Albums by this artist

I could say I never saw this album coming and isn't it a wonderful surprise, but it wouldn't be true. Besides, that review has already been written (for Brutal Youth, which When I Was Cruel somewhat resembles). If you've been listening to the marginal Costello of the last few years --specifically "The Bridge I Burned" from the otherwise redundant Extreme Honey, "My Mood Swings" from the rather essential "Big Lebowski" soundtrack, and "My Dark Life" from some "X-Files" tie-in I didn't buy -- you'd know that ol' Dec MacManus has been listening to Timbaland and Tom Waits in equal measures, and learning valuable lessons from each.

When I Was Cruel has riffs. "Tear Off Your Own Head," in particular, boasts a monster. When I Was Cruel has hooks. "45" and "Alibi" almost sound like singles. And When I Was Cruel has the heapin' down-home helping of vitriol we all expect -- nay, need -- from Elvis Costello. Check out "Spooky Girlfriend," where a younger woman asks "Are you looking up my skirt...? Why not?" Check out "Dissolve," where Costello moans something about "stupid tears of laughter" while "poisonous light pours from the picture palace." Mmm, alliterative.

The "hip-hop" influence on the album is as tasteful as a 40-something white British guy can muster, which means a lovely loop on "When I Was Cruel No. 2" and cloddish drum programming elsewhere (and who needs a drum machine when Pete Thomas is in the house?). More prominent is Costello's cranky guitar, which careens off Steve Nieve's keys and ringer Davey Faragher's bass in such a manner as to nearly erase all memory of that overly mannered Bacharach curiosity.

If Cruel has a weakness, it's three or four too many tracks ("15 Petals" is particularly indistinguished). Does the song "Dust" really require a reprise? And despite the great line "every Elvis has his army," "Episode Of Blonde" is too much too late, its ranting Costello vocal and squeaky circus background more than I, for one, can handle 14 songs in.

Despite the presence of a few misses, When I Was Cruel will be well worth the purchase for anyone still trying to work their way through All This Useless Beauty. It's a straightforward, catchy, and of course smart record from the meanest man in the British Isles. Now if someone could only find a way to get Elvis and Bruce Thomas talking again, we might really have something.

MARK T.R. DONOHUE | Mark T.R. Donohue is a prolific freelance writer whose areas of expertise include Rockies baseball, video games, genre television, English soccer, and pub rock. He lives in Colorado, where he cultivates the largest and creepiest private collection of Alyson Hannigan memorabilia in the Mountain West.