Christ, who said the 80s were crap?? This surely proves that for any Costello fan, it was THE decade.
Best EC Album of the 80s
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Jackson Monk
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Best EC Album of the 80s
This is surely the very very toughest...but it had to be done.
Christ, who said the 80s were crap?? This surely proves that for any Costello fan, it was THE decade.
Christ, who said the 80s were crap?? This surely proves that for any Costello fan, it was THE decade.
corruptio optimi pessima
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oily slick
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I take back my claim that the 2000 would be hardest decade to decide!!
The 80s were by far ECs most prolific and so hard to choose the best.
Ive gone for Get Happy just for getting 20 tracks on one LP and it has not dated one bit which cant be said for PTC and GCW.
But then theirs ECs very own Sgt Pepper in Imperial Bedroom and the double whammy of KOA and BAC from 86......
Ill shut up and stick with Get Happy!
The 80s were by far ECs most prolific and so hard to choose the best.
Ive gone for Get Happy just for getting 20 tracks on one LP and it has not dated one bit which cant be said for PTC and GCW.
But then theirs ECs very own Sgt Pepper in Imperial Bedroom and the double whammy of KOA and BAC from 86......
Ill shut up and stick with Get Happy!
...I want him to hurt...
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so lacklustre
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Who Shot Sam?
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Mr. Average
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sulky lad
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Like BY, the bass swings it for me and the consistency of songwriting and performing from Opportunity to High Fidelity has nothing to match it in any performer's repertoire - even Sgt Pepper had Fixing A Hole half way through ! After that B&C, Trust, IB,PTC,,AB,KOA, GCW with Spike bringing up the rear.
This decade, to me, has the greatest collection of EC records. IB, GH, Trust, KOA and BAC are all great records. They fail to measure up to the great 70s threesome only in the sense one gets that in all these records EC is consciously working for an effect. It's not the free-flowing music of the early days, and it's all a little too layered for my taste (by comparison to the early records). But these are minor, and relatively recent quibbles, and you'd be hard pressed to find any artist that could stack records of this quality practically one after another (two in one year), so really who cares if his style got somewhat mannered. Great music. I love the 80s!!
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invisible Pole
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Otis Westinghouse
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StrictTime
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I went with Trust. I couldn't tell you why, and I'll probably think something different tomorrow. It's had a special place in my heart ever since I got it, don't know why. Beautiful keyboard work, and New Lace Sleeves is a regular on my rotation for favourite songs. All the others (save PtC and GCW), I love as well. Honorable mention to Spike, love it. Especially since it came out the year I was born, and it's very eclectic, sort of representative of myself. I actually have a friend Veronica named after the song....I envy her a bit.
So yes, Trust, even though I love seven out of the nine.
So yes, Trust, even though I love seven out of the nine.
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southendsteve
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Lester Burnham
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Might as well pick which toe I prefer. (I don't have kids yet, and I certainly won't have as many as Elvis released records in the 1980s!)
Top 3 are KOA, IB, and GH, but then that leaves out Trust, and BAC. Geez... I'll pick KOA because of the memories it holds, and how I waited until I had collected everything else in Elvis's catalog before I got it, and how much of a reward it was.
Top 3 are KOA, IB, and GH, but then that leaves out Trust, and BAC. Geez... I'll pick KOA because of the memories it holds, and how I waited until I had collected everything else in Elvis's catalog before I got it, and how much of a reward it was.
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Fishfinger king
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This is like Sophie's Choice.
King of America is just so wonderful, produced when hopes were far from high, that it has to have my vote.
4 of my top 5 EC albums are here, though, Imperial Bedroom, This year's model, Get Happy and Blood & Chocolate being 2-5.
Happy days.
King of America is just so wonderful, produced when hopes were far from high, that it has to have my vote.
4 of my top 5 EC albums are here, though, Imperial Bedroom, This year's model, Get Happy and Blood & Chocolate being 2-5.
Happy days.
Can't you see I'm trying to change this water to wine
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InvisibleMan
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spooky girlfriend
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Oh, Lord. How many times do I have to state my ex-communication vote that Imperial Bedroom really isn't his best stuff? *ducks for cover.* I know I'll be nailed to the cross and condemned to die, but it's just the way I feel.
You know what I'm going to say, don't you migdd?
KOA will always get my vote. Not because of what decade it was produced in, but it would win in whatever category it runs in, at least for me. So, because it came out in the 80s, then it wins this particular category.
This album will rock my world long after I am dead and buried.
You know what I'm going to say, don't you migdd?
KOA will always get my vote. Not because of what decade it was produced in, but it would win in whatever category it runs in, at least for me. So, because it came out in the 80s, then it wins this particular category.
This album will rock my world long after I am dead and buried.
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strangerinthehouse
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I voted for Imperial Bedroom, with Get Happy, Trust and King of America folliwng close behind. IB is amazing from start to finish. Each song is great and they reward many listens. The attractions are in top shape, you can hear how great of a band they are because they work so well together in this record.
I will say that nothing else beats Bruce Thomas' bass in GH nor Steve Nieve's Key boards in Trust, but I think EC and the Attractions are at their best in IB.
King of America has two songs I can't stand- Eisenhower Blues and Don't let me be misunderstood, everything else makes it one of EC's best albums
I will say that nothing else beats Bruce Thomas' bass in GH nor Steve Nieve's Key boards in Trust, but I think EC and the Attractions are at their best in IB.
