The Costello Show: King of America

The Costello Show: King of America

1986

Columbia Records

Format I Own it on: Vinyl

Track Listing: 1. Brilliant Mistake  2. Lovable  3. Our Little Angel  4. Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood  5. Glitter Gulch  6. Indoor Fireworks  7. Little Palaces  8. I'll Wear It Proudly  9. American Without Tears  10. Eisenhower Blues  11. Poisoned Rose  12. The Big Light  13. Jack of All Parades  14. Suit of Lights  15. Sleep of The Just



Oh, he's the King of America, is he? Well, I didn't vote for him!

I voted for Howard the Duck! Like I've done every year since I emerged from the womb in 1976...

Damn, it's hard to believe that this was the follow up to the blue-eyed soul synthesizer mush of "Goodbye Cruel World"! It's even harder to process this as an 80s' album...Elvis teams up with producer T-Bone Burnett, famous for his rootsy production style, and puts out an album of country and Americana music...So there's minimal synthesizer, just lots of acoustic guitars, mandolins, dobro, and other such woody things...He even drops the Attractions,  who only appear on one track, "Suit of Lights" (which also happens to be one of the strongest songs)...

This didn't come as a complete surprise, since he seemed to have started distancing himself from punk as far back as "Imperial Bedroom" and he emulated this style before on "Almost Blue," but this album blows that earlier Country & Western experiment away, mainly because these songs feel quintessentially Costello. It no longer sounds like he's trying on the cowboy boots of his forebears... Nobody but Elvis Costello could have written and performed these songs (barring the pair of cover songs, of course)...

On a track by track basis, this is one of this strongest albums...Listening to this now, I don't hear a single bum track, which is surprising for the various styles he tries on here. Although this is squarely an Americana roots album, he covers every aspect of this deceptively wide genre, from Elvis Presley style rockabilly ( "The Big Light"), to uptempo hoe-downs ("Glitter Gulch"), to Chicago blues ("Eisenhower Blues"),  to folksy pop (the aforementioned "Suit of Lights," which pulls off a triumphant, yet bittersweet chorus like nobody's business...).  It's really remarkable he doesn't stumble once...If I had to pick out a lowlight, maybe "Poisoned Rose," which is just a little too slow-moving for my tastes, but it's such a lovely song it's hard to complain...Looking at the track listing, I thought for sure the cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" was going to be the big skip-worthy moment, especially when you hear the slow tempo, but it turns out it's awesome as all hell...Mysterious, foggy, and anguished...

I've seen this album described as everything from "His best album" to "a big bore," I think, like "Almost Blue," your enjoyment of it is going to depend on how open you are to roots music...Although, I can't imagine anyone being bored by this...Sure, it's not as immediately exciting as "No Action" or "Radio, Radio" but the building intensity of "Little Palaces," and the swooning pop of "Brilliant Mistake" have their own power...I honestly rank this as one of my personal favorite country-rock albums....On the other hand, I can't quite call it his overall best album, because I'm a little too partial to the "power-pop" aspect of Elvis Costello and the Attractions...Anyway, it's a breath of fresh air after "Goodby Cruel World," and this does point the way to a lot of Elvis' later work, although he's never since pulled off this style as successfully as he did here...

Here's "Suit of Lights" by Elvis Costello...Or The Costello Show...Or Declan MacManus...Or the Little Hands of Concrete...Or Wordy Glasses-Man...