“Anyone can whine. But as a seemingly infinite stream of cliché-obsessed singer/songwriters using misery as a thinly veiled ploy to get laid has proven, very few people can do it well. Drawing inspiration from banal personal miseries and girlfriend tragedies may indeed turn songwriting into some kind of a cleansing experience, but nobody wants to be sprayed in the face with someone else’s emotional Lysol. And being preached to? That’s nearly as bad. Screamy thugs recycling endless bullshit about the oppressive and destructive state of capitalism, and yet selling their records for profit– where’s the dignity in that? Elvis Costello, more so than any other musician before or since, has managed to integrate the insight of personal music and the conviction of political music, while avoiding the self-indulgent pitfalls of both. To put it another way, Elvis Costello could sing a song about the oppressive and destructive state of his girlfriend and pull it off with wit and talent to spare. With My Aim Is True, Costello immediately established himself as the world’s foremost angry geek with something to prove. And while the songs on that album were absolutely stellar, Costello had yet to make his defining statement. …”
Pitchfork
W – With My Aim Is True
This Year’s Model Is Still Elvis Costello at His Angry Best (Video)
YouTube: This Years Model HD (Full Album)