Elvis Costello - This Years Model (1978) {2002, Remastered}

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Elvis Costello - This Years Model (1978) {2002, Remastered}

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Elvis Costello - This Years Model (1978) {2002, Remastered}

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Where My Aim Is True implied punk rock with its lyrics and stripped-down production, This Year's Model sounds like punk. Not that Elvis Costello's songwriting has changed – This Year's Model is comprised largely of leftovers from My Aim Is True and songs written on the road. It's the music that changed. After releasing My Aim Is True, Costello assembled a backing band called the Attractions, which were considerably tougher and wilder than Clover, who played on his debut. The Attractions were a rock & roll band, which gives This Year's Model a reckless, careening feel. It's nervous, amphetamine-fueled, nearly paranoid music – the group sounds like they're spinning out of control as soon as they crash in on the brief opener, "No Action," and they never get completely back on track, even on the slower numbers. Costello and the Attractions speed through This Year's Model at a blinding pace, which gives his songs – which were already meaner than the set on My Aim Is True – a nastier edge. "Lipstick Vogue," "Pump It Up," and "(I Don't Want to Go To) Chelsea" are all underscored with sexual menace, while "Night Rally" touches on a bizarre fascination with fascism that would blossom on his next album, Armed Forces. Even the songs that sound relatively lighthearted – "Hand in Hand," "Little Triggers," "Lip Service," "Living in Paradise" – are all edgy, thanks to Costello's breathless vocals, Steve Nieve's carnival-esque organ riffs, and Nick Lowe's bare-bones production. Of course, the songs on This Year's Model are typically catchy and help the vicious sentiments sink into your skin, but the most remarkable thing about the album is the sound – Costello and the Attractions never rocked this hard, or this vengefully, ever again.

The flagship in the second set of Rhino Elvis Costello reissues – indeed, the one that's supposed to set the pace, since all of these are "harsh," "angry rock" – This Year's Model, like all of Costello's Columbia recordings, already received a deluxe reissue treatment from Rykodisc in the mid-'90s. That set was just one disc, compared to Rhino's double-disc 2002 release, but it did have five bonus tracks (six, if you count "Radio Radio," which it was on the Ryko, but is part of the proper album here), all of which were excellent – partially because there were two B-sides, "Big Tears" and "Crawling to the USA," along with three demos, including the previously unheard "Running Out of Angels." All these are on the Rhino set, along with seven new bonus tracks, all but three alternate versions of songs on the album. Of these, the Capital radio versions of "You Belong to Me" and "Radio, Radio" are spare, electric, solo demos, just Costello with his guitar; the alternate "This Year's Girl" and "(I Don't Want to Go To) Chelsea" are leaner and quirkier than those on the album, yet their edges aren't yet finely honed. Then, there's a moody BBC take on "Stranger in the House" featuring the full Attractions that winds up excising the country out of the song. Finally, there are two live covers that are the highlights of the new bonus tracks – an insistent version of the Damned's "Neat Neat Neat" that was the B-side of "Radio, Radio," plus a sly take on Kilburn & the High Roads' "The Roadette Song." All of these, particularly the last two, are welcome additions, and Costello's liner notes are much better than they were on the first version, but there are no real revelations, especially for those hardcore fans who already have the covers on some bootleg. So, while this is a better version of This Year's Model, with more music and better packaging, it's hard to unequivocally recommend this, in good conscience, for those who already have the Ryko version, since there just isn't that much new.

~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music

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Elvis Costello - This Years Model (1978) {2002, Remastered}

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Elvis Costello - This Years Model (1978) {2002, Remastered}

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Elvis Costello - This Years Model (1978) {2002, Remastered}

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Elvis Costello - This Years Model (1978) {2002, Remastered}

Close

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Elvis Costello - This Years Model (1978) {2002, Remastered}

Close