Punch the Clock (Dig) (Spkg)

Elvis Costello | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (May 1, 2007)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Hip-O Records
• ASIN: B000OHZJM8
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #201,882 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

At times more ear-rending than the much-maligned Goodbye Cruel World--thank the blaring horns, which augment an uneven bunch of songs--Punch the Clock nonetheless has its great moments. The searing political statements "Shipbuilding" and "Pills and Soap" are obvious high points (as is Chet Baker's solo on the former), while on the poppier side "Everyday I Write the Book" is sweetly distressed, "Let Them All Talk" definitively defiant, and "The World and His Wife" high-level sneering wordplay. --Rickey Wright

Product Description

Elvis is at his most commercial for the 1983 disc featuring such pop delights as Everyday I Write the Book; Let Them All Talk , and weightier fare like the ominous Pills & Soap and the gorgeous, mournful Shipbuilding .

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Have we come this far to find a soul cliche?, May 5, 2007

By 

Tim Brough "author and music buff" (Springfield, PA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Punch the Clock (Dig) (Spkg) (Audio CD)

Flush with artistic raves and the critical success of "Imperial Bedroom," Elvis Costello did exactly what we should have expected him to do. He made an album absolutely nothing like the one we'd all been listening to for the entire previous year. I even remember a scathing review of this album at the time that opened with a comment akin to "Well, nobody's going to call this album a masterpiece."

OK, so that was a pretty accurate assessment. "Punch The Clock" was a maniacally obsessive pop album, primarily due to the choice of Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley as producers. Their track momentum was unstoppable at the time, and they wrapped EC and the Attractions with soul vocals, punchy horns and a free swinging style of production that was the polar opposite of Nick Lowe's. If you can, imagine "Get Happy" with more breathing space in the songs.

The result might have been "Punch The Clock's" irresistibly catchy opening track "Let Them All Talk." L&W layered the production with what was common to the period...the lush horns, the steamy r'n'b pulse, etc. Just as important was their finger on the popbeat of the moment, which suddenly saw Elvis flirting with the American Top 40 via "Everyday I Write The Book." While the video was more topical than the song, it didn't mean Elvis was shying away from biting lyrics. "Punch The Clock" is loaded with such notable quotes like "I wish you luck with a capitol F" and "He said 'are you cold,' she said 'no but you are,' la la la."

It also didn't mean that Elvis' definition of "pop" didn't include some heartfelt jabs at the current state of England. This being the era that produced Reagen-Thatcher and the Falklands War, the songs "Pills and Soap" and "Shipbuilding" were remarkable for their inclusion among the giddy pop of "The Greatest Thing" or "Mouth Almighty." The understated, elegant lyric, along with a perfect solo from Chet Baker made "Shipbuilding" not only the best song on "Punch The Clock," but one of the outstanding songs in EC's library.

Given the success of the album (it was one of EC's first albums to reach gold status in sales), it made sense that L&W would be around for the next. If you really want to gauge how underrated "Punch The Clock" usually is, just give an re-listen to "Goodbye Cruel World," the undisciplined follow-up. Over twenty years later, "Punch The Clock" has definitely aged well. Which means the answer to the opening line is no cliches here, but some strong 80's pop as only Elvis and the Attractions could shape it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Elvis Blows His Horn, April 7, 2009

By 

Andre S. Grindle "Andre' Grindle" (Brewer Maine) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Punch the Clock (Dig) (Spkg) (Audio CD)

My first ever exposure to Elvis Costello was through the song "Everyday I Write The Book",an excellent bit of 80's Brit-Soul and to be honest my only musical impression of him.Because that was always a favorite song of mine personally this album,knowing the tune was on it and the 45RPM had the same cover art it was something I was always curious about. So when I finaly got it I was hoping it was consistant.A lot of Elvis Costello fans have mixed feelings about it and are always saying things like it's uneven or just not their cup of tea. Being primarily a lover of R&B,soul and funk of all sorts I was hoping this album would have at least a few things that were likeminded. Even with all this expections I was more then happy with what I heard when I listened to it.For my own ears,maybe not yours this is easily one of my favorite albums he's done. It might be biased because if your an R&B fan,this is one of his recordings that will likely most interest you.As with Boz Scaggs and many others Elvis wasn't going for a retro project such as the 60's soul inflected hodgepodge of something like Get Happy!!.The R&B here isn't implied:it's part of the whole picture.And it's very contemporary to the period.One reason is the addition of the TKO horns,a great way to augment the already talented Attractions and those horns sound great on every track here. This album takes the element of brilliant writing and songcrafting that came into it's own on Trust and yes,many of the songs here are great rockers,and contempory ones too."Let Them All Talk","The Greatest Thing","The Invisable Man","Mouth Almighty","King Of Thieves" and "Love Went Mad" all really augment the classic Attractions pop/rock style and add a tasteful polish and soulful power that.....well certainly goes just right next to what Paul Weller was doing around the same time with his Introducing the Style Council and especially Our Favourite Shop-a blend of politics,soul and jazzy pop styles.Where this goes different is that the variety works more as a musical whole and the nature of the lyrics,as usual have a more poetic,reflective flavor as well as being tangy. Needless to say even in such good company this album has a huge ammount of highlites. One of them is the weary jazz of "Shipbuilding".Chet Baker's fine soloing and the night time flavor of the music in general really leaps right out. The bass playing of Bruce Thomas has become tighter and slappy which really carry forward on "TKO (Boxing Day)" and "Charm School",both punchy funk tunes that are two of my favorite cuts on the general album. The album ends with "Pills And Soap" and another excellent tune in "The World And His Wife",both of which round out this album with the best of it's qualities. Elvis Costello sounds like a fully mature and contemporary artist here and even though keyboards,rhythms and horns are the basis for this music rather then beats and guitars the melody,along with Elvis's ever increasingly excellent singing shines on all 13 of the tunes on this recording. It's one of Elvis & The Attractions most successful turns as a pure contemporary pop album and doesn't sacrifice any of their bite or original flavor in doing so.The heavy R&B,jazz and funk content here actually helps enhance that quality rather then hinders it. And once that comes to your mind you'll find this is a much deserved classic. It's not a whole lot like their earlier sound but Elvis has always had the ability to happily surprise his listeners and in this case he sure did with me.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Punch drunk, May 24, 2010

By 

Phil (San Diego, CA) (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Punch The Clock (MP3 Download)

Sooner or later just about every artist puts out that album that stops your fandom in its tracks. You know how it is, you discover a favorite artist, picking up every album as it's released - and then an album like this happens. I've since picked up one or two of EC's newer CDs but the love was lost with "Punch the Clock". Sounding bloated and confused, cluttered with clanging horns, jangly production and surprisingly marginal songs, you might say this was a grand experiment.

The good news is that we now live in the mp3 era and you can redeem the thing by simply downloading the salvageable moments. Or it might be more cost-effective to pick up a compilation (EC has so many, doesn't he?) that includes the lite-rock "Everyday I Write the Book" and EC's attempt at important topical statements, "Shipbuilding". The latter has some clumsy moments of wordplay about diving for dear life when we should be diving for pearls. I always found EC's penchant for puns to be fun, showing more effort than the average bonehead rock band would be capable of delivering, but at times journalists were so intent on advocacy that they would overstate cleverness as brilliance. With this album it seemed like EC had been listening to his appreciative critics a little too intently; wordplay that he might have discarded earlier (or later) in his career wound up in the final draft, resembling a parody of himself.

I wish I could point to another song as a potential keeper. "Pills and Soap" was deemed worthy of being issued as a 45 in the UK, you might give that a listen.