This album deserves a complete listen, track by track. As you noticed, this song is intended as an intro, it's really only got one musical progression and it's short, clocking in at 2:34. This entire album is a journey, and I envy you taking that journey for the first time. This is Elvis' masterpiece. The songs and the musicianship are on par with the greatest albums of all time.
Absolutely! Probably Elvis' most experimental and psychedelic album. The production and arrangements are out of this world! My favourite of his for sure.
You did it, Justin!! THANK YOU!! MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE ELVIS COSTELLO SONG!!!! I have heard this song SO MANY times and it never fails to hold my interest... in fact it gets better and better on repeated listens. Costello's lyrics are so striking... .and the vocals are top-tier going from a deep undertone to shouts of exasperation. The way he sings "But I know there's not a hope in Hades." is one of my favorite vocal turns of any song. I once set this song to repeat for a one-hour drive to the beach... and enjoyed every second of that trip. So, so great!!!!!!
Agreed - I also love the way the music sort of creates a sense of suspense and tension from the very first note, through most of the song, until finally dropping with "I've got a feeling.....". So satisfying.
If I never recommended it to you, I should have. It's his very best track. Amazing lyrics. Elvis Costello was a big influence on the writing style of They Might Be Giants, a connection I only fairly recently recognized myself.
Elvis is a wordsmith. His use of language is delicious. There's no other word for it. I can roll his lyrics around inside my mouth and feel them just spread through me. Just the sheer beauty and glory of language and words and sounds.
Glad to see you return to Elvis Costello! I think I've recommended this album too. After a string of classic new wave albums, Costello took a left turn and recorded the country tinged 'Almost Blue' album in 1981 before returning with this masterpiece. Produced by long-time Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick at George Martin's AIR Studios in London (where Emerick was simultaneously finishing work engineering Paul McCartney's acclaimed 'Tug Of War' album down the corridor), 'Imperial Bedroom' certainly has a Beatley flavour in parts and leans into the baroque, chamber pop seen on parts of ‘Revolver’ and ‘Sergeant Pepper’. Costello’s lyricism is exceptional; his prose writing is brilliant too, but he’s an incredible poet. This is just one of many songs he’s recorded where you think the words are going to run away from him, but they never do. Very clever writing - and as you say a stream of consciousness delivery. The Attractions are/were one of the best backing bands in British pop history. All brilliant musicians in their own right. Costello’s relationship with Bruce Thomas (no relation to Pete) has been tricky over the years, but Steve Nieve and Pete Thomas still record and tour with him nowadays as The Imposters with the addition of Davey Faragher on bass. A particular shout out for Pete Thomas’ inventive drumming on ‘Beyond Belief’ - so much so that it encouraged Costello to re-arrange the whole song around it. As others have said, there are some standout songs on this album like ‘Man Out Of Time’, but it’s definitely worth a full album listen.
This track really shows off how hard the Attractions could ROCK. A good song too. I love the way it simmers at the beginning and builds momentum like crazy. The drummer is a monster.
Probably my favourite track by Elvis Costello & the Attractions, taken from one of their best albums ever, produced by Geoff Emerick (famous Beatles sound engineer). I love the harmonic progression of Bruce Thomas's bass and Elvis's sinuous melody throughout, which gives the musical and vocal combination a labyrinthine quality. The only thing that frustrates me a bit is that I would have liked the coda to have been a minute longer!😉 Justin, I hope you're going to do the rest of the Imperial Bedroom album...
Imperial Bedroom is a human frailty meets romantic relationship type of an album. Rich production, a seriously talented band, original storytelling and you instantly picked up on the incredible writing. Man Out of Time, Shabby Doll and Kid About It are all terrific on their own but I strongly feel like this is one of those works that should be played in one full sitting.
Thanks for playing this tune. I was one of the requesters (Robert). I 'm not aware of many tunes of his that have this kind of jazzy vocal delivery. Definitely a fave.
