Hip-O Records
2007
Rock And Roll Music
About This Album
When Elvis Costello's back catalog from 1977-1986 shifted from Rhino to Hip-O in 2007, the third major EC reissue campaign was inaugurated by the just-the-basics hits set The Best of Elvis Costello: The First 10 Years and its companion, Rock and Roll Music, the first of a projected series of thematic trawls through Costello's back pages. Since it arrives hand in hand with a compilation that deliberately serves up nothing but the usual suspects, Rock and Roll Music is a welcome fresh take on Costello's catalog. Compiled by Elvis himself, the set has a few hits and standards found on most Costello comps -- "Pump It Up," "(I Don't Want to Go To) Chelsea," "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding," "Tokyo Storm Warning" -- but the intent isn't to serve up familiar tunes, it's to showcase a particular musical side of his many-faceted musical personality, which this does very well. As the title makes plain, Rock and Roll Music focuses on his rock & roll recordings, which sometimes have been overshadowed by the musical explorations taken by Costello ever since he signed to Warner in 1989. This tremendously entertaining 22-track compilation proves that at his peak Elvis was a thrilling, hard-edged rocker, particularly when he was backed by the Attractions -- which he is on all but two cuts here, both taken from his Attraction-less debut, My Aim Is True (that is, if the collector bait of the previously unreleased solo demo version of "Welcome to the Working Week" counts).
Track List (try tracks 10,11,12,16 and 19)

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