quite fond of. Glad to see him adding to it.

[Otis Westinghouse]

Good description of that sub-genre of the Costello oeuvre. I know just what you mean.

That Bloomberg best of 2010 seemed to namecheck many of my faves, and can't argue with their CD of the year, although the dismissal of J Newsom as being 'as difficult as Trout Mask Replica' is utterly absurd. Much as I love the good Captain, TMR is totally off the wall and only half-listenable, whereas Have One On Me has accessible melodies dripping from every pore. Very wide of the mark.

They also single out Janelle Monae's The Archandroid, which was in The Word's top 10 of the year and was The Guardian's CD of the year. Saw her on Later and was blown away by her style, class and talent, so got this for the missus for Christmas. Anyone else checked her out?

[Jackson Monk]

Yes!!! I really enjoyed Monae on Later. So cool. Have downloaded a few tracks but am planning to pick up the album this week if I can.

[History History]

I think of National Ransom (the song) as a prologue to the album proper, in that context, it works fine for me. This album reminds me a lot of The White Album in it's diversity insofar as while not every song is top notch, it all fits together nicely. Other than that, it's all down to personal preferences. For me, Josephine is a delightful interlude but perhaps a bit frivolous!

[Otis Westinghouse]

Skiddle daddle do.