Thanks for checking out my request. Yeah, stream of consciousness lyrics - and I like the bass-driven melody and how the band in general is ripping it up
So glad you’re back on Elvis. He has such a massive and varied catalog. He plays with so many genres as a true lover of music would: punk, country, jazz, traditional pop, rock,etc. The more songs you discover, the deeper you want to go. Great songwriting and lyrics that stand against the best. I hope you continue on this road. Such great rewards. It’s become cliche but fits-he’s your favorite musician’s favorite musician.
Elvis Costello is such a strange apparition in the music world: At once highly-acclaimed and respected, and also severely underrated. He is a real songwriter's songwriter, but never stays in one place for very long. From post-punk to rock, to country, to R & B to jazz and classical, the thread that unites his long career is quality. He has great taste and a genius knack for lyrics. If I were to recommend one album to listen through, it would be "King of America," though Imperial Bedroom is a great album as well.
This album is, for me, a maddening mix of fantastic tracks and songs where he clearly got over his skis a bit. In a way, it makes sense - he released his first seven albums (technically eight if you include the B-sides compilation Taking Liberties) in five years, an insane output. It also didn't help that his label was trying to pass him off as the next great master. I hope you eventually work your way through this one, Justin. It's uneven but also very thought provoking.
My favourite EC song. So much going on in the lyrics - poetic and deep, floating against that nervous bass and drums. It's like a dream in a film noir movie. I think the word you're looking for is "controlled" - it's a very controlled, deliberate vocal, as though the singer is holding a lot back inside. PS - Steve NY-eve :) ...and fettuccine in hot chocolate sauce!
It's true that this track has a hazy, dreamy quality and I find the structure of "Beyond Belief" like a musical/vocal labyrinth. It's meandering, cryptic.
See excerpts online of the TV show he had called Spectacle, where he would interview and jam with people like Sting and Bruce Springsteen. For the Elton John episode, he had his wife, jazz pianist Diana Krall, do the hosting.
Elvis Costello is a master. He did an album with Burt Bacharach called Painted from Memory. Check out "In the Darkest Place." (The whole album, really.)
Like everybody I enjoyed the early radio hits, but I really got engaged with Imperial Bedroom, and Beyond Belief is a great opening track. Costello's wordplay became wordiness after this LP, but this one merits a deep dive.
His lyrics reveal a deep sensitivity that is a surprise, like when you listen closely to Tom Waits. (A friend of mine ‘invented’ tempura ice cream back in the ‘80s!)
The character of the song is in a dive bar drowning his sorrows via drinking (this almost empty gin palace) when in walks his girl (you see your Alice). The song then examines the relationship and why it lead him to a bar drowning in his sorrows (This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel). He knows their problems can't be resolved (But I know there's not a hope in Hades), yet his longing for her has him captured (Once this seemed so appealing, Now I am beyond belief).
This is a new one for me, I have several of his albums but he sounds different here. The style of singing is more conventional and it's appealing and I'd like to hear more. It's been 2 months since you played XTC, I hope you'll be getting back to "Drums and Wires" soon. You've yet to play my favorite album of theirs "Mummer" which has a couple of darker songs on it.
still growing on me after 42 years.he's in a phone box, the band are busking on the street. please do the LP one track at a time over the next two years...yep it's that dense
One of his most interesting and best songs. "Man Out Of Time" from this record is top 3 EC songs for me, not my favorite of his albums overall but it's decent.
this sounds just as good as it did back when... when this album came out it seemed like such a departure for Mr C and i loved it - though i think Trust is still my favorite album. i would definitely diving deeper into Elvis' music. this song is more of an album cut and doesn't mean as much without hearing the rest of the album...
Hey JP, this is one of my favourite Costello albums. However, don't get fooled by anyone that says it is his Beatles influenced album - it was said at the time of release but scholars are yet to detect any trace of fab-four-edness about it.
There's lots of top notch Dylanesque and other styles of noir in this album. I found the album before this one by EC and The Attractions, "Trust", to be more conventional and easier to grasp at a first listen. Earlier on, EC's albums Get Happy! and Taking Liberties are even more accessible, because they're assemblages of very early 45 records played on British radio, around the time of "Girls Talk". So the UK must have known Costello well before My Aim Is True, which was Costello's first entry into the US market.
