Customer Reviews

Extreme Honey: The Very Best Of The Warner Bros. Years

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Elvis: The Warner Years.

He managed to crank out 6 albums of unnerving diversity (even for his fans) during his tenure at the home of Bugs Bunny. From the angry Elvis we all love of "Brutal Youth" to the chamber music experiments of "The Juliet Letters" to his pondering thoughtfulness of "All This Useless Beauty," Elvis took on so many tangents that I am sure his label could only scratch their collective heads and wonder (not to mention withhold "Kojak Variety" for five years).

Since confounding our expectations has always been a hallmark of getting a new EC record, "Extreme Honey" is given the responsibility of collecting the better of those discs. It does so fairly well, and throws in a haunting new song, "The Bridge I Burned," which even features a semi-rapped part. The X-Files obscurity with Brian Eno, "My Dark Life," is better. In Eno's usual minimalist but spooky manner, "My Dark Life" is the kind of song you would have expected from the X-Files. That is said as a compliment.

"Extreme Honey" also provides proof that Elvis still has his moments of genius. "I Want To Vanish" is the obvious precursor to his collaborations with Burt Bacharach. "The Other Side Of Summer" has a deceptively cynical lyric riding a wave of Beach Boys harmony. "Veronica" and "So Like Candy" gave some spunk to a moribund Paul McCartney. "Hurry Down Doomsday" roars with all the weirdness that "The Birds Will Still be Singing" carried on the lopsided opposite of the scale. "Tramp The Dirt Down" is probably the angriest song Elvis has ever written, with one of the most gorgeous arrangements. And if you want the blood and guts Elvis, "13 Steps Lead Down" has all the snarling ferocity of his earliest work.

I won't bemoan the lack of a few personal favorites (Elvis does that for us in the liner notes). I will say a wish a track or two from "Kojak Variety" had snuck in, though. What "Extreme Honey" does present us with is that, even in his third decade, Elvis Costello remains one of the premiere songwriters of our times. Worth the price if you don't already have the originals.

For those who knew and loved Elvis C. in the early years with the Attractions, this CD will probably disappoint. It's altogether too dark and moody, but it does show the range and diversity of EC. There are some good rockers reminiscent of the Attraction years: 13 Steps Lead Down, Veronica, The other Side of Summer, and Kinder Murder. It's good for those who want a more complete collection without making the investment in the more recent CDs. If this is the "best" of the Warner Bros. years, the CDs must ahve been largely forgetable. For my money, I'm sticking by all the stuff he did with the Attractions--you still can't beat My Aim is True, Armed Forces, and Get Happy--Classic Elvis!

I've written tons of reviews on amazon, but not a one has gotten 5 stars. Except this one. I know it's not a true album, but there are so many good songs on this record, it's ridiculous. Every time I turn around, I find a new favorite. Right now, it's "Couldn't Call It Unexpected #4", but every song on this record is amazing. From the deeply personal "Bridge I Burned" (you can almost hear him bleeding), to the happy-go-lucky melody and depressing lyrics of "The Other Side of Summer", to "Veronica" (which has a certain Beatle's name written all over it), to the mystery of "My Dark Life" to the shrug of the shoulders at relationships that is "All the Rage" to the deathbed wish of "The Birds Will Still Be Singing" to the noise of "13 Steps Lead Down". This record is a must for anyone who can appreciate inventive, clever, new, different, and eclectic songwriting. Costello is simply unparallelled in the late 20th century as a pop songwriter. (And if pop is this eclectic, what is "pop", anyway? And who cares?)

First, in response to the reviewer below me, I understand your underwhelmed reaction to Extreme Honey at first listen; Costello's later work takes a certain amount of time to sink in, unlike his more immediate Rykodisc/Demon work. But it IS remarkably impressive. Just more subtle. Give it some time.

