Producer info:Producers include: Elvis Costello, Geoff
Emerick, Brian Eno,
The Attractions,
Lee Olsen.
Reissue producers: Gary Stewart, Val
Jennings.
Engineers include: Geoff Emerick,
Jon Jacobs, Sam Gibson.
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Recording Location info:Principally recorded
at Windmill Lane
Studios, Dublin, Ireland and Westside
Studios, London,
England.
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Additional information:
Full performer name: Elvis Costello & The Attractions.
Song Credits:
1.- (Costello, Aimee Mann)
2.- (MacManus)
6.- (MacManus)
7.- (MacManus, Paul McCartney)
9.- (MacManus)
Bonus disc (2001 Rhino):
2.- (with Brian Eno)
3.- (MacManus, McCartney)
4.- (Louise Wener)
9.- (MacManus, McCartney)
10.- (MacManus)
11.- (Costello, Mann)
17.- (MacManus)
The 2001 edition of ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY comes with a bonus disc of rare material
including demos and alternative versions of songs. Many of the tracks on the original
release were written by Elvis Costello for other artists to record.
Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Elvis Costello (vocals, acoustic, electric & guitars,
celesta, keyboards, bass); Pete Thomas (acoustic guitar, drums, percussion);
Steve Nieve (piano, keyboards, programming, sequencing); Bruce Thomas (bass).
Additional personnel includes: Brian Eno, The Fairfield Four, The Brodsky Quartet.
After years of radical stylistic detours, Costello reunited with the Attractions for
BRUTAL YOUTH, seeming to prove that Tom Wolfe was right about not being able to go
home again. That album's followup, ALL THIS USELESS BEAUTY, is a logic-defying marvel,
finding Costello and the Attractions at the peak of their powers. Though some of the
arrangements hark back to THIS YEAR'S MODEL, EC and the boys don't really try to
revisit the past. Rather, they apply the musical lessons they've learned over the
years to create a new,
more mature sound that still bears their unique sonic trademark.
The song selection here is a bit of a grab bag, as many of these tunes were written
by Costello for other artists, but there's such a consistency and vitality to the
material that it all seems to be of a piece. 'Why Can't a Man Stand Alone' is an
emotive soul ballad that shows Costello's '60s R&B roots. 'Complicated Shadows' has
a whisper-to-a-scream arrangement that shows off the band's dynamic facility. The
harmonically sophisticated ballad 'I Want to Vanish' is proof positive that Costello
really is the Gershwin of the post-punk generation.
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