Goodbye Cruel World Elvis Costello & The Attractions

• 1 The Only Flame In Town 04:02
• 2 Home Truth 03:13
• 3 Room With No Number 04:13
• 4 Inch By Inch 02:29
• 5 Worthless Thing 03:04
• 6 Love Field 03:30
• 7 I Wanna Be Loved 04:47
• 8 The Comedians 02:36
• 9 Joe Porterhouse 03:29
• 10 Sour Milk Cow Blues 02:51
• 11 The Great Unknown 03:00
• 12 The Deportees Club 02:54
• 13 Peace In Our Time 04:10
• Total Runtime 44:18

Info for Goodbye Cruel World

This may be the most maligned item in the Costello catalogue -- not least by Costello himself who opens his liner notes with 'Congratulations! You have just bought our worst album!' It's certainly the oddest album Costello and the Attractions ever made together, but that's not always a bad thing: Tracks like 'The Home Truth,' 'Love Field' and the single 'The Only Flame in Town' show a move toward the deeper, more challenging song structures that Costello would master in the '90s. The Clive Langer/Alan Winstanley-produced album includes other notable tracks such as 'I Wanna Be Loved', a cover tune with a scorching vocal performance, and 'The Comedians,' which was covered by no less an authority than Roy Orbison.

The extended-play tracks shed more light on this phase of Costello's development, with tracks like 'Baby It's You' (a duet with old mate Nick Lowe) and 'Turning the Town Red' showing a more carefree pop feel than anything on the official album. More significant are a pair of tracks from Costello's first-ever solo tour, with 'Worthless Thing' and 'The Only Flame in Town' given a more direct lyrical emphasis. Fans can also take note of a rare Richard Thompson cover, 'Withered & Died', plus a 'lost' Costello single: 'I Hope You're Happy Now' which would show up with a radically different arrangement on BLOOD & CHOCOLATE.

„During the making of Goodbye Cruel World, Elvis Costello was undergoing a multitude of personal problems, including a divorce, that resulted in a number of poor production decisions and ill-conceived, unformed songs. Like Punch the Clock, Goodbye Cruel World was produced by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, the top British hitmakers of the '80s. Consequently, most of the record suffers from a stiff, synthesized production that instantly dates the record. In some cases -- like the duet with Daryl Hall, 'The Only Flame in Town,' and the cover of the lost Hi R&B gem 'I Wanna Be Loved' -- the songs benefit from the shiny, streamlined production but it obscures the merits of the finest songs on the album. 'Room with No Number,' 'The Comedians,' 'Sour Milk-Cow Blues,' and 'Peace in Our Time' all cry out for a simple, stripped-down presentation, but they're weighted down with stylized sounds and trendy synthesizers; however, once the sound of the album settles in, the strength of these songs is apparent. The remainder of Goodbye Cruel World isn't as memorable, primarily because Costello's uninspired vocals and the Attractions' muted performances fail to make the weaker songs musically compelling.“ (Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AMG)

Elvis Costello, vocals, guitar & anvil
Bruce Thomas, bass
Pete Thomas, drums
Gary Barnacle, saxophone
Jim Paterson, trombone
Luis Jardim, percussion
Daryl Hall, vocals (on „The Only Flame In Town“)
Green Gartside, vocals (on „I Wanna Be Loved“)

Recorded at Sarm West Studios, assisted by Bob Kraushaar
Mixed at Genetic Studios, assisted by Jim Russell
Produced by Clive Langer, Alan Winstanley

Digitally remastered

Elvis Costello
began working as a professional musician 35 years ago, shortly after the release of his first album, “My Aim Is True”. He has made more than 27 studio records, three live albums and numerous guest appearances on stage, studio and screen as well as working as a record producer, bit-part actor and composing music for television drama and dance performance.

He has toured the world with The Attractions, The Imposters and the pianist, Steve Nieve, performing with symphony and jazz orchestras as well as in solo performance. His catalogue of songs includes collaborations with Paul McCartney, Allen Toussaint and Burt Bacharach with whom he won a Grammy for “I Still Have That Other Girl” from their 1998 collaboration, Painted From Memory. Costello’s songs have been recorded by George Jones, Chet Baker, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Dusty Springfield and Robert Wyatt.

Elvis Costello and The Attractions were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. In the same year he was awarded ASCAP’s prestigious Founder’s Award. His last record was 2010s National Ransom, produced by T-Bone Burnett. Between 2008 and 2010, Costello was the host of twenty episodes of the interview and music show, “Spectacle” on the Sundance Channel.

This album contains no booklet.