Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True (1977)

Note: the CD I listened to was the 1993 Rykodisc reissue with 9 bonus tracks.

I normally don't look for Elvis Costello CDs, but I was pursuing the used bins of my local store and I spotted this Rykodisc version - complete with trademarked green jewel box - of Costello's acclaimed debut and the collector in me just couldn't resist. It's a great first release to be sure (in 2022 it ranked at #64 in Rolling Stone's list of "The 100 Best Debut Albums of All Time"), but I still think his best album is Trust.

Recorded on a shoestring budget, the album was produced by Nick Lowe and used three members of the band Clover as the backing musicians in the studio. Arrangements are impatient, hooks are everywhere, tempos are almost always upbeat, and the clever lyrics are examples of teenage angst set to rock beats. And Costello's late-'70s reboot of the "angry young man" was unleashed.

In The Village Voice's annual 'Pazz & Jop' critic's list, this album placed at #2 for 1977.

Press of the time:

• Stereo Review: "the work of someone who comes as close to being the Compleat Rock Star as anyone within recent memory - driven, funny, and totally original"
• CashBox: "demonstrates great promise"
• Record World: "One of the brightest and freshest new talents to emerge from England this year"
• Billboard: "Costello does a lot with the basic four/four, guitar and drum format"
• Robert Christgau (B+): "I like the nerdy way this guy comes on, I'm fascinated by his lyrics, and I approve of his rock and roll orientation"
• NME: "an album often of intense brilliance"
• Rolling Stone: "has only begun to surprise us"
• Trouser Press: "Elvis Costello has produced a classic in his first try"
• The Virgin Encyclopedia of Indie & New Wave (1998): ★★★★

The album is listed in the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, calling it "a heady combination of punk and quality songcraft."

Album chart peaks:

• US Billboard 200: #32
• CashBox: #33

Tracks, ranked in order of personal preference:

1. Alison
2. Less Than Zero
3. Watching The Detectives (not included in the UK album, but released as a single in October 1977, then added to the US release as the last track on side one; it appears as track 13 on this CD. This song was the only single to even catch a whiff of the US Billboard charts, bubbling under the Hot 100 at 108)
4. Welcome To The Working Week
5. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes
6. Pay It Back
7. Sneaky Feelings
8. Waiting For The End Of The World
9. Miracle Man
10. Mystery Dance
11. Blame It On Cain
12. No Dancing
13. I'm Not Angry

(If you don't agree with my ranking, second and third opinions available over at Billboard and the EC Fan Forum.)

Bonus tracks: These 9 tracks receive some explanation in the CD's liner notes, which all boils down to "these songs are in a radically different style" than the songs included in the album. Most tracks are called "pre-professional" recordings, which I believe to be a way to gloss over the fact they are demos. Still, because of the DIY ethos of the time, the demos aren't too bad, just different - most skew towards country. Good of Costello to recognize what should fit on the album.

Personal Memory Associated with this CD: None. I was but 11 years old at the time of this album's release and was listening exclusively to AM Top 40 radio at the time and nobody in my immediate circle was listening to the emerging New Wave sounds being imported. I probably didn't hear a track from this album until 1983ish.

Previously revisited for the blog:
Painted From Memory (1998)
Spike (1989)
Imperial Bedroom (1982)
Trust (1981)