Brutal Youth

Chrille · Post by **Chrille** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 2:12 pm

Having read about Mitchel Froom's crummy production on MLAR and Brutal Youth at allmusic.com I wasn't sure how bad it was going to be, since Froom plays so well on KoA. I don't own MLAR or BY yet, but I got a chance to listen to BY yesterday since my brother had borrowed BY from the library. I only had time to listen to Pony Street and Kinder Murder a few times (which I had heard on live bootlegs before), but man the sound was pretty damn bad and sadly drowns the songs slightly.

Is it this bad throughout the album or do you get used to it?

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 4:32 pm

I don't know what to tell you. I really like Froom's production on both records.

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Fri Apr 29, 2005 5:36 pm

Me too, especially on BY, which is crisp and well-suited to the songs.

Minerwerks · Post by **Minerwerks** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 12:13 am

I haven't let Mighty Like A Rose seep in as much, but I really like Brutal Youth. Some of the vocals are quite up front, but overall, I like the sound of the album and have no quibble.

MegJS · Post by **MegJS** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 2:18 am

I like both Brutal Youth and Mighty Like A Rose. To me the sound of BY seems to have something incommon with that of WIWC... Sulky Girl is a good example... besides, BY is also a bunch of excellent songs. But MLAR is the second EC album(after WIWC) which has a clear and distinct mood and, again, magic:)) I like both original and bonus CDs.

Looks like I compare all albums with WIWC:))))

Chrille · Post by **Chrille** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 3:47 am

I thought the instruments sounded false and screechy. The songs had something of a bloated sound that was slightly annoying but I couldn't put my finger on what it was.

Oh well, I'm likely to get it sooner or later either way.

pophead2k · Post by **pophead2k** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 7:32 am

Do get BY, because regardless of production (which I like), the songs are incredible. Also, a number of the songs (London's Brilliant Parade, You Tripped at Every Step, Favorite Hour) are less bombastic and sound very organic. Also, remember that 20% Amnesia and Kinder Murder were more or less self prodeuced by Elvis and were intended as demos (done in the same style as the Wendy James demos).

MLAR has an entirely different production to it than BY. MLAR and very crisp, and features a variety of instrumentation you won't find on BY. The fact that they were both produced by Froom (whose work with Crowded House and others is very clean) leads me to suspect that the credit or blame for production on both albums goes much more to Mr. Costello. I believe that regardless of who is producing, ever since the Goodbye Cruel World production disaster, our man is in the driver's seat.

strangerinthehouse · Post by **strangerinthehouse** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:50 am

Get BY. This was the first EC album I ever bought and I can understand how it may have thrown you off a little bit, it did the same to me. I kept thinking is this the same elvis who did "radio radio" on snl? Since this was my introduction to EC i had no idea how ecletic his releases have been since he began recording. I just kept listening to it because of the songs, the meaning they began to have on what had happened to me at the time and with every listen i began enjoying it more and more. I used to skip songs like "this is hell" and "my science fiction twin" now i have to listen to the every song if i can.
It is one of my favorite albums and it took a while to get used to it.

noiseradio · Post by **noiseradio** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 10:52 am

Several of the BY cuts were produced by Nick Lowe, as well. So even if you don't like Froom, there's plenty of material there for you.

But I think it will grow on you.

LittleFoole · Post by **LittleFoole** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:16 am

Chrille wrote:
Is it this bad throughout the album or do you get used to it?

It's a great album - yes, you'll get used to it....

Chrille · Post by **Chrille** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 11:42 am

Well I am planning to get it even though I was disappointed with the sound. I guess I'll get used to it because I do like the songs I've heard. But I bet it could've been done much better, comparing live versions to the studio versions.

Fishfinger king · Post by **Fishfinger king** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:08 pm

The weight of opinion, including myself, is that Brutal Youth is the complete dog's bollocks. The sound is great. You'd be a fool to miss out.

Goody2Shoes · Post by **Goody2Shoes** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 8:51 pm

Well, hell! Here I thought all along that "dog's bollocks" was a bad thing. Language barrier.

I like Brutal Youth. It's the dog's bollocks!

