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National Ransom

4.4 out of 5 stars 66

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Audio CD, November 2, 2010
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Track Listings

1 National Ransom
2 Jimmie Standing In The Rain
3 Stations Of The Cross
4 A Slow Drag With Josephine
5 Five Small Words
6 Church Underground
7 You Hung The Moon
8 Bullets For The New-Born King
9 I Lost You
10 Dr. Watson, I Presume
11 One Bell Ringing
12 The Spell That You Cast
13 That's Not The Part Of Him You're Leaving
14 My Lovely Jezebel
15 All These Strangers
16 A Voice In The Dark

Editorial Reviews

On National Ransom Elvis Costello once again teams up with Grammy award winning producer T Bone Burnett and engineer Michael Pierante. Recorded in eleven days between Los Angeles and Nashville, Elvis is joined by all the members of the Imposters and Sugarcanes along with special guests Vince Gill, Marc Ribot, Buddy Miller and Leon Russell. All of these songs are newly composed by Costello with the exception of "I Lost You," co-written with Jim Lauderdale and "All These Strangers," for which Costello and T Bone Burnett collaborated on the lyrics. Costello and Burnett also provide the lyrics for "My Lovely Jezebel," a Leon Russell rock and roll tune.

Product details

  • Is Discontinued By Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ No
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Product Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 4.88 x 5.59 x 0.31 inches; 1.98 ounces
  • Manufacturer ‏ : ‎ Hear Music
  • Item model number ‏ : ‎ 15039640
  • Date First Available ‏ : ‎ August 13, 2010
  • Label ‏ : ‎ Hear Music
  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B003ZDZ1XK
  • Number of discs ‏ : ‎ 1
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 out of 5 stars 66

Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
66 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Reviewed in the United States on December 29, 2010
My opinion is not unbiased; Elvis can do nearly no wrong in my book, and he is by far my favorite artist. He's been my favorite since I began listening to his albums.

That said, I think it helps to explain that I came to familiarize myself with Costello's catalog in the early nineties, via the Columbia Records 1985 release of "The Best of Elvis Costello & the Attractions," which included the big songs recorded between 1977 and 1984. I found this album used on CD at the record store, and bought it because I'd heard his name and wanted to hear what he did. I loved the album immediately, and began buying his main albums one at a time soon after acquiring the hits collection. I can't remember which of his albums I bought earliest, although I believe 'Get Happy,' 'Rose,' and 'My Aim' were among them.

I'm describing my way of introduction to Costello to make a point: when I got into his music, I pretty much had his entire catalog from which to choose--everything from 'My Aim is True' up through 'Mighty Like a Rose.' I didn't grow up with his angry young man persona, though I came to know and love the music from this period as well. So I never felt disappointed by Costello's frequent, schizophrenic stylistic shifts, as many of his longtime fans have felt, especially fans who were teenagers or young adults in the late seventies, when everything Costello did was seasoned with liberal doses of piss and vinegar.

While some reviewers have called 'National Ransom' "experimental," I don't think that's a valid description anymore. Elvis has been making "experimental" music since the mid-eighties... more than 2 decades ago. I think National Ransom is the next logical step in a progression that started (most recently) with Delivery Man. The new album also draws a lot from King of America, as well it should: both of these albums are touched by T-Bone Burnett's brilliance.

The tracks I love from this album are Five Small Words, Church Underground, You Hung the Moon, Bullets for the Newborn King, Dr. Watson, and One Bell Ringing.
I think Costello excels when his voice is the centerpiece of a song. The emotive qualities of his voice--and his superior songwriting--were the things that drew me into his music in the first place.

I guess it goes without saying that my absolute favorite Elvis album is King of America--an album that I consider perfect from start to finish, an album that makes all of my "stranded on a desert island" lists. As far as I can tell, National Ransom is pretty near perfect too, although it hasn't made my Desert Island 10. Yet.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 18, 2011
Since this is now the the third time I'm buying this CD (I gave the other two copies away to friends and said "listen to this! this is a great CD!") I thought I should write a review.

I've listened to EC since the late 70s and along the way loved a lot of what he's done. And I'll always buy whatever he puts out, but sometimes I listen once and that's it.

Past "classics" (in more recent times) I think were Brutal Youth and When I Was Cruel (and yeah I even liked (a lot) the Burt Bachrach collaboration). But in recent years things like North, The Delivery Man and River in Reverse didn't grab me. But you have to give this guy respect because he's always trying to do something different on each record.

