This Year's Model - ELVIS COSTELLO****

No Action/This Year's Girl/The Beat/Pump It Up/Little Triggers/You Belong To Me/Hand In Hand/(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea/Lip Service/Living In Paradise/Lipstick Vogue/Night Rally

Elvis Costello was one of a number of new wave artists who had a significant impact on the British music scene in the late 1970s, and who moved popular music in a new direction. This Year’s Model features the UK top 20 hit I Don’t Want To Go To Chelsea. (US:30 UK:4)

“Though never really punk, Elvis Costello absorbed its angry attitude. This Year's Model is a stinging slap in the face, a sour brew of sexual jealousy, office politics, and class war that rails against lovers, fashion models, and faceless corporations.”

“Thanks to his natural songwriting ability and killer rhythm section, This Year's Model is a sharp, catchy new wave album that plays to his strengths (incisive lyrics, catchy hooks, amazing backing band) and minimizes his weaknesses (his tendency to start whining).”

“Elvis Costello's classic early-career magnum opus, This Year's Model, is one of the albums that fuelled my teenage angst. A sing-along classic from front to back, it is angry, sarcastic, bitter, as well as fun. The lyricism is sharp and witty, and the instrumentation is brilliant, thanks to The Attractions. The bass on most tracks cannot be matched and the guitar playing is tight and memorable. Overall, this is a youthful and swaggering album that lives and breathes teen-hood.”

“Quite pleasant new wave with strong pop melodies. Solidly composed music, which in general has plenty of variation. Very easy to listen to and has taken influences from other music genres as well.”

“Jittery, hyper-caffeinated new wave Costello-style. This Year's Model features twelve different fusions of power pop and punk that underline his classic sound, particularly the sing-along Pump It Up and the paranoid rant of (I Don't Want To)Go To Chelsea. A volcanically angry album compared to its predecessor.”

“I can recognise the greatness of some of the melodies on this album, but I just can't get past these vocals.”

“Costello's most complex, angry and beautiful album. Adding The Attractions has to be the perfect move, with the almost guitar-less punk rock attack of bass, keyboards and drums supporting the ferocity of the nasal vocal assault.”