Otis Westinghouse · Post by **Otis Westinghouse** » Sat Apr 30, 2005 9:05 pm

Well that's a nice bit of Transatlantic linguistic exchange. I don't know quite why the dog's bollocks are so esteemed, but I guess they're proudly out there, and haven't been removed from the poor fucker. Bowie's Diamond Dogs is described as the d's b's in the reissue notes - a nice in-joke for Bowie fans, as the dog's cock was removed from the original artwork on release in '74. Now that we're all a little bit wiser, it's been restored.

MegJS · Post by **MegJS** » Sat May 07, 2005 7:21 am

I was surprised when I learned that the boy on the cover was Costello himself.

Chrille · Post by **Chrille** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 3:33 pm

I've now listened to the album 8 times or so and I really like it after all. However I still think the the production is bad. The drums sound like someone banging on pots and pans in the distance and the other instruments drown in E.C's loud voice most of the time. Still though, it's not catastrophic and the songs more than make up for it. The melodies are probably the most "cute" (in lack of a better word) E.C's written, although the lyrics are certainly nasty at times (just the way I like it!).

I'm getting the bonus disc edition as soon as I can afford it, any highlights on it?

Now to tackle Mighty Like A Rose...

Extreme Honey · Post by **Extreme Honey** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 7:03 pm

You know, I don't know much about that producting mumbo-jumbo. I love Goodbye Cruel World and I damn right adore Brutal Youth. When I listen to an album I try to read the story, who cares if the guitar sounds a little bit off? The thrill of hearing a brand new elvis costello album is incredible! I got so hyped up for every one of his albums I baught.

P.S: New cd: The best of Emmylou (with one new song)...Anyone got it yet??

strangerinthehouse · Post by **strangerinthehouse** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 5:34 pm

As for the Brutal Youth bonus disc, I thought the only highlights were the liner notes and additional photos. it is interesting to hear the evolution of some of the songs from demo's to alternate studio versions but overall i think it is one of the weakest bonus disc in the rhino reissue series.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Sun Jul 24, 2005 10:25 pm

As far as the bonus disc, Poisoned Letter would be worth the price of admission. There are a few other interesting things in there as well. He may have kept a lot of stuff out to save it for future projects though.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 4:33 am

bambooneedle wrote:He may have kept a lot of stuff out to save it for future projects though.

By "projects", do you mean songs he has recorded and hasn't used yet but will do or songs that he has recorded for future reissues of Brutal Youth (we know it's going to happen at some stage).

ReadyToHearTheWorst · Post by **ReadyToHearTheWorst** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 5:37 am

bambooneedle wrote:He may have kept a lot of stuff out to save it for future projects though.

The Wendy James demoes have yet to surface - they could have been included with BY.

bambooneedle · Post by **bambooneedle** » Mon Jul 25, 2005 6:54 am

verbal gymnastics wrote:By "projects", do you mean songs he has recorded and hasn't used yet but will do or songs that he has recorded for future reissues of Brutal Youth (we know it's going to happen at some stage).

I'm thinking there may be material (recorded yet or not) that could one day see the light of day. It could include material from the Wendy James sessions but also other material. ATUB included material that went back to 1989. Likewise WIWC and The Delivery Man included material that had been incubating for years. Then, he also wrote some songs for Ute Lemper's cabaret style Punishing Kiss album as well around '95. It has long been his custom to hold onto songs and recycle them later, so i wouldn't be surprised.

verbal gymnastics · Post by **verbal gymnastics** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 6:20 am

You both make good valid points although I hadn't thought of the recycling point.

As I've said before I'd like to see definitive editions of all the CDs but I know there's still mileage in other expansive (though fortunately so far, not expensive) reissues.

There's a wealth of other songs not released officially in any guise - Bright Blue Times, Speak Darkly My Angel, You Lie Sweetly etc but I'm not sure if they would fit neatly on any reissues and may be saved for one-off album releases or possibly give aways.

normabuel · Post by **normabuel** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 8:48 am

You can get You Lie Sweetly (and Passionate Fight) on Steve Nieve's web site. I know that's not a "release" but it also isn't a bootleg. It's a legal download.

martin · Post by **martin** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 3:58 pm

You can ge both BY & MLAR bonus issues for £5.99 at the moment on http://www.101cd.com , I agree with the comment about pots and pans percussion and muffled production but there are half a dozen cracking songs on there, my favourite is "All the rage" an absolute stone cold classic. I love the version on the Costello/Naive box set best tho. It's the leading Costello song on my ipod by a country mile.

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