Not especially memorable, but I like this well enough.

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!

I did not take to this album-at first but after time passed and a few more listens, I realized this is a very good album musically and lyrically. It is certainly different than earlier albums.

Essential in any 80s collection.

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.

Listen to the opening lines of "The Loved Ones" and you hear Costello at his best. Snappy lines, sung with force and definitely dripping with caustic wit.

One of my favorite EC albums. Love the Geoff Emerick production.

Really liked this when it first came out. More recent listening has led me to reappraise it. Is it possible Elvis uses too many words at times? This isn't always a bad thing as the melodies help keep things together. I've grown to like the simpler songs with less production. One thing is for sure - he is a great writer of ballads and there are some very good examples of his craft here.

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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.