Punch The Clock (studio album)
by Elvis Costello And The Attractions
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Condition: Very Good
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Condition: Used
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Condition: Used
Elvis Costello And The Attractions bestography
Punch The Clock is ranked 9th best out of 37 albums by Elvis Costello on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Elvis Costello is This Year's Model which is ranked number 318 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 5,322.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
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Punch The Clock track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 79 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
Punch The Clock rankings
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Punch The Clock ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 164 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 12/19/2025 08:02 | MaxStorm98 | 3,802 | 89/100 |
| ! | 11/12/2025 23:32 | NYAndreas | 1,432 | 43/100 |
| ! | 10/18/2025 16:38 | Gendjar | 4,732 | 56/100 |
| ! | 10/13/2025 14:45 |  Tamthebam | 22,857 | 69/100 |
| ! | 08/10/2025 15:17 | Proto | 3,808 | 33/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album has a Bayesian average rating of 71.5/100, a mean average of 70.4/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 71.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.2.
Punch The Clock favourites
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Punch The Clock comments
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Jboy56 04/14/2024 07:29 | #302972
I just loved the "Shipbuilding", the slightly poppier style is perfect for my taste.
Well, if sounds pretty much exactly like what you'd expect from a collaboration with Clive Langer. It sounds like the Attractions have been replaced as a backing band by Madness. As others have noted, the three classic songs are really great highs for this album but the rest of the record is not up to the standard EC had set with his work previous to this album.
I suppose there is a slight irony that the album containing my favourite ever Elvis Costello song was the first album he released which was a little below par. The song in question is Shipbuilding of course.
indieshins 02/28/2018 01:49 | #209765
Really the first significant blemish on his career. Sometimes I'm in the mood for the whole thing, but mostly I'm not. The horns are just so out of place, and overall it's too glossy - Costello would do this sort of sound better on albums such as 1989's Spike. Overall, it's essential listening all the way through only if you're a diehard fan like me, otherwise you can just stick with Everyday I Write the Book, Shipbuilding, and Pills and Soap, which are the classics from this album.
Good, enjoyable but not his best. Still better than most other artists.
After the commercial disappointment of the brilliant, imperial bedroom, album, Elvis Costello tried for a more accessible approach this time around. Punch the clock, then, is Elvis Costello's pop record. The songs are smothered in a clean pop sheen and a horn section, as well as The Attractions. There are some throwaway filler, especially towards the end of the record, but it still features some great Costello tracks. Opener, let them talk, and, everyday I write the book, open the album strongly and are perfect for the sound Costello has gone for. This also works well on, TKO(boxing day), and, the invisible man. The best tracks though are the vitriolic, pills and soap, and the beautiful, shipbuilding, which features an astounding trumpet solo from the legendary, Chet Baker. All in all, punch the clock, is not one of Costello's strongest records, but it's not bad.
lightmyway 05/13/2012 21:52 | #42251
They say he sold out with this one. It's a flawed album but it has a lot of good songs. I can get behind this most of the time.
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