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Elvis Costello is rock's best songwriter since Bob Dylan. If you don't believe it, pick up Girls Girls Girls — 47 songs on CD, 51 on cassette, culled from his 11-year association with Columbia Records (he now records for Warner Brothers).
Though Costello was originally pegged as a leader of the late '70s British new wave movement, it soon became clear that his writing was far more poetic, melodic and challenging than the punks who dominated the era.
Girls highlights the tough, organ-filled sound of Costello's earlier recordings as well as his later, more eclectic, politically-motivated work.
Costello selected the songs for Girls and also penned the collection's clever, stream-of-consciousness liner notes. He shows a knack for recognizing his better work, such as cuts from the oft-neglected Trust, while omitting material from weaker albums like Goodbye Cruel World and Punch the Clock.
What's missing from Girls are some of Costello's snappy B-sides (they were already released by Demon Records on 1987's Out of Our Idiot).
With quality songwriting becoming a lost rock 'n' roll art form, Girls Girls Girls may inspire a new generation of Dylans and Costellos.
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