King of America has two songs I can't stand- Eisenhower Blues and Don't let me be misunderstood, everything else makes it one of EC's best albums
Well, Strangerinthehouse, I beg to differ!
I've just found a post I did ages ago about Imperial Bedroom. Here goes:
"Is it heresy for me to suggest that this album is a tad overpraised? In the recent poll of best Attractions albums, it was up there.
Because it's Elvis's first album to be full of orchestrations, people tend to think of it as a masterpiece (as the advertising at the time also played up) - as a Sergeant Peppery, everything-but-the-kitchen sink production. Goeff Emerick producing, with the Pepper connection, added to the myth.
But stripping the album down to songs, I find that a lot of them are second-rate Costello (although admittedly even second-rate Elvis is most people's career peak).
Beyond Belief, Man Out Of Time, You Little Fool, Long Honeymoon and Town Cryer and Almost Blue are superb, classic songs with masterly playing and amazing production - if I'm making an Elvis compilation for anyone I find it painful to leave any of them off.
But what about the rest of the songs? Some lovely productiony bits, some great instrumental touches, but really, as songs, are they so great? Little Savage, Pidgin English, Kid About It, Tears Before Bedtime, Boy With A Problem, And In Every Home (very clunky singing and arrangement reminiscent of Mike Batt)... all sound quite fragmentary.
The Loved Ones and Human Hands and Shabby Doll are the best of this lesser bunch, but again, they don't quite take off.
I think the reason is the layered production has constrained the singing somehow. Elvis sings at more or less the same pitch, or register, throughout (I'm no muso, so forgive me if I'm wrong on the technical terms!) But he sings in quite a low key, which makes him sound a bit tired and jaded.
Nothing wrong with that - Man Out of Time's weary vocal is perfect for the massive, epic sound it's set in, and Long Honeymoon's lazy vocal is deliberately there as a cynical narrator character looking down with a jaded smirk on the sad obliviousness of the cheated wife - but when ALL the songs are sung like that, it doesn't show Elvis's vocal range off to best effect, and gets a bit samey. He sounds clapped-out by the time "...And In Every Home" rolls around.
Also, though the production is layered and often fascinating, it's a little bit trebly all the way through, with not a lot of oomf in the bass. Perhaps it was deliberate for a shimmering, silvery sound, but a little bit of bottom would've made it just that much better.
I wouldn't introduce Elvis to anyone with this album. Blood & Chocolate would be my choice - strong, amazingly punchy and melodic songs throughout, but not too many to take in at first listen (Get Happy ties as a favourite but it's too much to take in for a new listener, and This Year's Model, my other top three is a classic with the classic Attractions sound, but perhaps just a little limited in style to show off Elvis's variety to a new convert).
God, I'm pompous, spouting my opinions, but I've always felt like a heretic for not totally loving Imperial Bedroom."
I've just found a post I did ages ago about Imperial Bedroom. Here goes:
"Is it heresy for me to suggest that this album is a tad overpraised? In the recent poll of best Attractions albums, it was up there.
Because it's Elvis's first album to be full of orchestrations, people tend to think of it as a masterpiece (as the advertising at the time also played up) - as a Sergeant Peppery, everything-but-the-kitchen sink production. Goeff Emerick producing, with the Pepper connection, added to the myth.
But stripping the album down to songs, I find that a lot of them are second-rate Costello (although admittedly even second-rate Elvis is most people's career peak).
Beyond Belief, Man Out Of Time, You Little Fool, Long Honeymoon and Town Cryer and Almost Blue are superb, classic songs with masterly playing and amazing production - if I'm making an Elvis compilation for anyone I find it painful to leave any of them off.
But what about the rest of the songs? Some lovely productiony bits, some great instrumental touches, but really, as songs, are they so great? Little Savage, Pidgin English, Kid About It, Tears Before Bedtime, Boy With A Problem, And In Every Home (very clunky singing and arrangement reminiscent of Mike Batt)... all sound quite fragmentary.
The Loved Ones and Human Hands and Shabby Doll are the best of this lesser bunch, but again, they don't quite take off.
I think the reason is the layered production has constrained the singing somehow. Elvis sings at more or less the same pitch, or register, throughout (I'm no muso, so forgive me if I'm wrong on the technical terms!) But he sings in quite a low key, which makes him sound a bit tired and jaded.
Nothing wrong with that - Man Out of Time's weary vocal is perfect for the massive, epic sound it's set in, and Long Honeymoon's lazy vocal is deliberately there as a cynical narrator character looking down with a jaded smirk on the sad obliviousness of the cheated wife - but when ALL the songs are sung like that, it doesn't show Elvis's vocal range off to best effect, and gets a bit samey. He sounds clapped-out by the time "...And In Every Home" rolls around.
Also, though the production is layered and often fascinating, it's a little bit trebly all the way through, with not a lot of oomf in the bass. Perhaps it was deliberate for a shimmering, silvery sound, but a little bit of bottom would've made it just that much better.
I wouldn't introduce Elvis to anyone with this album. Blood & Chocolate would be my choice - strong, amazingly punchy and melodic songs throughout, but not too many to take in at first listen (Get Happy ties as a favourite but it's too much to take in for a new listener, and This Year's Model, my other top three is a classic with the classic Attractions sound, but perhaps just a little limited in style to show off Elvis's variety to a new convert).
God, I'm pompous, spouting my opinions, but I've always felt like a heretic for not totally loving Imperial Bedroom."
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kilburn_bhoy
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