Imperial Bedroom
by Elvis Costello And The Attractions

Imperial bedroom, is Elvis Costello's best album of the eighties. It's a wonderfully rich record featuring some great orchestration which is the icing on the cake to a lot of the tracks. Costello would try the same thing nine years later with, mighty like a rose, but where as on that record he threw absolutely everything at it, making it overblown and bloated, on, imperial bedroom, it's done just about right. A lot of people argue that the album doesn't have any great songs on it, I strongly disagree. Beyond belief, the long honeymoon, and especially, man out of time, are excellent tracks. Mentions should also go to,...and in every home, you little fool, and, the loved ones. The ballads, almost blue, kid about it, and, town cryer, are all lovely too. Imperial bedroom is a majestic piece of work, every track adds to the listening experience, and Costello is on the kind of form he wouldn't be in again for quite a while.

From indieshins 02/28/2018 01:40 | #209764 | TOP COMMENT Vote up your preferred comments and the comments with the most votes will be flagged.

The apex of Costello's career. Some may find it pretentious, and indeed, the second half of the album is a bit obtuse at times, but once you get past that it is revealed to be perhaps his greatest work of art. Side one is perfect - and I mean PERFECT. Not one song is less than classic out of the first seven. Side two starts out strong too, with the Loved Ones and Human Hands, the latter being one of Costello's most vulnerable moments and one of my favourites of his. Then up until the closer Town Cryer, the songs become more difficult to parse, winding down unpredictable paths. But the ambition cannot be faulted - the variety of styles, moods and structures here is dizzying, and the production by Geoff Emerick is arguably the best of any Costello album. This album is, in a word, timeless!

Arguably Costello's masterpiece. Very much a classy album, with influences of Baroque Pop smeared all over and possibly a dab of Psychedelia. The earlier days of brash Punk/New Wave seem to be fading away, as Costello is embracing a more sophisticated sound built around composing songs on piano. "Almost Blue" is the perfect example. However, "Man Out of Time" is probably the strongest song off this album. "You Little Fool" is another highlight.

I had some trouble sharing others' enthusiasm for "Imperial Bedroom" when it was first released in 1982. The album was, of course, in many ways a return to Costello's original starting point, after the, for me, very disappointing "Almost Blue" album. Compared to "Trust" and "Get Happy" , though, the numbers are generally more produced, and stylistically the album spreads out over many genres.

However my original appeal against "Imperial Bedroom" was that I thought there were only few really good tracks. Later, I have had to revise my opinion, because there are actually more great songs.

I remember that the only tracks that really made an impression on me were "Shabby Doll" and "Long Honeymoon". I still think well of "Shabby Doll", while "Long Honeymoon" has not lasted for me. On the other hand, there are a handful among the other songs that stand out positively. "The Loved Ones" is a catchy song that well could have stemmed from Costello's perhaps best album "Armed Forces". The same description could fit "Little Savage" which probably is my favorite track on the album.

"Man Out of Time", "You Little Fool" and the somewhat heavily-produced ballad "Town Cryer" also stand out.

There are also a couple of real disappointments. The two Dusty Springfield pastiches "Almost Blue" and "Kid About it" can be hard to swallow.

Conclusion: In several ways an uneven album that contains fine numbers, but which as a whole does not measure up to Costello's best. To be fair, It should be mentioned that Costello vocally is on top and he shows great versatility.

It's a shame not enough people know this album. Some of Elvis' best songs on here including Man Out of Time, The Loved Ones, and Pidgin English. Costello's creative peak.