Let's vote for Costello's worst effort.

Bob And Charlotte · Post by **Bob And Charlotte** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 2:13 pm

Of all records i own:

'Punch the Clock' ---------- I imagine how disappointed those who were already a Costello fan felt.... after the greatness of 'Imperial Bedroom'....

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 2:13 pm

Aw, I love Punch The Clock. GCW will be the biggest answer here.

I think his worst effort is Spike.

Bob And Charlotte · Post by **Bob And Charlotte** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 2:17 pm

why is that WHAR?

i like this record a lot (though his and Macca songs are quite banal)

bobster · Post by **bobster** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 2:56 pm

"Spike"??????? Noooooooo!!!!!! (One of Bobster's EC favorites)

crash8_durham · Post by **crash8_durham** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 2:57 pm

maybe it is The Girl In The Other Room

Watching_Detectives · Post by **Watching_Detectives** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 3:07 pm

I agree with WHAR...I this Spike is the worst.

ChokingOnMyPrideandPity · Wed Jun 09, 2004 3:22 pm

Goodbye Cruel World is mediocre record compared to EC's other work. But in the whole scheme of things GCW is much better then a solo album by a member of Kiss or maybe an attempted comeback album by Rick Springfield or Leif Garrett.

VonOfterdingen · Post by **VonOfterdingen** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 3:37 pm

Must be GCW

(don't know 'For the stars* though)

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 3:48 pm

arrrrg. *holds in GCW love*

Spike is just... well, the first five tracks are great. I also like "Pads" and "Chewing Gum"... but it has by far the worst production of any Elvis record.

I can't stand listening to robotic Elvis sing to me, and his voice was not ready to handle "Deep, Dark, Truthful Mirror".

normabuel · Post by **normabuel** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 3:57 pm

Juliet Letters or Kojak Variety.

King Hoarse · Post by **King Hoarse** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 5:05 pm

Goodbye Cruel World isn't necessarily Elvis' worst collection of songs, but it's the worst mistreatment of them, so I'll go with that one.

(Kojak Variety escapes the slot owing to very low pretensions. Punch The Clock's sound suits its fine pop songs very well, in my book. The Juliet Letters and Spike are my second and third EC favourites after Get Happy, but of course I see why people will dislike them. Just like I still find most of North pretty boring, but I don't think it's a bad effort. It sounds heartfelt, and is probably very close to what Elvis set out to do. I'm just not in that mood very often.)

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 5:25 pm

King Hoarse wrote:Goodbye Cruel World isn't necessarily Elvis' worst collection of songs, but it's the worst mistreatment of them, so I'll go with that one.

Have you heard how "This Town..." is utterly ruined by the production?

TheImposter · Post by **TheImposter** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 7:50 pm

I guess I'd have to vote for Mighty Like A Rose because it has an uncomfortably high share of dross ("Broken", "Playboy To A Man") and things that I liked at the time that don't seem so great now ("How To Be Dumb", "Sweet Pear"). This diverges from some of his other albums, like GCW and Spike, where almost all the individual songs are first-rate but the production occasionally lets them down or albums that succeed within the limits of the genre Elvis was experimenting with (TJL or, I imagine, North).

Kojak Variety is the only "real" EC album other than North that I haven't heard all the way through but the sound samples I listened to on Yahoo! recently were actually pretty good.

clairequilty · Post by **clairequilty** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 8:49 pm

Kojak easily my least favorite.

MLAR is up there but no where near KJV.

And if we're adding in the expectation factor, I'd have to say WIWC is up there, too.

For a rowdy rythym record comeback, I'll take Brutal Youth any day.

As for For the Stars, I don't really consider it an EC work, but more of a contribution to another artist.

GCW has it's problems, but the songwriting is still relatively strong.

Juliet Letters has some of his most subtle songwriting (Swine notwithstanding). The Birds, Sad Burlesque, FOr Other's Eyess as well as many others.

PTC, again, is filled with complex melodies. And I don't quite understand those who diss the production as 80'ish. What other record of 1983 sounded anything like PTC? It's truly unique, even to this day. Sure, it's poppy, but I still love every second.

Tim(e) · Post by **Tim(e)** » Wed Jun 09, 2004 10:02 pm

Bob And Charlotte wrote:Of all records i own:

'Punch the Clock' ---------- I imagine how disappointed those who were already a Costello fan felt.... after the greatness of 'Imperial Bedroom'....

