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To say that Elvis Costello is one of the most prolific songwriters is an expression widely agreed upon by most music critics, myself included. For nearly seven years, Costello has entertained the varying styles if music with songs that fully compliment each other. Costello can "pen" a tune that a person over forty will swear sounds like one written by Cole Porter and then turn around and sock you with a hard rocking song guaranteed to get you up and moving to the beat. If there is one word to describe Costello's ability, it is "versatile."
This versatility hasn't always helped Costello. Last year, his penchant for country musk resulted in a disastrous album called Almost Blue. On the record, Elvis opted to record bluegrass standards instead of writing country originals, and created a self indulgent, disappointing release.
On Imperial Bedroom, Costello has forsaken his self indulgence and instead created what critics around the country are calling his Sgt Pepper and Tommy. While I won't go so far as to say that this album stands up to those classics, it is definitely one of the most significant albums to be released this year. Elvis, along with his backup band, The Attractions, have recorded a record full of fine melodies and arrangements. Costello, taking all of the musical styles of his previous albums and reprise each on the new effort, has created a masterpiece of sorts. Like Sgt. Pepper, Costello has used an underlying theme, that of the proverbial meaning of love. All of the songs, in whatever manner or form, deal with the subject and to excellent results.
Imperial Bedroom is the crossroads album in Costello's career, much in the same vein that Rubber Soul was for The Beatles and The River was for Bruce Springsteen. Elvis and the band have now shown that they are not just any rock band; fans will now only expect the best at all times. There can be no Almost Blue records anymore; Elvis has emerged as the first talent from the seventies and eighties whose music will be hailed in years to come.
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