Overall Comments

You may wonder, why is there an Elvis Costello review on a banjo forum? Well, banjo suggests bluegrass, and so does this new album from Elvis Costello. I'm a big EC fan, and I have been listening to him since "My Aim Is True" back in the eighties. If you haven't listened to him in awhile, or can only recall the song "Alison" or "Watching the Detectives" you might want to give this a chance.

With an all-star group of session pros including Jerry Douglas on Dobro and Stuart Duncan on fiddle, and produced by T Bone Burnett (producer of Alison Krauss/Robert Plant and the O Brother, Where Art Thou? movie), this is right in the vein of bluegrass, country, Americana and Nashville music. It is overall a subtle album, but with Elvis, it's the lyric and poetry that make him what he is... a major league performer and musician. Not the mainstream, top 40, ready to burn out, and lumped into a category musician, but an individual talent who has lasted more than 30 years in the music business and has thousands of dedicated fans all over the world.

To tell the truth, I was excited and expected bluegrass quickness and licks, but this album hasn't got it. Not until you listen to it a few times that the musical nuances start to really stand out. Elvis knows how not to over-do the music, but instead let's every note and phrase speak for itself, and in turn, the music becomes the well-built vehcile that drive the lyrics of well crafted songs home.

This may not be for everybody, and I'm not going to try to persuade you. After all, music is an individual enjoyment and I enjoy this new creation by who I consider a genius of delivering inspirational and thought provoking music and poetry.

Hear samples of Elvis Costello "Secret, Profane & Sugarcane": http://www.elviscostello.com/

Overall Rating

10