Elvis Costello - This Year's Model

THIS YEAR'S MODEL is packaged with a 28-page booklet that includes rare photos and printed song lyrics. For his second album, Costello fine-tuned his aesthetic by abandoned the California studio cat accompanists of his debut for the more aggressive, quirky and very British Attractions, who would virtually define EC's sound over the next several years. Where MY AIM IS TRUE highlighted Costello's rootsy influences (the Band, etc.), THIS YEAR'S MODEL wholeheartedly embraces the "new wave" out-with-the-old mindset, favoring tightly-wound ferocity over back-porch-isms.

Irresistibly catchy, in a twitchy, neurotic, white-knuckled way, THIS YEAR'S MODEL is Costello at his edgiest. The classic "Pump It Up" pummels the listener with garage-band organ, pounding drums, and HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED-style ranting. "Radio, Radio" turned into something of an anti-authoritarian anthem for Costello. The snaky guitar and reggae-tinged drums of "I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea" complement Costello's verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown vocal performance nicely. Come to think of it, so does nearly everything else here. Album Description

I'd like to give it 5 stars

If only for the great bonus live disc. I am sure they could have just released the concert on its own and sold it out many times over. Like another reviewer suggested, this is even more thrilling than the El Mocambo concert disc, but they could've fixed that also by releasing the entire Mocambo show, un-edited. Setlists being similar, we probably don't need both, but heck, Elvis could release them anyway. A whole passel of live show releases would be nice, for that matter...
Docked one star only because the bonus material on the first disc has already been reissued. July 9, 2008

The ultimate 30th anniversary "deluxe" treatment

Elvis Costello's second album, "This Year's Model" has received the re-release treatment before, most recently in 2001, but this truly must be regarded as the ultimate 30th anniversary deluxe reissue treatment.

CD1 (23 tracks, 70 min.) first brings the original album, and what a delight it remains 30 years later. It almost sounds like a greatest hits album in and of its own, with classics like "Pump It Up", "(I Don't Wanna Go to) Chelsea" and "Radio Radio", but the non-single tracks just sounds as good in retrospect (such as "No Action", "You Belong To Me", etc.). There are 10 bonus tracks, including delightful b-sides like "Big Tears", "Crawling to the USA" and "Tiny Steps". Several other tracks are repeats from the 2001 re-release, including the delightful alternate version of "Chelsea".

CD2 (17 tracks; 63 min.) brings the complete show of the band at Washington's Warner Theatre, and what an absolute delight that is. This was recorded in February 1978, a couple of months before "This Year's Model" was released, and the set mixes then-old (from "My Aim Is True") and then-unheard (from the upcoming album) tracks, and it is just fabulous. Costello and his band are at their absolute best throughout. The highlight for me is the expanded (6 min.) version of "Watching the Detectives" but there isn't a single weak moment on here, and any serious music fan will want to have this, both for the quality of the concert and for its historical value. Not to be missed. May 26, 2008

Great buy for newbies, the live shows the selling point here

I'll only comment on the concert recording.Good,sometimes suprising seperation and arrangments.The band sound like they just discovered, or were slipped some speed.Almost worth buying for people who have both US and import LP's and 3 different Cd versions already. Man, its starting to suck being middle class. March 25, 2008

Yet another re-release with extras

The Rhino two disc reissue has everything contained on the first disc and then some. The re-mastering is fine on the Rhino release and this does not improve on it. The packaging and liner notes are much better in the Rhino release. The live concert on the second disc would be the only reason to purchase this release if you already have the Rhino release. The concert was originally a radio broadcast from the Warner Theater in Washington DC a week or so before the officially released El Mocambo concert. It contains an early solo version of "Chemistry Class" that was previously released on a different Rhino re-release (Armed Forces?). The rest of the concert is presented here for the first time in its entirety. So what are the differences between the Warner Theater concert and the El Mocambo concert? The set lists are close though I've always thought that "Live at the El Mocambo" was edited to fit on one vinyl disc. Here are a few differences: Lip Service is only on El Mocambo and No Action, Red Shoes, Hand in Hand, Blame it on Cain and Chemistry Class are only on the Warner Concert. Both have the Dallas version of Less than Zero and the Wipeout drum roll version of mystery dance. The Warner concert appears to be the whole show and I suspect that "Live at the El Mocambo" has the song order altered in addition to having a few songs cut. Both concerts are about equal in the quality of the performance. The band sounds deranged and hungry for success on both. It is "pull out the stops" rock and roll in its purest form. Both have mistakes in playing and sound quality-wise the Warner concert has more stage buzzes. There's no doubt that Elvis Costello and the Attractions are at their aggressive cocky best on both shows (The Warner show features Elvis stating, "Are some of you unimpressed?... cause I don't believe you!"). I would rate the Warner concert better as it sounds more "in the moment" than "Live at the El Mocambo" does. It's a tough call for the dedicated fan as they could have released the concert as a single disc instead of attaching it to something we already have and charging a premium price. I give it three stars cause it's all good stuff. March 18, 2008

More reviews at Amazon.com ...