Brutal Youth

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
The King reunites with The Attractions and Nick Lowe to see what sparks might fly. The opening trinity of cuts aside, the results only occasionally mimic the sound and fury of '78. Instead, Costello shelves the sweeping ambition that marred recent albums like Spike and Mighty Like The Rose, and lets his songs breathe in minimal, cleverly detailed musical settings of real genius. "13 Steps Lead Down" is a smashing, tongue-twisting marquee single; "Sulky Girl" has the allure of an Imperial Bedroom outtake; "London's Brilliant Parade" and "Clown Strike" are pop beauties. --Jeff Bateman --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

Brutal Youth (With Bonus Disc)
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • One of Costello's best, save some misguided production
  • A great album, underrated by many
  • Stop Denying This Album
  • Great CDs, but mislabeled
  • The Greatest Album In Human History
 Brutal Youth (With Bonus Disc)
Elvis Costello
Manufacturer: Rhino / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Singer-SongwritersSinger-Songwriters | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Pop | Styles | Music
Singer-SongwritersSinger-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music
Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Adult AlternativeAdult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
Rhino RecordsRhino Records | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
Similar Items:
  1. All This Useless Beauty (With Bonus Disc)
  2. Mighty Like a Rose
  3. Spike (With Bonus Disc)
  4. Blood & Chocolate (With Bonus Disc)
  5. Kojak Variety

ASIN: B00005Y1Y1
Release Date: 2002-02-19

Tracks:

  1. Pony St.
  2. Kinder Murder
  3. 13 Steps Lead Down
  4. This Is Hell
  5. Clown Strike
  6. You Tripped At Every Step
  7. Still Too Soon To Know
  8. 20% Amnesia
  9. Sulky Girl
  10. London's Brilliant Parade
  11. My Science Fiction Twin
  12. Rocking Horse Road
  13. Just About Glad
  14. All The Rage
  15. Favourite Hour

Tracks:

  1. Life Shrinks
  2. Favourite Hour (Alt. Version)
  3. This Is Hell (Alt. Version)
  4. Idiophone
  5. Abandon Words
  6. Poisoned Letter
  7. A Drunken Man's Praise Of Sobriety
  8. Pony St. (Demo)
  9. Clown Strike (Alt. Version)
  10. Rocking Horse Road (Demo)
  11. 13 Steps Lead Down (Demo)
  12. All The Rage (Demo)
  13. Just About Glad (Alt. Version)
  14. Sulky Girl (Demo)
  15. You Tripped At Every Step (Alt. Version

Amazon.com

Brutal Youth (1994) reunited Costello with the Attractions (and occasional substitute bassist Nick Lowe) in an ambitious attempt to link the experimental impulses of Spike and Mighty Like a Rose to the outfit's controlled careen. While peers such as Sting disappeared further up their own precocity, Costello mined both the fanciful (his jokes are actually funny) and enraged. From the opening shots of "Pony St." and "Kinder Murder," he assuredly moves through the pub R&B of "Clown Strike," the art-song trappings of "Still Too Soon to Know," and the Trust-style classicism of "Sulky Girl" ("Hold your tongue / Although I know you've never been that strong") and "You Tripped at Every Step." Often majestic, the record occasionally feels mannered--an alternate version of the ballad "Favourite Hour" included on this 2002 reissue as a bonus track is much less lumbering than the take that closes the album proper--but remains a casualty of audience indifference. Almost anyone who missed it the first time around will find moments to add to their list of Costello treasures. --Rickey Wright

Album Description

Rhino Records expanded reissue, completely remastered and packaged with a bonus disc of rarities. Bonus disc content - 'Life Shrinks', 'Favourite Hour' (Alt. Version), 'This Is Hell' (Alt. Version), 'Idiophone', 'Abandon Words', 'Poisoned Letter', 'A Drunken Man's Praise Of Sobriety', 'Pony St.' (Demo), 'Clown Strike' (Alt. Version), 'Rocking Horse Road' (Demo), '13 Steps Lead Down' (Demo), 'All The Rage' (Demo), 'Just About Glad' (Alt. Version), 'Sulky Girl' (Demo) & 'You Tripped At Every Step' (Alt. Version). 2002.

Customer Reviews:

4 out of 5 stars One of Costello's best, save some misguided production.......2006-05-22

Brutal Youth was panned by many on it's initial release. For the longest time, if it wasn't another This Years Model or Armed Forces, critics weren't buying. To muddy the waters further, Brutal Youth followed the over-produced highly commercial Spike and the equally elaborate but not quite as spectacular Mighty Like A Rose.