Actually, at the time it came out I was not at all disappointed by Punch the Clock... in fact quite the opposite. At that time it was a real breath of fresh air. Remember that when it came out, the use of brass was enjoying a bit of a resurgence in Britain thanks to the likes of the Q-Tips and The Bureau and the Jam - PtC was Costello's contribution.

I really cannot say that there is a "worst" Costello record, as they all mean something to me in terms of recalling different stages I was going through in my earlier years.

I used to religiously pick up each Costello album the day it arrived in-store (generally as an import here in Australia), and I was never once disappointed by any of those albums. In fact, there were only three artists/groups whose albums I really hung out for and in which I was never disappointed: EC, The Clash, and The Residents.

Branst · Post by **Branst** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 12:24 am

Edit: Said something stupid I shouldn't of posted.

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 12:40 am

Well, Branst, it inspired a full page of positive activity and discussion before you went and made it a stupid thread.

Instead of bitching, make a thread that's better. You've got 0.16 posts a day... stop wasting them.

I like the thread. Great job Bob and Charlotte.

normabuel · Post by **normabuel** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 8:39 am

It is interesting that putting aside that everyone has different tastes (I happen to love PTC, did when it came out and still do, for example), different people have different ways to measure "worst." Some people measure whether the album achieved what EC wanted. If that's the case, then I think GCW would be at the bottom. Others measure against expectation. I picked "worse album" based on which album I am least likely to put on the player. Clearly, for me, it is TJL or KV. I think both Spike and MLAR, netiher of which are anywhere near the top of my list, both have at least few songs worth listening to, and occasionally make onto my player. (Frankly, if I was a little more ambitious, I'd rip them both and burn a CD of the "best ot" Spike and MLAR.)

In any event, I find it interesting that there are diverse ways of measuring "worst album" in this thread.

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 8:50 am

Almost Blue, Goodbye Cruel World, Kojak Variety, and The Juliet Letters are all debated by some to be among Elvis' worst efforts.

The only controversial albums I own are therefore probably Mighty Like A Rose, Spike, and Punch The Clock.

Of those, I think Mighty Like A Rose is my least favourite, although it includes several songs that I can't do without.

I suppose my answer could change after hearing the four albums I don't own more thoroughly.

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 8:56 am

The only EC album (and I have the lot) I never listen to is the Bill Frissell effort. I just found it dull. I will defend TJL to my grave!!

clairequilty · Post by **clairequilty** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 9:37 am

Jackson Monk wrote:The only EC album (and I have the lot) I never listen to is the Bill Frissell effort. I just found it dull. I will defend TJL to my grave!!

Absolutely agree with your assessment on both counts.

Those who dismiss the Juliet Letters, I believe, are missing some of his best songwriting. Most of the songs, if performed on a solo guitar or piano, would have been welcomed as beautiful ballads on other albums.

Unlike North, which I love also, most of the songs on TJL, are fairly striaghtforward compositions (straight forward in the EC sense, that is). Interesting chord progressions, weaving melodies, and interestng wordplay.

I urge anyone who has foregone TJL to give it another listen.

martinfoyle · Post by **martinfoyle** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 9:57 am

This is a no brainer,easily EC's worst effort is that dreadfull van Otter album, I've suffered it so little (lifes too short) I cant remeber its name. An atrocious piece of self-indulgent junk, even the Wendy James album is light years better.

Post by **BlueChair** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 10:00 am

martinfoyle wrote:This is a no brainer,easily EC's worst effort is that dreadfull van Otter album, I've suffered it so little (lifes too short) I cant remeber its name. An atrocious piece of self-indulgent junk, even the Wendy James album is light years better.

Yeah, but isn't that a Anne Sophie Von Otter album, produced by Elvis? I mean he barely sings more than a line on the whole album!

normabuel · Post by **normabuel** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 10:03 am

Claire, you could probably say the same thing for GCW. Well written songs, but the recorded results are not so good. When EC was touring with the Brods, I dusted off my TJL to give it a listen. I hoped that after having loved PFM and North, my ear would have "matured" to like TJL. There are some songs on there I am getting to like, Jackson Monk being one. But, I have to admit, to my ear, the album is hard to listen to.

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Thu Jun 10, 2004 1:54 pm

Well, Spike is the album I listen to least. I almost regret buying it.

I'm telling you... ROBOTIC ELVIS is not a good singer.

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Let's vote for Costello's worst effort.

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