BEST ELVIS EVER

[A rope leash]

He’s the best Elvis ever right now. By studying The Right Spectacle, I have determined that the best quality Elvis has been recent, up till present day Elvis.

How awful it must have been for Elvis back in the salad days. He looks like he’s performing at gunpoint in some of those old videos. Skinny and sweaty has its day and it must be taken then.

Perhaps it’s all a matter of production, but I have to judge by what I have seen and revisited on The Right Spectacle compared to the more recent offerings. The Cruel Smile live performances are much more satisfying than any of the live stuff presented on The Right Spectacle, and I think this has to do with the fact that Elvis is no longer required to be a rock star. He has tended to his talents and sharpened them, not just in songwriting but in voice, and while he might have drunkenly stumbled through punk/new-wave/folk/country/pop at the semi-guidance of corporate record industry execs, he’s come out of it as himself…a journeyman of the rock industry, and a composing musician of the highest taint.

I have to compare my experience at the Pageant Theater a couple of years ago to the other two times I saw Elvis live. There’s really no comparison. Elvis has gone through a lot of incarnations, (which is plenty evident on The Right Spectacle), but I think that with When I Was Cruel he really defined the term rock star, and gave it meaning again. If I ever decide to pick up the brush, the first thing I’ll paint is Elvis at the Pageant nailing it.

Maybe it’s just the difference between the Attractions and the Imposters, I don’t know…but I don’t think Elvis has ever been better than he is right now. He’s a great example of what a rocker ought to be at his age, and he is right where a progressive musician ought to be at this stage of the career.

!SIVLE LIAH

[Extreme Honey]

I believe that an artist such as Elvis Costello naturally evolves, and for the better. I do believe that he will always improve, even if my favourite records lie in the previous decades. However I sincerely believe that the record industry did NOT want Elvis at a "Country/folk" stage, that would hardly make sence in terms of record-sales for them.

And that's the beauty of such talented musicians, like Bob Dylan and even The Beatles, in their own short term. There are few in this world that make something new and emerge from the simple feat of mass-media and quickly produced, talentless crap. It's a shame the world dosn't give them the credit they deserve, but then again I'm not sure that such people would even want that attention.

[sabreman]

The CTIO performance is about as good as gets IMHO. Also the Pink festival performance is super too. In both cases EC appears very happy about the results (especially CTIO!). Also perfer the Attraction's sound with BT's lead bass lines.