Nice job. Good song, but there are a lot of better songs from Imperial Bedroom (Tears Before Bedtime, Shabby Doll or Almost Blue). I hope you explore it more. Cheers!
Not my favorite Costello album, but certainly one of his most interesting. For most people, I would not recommend this as an album starting point, but for you, I think this is perfect. Costello has always played with words, and when his music matches them, the results are thrilling. Costello has released 33 studio albums, and every song, on at least the first half of them, is worth hearing.
I’ve had a hard time getting into this album, in part because from my limited listens so far, this is by far my favorite song on it - an unfortunate quality in an opening track that usually leaves me less than tempted to continue. As a result, I’ve spun Armed Forces and This Year’s Model much more often.
It's true that Imperial Bedroom is a bit impenetrable when you first listen to it, but with perseverance, I came to really appreciate it, to the point of putting it at the top of the list of the very best Elvis Costello & The Attractions albums. I think the secret is to read the lyrics while listening to the songs, which makes it easier to see Elvis' vocal journey and grasp the structure of the songs. However, I remember that the inner sleeve containing the lyrics was almost impossible to decipher because they were all in a row (A headache in itself!).
@@a.k.1740 I suppose I should give it a proper go at some point. I've never really sat down with the lyrics, and EC is definitely a lyrics guy - although to paraphrase Robert Christgau, I wish he liked women more.
@@sylvanm4216 When I mentioned the lyrics, it wasn't in the literal sense of the word, but as a way of better understanding the progression and construction of these somewhat cryptic tracks (where sometimes there are no classic verses/choruses). I think it would help the assimilation process more easily. Give it a try and let me know if it works for you after multiple listens....
It’s so much more than a guy at a dive bar trying to get laid…. “Just like the canals of mars and the Great Barrier Reef” this can’t be anyone else than the Demiurge.
I am a fan of Elvis Costello, and I saw him on his very first US tour back in the 70's, but don't investigate his life outside of music (or even inside of music). He's not very nice.
@@Owlstretchingtime78 Hmmm, the 'world' may be a tad of an overstatement... Think he's sold around 6 million albums, and there's currently about 8 billion people on the planet.... So he's barely a drop in the bucket :)
Imperial Bedroom! One of the greatest LPs of all time! ❤
I saw a tour in 2016 where they did most of the album and it was incredible! Shabby Doll was so good.
Absolutely one of the best!
Agreed
One of the few songs I learned every single lyric. I could repeat it like a mantra in my mind. Just brilliant.
Elvis is one of the greatest lyricists in Rock history.
Yeah he's up there with Dylan if not his superior.
For me it’s the poetry of the lyrics and the delivery of the song.
This album deserves a complete listen, track by track. As you noticed, this song is intended as an intro, it's really only got one musical progression and it's short, clocking in at 2:34. This entire album is a journey, and I envy you taking that journey for the first time. This is Elvis' masterpiece. The songs and the musicianship are on par with the greatest albums of all time.
Absolutely! Probably Elvis' most experimental and psychedelic album. The production and arrangements are out of this world! My favourite of his for sure.
This is without a doubt my favorite Elvis Costello tune.
You did it, Justin!! THANK YOU!! MY ALL-TIME FAVORITE ELVIS COSTELLO SONG!!!! I have heard this song SO MANY times and it never fails to hold my interest... in fact it gets better and better on repeated listens. Costello's lyrics are so striking... .and the vocals are top-tier going from a deep undertone to shouts of exasperation. The way he sings "But I know there's not a hope in Hades." is one of my favorite vocal turns of any song. I once set this song to repeat for a one-hour drive to the beach... and enjoyed every second of that trip. So, so great!!!!!!
Agreed - I also love the way the music sort of creates a sense of suspense and tension from the very first note, through most of the song, until finally dropping with "I've got a feeling.....". So satisfying.
If I never recommended it to you, I should have. It's his very best track. Amazing lyrics. Elvis Costello was a big influence on the writing style of They Might Be Giants, a connection I only fairly recently recognized myself.
