When they come calling I think it's appalling

Continuing my trip back through the 1994 album charts.

13/03/94 : Brutal Youth - Elvis Costello


This is an interesting one because I've absolutely no idea what Mr Costello was doing during these times - so let's find out, shall we? I was also surprised to find this is our sixth visit with the lad - some of them have definitely been more memorable than others!

Yeah, I quite liked this - it harks back to his classic sound but he's more world-weary now as opposed to the angry young man he used to be. It's also got a decent variety to it across the album - it feels like the "same but different" sort of thing that I like people to do once they've over five or so albums, as opposed to the "really very different" stuff that he's also attempted across the years. I didn't recognise any of the tracks but for a first listen this went down pretty well - I'd be happy to revisit (even though we know that's never going to happen). 

We're at a surprisingly high #2 with a new entry in the chart this week at the start of a six week run - he's never had a #1 album so this is his highest chart placing, shared with Armed Forces and Get Happy (one we'll get to meet in '80). The rest of the top five were Mariah Carey, Enigma, Soundgarden (a new entry) and M People, with three more new entries in the top ten for The Proclaimers (#8), Nine Inch Nails (#9) and The Inspiral Carpets (#10).

Wikipedia tells us it's his fourteenth album and, although it's not billed as an Attractions album, it features quite a few of them - apparently his original plan was to do it all himself but then he realised he couldn't play the drums. Doh! Nick Lowe, who produced Elvis's first five albums, also pops up on guitar - a fun trivia fact for you is that Nick Lowe's middle name is Drain. That's pretty much all there is on the album - it was received well enough critically and got to #34 in the US, which seems pretty good for the lad.

discogs.com tells us you can pick up a decent copy for £1.50 but if you want the reissued 180gm vinyl version it's going to set you back a very precise £88.18. I really quite liked this so I'm surprised I've not met it on my travels previously - it's well worth checking out if you like a bit of classic Elvis but get confused by all the random stuff he does these days. 

06/03/94 - Surprisingly enjoyable and astonishingly successful
20/03/94 - One I feel I should have enjoyed more

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