Customer Reviews

Elvis Costello: The Juliet Letters

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What an irony : one of my favorite recordings EVER, but I can't think of one person to recommend it to. My rocker friends wouldn't last 10 minutes into this as they await the drums to kick in, and my friends of the classical persuasion would give Elvis' "unclassically trained voice" even less audition time. My ongoing "desert island" top ten rotates over time, but Juliet Letters is a permanent fixture on that list. Now, if they'd just release the 1-hour PBS concert/documentary on DVD ...

I am a great admirer of Elvis Costello. Like many of us, I like it better when he is with the Attractions, rocking out than when he is with Burt Bacharach getting self conscious and arty. I am also a classical musician, deeply skeptical of "crossover" albums. In fact, I don't think I can name one crossover album I like. Except this one. And I love it. I think this record has several of Costello's best lyrics AND melodies. "Taking my life in your hands" would make Lennon, McCartney, and Mahler all equally proud. It defies genre and comes scarily close to what I am tempted to call "pure expression." Of course, that's a ridiculous notion, but this song is such an emotional and aesthetic slam dunk that I am awed. Also I love "Damnation's Cellar" and "Who do you think you are?" There are some duds here, and I'd have to say the first two tracks will scare a lot of people off. Hang in there. It was a year or two after this album was released that I learned to love it, and time after time, it holds up better for me than any other Costello release.

Juliet Letters definitely makes my "desert island" list. If ever stranded on a desert island (with CD player and a lifetime supply of batteries, of course) this is one of a handful of recordings I would choose. Costello's sense of melody, honest theatrics and storytelling is a rare and welcome gift. And accompanied by the Brodsky String Quartet, well...Tension, release, complexity, simplicity, the beautiful, the raffish. And ah, the melodies that strike the heart and live there long after the music ends. Each time I listen to this CD I am filled with gratitude and awe.

I give this a forth star because I still pull it out for the occasional listen. But it remains one of the most difficult CD's in Elvis' careening musical experimentation. What usually happens is I find myself wondering where these songs would have fit had they been recorded for other Costello albums. "Jacksons Monk and Rowe" obviously would have made it as a "Get Happy" song. "For Other Eyes;" "Imperial Bedroom." A folksy arrangement might have sent "Damnation's Cellar" to "King Of America." And so on and so forth....

But the song sequence works wonderfully and the playing of the Brodskies never sinks to pedestrian. These folks obviously understood that they were going to have to throw preconceived ideas about playing with a "rocker," just as Elvis was trying to (as he put it) avoid the dreaded "crossover" sound. My major gripe with the album is that Elvis' voice isn't always up to the task ("North" fares much better in that department). And anyone looking for a "typical" Costello platter is in for a major shock. Of course, anyone trying to define a "typical" Costello disc is probably going to have a rough go of it.....

That doesn't stop "The Juliet Letters" from featuring some fine work, including "The Birds Will Still Be Singing," which deserves a shot with a voice like Josh Groban's or Michael Buble's. Or maybe now that Elvis has his new beau, she'll do a full set of her favorites from the Costello/MacManus discography. Now wouldn't THAT be a hoot?

Unlike anything else he's done -which a career-long fan hopes/fears. And, once again, a brilliant gift - in concept and execution. Risky and deeply rewarding. As with all True Art, not only bears but improves with repeated listening/contemplation.

"The Juliet Letters" resonates emotion more powerfully than any other album that I have ever heard. It strikes deep into the hearts of everyone who hears even a small portion of it and is an amazing achievement by everyone involved. Its somber, brooding, melodies are pure bliss to hear, and feel.

The reason the Costello/Brodsky collaboration "Juliet Letters" is such a difficult listen is also why its the MOST SINGULARLY BRILLIANT ALBUM IN THE ENTIRE ELVIS COSTELLO DISCOGRAPHY! And this declaration is coming from a man who could write a thesis on "Armed Forces" and "Imperial Bedroom" in his sleep! The idea of setting "letters" to music has certainly been done before, but Costello sticks his neck out, both as a composer and singer in ways he'd never done before. Accompanying yourself with just a string quartet (no snarling guitars or euphonious keyboard filigrees,) is the surest way to test your mettle as a vocalist. And sure, sometimes Costello's voice isn't exactly the strongest, but like say, Billie Holliday it always seems to occur precisely when the lyric calls for it: check out "Who Do You Think You Are?" or "The Birds Will Still Be Singing" and you'll hear exactly what I mean. Even his ode to a chain letter, "This Offer Is Unrepeatable" serves up a cheeky bit of satire worthy of "Three Penny Opera." Of course, you can only experience this album sporadically - could anyone watch "Death Of A Saleman" or "Long Day's Journey Into Night" repeatedly without losing one's mind? Emotionally-wrought exercises like "Letters" take a lot out of you, even when you're merely the observer (or listener,) rather than the participant. But that's what makes the journey, however bittersweet, one worth taking.

