Imperial Bedroom

Imperial Bedroom is Costello’s own Blood on the Tracks. A more personal take on his style. The album is full with idiosyncrasy, snark, and sarcasm, but the delivery shifts from youthful rebelliousness to adult heartbreak.

Songs like Tears Before Bedtime, Kid About It, and Little Savages retain echoes of his earlier approach, yet most of the record leans into a jazz influenced, Beatles-esque approach, and occasional experiments alongside punk slashes here and there.

It may not be his best work, but the change of pace feels welcome, both artistically and as a listener. It earns its place in my rotation, as of writing.

No one writes a melody like Elvis Costello. Because no one SHOULD write a melody like Elvis Costello.

I have little to add to the discourse. I’ve said enough in my previous 4 Elvis Costello records. Competently made, but made by someone who is far too worried about being original to be good.

Back from another long break for academic reasons and I'm not sure how I feel about this album... Individually the songs are fun and well made, but as a whole it all blurs together. Probably pretty exciting when it was first released, though I don't think it's hitting the same for me. Nothing terrible but nothing that stands out too much either. Loved the production though, as I always do with a full-ensemble band of instruments!

solid album

For me, today marks the milestone of being a quarter through the list, and all of this to say that there have already been four Elvis Costello albums up to this point. With all this aside, this is a worthy addition to the list, as Elvis's witty songwriting is maximized by the beautiful musical arrangements to offer a very interesting experience.

8/10 [KEEP]

Multiple times, I thought to myself, “well at least this has to be over soon,” only to check the track list and learn I still had an alarming amount left to experience.

It's yet another fucking Elvis Costello album.

Second Elvis Costello album but this one is ok.

You're in safe hands with Elvis Costello, he is a strong songwriter and this is another consistently lovely record with a bright, detailed sound. An effort has been made to add a little intensity here and there, though it doesn't push as hard in that direction as the much darker Blood and Chocolate.

The song "Beyond Belief" is really good! The rest of generic

Listened before? No

Familiar with the artist? I know of him but I don't think I could name a song 😅

Thoughts: On first listen it's... Ok, I guess? The second time a few songs stood out that I'd like to hear again, but the rest is a bit boring.

Favorite track(s): Man Out of Time, ... And In Every Home

Just did nothing for me. I have a funny feeling if there was another singer on this the lyrics and production would stand up better. Critics seemed to love it but I didn't. 2.5/5. Raising to 3.

It's completely fine, not really more or less than that. There's a bunch of different sounds on this album which makes the 15 song tracklist not feel all that long. I found Elvis Costello's voice to sound a bit like the Zombies at times. Not really much more to add to my 5th Elvis Costello album I've listened to so far.

Today brings up one of my favourite artists, Elvis Costello. That said, I haven't really listened to him since seeing him at the Royal Albert Hall earlier this year. Unfortunately, the set that night was awful and, frankly, really boring. It actually put me off listening to him for a while, so I was interested to see how I'd feel coming back to Imperial Bedroom.

Thankfully, Imperial Bedroom by Elvis Costello & The Attractions is anything but boring.

This is a brilliant album musically. There's so much variation from track to track, with great arrangements, melodies and instrumentation throughout. It doesn't rely on a massive hit like "Oliver's Army" to carry it either. Instead, it's the quality of the songwriting and storytelling that makes the whole album so compelling.

Costello is such a clever lyricist, and this album is a great reminder of that. The songs have depth and personality, and there's always something interesting happening musically behind them. "Man Out of Time" is fantastic, while "Almost Blue" shows a completely different, softer side to the album and is absolutely beautiful.

This was exactly the reminder I needed of why I love Elvis Costello in the first place. Maybe he was just having an off day when I saw him earlier this year!

Favourite tracks: "Man Out of Time" is the standout for me, and "Almost Blue" is beautiful.

Least favourite tracks: Nothing. Everything on the album is worth a listen and there isn't really a weak moment.

Album artwork: Cool album cover. There's loads going on, plenty of colour, and it suits the variety and personality of the music inside.

𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮 has moments that remind me of a Paul McCartney solo record: carefully shaped melodies, ornate arrangements, and the occasional orchestral flourish. The craftsmanship is obvious, but that does not automatically make the album engaging.

For me, everything feels a little too polished and self-conscious. The songs are clever and the arrangements are ambitious, yet very little actually sticks with me. Instead of being drawn into all the detail, I mostly find myself admiring it from a distance.

There is clearly a lot of work and imagination in 𝘐𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘉𝘦𝘥𝘳𝘰𝘰𝘮, but surprisingly little of it makes me want to hear the album again.

From my own research, I now know that there are two good albums by Elvis Costello - but “Imperial Bedroom” isn't one of them.
I find it astonishing that he really manages to mess up every single one in a different way. This time, he experiments with various styles that don’t mesh, so there’s absolutely no flow to speak of.
Oh, and of course, the production on this recording could have been salvaged a bit - that’s probably the recurring theme of all Elvis Costello’s work. If he’d just let the producer do his job, he could have become a legend.

I swear, I audibly groaned when Declan popped up on the list again, well, it was more of an expletive laden exclamation.. It feels like every time I turn around, there’s another Elvis Costello album to slog through, and honestly, my patience is totally over. Imperial Bedroom is supposed to be his big, sophisticated masterpiece, the one where he swaps his raw, new-wave energy for fancy, baroque-pop arrangements. Yeah? Fuck off Declan, get when you get there, fuck off some more.

"Елвіс Костелло це загадка для мене. Багато разів я намагався слухати, але так і не зміг зрозуміти прикол цієї музики. Звісно ж це не є поганий альбом або щось таке, але і зрозуміти в чому суть я не можу." [2]

This is perfectly fine stuff except that the lyrics are so annoyingly, self consciously clever, that they just become annoyingly artificial.

There's an element of style over substance.

I can't figure out what these kinds of albums are for - like, if you're a fan, when do you listen to this? what does it do for you? what mood does it set? what experience are you after? He's a style chameloeon, hoping around sounds from light new wave, to adult sophistipop, to jazzy Parisian bossa nova - but it's always the same scaly big eyed chameloeon - the distinctive voice and melodic phrasing.