Goodbye Cruel World

everything a ok here!

It's Elvis Costello!!

"Goodbye Cruel World" is routinely dismissed as the worst release from Elvis Costello, even by the artist himself. I'm not sure if I would rank it at the very bottom, but it definitely is weaker than most of his catalog, although I'd argue that even mediocre Costello is still pretty damned good. Indeed, there's much quality work here. Unfortunately, as others have noted, the production (by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley) is simply terrible, displaying the worst kind of 80s excess. Langer and Winstanley had produced Costello's prior record, "Punch the Clock," which yielded one of Costello's biggest U.S. hits, "Everyday I Write the Book;" their production more or less works there. Previously, they were best known for producing most of Madness' hits, and they brought some of that everything-but-the-kitchen-sink-ska approach here."The Only Flame in Town" is a lovely song buried under layers of tacky 80s production - a squealing sax, overly loud vocals, and a scarily aggressive xylophone (!). It was the only `hit' in America, peaking at #44 on the Rock Chart. "Home Truth" is a gorgeous song but as with so much of the material, it needed to be quieter. It would be stunning with an acapella opener, or even a subdued piano accompaniment. "Room with No Number" is one of the worst victims of overproduction, with an extended musical break section so frantic it could play in a Looney Tunes. A highlight is "I Wanna Be Loved," by obscure 70s R&B group Teacher's Edition, which served as the second single (peaking at #25 in the UK). Costello's vocals on this song are beautiful and emotional, although even this song gets marred by a screeching sax solo that would sound more at home on a Whitney Houston singe. I also like the lead single, "Peace In Our Time" (it only peaked at #48 in the UK); it doesn't have a particularly memorable chorus, but it is relatively understated compared to the rest of the record.As always, Costello's lyrics are clever and insightful. The playful "Worthless Thing," for example, crackles with irony: Oh, I wish you could see/ quite how much you could mean to me/ you worthless thing. Really, there isn't a bad song here - just songs that could be improved with better production. Although, the egregiously loud "The Deportees Club" would probably make my list of his weakest songs (sadly, a stripped down version known as "Deportee" is absolutely gorgeous). The reissues by Ryodisc and Rhino really illustrate that point via some rather stunning live versions and demos of these songs. Just check out the live version of "The Only Flame in Town" for evidence. Fortunately, for his next record, Costello co-produced with T-Bone Burnett, and they turned out what I consider his best record - "King of America." Wherever you rank "Goodbye Cruel World," it's still a worthwhile effort that offers some enjoyment.

I wanted to rate this a 4 star at first, I listen to the majority of the main discs songs often when I'm driving to work.However the bonus disc for this brings it down a star, the majority of these demo's are not polished enough to be listenable unless your a fanatic (which I probably am but still). The levels are not set right and even the live songs on this bonus are kinda weak. If really rough versions of EC's songs are what you like than you'll like it but these were way to rough for me. I give the original release 4 stars and the bonus disc 2 so the average is 3. Definetly worth it for the first disc for any EC fan but maybe the prior releases are a nice bargain, you won't be missing anything by not getting the bonus disc.

I must go on the record to give this sorely mistreated album an unqualified 5 star review. My suspicion is that the power of suggestion simply got the best of everyone and predisposed them to an unduly biased experience. A tragic self-fulfilling prophecy. And now it's been reinforced over time by bad reviews which further taint perception and inspire similarly expressed opinions. But I am not falling for that. It is quite easy to understand our beloved hero being unable to get free from the apparently extremely negative context that enveloped the making of the album to be able to appreciate the excellent work that it actually is. I plugged in my earbuds as a prelude to rising and shining this AM and listened to this record right on through and completely loved every minute of every clever and unique little song that paraded on by. Never a dull moment and never a false note. King Elvis and his crew should look back with pride on this album. For though the times might have been far from perfect, in truth, Goodbye Cruel World is not.

After hearing this it still boggles me that even Elvis himself considers this his worst album. From what I heard from Amazon reviews I went in expecting to hear something that sounded more like Harold Faltmeyer or something with a lot of drum machines and other mid 80's clishes. And being a lover of 80's pop I know there is such a thing as taking it too far.That goes for any decade.But not to be a..well revisionist here I have to say I was more the pleasantly surprised. This is along with the previous recording Punch the Clockone of my two favorite releases by Costello. The 13 songs presented here have a very alive tone to them,topped with the same tasteful,creamy 80's soul/pop-jazz polish as the last album. The one difference is that every song features that sound;this doesn't sound like a spiky new-wave effort in the slightest. That beside the point there are a handful of great songs that are hugely HELPED by the production;"The Only Flame In Town","Inch By Inch" and "Worthless Thing" are all excellent tunes in and of themselves,with a lot of jazzy,funky groove in them that add more then a fair share of bite. "Sour Milk-Cow Blues"......okay it does have a Huey Lewis-ish flavor but again,from this view that is not a bad thing.There are a number of ballads too of course,great as well from the simple style of "Room With No Number",the soulful "Love Field" and my favorite "I Wanna Be Loved";this is my favorite contribution of Costello to the Brit-R&B scene since his work on the previous album,the delayed beat and the mildly psychedelic bit in the chorus create a unique sense of atmospherics that really make it great to hear and hear how everything comes together by the end."Peace In Our Time" is at least one song pretty much everyone can agree is plain great-there's no question who it's about and there's no irony lost when Elvis declares Reagen an "alien in the white house" considering the now deacessed ex president was once posed on a tabloid cover with a cardboard standup of a space alien.As with any Elvis Costello album there tend to be an awful lot of songs-some great,some pretty good but the fact is if your good with albums such a Tears For Fears Songs from the Big Chair or XTC's Oranges & Lemons,both recordings that blended contemporary rock-soul-pop with jazz and psychedelic influences then you will have your mind as open as possible for the music you'll find here.

Nothing special from mofi and costello, sound of this vinyl is just ok.

Vinyl LP review for the 2015 repress being sold as a 'Limited double 180gm vinyl LP pressing. Remastered from the original master tapes', thru Amazon AU:This release is just the cheap 2015 CZ pressed repressing, single black vinyl, source tapes are unknown.The description simply doesn't match the item received.Great album, but there are better ways to hear it than this one.

コステロがオリジナルのアレンジが嫌いな本作。ボーナスディスクでデモ音源、ライブ音源で楽しめます。

Great to have the extended edition.

Un petit Costello ? Elvis est en petite forme au sortir d'une peine de coeur ?N'empèche, même si le maître lui même ne considère pas "Goodbye cruel world" comme parfait, voilà un album qui a plutôt bien vieilli et qui est à redécouvrir. Car il est plein de petites pépites : "the only flame in town", "Inch by inch", "Love field" (boulversant) "I wanna be loved", "Sour milk cow blues", "the deportees club" (ennervé).6 merveilles sur un disque de 13 chansons (sachant que les 7 autres se laissent écouter !): parmis tous les disques sortis ces 5 dernières années, combien font aussi bien ???Ne soyons pas plus royalistes que le roi : Elvis is king.