Imperial Bedroom

The Attractions, Elvis Costello

Product Details

• Audio CD (August 30, 1994)
• Original Release Date: July 1982
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rykodisc
• ASIN: B0000009UX
• Also Available in: Audio Cassette
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #69,528 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording
"Masterpiece?" was the word--in Columbia Records' ad campaign, anyway--when Imperial Bedroom appeared in 1982. As the album plays, though, the emphasis occasionally seems better placed on the question mark. This is a very good, sometimes dazzling album, but as a heart wrencher it holds not a candle to King of America, and as a singular example of elegant pop craft it can't top Costello's 1998 collaboration with Burt Bacharach, Painted from Memory (not too shabby as a heart wrencher itself, come to think of it). Of course, there are plenty of small miracles, and one huge one in the mind-bending "Beyond Belief." Imperial Bedroom is gorgeous more often than not, but in a way, there's more heart in the simple Smokey Robinson and the Miracles cover, "From Head to Toe," that appears as a bonus track on the Rykodisc edition. --Rickey Wright

From the Label
By far the most ambitious album of Elvis Costello's early stretch, IMPERIAL BEDROOM was originally advertised, much to Costello's embarrassment, in a campaign featuring the word "masterpiece." Yet numerous critics have used that very word to describe this album, which introduced timeless items like "Shabby Doll," "Beyond Belief" and "Man Out of Time."

Working with new producer (and former Beatles engineer) Geoff Emerick, Costello and the Attractions approached this as a full-blown studio album; making the arrangements more complex than anything they'd yet played live. Keyboardist Steve Nieve wrote his first string arrangements for a pair of tunes, while Costello's writing was more richly melodic than ever. Songs like "Kid About It," "Human Hands" and "Almost Blue" were more explicitly romantic than previous work, while "Tears Before Bedtime" and "The Long Honeymoon" replaced his old anger with a sense of tragedy.

Bonus tracks include "From Head to Toe" and "The World of Broken Hearts" -- the two sides of a soul-influenced single that had never appeared in America before -- plus a telling alternate take of "Shabby Doll" and a few songs that had never been released in any form.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget the Greatest Hits and buy this one!, August 6, 1998

By A Customer

It's been almost 15 years since Elvis came out with Imperial Bedroom. Although it may seem like a transition album between his new wave/punk persona and his less successful, more experimental albums to follow, this is where he puts it all together. I've always felt that songwriters have peaks and valleys. Some have only one peak and try to live off it forever. One only has to look at the solo careers of the Beatle to understand that they were at their peak while they were in their 20s and early 30s. McCartney could never understand why he couldn't write another "Yesterday" or "Hey Jude". But he couldn't. And I don't think Elvis will ever match the inspired excellence of this album. From beginning to end, it commands your attention, shifting between quirky, catchy jingles, to unpredictible and moody melodies. It has a certain "Sgt. Pepper" sound to it. I've picked up every Elvis album since in the faint hope that he might repeat or! surpass Imperial Bedroom and prove that he didn't peak in 1982. Although each album has something comparable with Imperial Bedroom, nothing compares to the sum of the parts of what I can easily say is his greatest album.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elvis and the Attractions, In Quintessence, April 26, 2000

By	P. B. Fey (Phoenixville, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

When this album came out in 1982, it was a sonic, lyrical, and musical revelation for Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Time has not diminished it. Geoff Emerick's elegant production affords the Attractions a chance to truly demonstrate their amazing musical chops: Pete Thomas's exquisite, never overdone drumming; bassist Bruce Thomas melodically galavanting "up the thin bits" a la Macca; and king of the keyboard jungle Steve Nieve flexing his musical muscle with tantalizing orchestral arrangements. This was also the first Elvis album to print the lyrics, but without punctuation or traditional spacing. In hindsight, this made the sleeve--yes, we're talking vinyl here--an unplugged interactive experience. This always was the best-sounding Costello album, but Rykodisc's version betters the Columbia and Demon editions in that regard AND adds no less than nine bonus tracks of b-sides, demos, and unreleased songs. Without a doubt the finest and most musically well-rounded album this quartet ever made. That's not a slight to all their other fine albums, but this was their Pepper. They finally had the time and budget to make what they wanted, and they came through with flying colors. Let's just hope the world doesn't forget about Imperial Bedroom. Anyway, it will always be our little secret treasure.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the 5 or 6 greatest albums ever, January 11, 2000

By	Vern Pascal (SLO, Ca USA) - See all my reviews

This is up with Sgt. Pepper's, Pet Sounds, Oddysey And Oracle, Revolver and possibly a very few more as totally on another level. Like all of Costello's works,you need to listen to this sublime, sophisticated masteriece several times to realize how unique it all is. before jumping to any hasty, premature conclusions. Every song is TNT..iT'S ALL HERE FOLKS........