Rating:
Genre:
Rock
Release Date: 05/01/2007
Having gotten
country out of his system with
Almost Blue,
Elvis Costello returned to
pop music with
Imperial Bedroom -- and it was
pop in the classic,
Tin Pan Alley sense.
Costello chose to hire
Geoff Emerick, who engineered all of
the Beatles' most ambitious records, to produce
Imperial Bedroom, which indicates what it sounds like -- it's
traditional pop with a post-
Sgt. Pepper production. Essentially, the songs on
Imperial Bedroom are an extension of
Costello's
jazz and
pop infatuations on
Trust.
Costello's music is complex and intricate, yet it flows so smoothly, it's easy to miss the bitter, brutal lyrics. The interweaving layers of
"Beyond Belief" and the whirlwind intro are the most overtly dark sounds on the record, with most of the album given over to the orchestrated, melancholy
torch songs and
pop singles. Never once do
Costello & the Attractions deliver a
rock & roll song -- the album is all about sonic detail, from the accordion on
"The Long Honeymoon" to the lilting strings on
"Town Cryer." Of course, the detail and the ornate arrangements immediately peg
Imperial Bedroom as
Costello's most ambitious album, but that doesn't mean it's his absolute masterpiece.
Imperial Bedroom remains one of
Costello's essential records because it is the culmination of his ambitions and desires -- it's where he proves that he can play with the big boys, both as a songwriter and a record-maker. It may not have been a commercial blockbuster, but it certainly earned the respect of legions of musicians and critics who would have previously disdained such a punk rocker. And, perhaps, that's also the reason that he abandoned this immaculately crafted style of work on his next album,
Punch the Clock.
~Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
;)
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