Masterpiece?

The other day, a buddy of mine mentioned IMPERIAL BEDROOM (1982) by Elvis Costello & The Attractions. I hadn't listened to it in years. So I dug it out. Wow.

I always remembered it being kinda overproduced, a sharp contrast from the Nick Lowe-produced stuff that came before it. (GET HAPPY! would probably make my desert island collection.) And, yep, it's right much produced, a bit showy, though I'll leave off the "over" part. Maybe "baroque" is the word I'm looking for. You can tell Elvis and the gang were having a good time hanging out with Geoff Emerick, who'd engineered a lot of the great Beatles stuff -- and who was simultaneously engineering McCartney's TUG OF WAR across the hall while IMPERIAL BEDROOM was being recorded. I can imagine all the "tell us about 'Paperback Writer,'" that was probably going on. (Costello's a card-carrying Beatle geek, another reason I like him.)

But it's the songs that matter with EC. And this one's no slouch. As a schlubb that earns a living bumping words into each other, I listen to something like "Beyond Belief" with awe, admiration and a big fat pile of jealousy.

"I might make it California's fault
Be locked in Geneva's deepest vault
Just like the canals of Mars and the great barrier reef
I come to you beyond belief"

How does the bastard do it? And do it so OFTEN? It never ceases to amaze me. Plus, there are SO MANY words on this album! I bet only Pete Townshend's ALL THE BEST COWBOYS HAVE CHINESE EYES boasts a word count even close.

I came to this LP a few years after its release. Actually, I was a fairly late convert to the whole Costello scene. The first one I bought new was GOODBYE CRUEL WORLD, often listed as his worst album -- even by EC himself. The title of this blog was plastered across the top of the poster for the album, a copy of the thing I have stuck somewhere. Whether it's a masterpiece is open to debate and endless geekdom, but if you have a copy, you oughta play it.