Brutal Youth

it's ok.

Not warming up to this douche in the slightest. Occasionally the guitar will come in and I’ll think maybe this one will be okay and then his insipid voice comes in and ruins it. I think I only have one more of his records left, mercifully.

Ah, the age old question - is Elvis Costello the most ridiculously over-represented artist on the 1001 or Leonard Cohen? At least I don't mind Costello's music, so I'll give the edge to Cohen for most over-represented artist. My formula remains: no artist should have multiple albums unless they evolve significantly between albums (e.g., Bowie, Floyd) or their albums are simply iconic (Led Zep) or both (Beatles). This doesn't sound much different than his other albums on the 1001. It's not bad, but it's not so great to warrant its inclusion with so many other Elvis Costello albums. Favorite tracks: Pony St., Kinder Murder, 20% Amnesia. Next.

Fuck world peace or having loads of money. My single greatest wish is that this is the last Elvis Costello album I have to listen to. 🙏

Very good but not classic Costello

Not feeling this one at all. Forced singing, nothing that interesting musically. There are simply too many Elvis Costello albums on this list. One, or maybe none, would suffice.

Hit or miss, but mostly miss. While most songs have their moments, the album is plagued by two issues. First, the production has this really annoying, almost wheezing sound that's constantly there. Second, every song is 90% a repetitive refrain that consists of Elvis repeating the song title over and over until any chance of the song not being irritating is completely pulverized into nothing.

2.5/5.0: Mixed

Oof. Brutal indeed

Shite songs and a terrible voice

2 ⭐️

First album I could not finish

13 Steps Lead Down is a good tune. Still Too Soon To Know is not my cup of tea. I do love the story of Elvis basically remaking the Attractions. My Science Fiction Twin is good. Favorite Hour is a fine ender.

This was my least favorite of the Costello albums so far, but there is enough good here that I'd listen to it again.

Not popping like his other albums.

Elvis Costello never sounds like he knows where the song is going, and ad libs both lyrics and melody in order to make something that is totally unique to him, because no one else would ever think to go in the directions that he takes songs. Sometimes, this thought process works out, and even though I'm not a fan of his music, I can at least see the effort behind it. This album, though? Utter incompetence, like watching a dementia-ridden patient try and recover some semblance of music creation in a genre he arguably helped start, all while his audience just sits there and seem to spout variations of "you can do it, buddy!" despite their knowledge of its subpar at best presentation. Every song here is sloppy, annoying, and even struggles to be a vague idea of catchy. There's so little going on, and yet every time Costello opens his mouth it just sounds like someone purposefully singing with the worst voice possible to annoy their friends, and with each subsequent track it just digs into you more and more. Perhaps there is a track or two that is "better" as the album goes on, but clocking in at nearly an hour, you start to stop caring about ten minutes in, which just leads to every single track past that timestamp being torture. I listened to this album less than twenty-four hours ago, yet I could not tell you anything about any of the tracks save for "boring and annoying," and that really stings when you're subjected to just that for longer than what should ever be necessary. Lyrically it isn't much better, with nonsensical lyrics trying to be deep for the sake of sounding smart plaguing the whole thing, and only relax on the more stereotypical love songs, which are still, say it with me, boring and annoying! God, its just obvious that this is an album where a singer has completely lost his touch, and with no band to support him positively musically, and no Nick Lowe to produce, the cracks of Elvis Costello really start to show. Perhaps not one of the worst albums of all time, but one I immediately despise.

Dudes who wear trilbies have tricked themselves into thinking that Elvis Costello is essential and ground-breaking because he also likes a fancy hat.

Post-punk for people who are afraid of loud noises.

Not my personal cup of tea at all. Found his voice to be extremely grating

No ha estado mal, de lo mejor de Elvis Costello que he escuchado por aquí, aunque solo me he guardado Pony St. aún así le voy a dar 3 estrellas.

Brutal Youth is just about the same quality as all of Elvis Costello's other albums, as in its an alright album but its nothing that will blow anyone away. This one seems to be more in line with This Year's Model music-wise rather than Blood And Chocolate which is kinda a shame since i did like the latter album more. This one is still a pretty fine album with it having quite a few solid songs with some pretty decent musical ideas. Despite all of that, the album isn't really too much to write home about. It is alright but you can do quite a bit better than this.
Best Song: Still Too Soon To Know
Worst Song: All the Rage

I’m at a 3.

For a top 100 album of 1978, I’d say that was alright. Hold on, this is from 1994? Oh, jeez.

Yeah, this album really wears its target audience on its sleeve – it’s a Reagan administration album made right around the point of the Clinton administration, which is to say, for 1994, this just feels outdated and out of touch with its contemporary sounds, especially for a sort of pseudo-rock album. It’s not quite MTV Unplugged, but it sure as hell ain’t Nirvana either.

When trying to really figure out what this sounded like to me, I ended up writing down “a mismatched hybrid between Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel, while capturing neither of what makes either of them so good, and just sort of getting the leftovers,” which… yeah, I’d call that accurate.

I’m sure Elvis Costello has better albums than this, but this just wasn’t super captivating to me – while there’s not a bad track here, and everything’s an enjoyable listen, you can only really coast on “that was alright” for so long. There’s not too many standouts; I’d say of the 15 tracks here, I only really liked about 6 of them, so that’s batting just under average.

It’s not certainly not a bad album, and I’d even recommend it. It’s simply not working for me, if only because it doesn’t feel like an album from 1994 should, and there’s just better albums that do this style and sound that have come out both long before and long after it. However, it could easily work for someone else; a 4 or a 5 on this album wouldn’t feel that unjustified to me. The framework of a truly great album is here, it’s just missing something for my tastes. Hence, the 3.

First Elvis Costello album. This was kind of meh. I don't take as much issue with his voice as others do, but none of these tracks were interesting. Chord progressions felt kind of basic? Sounds like a cover band at a karaoke bar, not sure why it's on here.

Uuugghhh, not another Costello album...

Favourite songs: 20% Amnesia, Pony St., Kinder Murder, 13 Steps Lead Down, Just About Glad

Least favourite songs: This is Hell, Clown Strike, You Tripped at Every Step, Favourite Hour

2/5