Albums by this artist

Elvis Costello and Bruce Thomas have never been the best of chums.

Thomas, Costello's longtime bassist with the Attractions, has on numerous occasions referred to Elvis as an egomaniac. He's also written a fairly disparaging novel, The Big Wheel, about being in the Attractions. Costello, not exactly known for his mercy, has called Thomas "that twattish bass player" and even written a hateful song about him, titled "How To Be Dumb" in which he calls Thomas a "professional liar" and "the funniest fucker in the world" [yes, that is sarcasm].

So when the two got back together again to record a handful of tracks for Brutal Youth, it came as somewhat of a shock. Not only did they record together, but they also toured.

However, the pair still weren't on the best of terms, though they acted in public as if everything was in the past. In later interviews Costello blamed Thomas for being a stagnant musician and a bit of a drag, among other things. So after recording All This Useless Beauty and hitting the road once again, Elvis Costello & the Attractions permanently disbanded.

It may seem a bit odd that the tensions running through the recording sessions of Beauty should result in such a striking mix of elegant and beautiful music. But beauty can turn up in strange places. "The Other End Of The Telescope," "All This Useless Beauty," "Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?," "Poor Fractured Atlas" and "I Want To Vanish" are some of the greatest songs Costello has ever written: intelligent, sad, graceful and cynically hopeful. It's the slowest set of tunes the Attractions ever attempted and they pull it off wonderfully.

There's not a bad song on this album. But while many are magnificent, others lack a bit in comparison. "Shallow Grave," co-written with Paul McCartney, is a rockin' number. Yet when placed next to the other songs on the album, it seems, well, a bit shallow. And "Distorted Angel," a good song, is given a lackluster arrangement.

The singles from this album came with B-sides featuring other groups doing songs from the album. This seems appropriate because many of the cuts here were originally written for other artists. "The Other End Of The Telescope," for instance, was co-penned with Aimee Mann and first appeared on a Til' Tuesday album.

Brutal Youth is a great album, but is hardly a fitting epitaph for The Attractions. All This Useless Beauty, on the other hand, is the perfect end to a phenomenal group. Perhaps a line from the closing track, "I Want To Vanish," captures best the essence of that transition: "How can I tell you I'm rarer than most / I'm certain as a lost dog pondering a signpost."

BRADLEY SMITH |