Elvis Costello -- He Sucks Right???

Sun_FortuneSun_Fortune 1,374 Posts
edited November 2005 in Music Talk
I'm packing up the house right now and wifey in training puts on some Elvis Costelloe garbage. He's her favorite and since I usually play music for both of us, I'm not complaining. But this guy SUCKS! I can't find anything redeeming. Lousy singing, sloppy playing, bullshitpiano rock. Am I wrong???Oh god, I hear footsteps.
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  • alieNDNalieNDN 2,181 Posts
    he does not suck...well i haven't listened to sheit by him recently but when i borrowed his greatest hits from the library when i first got into rock i was satisfied, so many catchy tunes.

  • I sampled a snare drum from his ???chealsea??? record (or whatever its called).

    Played my track to some non-hip hop guy and he???s like ???you sampled that from Elvis Costello???!!!

    One snare, just one snare!
    And he spotted it?





    And I never liked Elvis Costello.





  • yuichiyuichi Urban sprawl 11,332 Posts
    My Aim is True is a great album.

  • He does not suck.




  • I'm not a giant fan...but this album most definitely does NOT suck.

  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    Also produced this gem:


  • nah


  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    "During a drunken argument with Bonnie Bramlett in a Columbus, Ohio Holiday Inn hotel bar, Costello referred to James Brown as an "ignorant nigger," then upped the ante by pronouncing Ray Charles a "blind, ignorant nigger."

    He also, in his Punk/Youth glory, denounced performers who continued to perform after they hit their 40's....and now at 50-something he's making records with Burt Bacharach!!


  • SoulOnIceSoulOnIce 13,027 Posts
    I could never like him as much as I felt like I was supposed to. People with good taste, similar taste, liked him - why didn't I? I like a few of his songs, and did obsess for a while over one of them: "I Want You," but for the most part he just leaves me cold. Too snide.

  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    Like his early stuff, can't stand his recent stuff.

  • He does not suck.

    agreed.

  • He does not suck.

    and if i recall correctly, there's a little drum break on "(i don't want to go to) chelsea"

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts

    "Too snide" and too white....that whole UK "Pub" scene was pretty soul-less and caucasion....He wrote some good songs....and has become more "soulful" in his old age.....but his early stuff is pretty thin methinks.


  • GambleGamble 844 Posts

    too white....that whole UK "Pub" scene was pretty soul-less and caucasion....



    Though i agree that shit he said about JB and Ray Charles is unforgivable...


  • Though i agree that shit he said about JB and Ray Charles is unforgivable...

    certainlyy not a good look, but it seems there's rumours like that about every old rock dude. iggy pop, elvis presley, etc. i find it kinda hard to take seriously, but it's a little

  • buttonbutton 1,475 Posts
    95% suck

  • p_gunnp_gunn 2,284 Posts

    Though i agree that shit he said about JB and Ray Charles is unforgivable...

    certainlyy not a good look, but it seems there's rumours like that about every old rock dude. iggy pop, elvis presley, etc. i find it kinda hard to take seriously, but it's a little

    no, it's true. basically he was being a drunken ass and was purposedly trying to wind up Stephen Stills' musicians and roadies, who were doing the cool hippie "the black man's got REAL soul" schtick with him, so he figured the easiest way to piss them off was to say shit like that. if you've ever read an interview with him, you can see that he knows a shitload about black music and is a real fan...

    that said, i'm not a fan of music at all, i find his singing voice really really annoying.

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts

    Though i agree that shit he said about JB and Ray Charles is unforgivable...

    certainlyy not a good look, but it seems there's rumours like that about every old rock dude. iggy pop, elvis presley, etc. i find it kinda hard to take seriously, but it's a little

    It's absolutely true....in fact some years later Costello had the chance to meet Ray Charles but passed because he was embarrassed about his earlier comments.



  • Oh god, I hear footsteps.

    hahaahahahahahaha

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Also produced this gem:


    Correction, he is the album producer for this gem.

  • I'm not a fan but I find it hard to believe he said those things about James and Ray. He has played twice now at the club I work at and he was a totally cool guy. He was even asking me about how the Stax museum was cause he said he was a huge fan. I just don't hear the "N" word coming out of his mouth.

