Elvis Costello & The Attractions "Goodbye Cruel World" 180gm Audiophile LP
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Format: Numbered limited edition reissue, remastered 180gm LP, gatefold cover
Label: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
Released: 2014
Country: U.S.
Original Master Recording – GAIN 2™ Ultra Analog LP 180g Series
Goodbye Cruel World Produced by Top Production Team of Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley: Several Songs Enhanced With Top-Flight Horn Arrangements
Elvis Costello wasn't in a happy place when he began writing Goodbye Cruel World. His marriage collapsed between the record's start and finish. He was also dealing with what he deems the “dreadful 80s” — a period in which the importance of videos trumped musical merit, the government in his native England engaged in controversial conflicts, and nuclear threats hovered over daily life like a black cloud. What possible good came out of the age? A smart batch of songs that stands up to many of the singer-songwriter's better-known works and an underrated record that now sounds better than ever.
The improvements rendered by this numbered, limited-edition LP bring significantly new perspective to Costello's mordantly witty songs addressing everything from stark romantic loss to erotic desire. Produced by the hit-making team of Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, Goodbye Cruel World reflects the polish of the day in places but now reveals a deeper soulfulness, grit, and honesty. Such aspects particularly come to fore on multiple tunes featuring saxophonists Gary Barnacle, trombonist Jim Paterson, and percussionist Luis Jardim — the very first guests ever welcomed on an Attractions album.
With added instrumental assistance, Costello and Co. traverse styles ranging from rambunctious new-wave rock ("The Deportees Club") to frisky New Orleans-derived blues (“Sour Milk Cow Blues”) to suave, jazzy pop (“The Only Flame In Town”). In the closing “Peace In Our Time,"” a sobering albeit optimistic song whose verses still apply to contemporary times, Costello crafts the finale to a socio-politically conscious trilogy that began with “Shipbuilding” and “Pills and Soap.” It alone is the worth the price of admission to a record that's long deserved a better reputation.
Tracklisting
- The Only Flame in Town
- Home Truth
- Room with No Number
- Inch by Inch
- Worthless Thing
- Love Field
- I Wanna Be Loved
- The Comedians
- Joe Porterhouse
- Sour Milk-Cow Blues
- The Great Unknown
- The Deportees Club
- Peace in Our Time