Elvis Costello Albums Ranked
Declan Patrick MacManus, OBE (born 25 August 1954), known professionally as Elvis Costello, is an English singer-songwriter. He has won multiple awards in his career, including Grammy Awards in 1999 and 2020, and has twice been nominated for the Brit Award for Best British Male Artist. In 2003, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Costello number 80 on its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Costello and the Attractions toured and recorded together for the better part of a decade, though differences between them caused a split by 1986. Much of Costello’s work since has been as a solo artist, though reunions with members of the Attractions have been credited to the group over the years. Costello’s lyrics employ a wide vocabulary and frequent wordplay. His music has drawn on many diverse genres; one critic described him as a “pop encyclopedia”, able to “reinvent the past in his own image”. Costello has co-written several original songs for motion pictures, including “God Give Me Strength” from Grace of My Heart (1996, with Burt Bacharach) and “The Scarlet Tide” from Cold Mountain (2003, with T-Bone Burnett). For the latter, Elvis was nominated (along with Burnett) for the Academy Award for Best Original Song and the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media. Here are all of Elvis Costello albums ranked.
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10. Spike (1989)
“This is the album where Mr. Costello breaks away from the Attractions and becomes Elvis. For the first time Elvis shows us his great sense of humor along with his obvious songwriting and performing skills. There are several glimpses of what is to come in the future, but my particular favorites are “Veronica” and the beautiful “Satellite” with Chrissie Hynde lending her beautiful vocals to the performance. A must for any Elvis Costello fan, or any fan of music, for that matter.”
9. Blood & Chocolate (1986)
“Recorded at a time of admitted great strife within the EC/ Attractions camp Blood and Chocolate is chock full of EC’s usual pop masterpieces (Blue Chair), cruel indictments of middle class culture (Tokyo Storm Warning), and stark and brutal confessions of love and humiliation (I Want You). The original Attractions sound of This Years Model and Get Happy, absent for the last few albums, is back in its full, guitar throwing glory under the guidance of friend and producer Nick Lowe. “
8. Punch The Clock (1983)
” The album holds up despite the 80’s production because there is a carefree quality added to the songs that give several songs a joyous pop feeling not on any of his other albums. Anyway, the only track on here that is mediocre in my view is The Greatest Thing,, and I don’t know why the Great B Side Heathen Town wasn’t put on instead, as it is fantastic. on a par with Shipbuilding as a classic.”
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7. Trust (1981)
“”Trust” from 1981 was the sequel to Costello’s masterpiece “Get Happy”. In many ways the album is a natural extension of its predecessor, but there are significant differences, too. Firstly, there is greater variation in style and instrumentation. There are several numbers of longer duration; where most songs on “Get Happy” were just over two minutes, here are several numbers that are close to four minutes.”
6.King Of America (1986)
“In many ways, King of America could be considered a “solo” album. After pounding out a frenetic string of classics since his debut, doubtful cracks began to appear on the slick surface of Punch The Clock. But after the crash & burn of Goodbye Cruel World, it seems Costello wisely stepped back from the wreckage, stripping it all down to a room with a view on the precipice. In doing so, he also gave his band a much needed & unexpected vacation.”
5. Armed Forces (1979)
“This is one great collection of songs by Elvis Costello. This disc stands out as one of the best coming from an artist who consistently hits the ball out of the park. Costello has a huge catalog with some of the finest music there is.This one is one of the must haves. Clever writing and songcraft about nit wits,nazi goons,peace,love and understanding.”
4. Imperial Bedroom (1982)
“Imperial Bedroom is an album that has Elvis Costello ( Declan MacManus) at the top of his game as a songwriter. It’s true that the album contains very few of his hits but every song is good regardless. What I find striking about Imperial Bedroom is how many different styles EC attempts to write in, we get Jazz ( Almost Blue ), Pop ( The Loved Ones ) Surrealist Rhyme ( Man out of Time ) it almost like a `master-class’ in post Beatles songwriting.”
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3. Get Happy!! (1980)
“Elvis’s Get Happy! was an attempt to celebrate his love of soul taken from his Stax and Motown records. The result was something completely new, unique and absolutely marvelous. The story goes that Elvis went into the Rock On Record Shop in Camden, and bought a huge pile of Motown, Stax and R&B titles, and took inspiration from the fount of great music he came back with.”
2. My Aim Is True (1977)
“My favourite songs on the album are “Red Shoes”, “No Dancing”, the wonderful ballad “Alison” and “Less Than Zero”, but the others are fine too. There have been multiple reissues, with different combinations of additional tracks, including the single “Watching the Detectives” (one of his best ever songs, recorded with the Attractions) some demos and one double CD reissue with a live album from 1977.”
1. This Year’s Model (1978)
“Elvis is an iconic singer/songwriter/performer. One of my favorite Elvis Costello tunes is on the album, This Year’s Girl. It was chosen to open HBO’s hit show, The Deuce, in season two. It’s just a great tune, and very Elvis. If they never got you in the least bit moving, then I don’t know what would. It had me singing and toe-tapping. This is Greatness and should not be overlooked at all.”
