Costello #7: Imperial Bedroom (1982) Thus far into my cup of coffee with Costello, this may be the first true grower that, even in just the past 24 hours, has gotten better and better. I think the absolutely superb opener, Beyond Belief, taking us into art-pop/art-rock territory, may promise a bit more adventure than we get, but what we get in this post-Nick Lowe world is maybe the most sonically forward-thinking work in the Costello catalog thus far. Shabby Doll is case-in-point, opening in a sea of reverb, before Costello's signature power-pop style hits along with a sea of wordplay on a femme fatale you never saw coming. Man Out of Time comes screaming in, only to fall into an eminently singable piano-driven pop tune with lushly layered vocals, one of the works where you can totally see what Geoff Emerick might have learned from George Martin when he got to work with him on some of The Beatles' material. The single You Little Fool seems comprehensible enough, a power pop ditty that comes within sonic proximity, including vocal styling, to another British band soon to come up, The Smiths. But then, this one takes a left turn again toward art-pop and the bizarre about halfway through, right along with the lyrics: "They say no news is good news / The little girl wants information / Mother just gives her some pills to choose / And says go use your imagination." With that, the quirky use of reverberation and distortion in the production serve a meaningful purpose in addition to sound CINECAST!ing cool. I love what Nick Lowe did with Costello's sound in Costello 1-5, but I also love what Emerick does here, and I think it was a needed refresher to his sound as well as a catalyst to artistic growth. I have much more living to do with these albums, but this may be my go-to right now along with This Year's Model.
I should say, I don't think I would've liked Elvis Costello much prior to this period in my life. I was so much more into punk, post-punk and art-rock/pop from a comparable time period. The Clash and The Smiths might be the closest I'd gotten to him, and I've never listened to The Clash all that closely, either. Actually, they could be next to get such a treatment, although they only have six studio albums compared to Costello's 30 (and counting?). Anyway, all this is to say this half-marathon came at just the right time.