Elvis Costello: Punch the Clock/Goodbye Cruel World

 Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Punch the Clock

1983

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl and Compact Disc

Track Listing: 1. Let Them All Talk  2. Everyday I Write the Book  3. The Greatest Thing  4. The Element Within Her  5. Love Went Mad  6. Shipbuilding  7. T.K.O. (Boxing Day)  8. Charm School  9. The Invisible Man  10. Mouth Almighty  11. King of Thieves  12. Pills and Soap  13. The World and His Wife

Disc 2: (2002 Rhino CD version):  1. Everyday I Write the Book (Alternate version)  2. Baby Pictures  3. Heathen Town  4. The Flirting Kind  5. Walking on Thin Ice  6. Big Sister's Clothes/Stand Down, Margaret  7. Danger Zone (BBC Session)  8. Seconds of Pleasure  9. The Town Where Time Stood Still  10. The World and his Wife (Solo version)  11. Shatterproof  12. Heathen Town (Demo version)  13. The Flirting Kind (Demo version)  14. Let Them All Talk (Demo version) 15. King of Thieves (Demo version)  16. The Invisible Man (Demo version)  17. The Element Within Her (Demo version)  18. Love Went Mad (Demo version)  19. The Greatest Thing (Demo version)  20. Mouth Almighty (Demo version)  21. Charm School (Demo version) 22. Possession (Live)  23. Secondary Modern (Live) 24. The Bells (Live) 25. Watch Your Step (Live) 26. Backstabbers/King Horse (Live)


I've always lumped "Punch the Clock" and "Goodbye Cruel World" together...I think they represent a bit of a "lost two years" for Elvis, despite spawning the hit "Everyday I Write the Book."  They seem to both be a bid for pop-stardom and a step away from the critically-acclaimed albums surrounding them. They also sound very dated when compared to "Imperial Bedroom" and "King of America," which continue to feel timeless. "Punch the Clock" and "Goodbye Cruel World" have an identifiably 80's  sound (chock full of blaring 80's horns, synthesizers, and female soul backing vocalists) that I can only conclude stems from producers Clive Langer & Alan Winstanley, who helmed both records.

"Punch the Clock" is undoubtedly the better of the two. I actually love this album and play the hell out of it to this day, often preferring it even to the more critically-lauded "Imperial Bedroom." Despite the sense that the group was mining for hits that would resonate with the public for a change, Elvis sounds refreshed on a lot of this material. In fact, I can't think of many Elvis Costello songs that put me in as good a mood as "The World and His Wife," "Love Went Mad," or "Everyday I Write the Book."



Speaking of "Everyday I Write This Book," what a great bit of songwriting...Sure it totally rips off Nick Lowe's "When I Write the Book," but he does such a good job on the re-write it hardly matters...Smooth, blue-eyed soul with a natural-flowing melody and witty lyrics. I thought I liked the song as much as I possibly could, but the Mersey-beat inspired version on the bonus disc is even better. Come to think of it, a lot of the demo versions on the second disc are better than the final versions, due to the lack of overproduction...I think Elvis would have been better off keeping this a simple, stripped-down acoustic-type album rather than the sterile 80's sound on the final version, and boy! Wouldn't that have come as a big shocker over the ornate "Imperial Bedroom"! 

The big draw for me on this album is "The Invisible Man," a song with roots going back as far as "Seconds of Pleasure" from the "Trust" bonus tracks. Damn, this track makes me so happy. I fell in love the moment I heard the line,  "But if stars are only painted on the ceiling above/Then who can you turn to and who do you love?"  It's just the most lovely, bouncing piece of pop I've ever heard, but despite the smiling exterior, there's obviously a dark vein running throughout the song as evidenced by the lyrics:

"Crowds surround loudspeakers hanging from the lampposts
Listening to the murder mystery
Meanwhile someone's hiding in the classroom
Forging the books of history

Never mind there's a good film showing tonight
Where they hang everybody who can read and write
Oh, that could never happen here
But then again it might..."

 Actually, there are quite a few songs with a paranoid, oppressive political vibe...Remember, this was recorded during Thatcher's reign and the Falklands War, and songs like the stark, withering "Pills and Soap" and the gorgeous "Shipbuilding" reflect this new reality...