Brutal Youth is a different record, recalling some of Costello's best work, as it should as the Attractions appear along with Costello producer Nick Lowe, as a bassist. The album's opener, Pony St. sounds energetic, raw, and unflinching. Costello's voice is in fine form, sounding much like he does on Blood and Chocolate, the last album prior to this with the Attractions.

Other highlights include This is Hell, Thirteen Steps Lead Down, and Just About Glad. These are songs that are spare where Costello and co. go to work as a band. The results are often rewarding.

While there's not really a duff song in the bunch, the album suffers a bit from a muddled production by Mitchell Froom. While some tracks sound like old fashioned Costello, others have the band muffled out or introduce sounds that often take away from the quality of the recording. Clown Strike and Sulky Girl suffer from this when they could benefit from a straightforward band recording. Not bad songs, just a little misguided production.

This is where the second disc, like many other in the rhino reissues of Costellos recordings, really shine. Along with a few bsides, there are alternate recordings of many of Brutal Youth's tracks. While some are in demo form, others are completely different takes on the tracks, often in the form of spare recordings that the tracks call for. I hope this reissue sheds some light on a much criticized Costello record, because some of his best are on here.

5 out of 5 stars A great album, underrated by many.......2006-03-23

Beyond the obligatory radio hearings of "Everyday I Write the Book" back in the day, this album and the unusual but wonderful Juliet Letters album were my first exposures to Elvis. I bought Brutal Youth (the original release) after being blown away by Elvis's performance of "13 Steps Lead Down" on Letterman back when the album had just been released. I continue to enjoy all the songs on this record many years later. The creativity and variety here are really remarkable; there are some burning rockers (e.g., "20% Amnesia," "13 Steps," "Just About Glad") as well as some incredibly clever and musical art songs (e.g., "Clown Strike," "This Is Hell," "Science Fiction Twin") and a few beautiful ballads (e.g., "Still Too Soon to Know," "Favourite Hour"). Just buy it; you won't be sorry you did. (I haven't heard disc 2 of the 2-disc version, so I have no comment on it; it would be fun to hear new versions of these songs though.)

5 out of 5 stars Stop Denying This Album.......2006-01-30

I understand people have different tastes and their is no objectivity with record reviews. I also know many think Elvis will never recapture the vitality of his earlier work. I always find this a little pretentious and it happens with many groups including Elvis. It is too bad because they are missing out on a lot of great songs. When I listen to this album I find it tough to see how anyone that has enjoyed Elvis' work can not appreciate this album. Than again one person named "Sulky Girl" and "Science Fiction Twin" as weak points when to me they are classic songs. I absolutely love this album more with each listen. I play this as much or more than any Elvis Costello I own and would gladly put it up to This Years Model or any Elvis album. In my opinion this is a truly great album.

4 out of 5 stars Great CDs, but mislabeled.......2005-08-22

EC+A hearken back to their "New Wave" roots! Nice to hear EC's raucous Fender Jazzmaster guitar on "13 Steps Lead Down" and Nick Lowe's bass work on "My Science Fiction Twin". However, I was at first confused by Rhino's labeling of the main and bonus CDs. The discs I received have the main CD labeled as 'Bonus Disc', while the disc with the bonus tracks is not labeled as such. Did anyone else discover this too? Who knows--maybe it'll be a collector's item someday!

Oh yeah, this mislabeling occurred with the Rhino CD release of 'Blood & Chocolate'. What's going on at Rhino?

5 out of 5 stars The Greatest Album In Human History.......2005-05-29

I saw Elvis in Concert about a month ago and it was amazing! One of the main highlights was when he played a song that I had never heard before called Kinder Murder. I think I orderd Brutal Youth the very next day. The album is Fantasmic it has so many great track's including: 13 Steps Lead Down, You Tripped At Every Step, All The Rage, and Sulky Girl just to name a few. There are only about two songs on the CD that I can't listen to, and for me that is very rare. The album end's with Favourite Hour which is just a beutiful song. After I found out this record was originaly released in 1994, I asked myself what in the world was I was doing listening to Stone Temple Pilots, When I could have been listening To Elvis Costello's Brutal Youth. I only thank god I'm listening to it now.
Brutal Youth
Average customer rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • Elvis reunites with the Attractions
  • Brutal Youth ~ Elvis Costello
  • Best Post-"Imperial Bedroom" Elvis Costello Album
  • Brutally Good
  • Most underrated EC album!
 Brutal Youth
Elvis Costello
Manufacturer: Warner Bros / Wea
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

