I'm a big Elvis Costello fan but don't own all his original albums. I remember buying the four CD boxed set of his a while ago and thinking how cool it was...but with the double CD reissues, I figure, even better but I didn't rebuy any albums, though. Tempted but figured "no, they already have bonus tracks". Well, now he's doing it again!

http://www.billboard.com/...1003559837


Maybe these reissues are more bare bones, which seems strange since you'd kind of want more. Maybe they'll be less expensive, which could be cool (isn't Universal the company behind the recent eco friendly CDs cases with material only made up of recycled paper (not sure if they have a booklet but I assume they don't and are bare bones). And I guess they will be two more collections, too? Sounds like only Attractions era stuff, not the solo Warners material, which is very rich and filled with experimetnal music that was still cutting edge. The last ten years, however, with everything from the Burt Barach CD on, he's going way back but did apparently do some more modern stuff as well (I remember the reunion album with the Attractions but I don't think it did all that much for me). Just wish he would put a lid on the rereleases.

BTW, saw him live once during the Allen Toussaint tour and what a bang for my buck...I think I paid maybe $30-$40 and he was on for like three hours...we were exhausted and could barely get home (it was in downtown Ann Arbor...very cool setting).
[Edited 3/19/07 23:22pm]

VinnyM27 said:

BLOODY HELL! MORE REISSUES!!!!

I thought this was a joke at first. I've bought all his albums from My Aim Is True through to Spike four times (vinyl, CD, first CD reissue, second 2 CD reissue). I won't be buying them all again. Ok, if he reissued King of America with all the outtakes and demos, Blood & Chocolate with a live CD from the great "Costello Sings Again" tour (I saw four consecutive nights at the Royalty Theatre - Attractions, solo, the Spinning Songbook and with the Confederates - and they were all brilliant shows), and Almost Blue with the full Royal Albert Hall concert I'd buy those again, but not the whole lot. The 2 CD reissues were about as good and as full as reissues can be.

Which Attractions reunion album are you referring to? Brutal Youth, which was quite good and All This Useless beauty, which was the interesting side of obtuse? And don't forget that he's basically still playing with the Attractions minus Bruce Thomas these days.

I must say I went from being a rabid fan of his between 1978 and 1986, to swiftly losing interest when he signed with WB. Spike, Mighty Like A Rose et al didn't quite cut it for me. Still don't. I've had intermittent bits of interest in him, but I don't listen to him all that much these days.
[Edited 3/20/07 17:28pm]

(I saw four consecutive nights at the Royalty Theatre - Attractions, solo, the Spinning Songbook and with the Confederates - and they were all brilliant shows)

Shapeshifter said:

They seem to be implying they are bare bones issues but...for causal Elvis Costello fans? I'm a big fan but I don't own all of his albums becuase frankly I'm not sure which ones to get. The first rereleases with bonus material, the second. I don't believe fans actually own four copies of these albums already! Two makes sense (vinyl and CD) and maybe the fist reissues...but damn! I mean, damn! He probably has some sort of record for most rereleases of albums!

Never got into "Brutal Youth". I guess I liked it when it came out but it never went into heavy rotation.

Strange, he has probably sold fewer albums than he's released.

I love the 2cd reissues. Get Happy was amazing, with a bonus cd of 30 songs! Has alternate versions of almost every album track.

But these re-releases are confusing. I mistakenly bought a second copy of Imperial Bedroom, thinking it was Armed Forces

Shapeshifter said:

I'm completely envious.

Strange, he has probably sold fewer albums than he's released.

I love the 2cd reissues. Get Happy was amazing, with a bonus cd of 30 songs! Has alternate versions of almost every album track.

But these re-releases are confusing. I mistakenly bought a second copy of Imperial Bedroom, thinking it was Armed Forces

VinnyM27 said:

The albums to get - in my opinion - are everything from 1977 - 1986 (My Aim Is True - Blood Chocolate). They're not all great (Punch The Clock is his weakest from that era, in my opinion, although it has four jawdropping classics on it: Everyday I Write The Book, Pills & Soap, Shipbuilding and Let Them All Talk), but they're all good. Even "Goodbye Cruel World", which got - and still gets (from Costello himself) - a righteous kicking.

