Goodbye Cruel World (studio album) by Elvis Costello And The Attractions

From indieshins 11/11/2023 01:20

Okay, so I did revisit this, and I was way too harsh on it. I still really dislike the production, though it's hard to pinpoint why - EC did albums with very 80s production before this (Punch the Clock) and he would do one afterwards (Spike). But I think there were more spots of naturalism on those albums, which suit Costello more than this very slick sound. Additionally, when it did get into polished 80s production, there was a bit more darkness and odd, artsy touches. This one sounds very clinical - even antiseptic. There's also more songs I outright love on those records.

But despite my issues with the production, the songwriting is solid. It's far from his best set of songs, but there's nothing offensively bad here, and some songs that are quite lovely - it starts and ends strongly, for one thing. The Comedians, and Worthless Thing, are two other strong cuts here. Just wish it was produced differently.

I do know that Elvis hates this one, infamously beginning his liner notes to the Rhino reissue: "Congratiulations! You've just purchased our worst album." And even though I've come up it on this relisten, I do have to agree with him: it's the worst Attractions record, and an argument could be made that it's Costello's worst across his entire career. But some artists would kill to have a worst record that's as acceptable as this one is.

From indieshins 02/28/2018 01:53

I listened to it once. I don't plan to again. It's just so overwrought and sounds horribly dated now - problems that to a lesser degree plagued his previous album. The difference here is there are no classic tracks. The only two I even enjoy are the first two. After that it's utterly forgettable. It's a cliche, but I blame Langer and Winstanley. They were not a good fit for Elvis, a point spelled out by his triumphant return two years later with the T-Bone Burnett helmed King of America.

Elvis Costello once referred to, goodbye cruel world, as, our worst album of good songs. You can see what Costello means, at least on some of the tracks, but for the majority of the time, goodbye cruel world, is a criminally underrated record from one of Britain's greatest ever songwriters. When Costello made that remark he might have been talking about opener, the only flame in town, a sort of duet with Daryl Hall. It's got that eighties sound, but it's ok. Still, there are some excellent tracks here, from the madness inspired, room with no number, the brilliant, love field, and the absolutely lovely closing track, peace in our time. Elsewhere, there's, home truth, inch by inch, and the cover version, I wanna be loved. There's nothing bad here, it's certainly a better record than, punch the clock, and any Elvis Costello fanatic has to own this LP, go on, give it another try, and just listen to the songs.