Customer Reviews

Mighty Like a Rose

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Don't believe the hype. If you respect the matured, pop craftsman Elvis as much as the young, aggressive EC, this is a masterpiece. Yes, it is a departure, but the songs are pop music at its finest. "The Other Side of Summer" ranks with "Oliver's Army" as Costello's catchiest, "Harpies Bizarre" and "Georgie and her Rival" are clever pop gems w/great lyrics, and "So Like Candy" and "After the Fall" are two of the most achingly beautiful tunes he's written. But the crowning moment is the closer, "Couldn't Call it Unexpected #4:" maybe EC's best song. The album is worth it for this song alone. Simply gorgeous; only hearing it could do it justice. If you're still upset Elvis stopped writing songs like "Red Shoes" and "Chelsea," go listen to the first three albums, but if you recognize that Elvis Costello is the most gifted songwriter around, this is essential.

First of all, those of you who are looking at this album expecting "Son of This Year's Model" or something to that effect--save yourselves some time and money and just listen to the original. The only place you can find the sound on "This Year's Model" is on that album itself. However, if you're interested in hearing how Elvis Costello has grown and changed as a songwriter and performer over the years, I highly recommend giving this album a listen.

The album's closer, "Couldn't Call It Unexpected #4", is by itself worth the sale price of the album. It's one of those songs that will make you obsess over it and may well be one of the best songs ever written by anybody. In fact, this album in general features some of Costello's best lyrics.

"Mighty Like A Rose" does have just as much bile as TYM, but it's a more mature, refined bile. He's still angry, but instead of targeting vapid models (which is almost too easy, isn't it?), this time his focus is at the same time on a larger scale and more intimate. In songs such as "Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)", Costello preaches doom for society at large in his lyrics. However, the sparse, quiet "After The Fall" tells a story of an individual gone wrong with just guitar and bass.

This album is definitely one of the man's most adventurous efforts. If you expect to be spoon-fed everything without having to think about it, save us all the trouble and go buy something else. However, if you're up for the challenge of listening to one of the most poetic albums out there, give this a chance. You won't be sorry.

I am always surprised that this album is not better received by Elvis fans. I too was at first turned off by this unusual album, but recently it has become one of my favorites. Songs like "How to be Dumb", "All Grown Up", "Harpies Bizarre", and especially "After the Fall" deserve a reconsideration from his fans. Though the style ranges from the extremes of chaos in "Hurry Down Doomsday" to the tight orchestration in "Couldn't Call it Unexpexted No.2 & No.4", the album's violent contrasts curiously overlap and bond into a delicately crafted whole. Neither the succeeding "Brutal Youth" nor "All this Useless Beauty" match the originality or complexity of this album. Even alongside the much touted "Spike", "Mighty like a Rose" shines because it closes having achieved a beguiling symmetry that largely eludes its predecessor. It is by far the most challenging and engagingly clever of his many great albums.

Usually assumed to be overwritten and overarranged, Mighty like a rose is actually Costello's strongest set of songs, probably since Armed Forces. Songs like After the fall, Couldn't call it unexpected #4 and Sweet pear are some of the most beautifull songs ever written, let alone by him, whilst The other side of summer recalls The Beach Boys, though more veiledly depressing. Overall, although not the most straightforward album in Elvis' cannon it is the most rewarding and several listens later you will be hooked.

This album is musical, lyrical, and intellectual innovation not heard too often by today's artists. Any real Elvis fan definitely treasures this one as one of his masterpieces.

I'm writing this specifically because of the dreck of a review it gets from AMG. I'm glad to see here that there are people speaking up for this work. Nothing I've heard by Costello since approaches this sound for me (of course I love experimental and progressive stuff). I had no idea he was doing odd things, didn't have anything to compare it to cuz I'd never given him a chance. But my sister had this on tape, and wow! The whole summer I was blown away by the lyrics and the deep sad strength of many of the melodies. So I began to see those cut-outs all over the place and wondered, "Did they make too many, or what!??"
One of my all-time favorites by anyone: "Couldn't Call It Unexpected #4."

"Mighty Like a Rose" was the first Costello album I ever heard. So maybe because originally I didn't have any basis for comparison, it was something I listened to solely on it's own merits. And each time I listened to it, the more I got out of it. I have since purchased his entire catalog, and consider EC one of the best, if not THE best, songwriters/musicians of the past 20+ years. Few artists have recorded as much QUALITY music over their careers as EC, and few others have EVOLVED as much as he.

"Mighty" is not an easy album to listen to. It is an emotional roller coaster: at times bitter, heart-wrenching, dark, creepy, witty, whimsical, and amusing -- something it seems only EC can pull off successfully. Here, Costello is at his most introspective, wrestling with his own personal demons. Musically, the varied tones range from "mad carnival music" to brooding, eerie tracks. (The lyrics to "Broken" give me chills each and every time I hear the song.)

I didn't like the album at first -- at first listen, it was weird, foreign, and like nothing I had ever heard. But that was what made it intriguing. Years later, even after exposure to all the other more "pop-oriented" EC albums, I come back to "Mighty". Yeah, maybe it can be called his "artsy" album, and it is something that only repeated listenings will help make less obtuse, but its depth and range of emotion is unlike most pop/rock music out there.

If you're looking for the EC who brought us songs like "Alison" and "Watching the Detectives" you'd be best to go straight for his early work. But if you are interested in a voyeuristic look at a man, solo, wrestling with his own emotions, with absolutely no concern for its reception by the music public, definitely check out "Mighty". It is one of the most powerful albums I've ever heard, and is a brilliantly artistic album by one of the most underrated musicians in the history of rock music.

"Mighty Like a Rose" has to be the ultimate expresion of EC's disgust with human behavior, politics and social norms. And in accordance to his craft, E harnesses these dark interpretations of life and transforms them into sheer poetry. Now, seasoned EC fans will understand what is going on here. This album is not for those wanting "poppy" hits. E clarifies his interpretation of this on the cut "Invasion Hit Parade."

The one 3 minute AM exception might be "Playboy To a Man." Pure fun - old timey EC. Which only means I have'nt really looked at the lyrics. I'm sure he's got a bomb in there somewhere.

It is interesting to hear hardcore lyrical angst from Mr. C. One often thinks that we outgrow such feeling of revulsion to the proverbial establishment. Such forces made compelled us to listen and enjoy EC in the first place. But one can't help but wonder if "growing up" is all what it's cracked up to be. And of course, this too is tackled in the poigniant tune "All Grown Up." I'm tellin you he's got all the bases covered.

Finally, from a purely musical prospective, the cut "Harpes Bizarre" is simply a charming piece. The euphonius clarinet works effectively to tie together the mood of quiet indignity that pervades the song. Somehow I think only the English fully understand how to do this.

As with any EC album goes the caveat : EC is the ultimate minstrel in the gallery - he will sway you weather or not you approve. He's good at this you know : )

If you dont get it- you haven't got a clue! Elvis for grown ups. The lyrics are as close to poetry as he gets.

It's easy to say you're a Costello fan, but you only have his first 3 albums. This one is loud, funny, bitter, got remarkable singing and playing. Beautiful. It's ELVIS. I love it. The supporting tour for this recording was also great.