My Aim Is True

I was just thinking they it was statistically improbable for me to get this deep in the list without encountering Mr. Costello, and here he is. This is an easy one for me because I’ve known all the words for twenty years or more. It wasn’t my first EC album (that was Armed Forces) and I don’t think I knew it was HIS first. But I definitely got that first album vibe of someone coming in off the street and putting down something that’s been bottled up inside of him for years. All the messiness that would later get ironed out with The Attractions is a lot of what I enjoy here.

Others have analyzed every song so I’ll say a bit about EC and what he meant to me as a kid in the 90s. Before Wikipedia answers about your favorite artists were not so straightforward… I knew EC was of the punk era but his image didn’t fit with the hardcore punk I knew. He wore his heart on the sleeve as all the emo kids were about too. Yet at the same time he was an adult and a working artist, not some long-ago legend who had flamed out. After starting with the classics I would buy his new albums too, though those never really stayed with me.

I guess what it all says is that more than just about anyone I’ve encountered on the list so far, Elvis Costello was someone I wanted to be. I haven’t made any music since giving up the saxophone in 10th grade but I wanted his kind of impact as a writer or journalist or whatever I thought I was going to be. I don’t idolize him in the same way now and I certainly don’t get why he has nine albums on the list. But I’m damn glad this one is here, the start of it all and truly a record everyone should encounter

Nice album, higher than 3 but not enough for a 4 so… Really liked “I’m not angry.”

Oh good, ANOTHER Elvis Costello "masterpiece" to suffer through. That's six albums now, if anyone is counting. I can hear the sad hipsters bristling as we speak: "There are only TWO Elvis Costello albums! The other four are Elvis Costello and the Attractions!"
I don't care about your dumb technicalities. It's the same shitty music, the same shitty voice, the same shitty sound, the same shitty experience. It's shitty times six.

Welcome to the working week: what an opener. Every time I put this album on, I’m immediately drawn into its strange mélange of dodgy characters and sticky hooks. Aside from some rather mediocre songs in the second half (the overly Elvis-leaning “Mystery Dance,” the honky-tonk-driven “Pay It Back,” and the rather uninspired guitar-solo rock pastiche “I’m Not Angry”), this still stands as one of the best debut albums of all time.

Even the songs that aren’t perfect already showcase that undeniable chorus/post-chorus magic that Elvis Costello mastered like no other. It sounds simple, but it seems damn hard to replicate — even after all these years.

4.5… so close to a 5.

Another Elvis Costello album. This is a good un. Brilliant songs with catchy melodies and smart lyrics.

I love Elvis and the songs are great, but this man needs The Attractions not the fucking News.

This feels very similar to Men at Work. Honestly I like his solo work a lot better than his work in "Elvis Costello and the Attractions". I like "Welcome to the working week" and "miracle man". Apparently there could have been harmonica on this album, which always makes an album better. God I love the harmonica. I wonder if the movie watching the detectives is based on this song. I didn't really like the movie because it talks about a man who is desperately in love with this girl who keeps treating him badly and he keeps telling her he doesn't like it but she keeps doing it. I keep seeing videos of the one scene where he's trying to flirt with her and it's like "Oh is that my cut? Is that my cut, baby?" and the captions are like "OMGGG GIVE ME A MAN LIKE THIS" or "If he isn't like this, I don't want him". It just annoys me because it's an unhealthy relationship to me? He's obsessed with her and it brings him a lot of pain (albeit the pain is kind of funny sometimes, i.e. him running around the baseball track crying). Anyways at the end of the movie he gives in and I HATE THAT HE DOES. I found something on reddit that said the title is likely from the Elvis Costello song. They thought it was because they kind of have the same story.

Beetje irritante plaat.

I like some of this, but it’s not as good as his later material with the Attractions, and as an album it’s all just a bit samey.

2.5

Varied. Good lyrics. Will listen again

Primera impresión: Tiene un sonido interesante, no es un género que esté tan acostumbrado a escuchar pero es disfrutable (al menos hasta ahora).
Mitad: Me parece un álbum fácil de escuchar, se me está pasando rápido. Me gusta pero tampoco me fascina, por ahora se me está haciendo un poco repetitivo por momentos. Además creo que debería prestarle mayor atención a las letras.
Final: La verdad es que me gustó, es entretenido y hay canciones que volvería a escuchar. No sé si está entre mis álbumes favoritos pero es llevadero e interesante. Quizás debería reescucharlo prestando más atención a las letras, pero sonoramente es disfrutable.
Canciones favoritas: Mystery Dance y Waiting for the end of the world

3/5. My first brush with the Elvis Costello event horizon (or technically second since one of my previous albums was produced by him.) and it’s some decent enough rock music. Reminds me of some of the clashes stuff in how it occasionally flirts with 50’s rockabilly music. Overall though I wasn’t blown away or in love with this album, it’s just fine.

Wow, the third boring album in a row!
Before I joined this project, I had only known Elvis Costello by name - so he must be kind of famous. Earlier on this journey, I reviewed an album of his from the 90s which didn't convince me either. However, the reasons are totally different, so he was probably great in the 80s...
Before "My Aim Is True", Costello did his thing as a Singer-Songwriter and on this album he was equipped with a backing band - which as such is a good idea as he has an interesting voice but poor guitar playing skills (the latter I remember from his other record). Still, his voice is not at all times well embedded in the music, leaving the impression of a partnership of convenience. On the other hand, there are a few songs ("Alison", "...Red Shoes") where singer and band align better and give a glimpse of an actually promising and rising artist. As stated in the beginning: Elvis Costello might have been great in the 80s. If so, this still doesn't answer the question why they put his weaker albums on the list.

I've found Elvis Costello to be very middling across the various albums I've heard. This still holds - but this one maybe feels a bit more accessible. There's not a huge amount of stand-out tracks, but overall it's pretty decent and has some personality to it. Not too bad. It's a very 3/5 album.

This is my second Costello album of the project(This Year's Model was first). Given that This Year's Model was incredibly mediocre, I didn't have high expectations for this. Even so, it didn't surpass them; it sounds like a worse, less punchy version of This Year's Model. Lyrics are just ok, and the vocal timbre of Costello really isn't good at all. It feels too basic and devoid of a distinct sound to really warrant being here at all. And if this, one of Costello's best works, isn't essential listening, then he sure as hell doesn't need six albums spanning three decades on this list.

I wasn't terribly impressed by this.

Worst Album Art Award 🏆

Elvis Costello seems to be a natural inhabitant of the four-star zone for me. He'll venture out to other star ratings sometimes, but four is his home.

It's alright. Not so bombastic as the journos claim it to be, and Costello seems undeserving of 5 more albums. Ugh!

I haven't ever heard anything from Elvis Costello that I liked until today. I don't know if this album is just good and I hadn't heard anything from it before, or my tastes have matured. I'll be listening to this again, I think, and perhaps giving him another shot in general

⭐⭐⭐.5

Better than Coldplay