Following a pair of near-masterpieces in 1986,
Elvis Costello
went into semi-seclusion, separating from
the Attractions
(once again) and
Columbia Records
, emerging three years later on
Warner Brothers
with
Spike
. Mockingly billing himself as "the Beloved Entertainer" on the album's front cover, there's nevertheless a real sense of showbiz pizzazz here, as he tries on a little bit of everything. You like
Costello
the
soul
singer? Try
"Deep Dark Truthful Mirror,"
recorded with
the Dirty Dozen Brass Band
.
pop
sophisticate? How about the
torch song
"Baby Plays Around"
or
"God's Comic,"
a tune that mocks
Andrew Lloyd Webber
, while aching to eclipse him. The angry young man? There's
"Tramp the Dirt Down,"
perhaps the nastiest anti-
Thatcher
song ever waxed.
the witty wordsmith? Well, there's
"Pads, Paws and Claws,"
a
rockabilly
tune overflowing with labored puns.
the gifted pure
tunesmith? There's plenty of that here, from
"This Town"
Roger McGuinn
and
Paul McCartney
and the lovely
"Veronica,"
a tune co-written with
McCartney
that became one of his biggest hits. So, there's a lot here -- everything except focus, actually. And
certainly likes to indulge himself here, throwing in the awkward
"Chewing Gum"
and the instrumental
"Stalin Malone"
for good measure. There are some moments that work quite well, but there's nothing connecting them, and if anything, he's trying way too hard -- and, for all of the overarching ambition of his early-'80s recordings, that criticism never applied before. Certainly, there are cuts for cultists to enjoy, but
's sprawl works against it, resulting in a maddeningly diffuse listen. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine