Elvis Costello - My Aim Is True

Includes session out-takes, demos and live material, with 26 tracks previously unreleased!

Including 4 songs NEVER RELEASED IN ANY FORMAT: "BLUE MINUTE," "CALL ON ME," "I DON'T WANT TO GO HOME" and "I HEAR A MELODY."

And the complete LIVE AT THE NASHVILLE ROOMS, AUGUST 7, 1977 concert recording, one of the earliest shows featuring the Attractions!

Collection compiled and fully sanctioned by Elvis Costello. Album Description

 Can't believe they made it worth getting.
First. I'm an Elvis fan. Have been since my buddy turned me on in high school & before that I just saw the greatest performance on a TV movie til that time of "Peace, Love, and Understanding" on "Americathon".

The original release of "My Aim is True" is awesome.
The Rhino releases are fantastic.
Then this came. How can anybody improve on something after Rhino had a crack at it? Don't happen? Impossible. I'm a bigger Rhino fan than an Elvis fan & the guys at Rhino are Elvis fans.

Hip O did a fantastic job. The live concert is restored and remastered perfectly. The other songs are remastered to be a bit crisper- valid arguments could be had going either way on which mixes are better- Rhino or Hip O. If you are a fan, this is worth asking for on the Xmas list. I found this to be quite a treat. April 23, 2008

 Superfluous reissue? Yes. Excellent reissue? Yes again!
With enough reissues to make surviving members of The Doors blush, 'My Aim Is True' sees its third reissue in about six years, now in the form of Universal's famous "Deluxe Edition" series. As much as I bemoaned the idea of this (just why are Rhino's flawless reissues out of print all of a sudden in favor of Universal/Hip-O's bare bones "originals"?) and even shook myself for paying almost twice the amount for this as I did for the Rhino reissue a few years back, I have to admit that this is an excellent presentation.

The remastering is probably about the same as Rhino's, maybe a tad louder, maybe not. I didn't buy this for another remaster of an already poorly recorded album, I bought it for the second disc. The live show on this disc is fantastic. It's such a treat to hear some of the songs that would later appear on 'This Year's Model' in slightly more raw, almost demo-like arrangements ('Night Rally' is a particular standout for me). Opposingly, I love hearing the 'My Aim Is True' selections beefed up by The Attractions (the version of 'Miracle Man' on this disc is the best version available). Sure, we don't get the Honky Tonk demos, but that's why I held onto my Rhino reissue as well.

I guess I should be angry at another shameless reissue, complete with four never-released demo songs ('Blue Minute', 'Call On Me', 'I Don't Want To Go Home' and 'I Hear A Melody') and a whole live show just to entice us all into buying the same material again. I can't hate this reissue after listening to the extra bonus material, and I even love the deluxe edition packaging. The only real cons to this set are the price, obviously, and the lack of any real insight from the king himself. The Rhino essays could've at least been reprinted or maybe a transcript from a concurrent interview could've been used. Now that Rhino's budget-friendly AND fan-friendly reissue is out of print, this is the definitive version on the market for those who don't already own the album, or maybe for those who never upgraded to cd in the first place. March 19, 2008

 You get "Stiffed", but in a good way...
Hey guys, lighten up! It's called COLLECTING, remember? Don't you remember when you just had to have that German import of "AFTERMATH", or Elvis' original Radar issue of "ARMED FORCES" because Columbia wouldn't spend the money on the deluxe sleeve? It also helps to be patient, I payed $10.59 for my sealed non-promo copy (and no, I'm not telling you where or how)! And by the way, to explain my review title, both CD's are a knock off of the Stiff Records label ("ooh, it's so cute..."). I won't regurgitate the contents, other's have done a great job (except about the labels). And don't think that Bear Family won't have a 4-disc version out in 2020.... March 15, 2008

 Classic Original With New Live Show
I already owned three versions of this disk (the original, a release with extended play, a re-release with a second disk) and took the plunge to see the quality of the live show that is now included. The original release is great, with "Red Shoes", "Less Than Zero", "Welcome to the Working Week", "Miracle Man", "Alison", "Watching the Detectives", just to name a few, and the live release is great. February 19, 2008

 Elvis' aim was off on earlier edition (Ryko) but not with the Rhino and this edition-Do You Need It? Read on..
First up--until the licensing agreement with UMG ends in November of 2007, the live album portion of this release IS available at iTunes (along with the new bonus tracks)at a reasonable price ($15.99)but you have to buy the whole set to get that price.


DO YOU NEED THIS ALBUM?

Absolutely but if you've bought it before and are satisfied with the Rhino release (which honestly was the best of the four versions that have been released in the last 20 plus years outside of this reissue), then you certainly could skip this and buy new music.

WHAT'S HERE THAT WASN'T BEFORE?

This edition has an entire live performance taken an appearence at the Nashville Room in 1977 plus the five track soundcheck (which only duplicates "Alison"). The original disc is augmented by the outtakes from both the Ryko and Rhino versions plus eight demos from Pathway Studios (four of which "Blue Minute", "Call On Me", "I Don't Want To Come Home" and "I Hear A Melody" are previously unreleased songs that may have been cannibalized for other songs).

If you're an EC and The Attractions fan, I'm sure that you've often wondered what "My Aim Is True" would have sounded like recorded by The Attractions. Now you can find out but if you had the "Live At El Mocambo" you had an idea.

The live album is pretty terrific with EC and the band in top form. The Pathway tracks while not as important as the album itself are interesting.

DOES THE ORIGINAL ALBUM SOUND ANY DIFFERENT?

Maybe a tad louder than the Rhino but it appears to be the exact same mastering as before (which was done by Dan Hirsch at Digiprep). Suha Gur masters the live tracks and demos new to this edition. EC and Bill Levenson supervised the compilation which means that they tried to put out a quality release.

DOES IT LOOK ANY DIFFERENT?

Yeah it's bigger but not necessarily better. It's in the "Deluxe Edition" style with the slip cover (I hate it personally but many will love it). The booklet is missing EC's notes from the previous edition on Rhino with song lyrics and photos not in the previous edition.

As sick as I am of EC reissuing his back catalog (let's see...we had Columbia, Ryko, Rhino a single disc edition of this in a Digipak and this release)with DIFFERENT tracks, the live album is great to have as are the demos. EC please, please don't do this again. Your fans have bought this one too many times and barring the discovery of tapes you made in your previous band, there's just no reason for this terrific album to be put out again and again and again and again.

CONCLUSION: Hardcore EC fans and those who have waited to upgrade their CDs (or never replaced it on vinyl and can't find it there now) will love this edition. There are different bonus tracks however between the Rhino and this edition.

UPDATE:

My advice--go to iTunes and download the live album/new bonus tracks ONLY. At least that way you won't be springing for the whole set again. Also, the whole album is downloadable there for $15.99 for the time being much cheaper than the CD edition. While it won't be lossless quality (it'll be compressed and suffer from many of the issues that dog mp3 like releases), it'll be better than not having it.

September 25, 2007

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