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From the Vault...
04/25/1999
#626 |
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info
Elvis Costello With Burt Bacharach
"Painted From Memory"
© Mercury Records
Year of Release: 1998
Rating:
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track listing
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The Darkest Place
Toledo
I Still Have That Other Girl
This House Is Empty Now
Tears At The Birthday Party
Such Unlikely Lovers
My Thief
The Long Division
Painted From Memory
The Sweetest Punch
What's Her Name Today
God Give Me Strength
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Elvis Costello With Burt Bacharach
"Painted From Memory"
It's amazing how Elvis Costello has covered different styles of music
throughout his career. He first emerged on the scene in 1979 with numerous
pop/new wave albums, then experimented with Country (the Almost Blue
album) and Jazz (the song "Almost Blue"). Even Classical music is on
his list; his Juliet Letters album with England's Brodsky Quartet, was
based on a Shakespeare character, Juliet Capulet.
By the release of his 1998 album, Painted With Memory, he had signed
with a new record company (Mercury), and for his first release for the label,
he teamed up with a legendary record producer, Burt Bacharach, who was very
popular in the 1960s writing songs with Hal David, and providing these songs
for Dionne Warwick. The music style on Painted From Memory is best
described as Adult Contemporary, and it could also be considered light jazz.
To be truthful, Elvis Costello is a lounge lizard on this album, as this music
is truly best considered as lounge music material. (Of course, there's nothing
REALLY WRONG with that...)
"In The Darkest Place" has a soft-jazz feel, "Toledo" has a
pop-jazz feel with horns arrangements heard in the works of Bacharach and
Dionne Warwick songs in the 1960s. "I Still Have That Other Girl"
has the same sound as "In The Darkest Place", a soft-jazz sound, and
is quite pleasant.
"This House Is Empty Now" is another pleasant soft-jazz number,
"Tears At The Birthday Party" has a pop/jazz feel. "Such Unlikely
Lovers" has a somewhat 1970s soul feel to it, as in songs by Earth, Wind
& Fire and Heatwave. (Not exactly, but it's close in some parts of this song.)
Lounge music at its best is "My Thief", with great piano
arrangements. "The Long Division" is another song like "Such
Unlikely Lovers", having a soul ballad atmosphere.
The title track "Painted From Memory" is another lounge act song,
and the musical arrangements are truly fantastic, guitars, piano and all.
"The Sweetest Punch" has the pop sound, "What's Her Name Today"
is where the title track left off; it's another lounge act tune, with the
highly acclaimed musical arrangements. However, the title track is better
than this particular tune. "God Give Me Strength" features the famous
horns heard on many of Dionne Warwick's 1960s songs, and like many of the
songs heard on this album, it's another soft-jazz/lounge act composition.
Heads definitely turn in a different direction after listening to
Painted From Memory. Most of Elvis Costello's albums feature rock
and/or the punk/new-wave sound he is most famous for. But through the years
Costello has always experimented with different sources of music. His choice
in teaming up with Burt Bacharach was a good move. Both Costello and Bacharach
co-wrote all of the songs on this album. And it is quite impressive, both
musically and vocally. Most people may not think Costello's vocals are truly
of high caliber, but his vocals on Painted From Memory does work with
the excellent musical conducting/arrangements of Burt Bacharach.
Call them an odd couple, but Elvis Costello and Burt Bacharach have
presented an album that is truly enjoyable for the Adult Contemporary/Jazz fan,
and it is a great album for romantic situations, presenting a background for
those unforgettable romantic moments, whatever they will be.
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