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The fact that The Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions has just now been released may be more significant than it first appears if only because it means that 1985 has been the first year since '77 that hasn't seen at least one album of new material issued by the great bespectacled one.
Over the last eight years, Costello and the Attractions have put out 10 albums, and the list reads like an eclectic "Greatest Hits" of the new wave era: My Aim Is True, This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Get Happy!!, Taking Liberties, Trust, Almost Blue, Imperial Bedroom, Punch The Clock and Goodbye Cruel World.
That the albums should hold their respective epithets also appears a tad more ironic than meets the eye. To kick off a career with My Aim Is True and end with Goodbye Cruel World is almost comic.
That is to say, there was a time when Costello knew where he was going. His aim was far more than just true; it was deadly. These days, who can tell? He's been hitting his target only about half the time. What happened?
Back in '77, Costello epitomized the angry young man. The haunting beauty of "Alison" on his debut album was undercut by the explosive bitterness of "I'm Not Angry" and the cynicism of "Watching the Detectives." What Aim lacked in production sophistication, it gained in its classic pop structuring, seen in "Welcome to the Working Week" or "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes."
The unrefined rebellion of Aim was tempered somewhat with This Year's Model, but the anger and frustration were still there. By the time "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea" — one of a series of rock-noir tracks that culminated on Goodbye Cruel World with "Inch by Inch" — was released, Costello was as influential on the British music scene as any of his peers. "Pump It Up" and "The Beat" were the cornerstones of his newfound respect. Solid, powerful and lyrically tight, the songs paved the way for what would be Costello's first milestone: Armed Forces.
If My Aim Is True and This Year's Model revolved mostly around the darker side of relationships, Armed Forces took this cynicism to the cash register. "Oliver's Army" rocketed up the British charts, and the album established Costello as the dominant songwriting force of the period.
Slick, brilliantly crafted tracks like "Busy Bodies" and "Green Shirt" created a record that was absolutely irresistible. In one move — and his unfortunate slur of Ray Charles aside Elvis Costello went from an angry young man to a direct personification of the British power-pop establishment. He became adopted by punker and intellectual alike, as "Green Shirt" and "Oliver's Army" found themselves under scrutiny from the likes of both the New Musical Express and the London Times.
Still, this metamorphosis from revolutionary to visionary had its drawbacks. Sound-alike groups like the Jags were popping up all over England, trying to out-Costello Costello. Angst was in. It was respectable. Worse, it was expected.
So, as if to destroy the commercialism of Armed Forces and blow away the swarms of imitators the record had inspired, Costello's 1980 album was a simple revival of '60s soul. The message was clear: Get Happy!!
Get Happy!! was no less than a complete about-face, both in tone and content, avoiding what could easily have become self-parody had Costello continued in the direction he was headed. The power of "Oliver's Army" was suddenly replaced by the seductive soul of "Opportunity," "Temptation" and "B Movie." Production technology was given low priority, and the result sounded tinny, empty and wonderful. The album ushered in the new decade with a defiant finger to accepted practice. "Man Called Uncle," "King Horse," "New Amsterdam" and the 17 other tracks squeezed on the album created a stunning tapestry of moods and styles that was at once invigorating and unique.
Ironically, Get Happy!! also paved the way for the splintering the British new wave movement still suffers from. As styles and sub-styles began to flourish, so did England's youth. Groups split into mod, punk, skinhead and new romantic factions. Synth groups entered the scene. The unifying veneer that forged the '77 rebellion shattered. Direction was a luxury that has yet to re-surface in the British charts.
The next album by Costello and the Attractions was a compilation of singles and B-sides, called Taking Liberties in America and Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers in England. Trust, released in '81, then followed.
Trust was Costello's most mature work to date, and returned to the metaphorical "Clubland" of his earlier albums. A positive reaffirmation of his stance, Trust was a solidifying record after the departure into soul and the compilations. "Strict Time" and "Big Sister's Clothes" showed that his songwriting ability remained as provocative and demanding as ever, while "From a Whisper to a Scream" showed he could still back up all his talk with an occasional explosion of energy. Although a direct descendant of Armed Forces, Trust showed that Costello had finally grown up.
Then came Almost Blue, the "country" record he and the Attractions recorded in Nashville.
It was an unmitigated disaster. Void of anything really worthwhile, it ironically produced the single "Good Year for the Roses," which gave Costello his highest chart action in Britain since "Oliver's Army." While undeniably a fine song, it was nevertheless a shameless tear-jerker, and became a millstone about Costello's musical neck.
Heavy airplay on England's "adult" radio stations followed. Confessing that he feared walking into a supermarket only to be assaulted by sobbing housewives clutching tear-stained copies of Almost Blue to their bosoms, Costello changed direction once again in 1982, and once again pulled out another masterpiece and his second milestone: Imperial Bedroom.
As far as production was concerned, Bedroom made Armed Forces look like a demo tape. It was so orchestrated you expected to see Andre Previn's name on the credits, and so lush it could sink the Bismarck.
But as masterpieces go, Bedroom was a flawed one. It was perhaps too precise, too orchestrated to enable listeners to remain fully comfortable with it.
For all that Imperial Bedroom promised for the future, however, it remains to this day the pinnacle of Costello's development. Punch the Clock, in 1983, was momentarily powerful but lacked the staying power of earlier records. A horn section was added, a second flirtation with soul was aluded to, yet the record remained surprisingly empty and strained.
It was far from a disaster; yet, after the pomp of Imperial Bedroom, more was expected. A few brilliantly written songs ("Let Them All Talk" and "Everyday I Write the Book," for example) were surrounded by surprisingly mediocre material. The album lacked the coherent direction that marked so many earlier Costello albums.
If nothing else, The Best Of Elvis Costello is as fair an attempt at summation and speculation as can be made with a single album. Still, it remains woefully inadequate. Sixteen tracks cannot do 10 albums justice.
"Watching the Detectives" is in; "(I Don't Want to Go To) Chelsea" isn't. Why "I Wanna Be Loved" was included is a mystery. Only one track from Get Happy!! made the selection. What's "Shipbuilding" doing there?
To put things in perspective, Elvis Costello is arguably the greatest songwriter to emerge from the late '70s. While his current direction may be in question, his talent isn't. Unfortunately, talent is a cheap commodity. And while it's obviously not yet time to go pushing any panic buttons, Costello is treading on dangerous ground.
The Best of Elvis Costello and The Attractions is a pretty good reminder of where he's been. Where he's going, however, is another question entirely.
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