So then I gave this one a listen and after more and more listens I liked it more and more. Yeah there's a track or two you can skip over (Stations of the Cross, for example). But the melodies and especially the lyrics are great (one of the best things about his songwriting is just well-written lyrics!).

To me the most interesting aspects of this record are two things: one is that a number of tunes are really just him and an acoustic guitar (and maybe a sparse background). Things like "Bullets..." I think are great. The other is that the types of songs are very different. The first tune is a straightforward tune, a lot like things he's done in the past -- but still good and great lyrics. Then he does some things that are country -- The Part of Him You're Leaving is another great example of just a well written song and also one of my favorites. And then there's a couples of tunes that sound like they came straight out of the 1920s (30s? 40s?) songbook (e.g. Voice in the Dark) -- but I really like them as well. So it's got quite a variety of different kinds of music on it.

So this one gets a strong recommendation from me (strong enough to write this review, which I pretty much never do for any records).
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Reviewed in the United States on November 2, 2010
It's been 36 years and 30 albums since My Aim is True. National Ransom is another solid effort from Elvis Costello. It sounds and feels like a natural follow-up to Secret, Profane and Sugarcane (Note: If you didn't understand that, you might not like this either). He ventures into more musical styles here, with less Americana/Folk emphasis. If you've followed him, you know he is a musical chameleon, performing most every style of music imaginable. National Ransom doesn't break any new ground there, but it does add nicely to his canon. Song lyrics are thoughtful and timely, consistently sharp, wickedly smart. No one else crafts a song or turns a phrase like Elvis. T Bone Burnett's production is excellent, you can really sense the mood in the studio. Some reviewers, like N. J. Simicich (entitled to an opinion, however wrong), are trapped in the past. This isn't commercial auto-tune pop-garbage, this is real music, created by real musicians with talent. Elvis demonstrates once again, that he moves forward. Like any real artist, he follows his muse.
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Top reviews from other countries

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Rory Coughlan
3.0 out of 5 stars uneven
Reviewed in Canada on March 28, 2011
Costello has been ariound the block a few times now. Loved his last album - a return to some earlier styles - especially the song "Delivery Man" - but this one is very uneven. Some really strong songs - but sadly mixed in with some sentimental dross that leaves you unmoved, overall. Best to trim this album down and get rid of the bad songs - that way you can enjoy the interesting ones without dreading the stinkers
スカンピンボーイ
5.0 out of 5 stars 1発取り的なバンド・サウンド
Reviewed in Japan on June 1, 2014
1発取り的なバンド・サウンドがカッコ良いし、なんといっても彼の持ち味であるメロディーセンスが生き生きとした曲が満載だ。
ロックン・ロール的な曲からスローバラード、はたまたジャズ的な曲までその曲作りの幅広さは見事だ。
3 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars NO DANCING.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 29, 2016
Have every other album this god-like genius has released but somehow National Ransom passed me by. No surprise then when I hear it to be the usual high quality collection of tunes I have come to expect year after year.
Whiskey-a-go-go
5.0 out of 5 stars Elvis Costelloの魅力が如何なく発揮された傑作!!
Reviewed in Japan on November 6, 2010
Elvis Costelloの「National Ransom」は、魅力溢れる作品だ。
その魅力は、やはりCostelloの歌唱力に尽きるのであろう。
今作も、アメリカン・ルーツ・ミュージックをテーマとしている。ジャズ、ブルース、フォークなど、幅広いジャンルからの音楽要素を取り入れた作品となっている。とは言え、全体の印象が散漫になっていないのは、アレンジの良さとバランスに起因しているのだろう。

何といっても、全曲に渡りElvis Costelloが気持ち良さそうに伸び伸びと歌っているのが特長だ。

#3「Stations Of The Cross」 #7「You Hung The Moon」のJAZZナンバーの出来は素晴らしく、Costelloの真骨頂とも言えるナンバーに仕上がっており是非聴いていただきたい。
捨て曲なしの佳曲揃いの素晴らしい作品であった。
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ppmoto
5.0 out of 5 stars コステロの4分の3拍子にハズレなし
Reviewed in Japan on November 19, 2010
レビュータイトルのような結論に至った自分としては、13.That's Not The Part Of Him You're Leavingが一番好きです。
コンサートのラスト付近でやったら映えるような曲です。コステロが好きでいて良かったという曲が詰まっています。
他の方のように、深い考察をしたレビューはできませんが、とても良いアルバムです。
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