Elvis is a wordsmith. His use of language is delicious. There's no other word for it. I can roll his lyrics around inside my mouth and feel them just spread through me. Just the sheer beauty and glory of language and words and sounds.
It’s a tough call, but this Elvis best album. The arrangements are top tier. ‘Town Cryer’ is a sublime masterpiece of a song. Great review, JP.
Glad to see you return to Elvis Costello! I think I've recommended this album too. After a string of classic new wave albums, Costello took a left turn and recorded the country tinged 'Almost Blue' album in 1981 before returning with this masterpiece. Produced by long-time Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick at George Martin's AIR Studios in London (where Emerick was simultaneously finishing work engineering Paul McCartney's acclaimed 'Tug Of War' album down the corridor), 'Imperial Bedroom' certainly has a Beatley flavour in parts and leans into the baroque, chamber pop seen on parts of ‘Revolver’ and ‘Sergeant Pepper’.
Costello’s lyricism is exceptional; his prose writing is brilliant too, but he’s an incredible poet. This is just one of many songs he’s recorded where you think the words are going to run away from him, but they never do. Very clever writing - and as you say a stream of consciousness delivery.
The Attractions are/were one of the best backing bands in British pop history. All brilliant musicians in their own right. Costello’s relationship with Bruce Thomas (no relation to Pete) has been tricky over the years, but Steve Nieve and Pete Thomas still record and tour with him nowadays as The Imposters with the addition of Davey Faragher on bass. A particular shout out for Pete Thomas’ inventive drumming on ‘Beyond Belief’ - so much so that it encouraged Costello to re-arrange the whole song around it.
As others have said, there are some standout songs on this album like ‘Man Out Of Time’, but it’s definitely worth a full album listen.
IMPERIAL BEDROOM is his masterpiece. It was produced by Geoff Emerick who was the engineer for THE BEATLES.
This track really shows off how hard the Attractions could ROCK. A good song too. I love the way it simmers at the beginning and builds momentum like crazy. The drummer is a monster.
Agreed. The Attractions are fantastic. Palmer is one of my top 4-5 favorite bass players ever.
It's not a rockin' song though. It's like in its own category. Rock really isn't the word I'd use.
Probably my favourite track by Elvis Costello & the Attractions, taken from one of their best albums ever, produced by Geoff Emerick (famous Beatles sound engineer). I love the harmonic progression of Bruce Thomas's bass and Elvis's sinuous melody throughout, which gives the musical and vocal combination a labyrinthine quality. The only thing that frustrates me a bit is that I would have liked the coda to have been a minute longer!😉 Justin, I hope you're going to do the rest of the Imperial Bedroom album...
My favourite Elvis Costello album!!! Probably his most psychedelic record. And this song kicks ass!
Imperial Bedroom is a human frailty meets romantic relationship type of an album. Rich production, a seriously talented band, original storytelling and you instantly picked up on the incredible writing. Man Out of Time, Shabby Doll and Kid About It are all terrific on their own but I strongly feel like this is one of those works that should be played in one full sitting.
THIS GLORIOUS SONG!!!
Thanks for playing this tune. I was one of the requesters (Robert). I 'm not aware of many tunes of his that have this kind of jazzy vocal delivery. Definitely a fave.
'jazzy' means nothing. Wtf is 'jazzy'?
E.C. can do more with 3 minutes than almost anyone. He's a total genius, been listening since 1979.
Seriously. This song is packed with poetry and drama.
Love this!!! Haven't listened to it in years. Thank you.
Thanks for checking out my request. Yeah, stream of consciousness lyrics - and I like the bass-driven melody and how the band in general is ripping it up
Brilliant song! One of the most unusual song constructions - you don't get a steady drum beat until the outro!
So glad you’re back on Elvis. He has such a massive and varied catalog. He plays with so many genres as a true lover of music would: punk, country, jazz, traditional pop, rock,etc. The more songs you discover, the deeper you want to go. Great songwriting and lyrics that stand against the best. I hope you continue on this road. Such great rewards. It’s become cliche but fits-he’s your favorite musician’s favorite musician.