Anyway, Extreme Honey is a far better retrospective of the era it covers than the Rykodisc compilation The Very Best Of Elvis Costello I reviewed elsewhere. Covering most of the finest moments from Costello's recording career from 1989 to 1997, it features comprehensive liner notes where the prior disc had none, as well as sporting an intelligent running order which sets songs in contrast with one another.

This last point is especially appreciated, as the juxtaposition of songs from the different LPs here really works well. I never liked "Kinder Murder," for example, until it came after "The Other Side Of Summer": the perfect snarling antidote to all that summer-of-love production. And strangely enough, the spooky "The Birds Will Still Be Singing" (from The Juliet Letters, of course) SHOULD have stuck out like a trout wedged into a can of sardines, but slots in beautifully between the spooky macho-deflation of "Poor Fractured Atlas" and the spooky travelogue of "London's Brilliant Parade." (Alright, "haunting" is a better word, but I wanted to use "spooky" three times in a row. Wouldn't you?)

So the song selection is mostly pretty fine, but (as always) there are a few gripes. Mainly, that they really misrepresented All This Useless Beauty by including only the three mopey ballads, and not say, "You Bowed Down." In fact, Elvis MENTIONS this in his liner notes, saying that he knows that people would've liked that song (along with "God's Comic" and "Rocking Horse Road," although I was never spun about by that last one) to be here, but "there just wasn't space." Pish-posh! "Hurry Down Doomsday" did NOT need to be here. Everything else arguably did, but that one not only isn't great, it DETRACTS from the CD, just making you go "ugh!" (Yes, just "ugh!" Not "bleaggh" or "yak!" but "ugh!" Strange how that works out, isn't it?).

Other than that, I can't really complain. I mean sure, "God's Comic" and "How To Be Dumb" and "You Tripped At Every Step" aren't here, but - to quote Mick Jones of The Clash - I'm not down, no I'm not down! And also, what IS here, as bait to the hardcore fans, is pretty darn great: you get a new song, the not-bad experiment of "The Bridge I Burned" (I love it when he sings, but I just try to ignore the Portishead-style rapping, for his sake and mine), and you get quite possibly the best song of his career in "My Dark Life," which was thrown away on the Songs In The Key Of X CD.

Okay, maybe not the BEST song of his career (don't you hate constant overuse of hyperbole? It makes it impossible to trust fan reviews), but certainly an absolute highlight of the WB years, and a collaboration with everyone's favorite shiny-domed soundsmith, Brian Eno. Long. Creepy. About the fall of the Soviet Union. What else could you want?

You want what?

Hey dude, that's illegal!

This compilation from the WB years serves as a Best Of and contains some hit singles, although in this later part of Costello's career the hits were fewer and farther between. The collection draws on the albums Spike, Mighty Like A Rose, The Juliet Letters, Brutal Youth and All This Useless Beauty.

The Bridge I Burned sounds a bit messy, but the next one, Veronica, is a tuneful classic that was Costello's first top 20 single in the USA. The track was co-written by Paul McCartney. Sulky Girl is one of Costello's story songs with tempo variation and gripping melodic parts, whilst So Like Candy is a slow ballad in the vein of his early classic Allison. The next one, 13 Steps Lead Down, is an uptempo rocker with a catchy chorus.

All This Useless Beauty is quite a serious masterpiece; this song was also covered by the UK folk legend June Tabor on her album Angel Tiger. The slow and tender ballad My Dark Life is followed by the lilting pop ditty The Other Side Of Summer like a happy ray of sunshine. A highlight of the album is Deep Dark Truthful Mirror; with its intricate piano rolls and poetic lyrics it would make a perfect country song.

Poor Fractured Atlas is a gentle poignant ballad with a lovely melody, whilst The Birds Will Still Be Singing is equally sad with a type of orchestral arrangement with prominent violins and viola. After London's Brilliant Parade, Tramp The Dirt Down continues the mournful mood in its varied instrumentation including bouzouki, uileann pipes, harmonium and glockenspiel. The album concludes with the melodic mid-tempo number All The Rage.

