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 | Title : When I Was Cruel
Author : Costello, Elvis
Release Date : 20020423
Binding : Audio CD
Regular Price : $18.98
Amazon.com Price : $12.45
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Editorial Reviews :
Following a string of tasteful but sometimes bloodless collaborations with Sophie Van Otter, Bill Frisell, and the London Symphony Orchestra, Costello delivers his most visceral and satisfying CD in years with When I Was Cruel. Reunited with half the Attractions, Pete Thomas and Steve Nieve, Costello sticks relatively close to the sharp new-wave melodies that sealed his reputation in the late '70s and '80s, but infuses them with powerful sonic touches: a hypnotic loop of Italian pop singer Mina that carries the title track, the melodica that casts an eerie glow over 'Soul for Hire,' and the frenetic, klezmer-inspired horns that drive '15 Petals.' Costello's guitar is frequently drenched in tremolo, and his lyrical wit hasn't been this consistently spiky and unforced since Blood & Chocolate. Compared to some of his more uptown adventures, When I Was Cruel may seem at first a kind of semi-nostalgic slumming, but the opposite may be the case: like Woody Allen, Costello is at his most artful when he produces perfect pop trifles that will almost certainly outlast his more self-conscious 'serious' work.
Buyer Reviews :
The new season of Costello has arrived. After reaching the third heaven of pop sophistication on the 1998's masterful 'Painted From Memory', our man has descended the pinnacle with all things acerbic in-tact. As evidenced by 'When I Was Cruel', there are plenty of wounds left to salt and plenty of cliches left to lambaste. Even though Elvis calls this a 'return to nothing', one can distinctly detect the sneering lava of 'This Year's Model' still glowing bright.
At its core, WIWC is a bass and beat album intermixed with dizzying melodies and roaring imagery. The melody-rockers here range from the autobiographical '45' to the ribaldrous 'Tear off Your Own Head' to the downright biting 'Dissolve' & 'Daddy Can I Turn This?'. With its underground odyssey through the world of seaside thugs, newspaper editors, and jilted brides, along with a magnigicent sample from a 1960s Italian pop song, 'When I Was Cruel 2' wouldn't sound out of place in a Fellini movie. 'Alibi' takes an exhaustive stab at modern day vicitmhood. The gorgeous 'Episode of Blonde' exposes a world ripe with tabloid charm while floushing in and out of a Deborah Harry-esque melody line. And, finally, 'Radio Silence'. Many have speculated as to the possible connection between the album's finale and Costello's classic agit-prop anthem 'Radio, Radio'. A closer listen reveals much closer connections to world weary tunes like 'Town Crier' and 'Riot Act'. Like the closing track on Dylan's 'Love and Theft', 'Radio Silence' shadows cruelty with compromise and caps mayhem with ice-- atleast temporarily.
(by Josiah Johnson)
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