Editorial Reviews
This Year's Model [Extra tracks]
Music Review:
Music Review
Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto No. 3, Scriabin Etudes
Misa Cubana a la Virgen de la Caridad de el Cobre [Import]
Amazon.com essential recording
With his second album, Elvis Costello firmly established himself as one of rock's--not just punk/new wave's--premier singer-songwriters. Building on the promise of his '77 debut, My Aim Is True, Costello put together a backing touring trio, the Attractions (keyboardist Steve Nieve, bassist Bruce Thomas, and drummer Pete Thomas), and their versatility helped Costello define himself as a punk-fuelled power-pop force. Sporting influences ranging from Bob Dylan (the stream-of-consciousness "Pump It Up") to Burt Bacharach (the Dusty Springfield-worthy "Little Triggers"), this '78-released collection also features such righteously angry anthems as the anti-conformist "This Year's Girl," and the anti-MOR classic, "Radio Radio." --Billy Altman
From the Label
So it's mid-1978 and Elvis Costello's just gotten off his first American tour. Though the debut MY AIM IS TRUE was widely heard as a "punk rock" album (everything new was "punk rock" back then), it was downright polite compared to the racket that Costello and his new band the Attractions unleashed onstage. He delivered what may be the best (and certainly the snottiest) performance in the history of Saturday Night Live, and introduced smoldering new songs about having no action, pumping it up,... read more