Although very worthy in its own right, Costello's style in the Warner Brothers years differed markedly from that of his early years. The music is more complex, less acerbic and not as immediately accessible. Repeated plays will, however, reveal the beauty of this music. Real rating: Four and a half stars.

Not every album EC recorded was a classic, but every single one had a handful of tracks that could stand with material written when he was in his prime. Extreme Honey offers an excellent cross section of EC's Warners albums, although some are not as well represented as others. Ideally, this should have been a two disc set with b sides and rarities.

The Bridge I Burned and the Xfiles track My Dark Life make this worth owning alone. Both are terrific, unusual songs that work well within the context of EC's career. Although there is nothing from the EC/Steve Nieve EP box set (there should have been as that was an electrifying collection), this will well worth owning for the beginning fan or someone who hasn't kept up to date with EC.

For anyone looking for one Costello album for their collection, this ISN'T it. (For that, get "Girls, Girls Girls" which covers the first 10 years of his career.)

Having only listened to two of his albums of the past 10 years, I can't say with certainty that anything has been overlooked. But the reason I bought it was that I hoped it would help fill me in on what he's been up to over the past decade.

Sadly, there is only one track from "The Juliet Letters" (a MUST have) here. I believe that the addition of more music from this one-album stint with the Brodsky Quartet might have helped.

There are some nice moments on this "Best Of" collection (like the tracks composed with McCartney), but more than anything, its made me happy that I didn't blow dough on his later albums.

He managed to crank out 6 albums of unnerving diversity (even for his fans) during his tenure at the home of Bugs Bunny. From the angry Elvis we all love of "Brutal Youth" to the chamber music experiments of "The Juliet Letters" to his pondering thoughtfulness of "All This Useless Beauty," Elvis took on so many tangents that I am sure his label could only scratch their collective heads and wonder (not to mention withhold "Kojak Variety" for five years).

Since confounding our expectations has always been a hallmark of getting a new EC record, "Extreme Honey" is given the responsibility of collecting the better of those discs. It does so fairly well, and throws in a haunting new song, "The Bridge I Burned," which even features a semi-rapped part. The X-Files obscurity with Brian Eno, "My Dark Life," is better. In Eno's usual minimalist but spooky manner, "My Dark Life" is the kind of song you would have expected from the X-Files. That is said as a compliment.

"Extreme Honey" also provides proof that Elvis still has his moments of genius. "I Want To Vanish" is the obvious precursor to his collaborations with Burt Bacharach. "The Other Side Of Summer" has a deceptively cynical lyric riding a wave of Beach Boys harmony. "Veronica" and "So Like Candy" gave some spunk to a moribund Paul McCartney. "Hurry Down Doomsday" roars with all the weirdness that "The Birds Will Still be Singing" carried on the lopsided opposite of the scale. "Tramp The Dirt Down" is probably the angriest song Elvis has ever written, with one of the most gorgeous arrangements. And if you want the blood and guts Elvis, "13 Steps Lead Down" has all the snarling ferocity of his earliest work.

I won't bemoan the lack of a few personal favorites. I will say a wish a track or two from "Kojak Variety" had snuck in, though. What "Extreme Honey" does present us with is that, even in his third decade, Elvis Costello remains one of the premiere songwriters of our times. Worth the price if you don't already have the originals.

A great collection, with one new track ("The Bridge I Burned") which is as fresh and strange as anything Costello has ever recorded. A surprisingly coherent "best of" collection which also contains one of EC's best songs, "My Dark Life", which was previously only available on an X-Files compilation. A great starting point for anyone who is curious about the music of Elvis Costello...

This "Best-of-more-recent-stuff" offering from the only REAL Elvis offers an incredible range of material from his albums and a couple of great songs that are hard to find. Any kid who doesn't think they can like what their parents like should check this out.