The Fall Of "Imperial Bedroom"

Bob And Charlotte · Post by **Bob And Charlotte** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:20 am

It´s such a sad thing... to see "Imperial Bedroom" decay in my Costello records reviews...

I´ve been listen to this album for a year or so (and i know that some of you have been listen to this record since its release and still love it), but in the last 2 or 3 months i can´t appreciate it half as i used to do.

Good songs as 'Tears Before Bedtime', 'Almost Blue' and 'Boy With A Problem' now seems to leave me cold; even 'Beyond Belief' and 'The Loved Ones' are now often skiped.

... and i thought that this was goin to be one of the 'records of my life' ...

Post by **spooky girlfriend** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:51 am

Of course coming to be a Costello fan almost two decades after this album was released, I feel that my opinions are different than someone who was a fan at the time and ran to the store to purchase it on the day it was released.

I do enjoy IB, but not as much as the others. I have listened to it several times recently and feel that some of the songs are more heavily produced (IMHO) and therefore makes it different than the other EC albums I favor. It has a bit of a dated sound to it, not unpleasing to listen to though. And it doesn't sound like standard Top 40 80's, but still somehow dated nonetheless.

But it's hard to say anything negative about IB because it seems to ignite sparks among longtime EC fans. It seems to be the album that must never be ill spoken.

wardo68 · Post by **wardo68** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 10:51 am

Sounds like a dangerous situation. I'd suggesting backing off from it for a while, and coming back to it when the mood strikes -- and it will. Perhaps it suggests connotations of a place in your life that has passed? I've had that problem with certain albums, even EC.

Here's another question: are you listening to the 15-song album proper, or the Ryko reissue with extra tracks? I thought that was one of the few Ryko reissues where the extras diminished the quality of the whole, and I tend to cut it off after Town Cryer fades into the sunset.

(Not that anyone asked, but Get Happy, Trust, Imperial Bedroom, King of America and Blood & Chocolate are my top 5 EC faves.)

ChokingOnMyPrideandPity · Wed Jul 28, 2004 12:44 pm

IB is at the top of my list for several reasons.

I was about 19 when it came out and in my second year of college (and I was absorbing all kinds of new music back then).

It helped to have fallen in love (she's now my wife of 18 years) and we both listened to that record over and over and over again. So on a personal level (and music is SO personal) it is very special.

The songwriting is just amazing and the delivery / sounds are rather unique (think Man Out of Time, Kid About It, Beyond Belief and You Little Fool). I can't think of any other songs by other artists that match those. Usually, you can listen to a cool song, and think of another song that's somewhat simlar - but that doesn't apply to the bulk of the songs on IB.

I believe it was ECs best work. I wouldn't describe it as a rock and roll record or a pop record - Just a collection of amazing music.

Jackson Monk · Post by **Jackson Monk** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 3:21 pm

His best album IMHO. Shame you feel that way.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Wed Jul 28, 2004 5:40 pm

Matter of taste. To each his or her own. I will always prefer TYM to IB (with several other discs in between), even though I think IB is great. I'm with Spooky that it's a bit too much production for me. It's genius and all, and Geoff Emerick's work is brilliant, but it feels like a different band to me--one I greatly enjoy. Just not in the same visceral way that I enjoy TYM, AF, B&C, Trust, and increasingly Get Happy!!

2 cents poorer,
noise

SweetPear · Post by **SweetPear** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 3:29 pm

ChokingOnMyPrideandPity wrote:IB is at the top of my list for several reasons.

I was about 19 when it came out and in my second year of college (and I was absorbing all kinds of new music back then).

It helped to have fallen in love (she's now my wife of 18 years) and we both listened to that record over and over and over again. So on a personal level (and music is SO personal) it is very special.

The songwriting is just amazing and the delivery / sounds are rather unique (think Man Out of Time, Kid About It, Beyond Belief and You Little Fool). I can't think of any other songs by other artists that match those. Usually, you can listen to a cool song, and think of another song that's somewhat simlar - but that doesn't apply to the bulk of the songs on IB.

I believe it was ECs best work. I wouldn't describe it as a rock and roll record or a pop record - Just a collection of amazing music.

You've pretty much taken all the words right out of my mouth, COMPAP, story and all (except I'll be married for 21 years at the end of this month.)
But I also think that Spooky and Noise have a point too.

