Costello's latest album shows he's matured but still angry

By JOHN PATRICK GATTA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
It's a tough second act when moving on from rock's Angry Young Man to comfortably settling into middle age.
But Elvis Costello has acclimated himself into the role quite nicely.
Early in his career the former computer programmer typified the saying that the pen is mightier than the sword. His vitriolic lyrics slashed their way through his self-penned material.
On one of his early U.S. tours, he even displayed the ability to start barfights with the turn of a phrase.
Through it all, from the release of his debut album, "My Aim Is True," in 1977 to his recent work, 2002's "When I Was Cruel," Costello separated himself from his punk and new wave peers by displaying not only a sharp manner with words but an equally adept way with melody no matter what musical style he chose.
After the mighty announcement of his presence on the music scene, essentially albums one, two and three, he began to take full advantage of his band, the Attractions.
Songs contained complex arrangements and well-rounded dimensions rather than burst forth with nothing more than kinetic energy.
Soon, his creative demands and inner band conflicts were too much, and Costello moved forward on his own. He made recordings with some of Nashville's most-respected musicians, covered a Grateful Dead tune on a tribute album and even collaborated with Paul McCartney.
During the mid-'90s a reunion with the Attractions produced a couple of albums and a tour. He quickly reconsidered that move and went back to his eclectic solo ways.
Other areas
Costello contributed to film soundtracks, television scores, made a classical album with the Brodsky Quartet, and collaborated with jazz guitarist Bill Frisell, pop stylist Burt Bacharach and opera singer Anne Sofie von Otter.
The myriad of musical change of hats has stopped confusing fans who long ago expect the unexpected from Costello.
In a USA Today article, the third-generation musician explained his listening habits as a youth.
"One time, my dad [a record store clerk and big band crooner] gave me a stack of albums he'd been listening to: Jefferson Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow," Charles Mingus' "Oh Yeah," a Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell record and the first Butterfield Blues Band album. In one go, I was exposed to more records than any one boy deserves."
A brief series of dates with Attractions' keyboardist Steve Nieve reminded the world how good Costello's songs were even in stripped-down versions. It also showed how adept he was as a vocalist.
His mastery at emoting a musical note was reiterated years later when he and Nieve toured behind the Costello/Bacharach album "Painted From Memory."
To some, the move from one style to another looked as if the onetime pop craftsman was aimlessly searching for meaning in a musical world that had become increasingly indifferent to anything removed from standardized formulas.
What fans and detractors could not deny was Costello's vast body of work, more than 25 albums and 300 songs written for himself and others.
What was expected
It was obvious that, with the passing of years, he had matured as a songwriter, but there remained a yearning for him to make a proper rock album, or at least something that would be shelved in the pop-rock section of your local record store.
Surprisingly, Costello brought back the Attractions (actually, two thirds of the band due to his description of bassist Bruce Thomas as "bad-tempered and miserable and he doesn't concentrate") for the recording of "When I Was Cruel."
Released in April, it's his first solo album in more than seven years that doesn't cater to his interests in classical or jazz forms.
Costello explained in the album's accompanying press release that "it was time for a rowdy rhythm record." That is indeed what he's done in a rolling, tumbling mix of moods and taut musicianship.
With that in mind, it also marks the return of his "angry" self, although it would be more appropriate to describe the characters and scenarios running through the album's 15 tracks as remorseful, melancholy, thoughtful and bitter and displaying caustic wit when the opportunity arises.
Sounds like the right amount of emotional content for a grown-up angry young man.