Elvis Costello is such a strange apparition in the music world: At once highly-acclaimed and respected, and also severely underrated. He is a real songwriter's songwriter, but never stays in one place for very long. From post-punk to rock, to country, to R & B to jazz and classical, the thread that unites his long career is quality. He has great taste and a genius knack for lyrics. If I were to recommend one album to listen through, it would be "King of America," though Imperial Bedroom is a great album as well.
This album is, for me, a maddening mix of fantastic tracks and songs where he clearly got over his skis a bit. In a way, it makes sense - he released his first seven albums (technically eight if you include the B-sides compilation Taking Liberties) in five years, an insane output. It also didn't help that his label was trying to pass him off as the next great master.
I hope you eventually work your way through this one, Justin. It's uneven but also very thought provoking.
My favourite EC song. So much going on in the lyrics - poetic and deep, floating against that nervous bass and drums. It's like a dream in a film noir movie. I think the word you're looking for is "controlled" - it's a very controlled, deliberate vocal, as though the singer is holding a lot back inside. PS - Steve NY-eve :) ...and fettuccine in hot chocolate sauce!
It's true that this track has a hazy, dreamy quality and I find the structure of "Beyond Belief" like a musical/vocal labyrinth. It's meandering, cryptic.
I hear something new in the song every time I listen to it - and I've known it for 30 years or so
See excerpts online of the TV show he had called Spectacle, where he would interview and jam with people like Sting and Bruce Springsteen. For the Elton John episode, he had his wife, jazz pianist Diana Krall, do the hosting.
Er, what? The Elton episode I remember was very much a dialog between the two music-nerds-who-changed-their-names.
And in the one series that actually got onto British TV there was no sign of Diana at all.
Brilliant opening to a brilliant album!
This is hands down my favorite EC song. It perfectly combines the poetry, wordplay, sensuality, complex/exciting music he is known for.
Me too. Takes me right back to the summer of 93 when I first heard it. My gf was a real audiophile and music lover and she turned me on to this album.
Perfect song love you
Elvis Costello is a master. He did an album with Burt Bacharach called Painted from Memory. Check out "In the Darkest Place." (The whole album, really.)
Like everybody I enjoyed the early radio hits, but I really got engaged with Imperial Bedroom, and Beyond Belief is a great opening track. Costello's wordplay became wordiness after this LP, but this one merits a deep dive.
His lyrics reveal a deep sensitivity that is a surprise, like when you listen closely to Tom Waits.
(A friend of mine ‘invented’ tempura ice cream back in the ‘80s!)
The character of the song is in a dive bar drowning his sorrows via drinking (this almost empty gin palace) when in walks his girl (you see your Alice). The song then examines the relationship and why it lead him to a bar drowning in his sorrows (This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel). He knows their problems can't be resolved (But I know there's not a hope in Hades), yet his longing for her has him captured (Once this seemed so appealing, Now I am beyond belief).
I love this whole album. By the way, I'm pretty sure "gin palace" means a bar, but your interpretation does pique my interest.
It does. A gin palace is a bar that specialises in different types of gin.
This is a new one for me, I have several of his albums but he sounds different here. The style of singing is more conventional and it's appealing and I'd like to hear more.
It's been 2 months since you played XTC, I hope you'll be getting back to "Drums and Wires" soon. You've yet to play my favorite album of theirs "Mummer" which has a couple of darker songs on it.
Second that! Waiting patiently for his reaction to the brilliant "COMPLICATED GAME"... Also agree on "Mummer"
Ooh, Mummer! One of XTC's more "difficult" albums, but definitely very rewarding.
A True wordsmith....the Attractions are the best band around...Pete, Bruce, and Steve
Dylan and Elvis Costello
"you have to be cruel to be callous "
Gotta be a reference to his friend Nick Lowe, right? "Cruel to Be Kind"
"things" must not be placed on the turntable. Best song ever right here and an excellent review.
Justin….you must listen to Clubland from his album Tristan’s the whole album Get Happy is incredible!!!!
