#249: Elvis Costello and the Attractions - This Year's Model (1978)

Zack: It’s been a while since we listened to My Aim Is True, but I’ve relistened to it a couple dozen times at this point. I think I mentioned back then how impressed I was with the genre versatility, and that’s definitely why I still appreciate it. Costello flies between styles from track to track, creating a diversity that most musicians (let alone musicians in their debut album) would be afraid to tackle. This Year’s Model, his second album, doesn’t vary as much, but it does have several really good songs. And, as we should all expect, the lyrics to those songs are extremely clever and even a bit cryptic. For example, Pump it Up – which used to be played all the time at the large retail establishment that I worked for – is about masturbating. Anyway, I liked My Aim Is True Better, but This Year’s Model was still a solid album.

Favorite Tracks: (I Don’t Want to Go to) Chelsea; Lipstick Vogue; Pump it Up

Emily: For many of the artists that have multiple albums on this list (especially those with 4 or more), we've tried to intermingle them with other albums in order to spread them out more or less evenly (and not to end up with, say, 4 Byrds albums in the last 100). The next step is to listen to each in chronological order. We could listen to them out of order just because, but this way we can really see how these artists evolve in terms of musicianship, lyrics, genre, and connection with the audience. Since these artists tend to be those included in the pantheon of popular music, it also allows us to see why and how they became so highly regarded in the first place. Elvis Costello happens to be one of those artists, and he's one that I initially knew next to nothing about. I really enjoyed My Aim is True and have relistened to it since we reviewed it way back when, and This Year's Model built on the successes of that debut. Costello knows how to create great pop music. The album is upbeat with hints of pop, punk, and new wave, and the lyrics are creative enough to keep you listening closely even while you're dancing along. Though this was a great album, I'm still trying to figure out why Elvis Costello has been placed on the level of the other artists with multiple albums on the list. The evidence is building, and I guess I'll find out more in a couple hundred albums or so.

Favorite Tracks: (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea; The Beat; Lipstick Vogue