|
If this were a fair and just world, this would be titled Elvis Costello's Greatest Hits.
Though Costello's prolific songwriting can be matched by few others during the past decade, he never has been able to solve the mystery of U.S. radio nor achieve the commercial breakthrough his masterful composing would seem to demand.
The 16 songs presented on this single disc evenly represent Costello's output from 1977's My Aim Is True, one of the finest and most convincing debut LPs ever, through last year's spotty Goodbye Cruel World.
The songs are arranged for the most part in chronological order, offering a sense of Costello's evolution from a stirring if sometimes rudimentary songwriter to one who has achieved a balance between passion and elegance.
One has only to listen to the opening "Alison" (from My Aim Is True) and last year's tender plea for peace, "Shipbuilding" (off Punch the Clock), to realize how far Costello has come.
Trimming Costello's fruitful recording career — 10 albums released in the U.S. precede this record, most chock full of clever, taut, impassioned tunes — to 16 tracks is an unenviable task, to be sure.
Choosing Costello's best 16 songs from the almost 150 he's released in this country is a tricky proposition, and you almost certainly will get an argument from any longtime fan about the selection.
It's hard to justify including either "I Wanna Be Loved" or "The Only Flame in Town" (from Goodbye Cruel World) when "From a Whisper to a Scream" and "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" (with the classic opening lines, "I used to be disgusted / Now I try to be amused") are absent. There are other conspicuous omissions.
For those unfamiliar with this gifted songwriter's work, this is not a bad place to start, although My Aim Is True, Armed Forces and Imperial Bedroom are all more satisfying records.
| 