His previous cool jazz performance, "Almost Blue,"  did almost nothing for me, but I think he finally nails the genre on "Shipbuilding."  Chalk it up to a more fully developed melody, engaging lyrics and a passionate performance...Again, I have no natural inclination to jazz, but this song knocks me out...

Oh yea, also a shout-out to one of my favorite moments on an Elvis Costello album: On the "element Within Her" when the music stops and comes back in with a key change and Elvis sings:

"But back in the bedroom
With her electric heater
He says, "Are you cold?"
She says, "No, but you are, la la la..."

It probably doesn't look so exciting on paper (are blogs made of paper?) but trust me, it's so fuckin' genius it gives me chills...Boy this is hard to write...I'm fairly blasted right now..I've been pounding pitchers at the Time Out Lounge...

So this might just be the beer talking, but if you've made it as far as "Imperial Bedroom," you might as well take the leap into this, and 80's pop fans might want to check this out too, the songwriting is stellar throughout and there's no shortage of happy, poppy material...Don't believe me? Here's "The Invisible Man" by Elvis Costello. Enjoy...

 Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Goodbye Cruel World

1984

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. The Only Flame in Town  2. Home Truth  3. Room with No Number  4. Inch By Inch  5. Worthless Thing  6. Love Field  7. I Wanna Be Loved  8. The Comedians  9. Joe Porterhouse  10. Sour Milk-Cow Blues  11. The Great Unknown  12. The Deportees Club  13. Peace in Our Time


Elvis himself seems to want to distance himself from "Goodbye Cruel World," calling it his worst album. Steve Nieve takes it one step further, wearing a mask in all the band photo, using a pseudonym (Maurice Worm) and creditiing himself with "Random Racket. But I don't agree with all the hate...It's certainly his worst record up until this point, but I spin this a lot more than say, "Il Sogno" or even "Spike"...

This is also his most 80's-ish album too, beating out "Punch the Clock," for the Darryl Hall duet ("The Only Flame in Town") alone, which opens the album...In fact it's kind of shocking when you put down the needle and the music emanating from your speakers sounds like it's being piped in from a Whitney Houston record! And that slutty sax is a whole 'nother level of 80's! Those TKO horns on "Punch the Clock" are starting to sound pretty good, in retrospect.  Go ahead and watch the video...You can only kind of laugh, shake your head and say what the hell?

To this day, I can't tell if Side Two is a drastic improvement or if I just slowly get used to the synthesized production style...Because when you get right down to it, these aren't bad songs...I don't own the expanded CD reissue of this, but I strongly suspect that this was a pretty strong set of demos that was neutered somewhere in the recording process...Still there's a few tracks that cut loud and clear through the plastic, like the rolling, dreamy "The Comedians." And "Peace in Our Time" is a brilliant album closer, production and all...It's the type of track that Elvis excels at...Where he's suddenly shocked by all the inhumanity in the world and responds as only a cynic can, with a  plea for peace that doesn't even register a hint of optimism...

The other big single (actually I don't think any of this album's singles made it too high up the charts) is "I Wanna Be Loved" which is a very 80's cover of some song I've never heard before, but it turns out to be a pretty solid choice...To be honest, this was a song I used to skip...I initially thought it was uninspired and Elvis sounded exhausted on it, but now it's those exact qualities that draw me in...Even the nausea-inducing production seems like an asset on this song...

So yea, you might want to tread lightly here...Definitely don't make this your first purchase...But if you're looking for like, the 14th or 15th best Elvis Costello album, by all means, go for it...It really does grow on you, and like I said I love every damn second of Side Two ("The Great Unknown," "The Deportees Club," "Joe Porterhouse" are all favorites of mine)...I really do think if this was an 80's pop album by some unknown band everybody would be falling all over themselves praising the brilliant song-writing, but the problem was Elvis had already set the bar so much higher than this, so a "good" album doesn't quite cut it...

Still, I get tired of everybody automatically dismissing this album as Costello's "worst," when that's not the case at all...I must have listened to "goodby Cruel World" at least a 100 times since I got it, so that's got to count for something...Maybe I have no taste...I don't know, listen to "Peace in Our Time" and you tell me...I personally think there's something here...It's Friday finally, so grab yourself a few cold ones and enjoy...

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