I really went off him almost completely after "Blood & Chocolate". I really think he accidentally exorcised his twisted demons when he made it.

NDRU said:

.... but not accurate.

"This is from our new album, which has been released. Secretly".

I'm not a big Elvis Costello fan, but I have hung out with him in a muddy field and chit-chatted for half an hour.

Basically, at Glastonbury 2005, my band were headlining in the Roots Tent. You might recall that Glasto 2K5 had the worst weather of any Glastonbury ever, people's tents were getting washed away etc, and the mud was up to my knees at one point when I walked over to see MIA. But, I digress:

On the way into the venue area/farm, the bad weather caused a main entry way for artists and bands to flood, and it was off-limits for a couple of hours while the organised rushed to get metal sheeting to cover the mud and let the tour buses through.

During this time, the tour buses were diverted into a random field. We didn't know how long it would take, so we hopped out of our tour bus, I lit up a cigarette, and lo and behold, the guys in the tour bus next to us hop out and it's Elvis and his people. I don't even remember what I talked to him about, but I remember he was a very friendly person. One of my bandmates posed for a photo with him as his father was a big Elvis Costello fan. I have a couple of shots from my Camera Phone, but I have a nasty feeling that phone died and I'm unable to extract any photos from it. Ah well!

Just thought I'd share that with y'all.

Shapeshifter said:

Elvis, always with the zingers!

I said that mostly because I noticed The Delivery Man sold something like 2000 copies its first week. Horrible!

Also, in the US he's kind of like Bowie. A huge star, but he has really only had 2 hits--Everyday I Write The Book & Veronica
[Edited 3/22/07 16:12pm]

NDRU said:

But he also had hit albums with Armed Forces and Get Happy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w...s_Costello
[Edited 3/23/07 10:59am]

Shapeshifter said:

Accidents Will Happen was about the only other song of his I heard as a kid. He described Armed Forces as his "pop star" album, and that lasted about fifteen seconds.

Militant said:

Believe it or not, you're the first person I've ever encountered who's had anything nice to say about Costello. I vaguely know his first manager, Jake Riviera, and he told me Costello is one of the nastiest pieces of humanity he's ever encountered (and this, by the way, when Jake was still managing him! - and he wasn't joking). Everyone else, from journalists who've interviewed him, promoters who've dealt with him, Nick Lowe, Bruce Thomas and Shane MacGowan all say the same thing. He's a nasty, malevolent, spiteful guy. He treated his wife, Cait O'Riordan, so badly she wound up being a smackhead. Would you hug a cactus with a rattlesnake wrapped around it?

He's made great records though.
[Edited 3/23/07 10:51am]

Militant said:

Believe it or not, you're the first person I've ever encountered who's had anything nice to say about Costello. I vaguely know his first manager, Jake Riviera, and he told me Costello is one of the nastiest pieces of humanity he's ever encountered (and this, by the way, when Jake was still managing him! - and he wasn't joking). Everyone else, from journalists who've interviewed him, promoters who've dealt with him, Nick Lowe, Bruce Thomas and Shane MacGowan all say the same thing. He's a nasty, malevolent, spiteful guy. He treated his wife, Cait O'Riordan, so badly she wound up being a smackhead. Would you hug a cactus with a rattlesnake wrapped around it?

He's made great records though.
[Edited 3/23/07 10:51am]

Shapeshifter said:

Cait O'Riordan become a smackhead! I remember doing this presention on an Elvis song (instead of a poem) for a class years ago and I did some research and found out about his wife....It was a shock to hear not long ago he was with Diana Krall and married her!

NDRU said:

.... because you were an American (?) kid. I first saw Elvis on Top of the Pops in the UK in 1977, doing Watching The Detectives. Or was it 1978 when the single came out? Either way, Costello was a household name by the time he scored his biggest UK hit (No 4) with Oliver's Army.

I bought everything on vinyl from My Aim Is True to Spike, then I rebought everything on CD from My Aim Is True to The Delivery Man. I've been disappointed with Costello's latest work, and I think his singing really sucks these days. When I hear him strain for a high note, I cringe.