When I Was Cruel

Editors’ Notes According to Elvis Costello himself, he’d recorded so many ballads prior to the making of 2002’s When I Was Cruel that he was in the “mood for some rowdy rhythm.” He certainly sounds energized and anxious, two traits that bode well when he sets out to rock. He also says he wrote all the songs on a Silvertone electric guitar, with a 15-watt amp and a beatbox for inspiration. Yet, while he uses loops and beatboxes, he also calls on his keyboardist extraordinaire Steve Nieve and his impeccable drummer Pete Thomas for band support. “45” begins things with a tribute to that compact, now old-fashioned method of music distribution by perfectly replicating the excitement that one quick blow should deliver in three and a half minutes, naturally. “Tear Off Your Own Head (It’s a Doll Revolution)” has plenty of crusty turns and “When I Was Cruel, No. 2” uses seven minutes to build its tension with lots of desperate sounds insinuating their way into the mix.