GeneralGeneral | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
Singer-SongwritersSinger-Songwriters | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Pop | Styles | Music
Singer-SongwritersSinger-Songwriters | Pop | Styles | Music
Pop RockPop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Adult AlternativeAdult Alternative | Pop | Styles | Music
GeneralGeneral | Rock | Styles | Music
Similar Items:
  1. All This Useless Beauty
  2. Mighty Like a Rose
  3. When I Was Cruel
  4. Kojak Variety
  5. Spike

ASIN: B000002MP6
Release Date: 1994-03-08

Tracks:

  1. Pony St.
  2. Kinder Murder
  3. 13 Steps Lead Down
  4. This Is Hell
  5. Clown Strike
  6. You Tripped At Every Step
  7. Still Too Soon To Know
  8. 20% Amnesia
  9. Sulky Girl
  10. London's Brilliant Parade
  11. My Science Fiction Twin
  12. Rocking Horse Road
  13. Just About Glad
  14. All The Rage
  15. Favourite Hour

Amazon.com

The King reunites with The Attractions and Nick Lowe to see what sparks might fly. The opening trinity of cuts aside, the results only occasionally mimic the sound and fury of '78. Instead, Costello shelves the sweeping ambition that marred recent albums like Spike and Mighty Like The Rose, and lets his songs breathe in minimal, cleverly detailed musical settings of real genius. "13 Steps Lead Down" is a smashing, tongue-twisting marquee single; "Sulky Girl" has the allure of an Imperial Bedroom outtake; "London's Brilliant Parade" and "Clown Strike" are pop beauties. --Jeff Bateman

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Elvis reunites with the Attractions.......2006-01-08

Yes, this album regroups Elvis with the Attractions as his band.

Yes, it's got a great raw sound and energy. (Co-producer Mitchell Froom and recording engineer Tchad Blake likely helped to accomplish this.)

No, this is NOT one of his finest hours, sorry....there simply aren't the unforgettable hooks to match past triumphs like "(What's so Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding", "Allison", "Pump it Up","Accidents will Happen" and "Everyday I Write the Book" to name a few.

It's a solid album while it plays and Costello devotees will probably like it, but it's not one that's likely to make those outside the fold take notice. There's not quite enough here that I find myself humming after it's over.

HIGHLIGHTS:
"Kinder Murder" is the tale of a heinous crime ("Jimmy took her down to the perimeter fence/He was back in half an hour, he said he left her senseless/Then he went back to his regiment..")hushed up by the powers that be and rationalization. ("She could have kept her knees together/Should have kept her mouth shut..") "This is Hell" is the tale of an aging lothario who finds the old efforts of no effect anymore. ("It's not the torment of the flames/That finally see your flesh corrupted/It's the small humiliations that your memory piles up..") "Just About Glad" is Costello's sarcastic lament for the one that got away ("Just about glad/we didn't do that thing/Just about glad/we didn't have that fling..") as he imagines himself as "the greatest lover that you never had". In the end, he admits his self-deception ("And it's all just a stupid creation/Of my feverish imagination..")

LOWS:
"20% Amnesia" lurches around in an arrangement that feels like it's forced, Costello trying to show us he can be "loose" and "raunchy" musically. The biggest fault of the album is mentioned by another reviewer: it's simply overlong. Too much material that's listenable while playing but not that memorable after ("Rocking Horse Road","London's Brilliant Parade","Still Too Soon to Know") drag down the album as a whole for me.

BOTTOM LINE:
If you borrow it from the library or a friend and find you adore it, get the Rhino re-master instead (ASIN B00005Y1Y1) which has lots of alternate versions and demos of the album's tunes as well as the complete lyrics (which do NOT come in this original set). If you're NEW to Costello's music, don't start here. Look to MY AIM IS TRUE (ASIN B00005MLU0), SPIKE (ASIN B00005MLTW),THIS YEAR'S MODEL (ASIN B00005Y1XZ) or ARMED FORCES (ASIN B0000787GM) before this one.

5 out of 5 stars Brutal Youth ~ Elvis Costello.......2005-03-22

Brutal Youth is a very nice from one of the vocalist with most unique vocals in the business. The book-let is a shoddy piece of work with no lyrics or text in it. The cover photo is photo of two young boys and I have no idea what it is supposed to indicate. The music is nice and sounds just like what one expects from Costello. He writes strange but nice lyrics to semi advantgarde music. The glasses that he wears on this album are atrocious and hopefully he has gotten lasic or bought a pair nicer.