  • BsidesBsides 4,244 Posts

    Though i agree that shit he said about JB and Ray Charles is unforgivable...

    certainlyy not a good look, but it seems there's rumours like that about every old rock dude. iggy pop, elvis presley, etc. i find it kinda hard to take seriously, but it's a little

    It's absolutely true....in fact some years later Costello had the chance to meet Ray Charles but passed because he was embarrassed about his earlier comments.



    that sucks. Seems like a pretty obvious joke.


    I have no opinion on elvis costello. I couldnt tell you any of his songs either.

  • RockadelicRockadelic Out Digging 13,993 Posts
    I'm not a fan but I find it hard to believe he said those things about James and Ray.

    I think the comments can be chalked up to the "punk" attitude that was hip at the time.....he obviously regrets them, but some things are unforgivable.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    I'm packing up the house right now and wifey in training puts on some Elvis Costelloe garbage. He's her favorite and since I usually play music for both of us, I'm not complaining. But this guy SUCKS! I can't find anything redeeming. Lousy singing, sloppy playing, bullshitpiano rock. Am I wrong???

    Oh god, I hear footsteps.

    I am the official rock hatter on soulstrut. (I also hat the song Sunny.)

    You are right! Back when my Aim Is True hit I kept hearing how great it was, all the critics were going nuts about this guy with a whole new sound and style who really rocked. I couldn't belive how lame and predictable it was when I heard it. His voice is unbearable.

    Sadly critics (and even people on soulstrut) continue to hear something beyond his calculated songwriting, bad singing and medicore playing that you and I will never understand.

    Dan

  • DubiousDubious 1,865 Posts
    man your talking to the wrong dude since i have like 13 Elvis Costello records on the shelves

    personal fave - Get Happy - 30 songs in under 40 minutes all killer NO FILLER

    the first 3 records are also all great for different reasons.. the first is the most LIVE , the second features the classic new wave organ led sound and then the third is where he starts to get a bit artier.

    after Get Happy its very very spotty if you ask me.

    that said Blood And Chocolate is a rowdy late period masterpeace, and Brutal Youth was an incredible return to form and sounds awesome.

    the attractions were a great band.. sloppy??? i dont know what you consider slop man... but Pete Thomas is one of the best rock drummers of his era, and Steve Naive is no slouch on the keys.

    Elvis was also pure fire with the lyics:

    Nice girls / not ones with the defects / cellophane shrinkwrap / so correct


    really Elvis looses his appeal for me after he stopped working with Nick Lowe and got into his Jack Of All Trades shtick

    then over the last 10 years he's seemed determined to completely sabotage any semblence of a reputation he ever had by doing unlistenable opera, bacharach, jazz and marrying Diana Crap (which would be kinda like Mick Jones marrying Norah Jones) and i've been unable to appreciate the man for awhile now.

  • DubiousDubious 1,865 Posts
    also i find Elvis has the same effect as Paul Weller on alot of people... you either love that shit or you cant mess with it AT ALL.

    that said neither of them have any appeal to people who like hairy nutted MC5 freak out style garage rock.

    but fuckit i grew up with that shit and both dudes deserve all the props they get, if only the MASSIVE amounts of quality material they were able to pump out in a very very short period of time.

    you have to remember the title of the elvis boset.. 2 & 1/2 years.. that's 3 stuffed to the gills lps, and double that in b-sides / unreleased tracks... dude was in the zone. Then you add on producing the specials, and get happy in under 3 years and i think i can forgive him for falling off afterwards.





  • yuichiyuichi Urban sprawl 11,332 Posts

    "Too snide" and too white....that whole UK "Pub" scene was pretty soul-less and caucasion....He wrote some good songs....and has become more "soulful" in his old age.....but his early stuff is pretty thin methinks.

    i agree, it's pretty "light".

  • DubiousDubious 1,865 Posts

    "Too snide" and too white....that whole UK "Pub" scene was pretty soul-less and caucasion....He wrote some good songs....and has become more "soulful" in his old age.....but his early stuff is pretty thin methinks.

    i agree, it's pretty "light".

    GENIUS LIGHT MUSIC


  • DJBombjackDJBombjack Miami 1,665 Posts
    Also produced this gem:


    Correction, he is the album producer for this gem.

    er... that's what I said.

  • LaserWolfLaserWolf Portland Oregon 11,517 Posts
    Also produced this gem:


    Correction, he is the album producer for this gem.

    er... that's what I said.

    I just want to make it clear he was not responsible for the music. He was just the record label guy in the studio when it happened.

    Dan
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