One of my favorite costello albums. I prefer Mighty Like A Rose and Spike, but that album is good too.
still growing on me after 42 years.he's in a phone box, the band are busking on the street. please do the LP one track at a time over the next two years...yep it's that dense
One of his most interesting and best songs. "Man Out Of Time" from this record is top 3 EC songs for me, not my favorite of his albums overall but it's decent.
this sounds just as good as it did back when...
when this album came out it seemed like such a departure for Mr C and i loved it - though i think Trust is still my favorite album. i would definitely diving deeper into Elvis' music. this song is more of an album cut and doesn't mean as much without hearing the rest of the album...
Hey JP, this is one of my favourite Costello albums. However, don't get fooled by anyone that says it is his Beatles influenced album - it was said at the time of release but scholars are yet to detect any trace of fab-four-edness about it.
There's lots of top notch Dylanesque and other styles of noir in this album. I found the album before this one by EC and The Attractions, "Trust", to be more conventional and easier to grasp at a first listen. Earlier on, EC's albums Get Happy! and Taking Liberties are even more accessible, because they're assemblages of very early 45 records played on British radio, around the time of "Girls Talk". So the UK must have known Costello well before My Aim Is True, which was Costello's first entry into the US market.
Nice job. Good song, but there are a lot of better songs from Imperial Bedroom (Tears Before Bedtime, Shabby Doll or Almost Blue). I hope you explore it more. Cheers!
Not my favorite Costello album, but certainly one of his most interesting. For most people, I would not recommend this as an album starting point, but for you, I think this is perfect. Costello has always played with words, and when his music matches them, the results are thrilling. Costello has released 33 studio albums, and every song, on at least the first half of them, is worth hearing.
I’ve had a hard time getting into this album, in part because from my limited listens so far, this is by far my favorite song on it - an unfortunate quality in an opening track that usually leaves me less than tempted to continue. As a result, I’ve spun Armed Forces and This Year’s Model much more often.
It's true that Imperial Bedroom is a bit impenetrable when you first listen to it, but with perseverance, I came to really appreciate it, to the point of putting it at the top of the list of the very best Elvis Costello & The Attractions albums. I think the secret is to read the lyrics while listening to the songs, which makes it easier to see Elvis' vocal journey and grasp the structure of the songs. However, I remember that the inner sleeve containing the lyrics was almost impossible to decipher because they were all in a row (A headache in itself!).
@@a.k.1740 I suppose I should give it a proper go at some point. I've never really sat down with the lyrics, and EC is definitely a lyrics guy - although to paraphrase Robert Christgau, I wish he liked women more.
@@sylvanm4216 When I mentioned the lyrics, it wasn't in the literal sense of the word, but as a way of better understanding the progression and construction of these somewhat cryptic tracks (where sometimes there are no classic verses/choruses).
I think it would help the assimilation process more easily. Give it a try and let me know if it works for you after multiple listens....
It’s so much more than a guy at a dive bar trying to get laid…. “Just like the canals of mars and the Great Barrier Reef” this can’t be anyone else than the Demiurge.
Apart from a couple of his earlier single releases which were ok, I couldn't get into his sound. Not for me.
I am a fan of Elvis Costello, and I saw him on his very first US tour back in the 70's, but don't investigate his life outside of music (or even inside of music). He's not very nice.
Meh, never was a fan of this dude, or rock n' roll revivalism in general.
Pah! 'songwriters eh'.... If they spent a bit more time on the music, and not concentrate so much on the words we'd have far better tunes 🙂
@@jfergs.3302God forbid they can turn their hand to both! 🤔
Well he was funny in Frasier, and his dad was in the R White's lemonade advert..... Other than that, musically, i've got nowt.
Me neither.
Strange how he's admired by the world and his wife!
No sarcasm was used in the previous post.
@@Owlstretchingtime78 Hmmm, the 'world' may be a tad of an overstatement... Think he's sold around 6 million albums, and there's currently about 8 billion people on the planet.... So he's barely a drop in the bucket :)
@@Owlstretchingtime78 I'll bet! It's on their next album, Punch the Clock!😉