5 out of 5 stars Best Post-"Imperial Bedroom" Elvis Costello Album.......2005-02-22

Great, great energy -- reminiscent of the early work but really unlike anything Elvis has ever done elsewhere. "Favorite Hour" is as good a song as Elvis has written. The production on "This Is Hell" and "You Tripped At Every Step" is amazing. The lyrics are head-and-shoulders above much of what has Elvis has released since. This is really a gem of an album. Only a small complaint: it could have been a tad shorter -- it's a little unwieldy at 15 tracks, though there is not a clunker among them.

5 out of 5 stars Brutally Good.......2003-04-07

How can you go wrong with Elvis And THe Attractions with Nick Lowe ? You can't. Its that simple. THis is Hell is very clever "they play my favorite things but its by Julie Andrews and not John Coltrane",Clown Strike is a wonderful song full of heart. THese are but two stand outs from another Elvis cd you'll fall in love with before you finish the first listening.

5 out of 5 stars Most underrated EC album!.......2002-05-23

This album is usually not mentioned when there is a discussion of EC's best works, and it's a shame. For my money, this is the best EC album post-Get Happy! and certainly the most personal album he ever released. This is the musical equivalent of Remembrance of Things Past, as EC tells us of his own brutal youth ("London's Brilliant Parade", "You Tripped at Every Step"), past relationships ("13 Steps Lead Down," "Sulky Girl"), and today ("Pony Street," "20% Amnesia"). Plus, this album flat-out rocks! It's also noteworthy that it's very likely that this will be the final EC and the Attraction album, as EC has made it clear that he has no interest in playing with Bruce Thomas in the future.
Words + Music: Brutal Youth
Average customer rating: Not rated
    		Words + Music: Brutal Youth
    Elvis Costello
    Manufacturer: WB
    ProductGroup: Music
    Binding: Audio CD
    ASIN: B000OWC14M

    Product Description

    CD features extracts of music from Brutal Youth plus retrospect on Elvis & life! 1. SEGMENT ONE: Pony Street - Kinder Murder - 13 Steps Lead Down - This Is Hell - Clown Strike - You Tripped At Every Step - 20% Amnesia - Sulky Girl 24:30 2. SEGMENT TWO: London's Brilliant Parade - My Science Fiction Twin - Rocking Horse Road - Just About Glad - All The Rage - Favourite Hour 21:39
    Words And Music: The Making of Brutal Youth by Elvis Costello & The Attractions [Interview & Music CD]
    Average customer rating: Not rated
      		Words And Music: The Making of Brutal Youth by Elvis Costello & The Attractions [Interview & Music CD]
      Elvis Costello
      Manufacturer: Warner Bros. Records
      ProductGroup: Music
      Binding: Audio CD
      ASIN: B000T7TYQU

      Product Description

      2 segments of Elvis Costello talking about the album Brutal Youth intercut with musical cuts. The CD features excerpts of music from the album with some retrospect from elvis on the recording, the attractions, and life in general. (1) Segment 1: 23.55 (2) Segment 2: 21.37
      Sulky Girl (Single Edit) [1-Track CD Single]
      Average customer rating: Not rated
        		Sulky Girl (Single Edit) [1-Track CD Single]
        Elvis Costello
        Manufacturer: Warner Bros. Music
        ProductGroup: Music
        Binding: Audio CD
        ASIN: B000T7HM0K

        Product Description

        1 Track CD Single of Sulky Girl (Single Edit) 3.16 from Warner Bros. Music. Original version is from the album Brutal Youth.

        Music:

        1. Carnival of Light
        2. Changesbowie
        3. Collection
        4. Come on Feel the Lemonheads
        5. Cosmic Thing
        6. Cover Your Ears [Explicit Lyrics]
        7. Crucify
        8. David Byrne
        9. Diamond Fist Werny
        10. Drums and Wires

        Music

        music

        Music

        National Antiseptic

        Symphony No.5 / Coriolan Overture

        Pretty Pianos

        The Way I Walk: The Original Carlton Recordings 1958-1960

        Apryl Fool [Import]

        Sleep, Vol. 1

        Steppin' Out: Astaire Sings

        Schubert: Symphonies 1 & 2 / Weber: Freischutz Overture

        Still Not Getting Any [Import]

        Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade / Russian Easter Overture

        Something in Common [Import]

        Sun Valley Serenade/Orchestra Wives [Import] [Limited Edition] [Original recording remastered]

        Rayna de Mi Vida

        Dying to Live

        Bluesilian