I suppose the record does sound dated and is probably a bit over
produced but it's just so unique~in EC's catalogue and to popular music all together~that I just find it hard to compare it to his other records. I think it truely stands alone.

That's pretty much the way I feel about all of EC's work, and for me, I think that's a big part of his appeal and has got to be a big factor in his longevity as an artist. Already being a fan (of course) of his work, I find him so intriguing and totally fascinating. I make the point of saying I'm a fan because I don't think "non-fans" have that same opinion of his work. I think the non-fan or casual EC listener is attracted to a certain "type" of music that he's put out at a particular time and isn't appreciating (or is probably even aware) his diversity.

Wardo advised BobandCharlotte to put IB away for awhile and come back to it another time when the mood is right~and he will. I think that's absolutely right. Don't you think that just about all of EC's records are just so different that you are pretty much in the mood to listen to this particular one or that particular one? I'll put on one of his records and just play it out, over and over, for days and days~depending on my mood~and when I've had enough or I'm in the mood for something different, I'll choose another one. And there's such a variety, that's usually not a problem. That's probably why I always have an ELVIS disc in my player! How many other artists can you say that about?

Sour Milk Cow · Post by **Sour Milk Cow** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 5:38 pm

IB is not my favorite. And yet, I would love him to make another "pop" album with orchestrations. His penchant for melancholy seems to make him favor using orchestrations for his sadder songs (a la NORTH). That's great, but if he's going to keep tipping his hat to ONLY THE LONELY and NO ONE CARES, it would be nice if he'd also make some records that owe more to SONGS FOR SWINGIN' LOVERS.

Listening to the NORTH bonus track "Impatience," it seems like that's the kind of song that deserves to have another ten or twelve likeminded songs around it. It's a really fun song, he uses the orchestra only at the very end, but to maximum effect. It's a style-- the band supported by a full string section-- that he hasn't used very often, and it really works well. I think that's probably one reason IB has so many admirers, it does kind of stand out among EC's albums.

Gillibeanz · Post by **Gillibeanz** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 2:36 am

I wouldnt worry about it. Just stick it away in a drawer somewhere and when you rediscover it in a few years time you will be blown away all over again and wonder why you ever hid it in the first place! (I speak from experience!)

King Hoarse · Post by **King Hoarse** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 4:48 pm

The songs are great and I like the ambitious arrangements and production, but the sound is too thin. The new remastered version is an improvement on the old CD versions, but the original album still sounds best to me (even though it's an unusually long player), which you certainly can't say about Get Happy!! This is a shame, 'cause I think the low ends are excellent on the Nick Lowe-produced remasters so far, and I was really hoping for a fuller IB. Maybe when it's time for the SACD and I win the lottery.

Mr. Average · Post by **Mr. Average** » Tue Aug 03, 2004 5:48 pm

Imperial Bedroom remains, against noble and deserving contenders, my favorite EC and Attractions record of all.

Beyond Belief scares the hell out of me for reasons that I won't ever go into, but it as if he had some notion of where I was at the time and decided to tell everyone through song.

alexv · Post by **alexv** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:19 pm

What makes IB stand out for someone like me, who actually ran to the store and got a vinyl copy which I then wore out throgh repeated listenings, is something that may now be difficult to understand in light of EC's progression as an artist over the last two decades. In 1982, IB sounded like nothing EC had done before, and seemed a radical departure from all his previous records. With the exception of Almost Blue, all the records had been pretty much standard beat records (albeit extraordinary ones), and none of us had a clue that his artistic ambitions would lead him to make a record with songs that many at the time (to EC's embarassment) compared to the songs of Cole Porter other great American songwriters of that ilk. Today, EC has run the gamut of styles and records like PFM, North and the juliet letters hardly raise an eyebrow. The jolt that IB gave us at the time is something that I suspect colors our current perceptions of it, and gives it an importance and value which may in fact outweigh the quality of its songs. By the way, it was also the first record to have the lyrics printed on it, and for us in the pre-net age that was a pretty big deal, again marking the record as a watershed of sorts. Bottom line: when you listen to IB and then try to justify the songs to the reputation of the record you have to remember the context.

wehitandrun · Post by **wehitandrun** » Wed Aug 04, 2004 12:53 pm

It is "remembering the context" that should bring more respect to Goodbye Cruel World as well.