Having come to appreciate EC later on in my listening (and his career) I was able to feast upon many albums at once. This one, I find to stand out because it shows that music truly is art. Art, to me, means creating something unique and at the same time, pleasing. What's even more enjoyable is the story about how these guys all got together (story found in the insert) and to hear music for music's sake. You can hear these guys just having fun at working. Get it and enjoy another type of classical rock!

I've had this CD for a few years and have tried to introduce a number of friends to it; but there's a problem: this CD doesn't work, CAN'T work as background music. With all those ingenious twists of words, music, and metre (like "pass the vinegar, I'm beginning to think" jammed into 5 beats or so.) it is a totally immersive, emotionally demanding artistic tour-de-force that just won't let you ignore it... and may just leave you crying.

Elvis Costello (Declan MacManus) has done his fair share of collaborations in the past decade. From the Grammy-award winning project with Burt Bacharach in 1998 to 2001's subdued "For the Stars" with Anne-Sophie von Otter Costello has branched out from his rock roots in diverse directions. "The Juliet Letters" from 1993 was the first in a long line of such collaborations. Costello and the Brodsky Quartet were brought together by mutual appreciation (Costello went to Brodsky Quartet concerts while the Brodsky Quartet attended Costello concerts). And Costello's now ex-wife Cait O'Riordan provided the epistolary theme for the project. She spotted a newspaper article about a professor that responded to letters addressed to "Juliet Capulet". Costello then presented the article to the quartet for inspiration. The group of five ended up writing all of the music and words (though much of the music is credited to "MacManus"). The results fall somewhere between classical song cycles and Beatle-inspired "string rock" (a la "Yesterday" and "Eleanor Rigby"). Feelings of melancholy and anger pervade most of the songs. The strings punctuate these feelings perfectly. Fans of Costello's rock music probably won't find much to appreciate here. But the album contains many of the same classic Costello themes and vocal styles utilized in his rock.

Like a Richardson novel, letters provide the basis for the project. Failed and frustrated relationships abound. "Thank you for the flowers / I threw them on the fire / And I burned the photographs that you had enclosed / GOD they were ugly children" Costello sings venemously on the driving "I Almost Had a Weakness". After all, nothing seeps loneliness more than an unanswered love letter. But more than love gets the treatment here. Other songs include a suicide note ("Dear Sweet Filthy World"), a letter from a soldier to a stranger ("I Thought I'd Write to Juliet"), a bizarre experiment in selective exhumation ("Damnation's Cellar"), a reflection on separation ("Why?"), and a letter full of hope in the face of despair ("The Birds Will Still Be Singing"). Many songs explore the sad one-sided nature of letter writing. And no song responds to any other song. This fills the songs that deal with ineffable questions with an almost desparing isolation. But not everything is doom and gloom. "This Offer is Unrepeatable" picks up the mood with a humorously exaggerated letter from a scam artist (and it more than a little resembles the Tom Waits' classic "Step Right Up"). The final song injects some hope into the stark themes in the manner of "Old Man River": "Banish all dismay / Extinguish every sorrow / If I'm lost or I'm forgiven / The birds will still be singing". So in the end, things aren't as bad as they seem. The world goes on regardless of our ephemeral concerns. And as long as the world goes on hope exists.

This CD contains a lot of very beautiful and moving music. Two violins, a viola, a violincello, and voice provide all of the instrumentation. Costello branched out into something very different here. And not all of his fans appreciated it. Regardless, in retrospect "The Juliet Letters" pointed to the future. This year Costello will tour orchestra halls. Not only that, he also wrote a full orchestral score ("Il Sogno"). Strings appear more frequently in his recent music. And year by year he seems to embrace "classical" music more intensely. Still, he hasn't abandoned rock and pop (as "When I Was Cruel" and "The Delivery Man" testify). Though this early collaboration remains somewhat underappreciated, it nonetheless fully showcases Elvis Costello's diverse, adaptable, and broad musical scope. Costello will doubtless appear somewhere on the list of accomplished twentieth and twenty-first century musicians.