Absolute Radio: Discover real music

It took me ages to get into "Imperial Bedroom", having been a Costello fan from the very beginning in 1977. It was a veritable cornucopia of different songs with no continuity at all, far different from the sonic unity of "Get Happy" or "This Year's Model", for example. Costello used engineer Geoff Emerick, who had worked on "Sgt Pepper", to assist on this album and the orchestration of tracks like "And In Every Home", "Town Cryer", "Man Out Of Time" and "Little Savage" show exactly what effect was trying to be acheived. This was, as most Costello albums subsequently would be, an album with the "chocolate box" effect of widely differig tracks following on from each other.

There were still a few remnants of the old Attractions trademark sound of bass, keyboard and vocal over insistent drums on cuts like "Beyond Belief", the impressive, catchy "You Little Fool", "Tears Before Bedtime" and the classic "Shabby Doll". However, the overall effect was one of uncohesive diversity, hence the time it takes the "get into" the album. Not to worry, once one does, tracks like "Kid About It" and "The Long Honeymoon" become all the more appealing.

Enjoy the faster cuts, enjoy the slow piano-driven ballads, enjoy the lyrics (as ascerbic as ever). Make no mistake, lack of instant appeal or not, this is possibly Elvis Costello's finest 45 minutes. Nobody much liked it at the time though, and Costello's output, ever since, has never sold as well as say "Armed Forces" did. This was the moment he almost started to become a cult figure again, backing out of the mainstream somewhat. No "Oliver's Army" style tracks came from him again. Not really. Subsequently, you either "got" Costello and stuck with him or you didn't.


Rating: 5 out of 5

Elvis Costello and the Attractions had been at the top of the pop hierarchy for many years for obvious reasons and this album cemented that position. With Imperial Bedroom, Costello sealed himself in my mind as the best lyricist in popular music. The tunes aren't bad either. Combined, what's offered here is the supreme pop album.
The lyrics are of high quality; they can be tender, playful and sometime searing with emotion. They are always clever in the use of English and that type of word interplay's always appealed to me. The music covers ballads, rockers; the playing is tight and arrangements excellent. No collection would be complete without this excellent album.

Rating: 5 out of 5