Elvis Costello / YMMV

Americans Hate Tingle: Zigzagged, as while he's had a fairly successful career in America, most of his albums have been far from best-sellers. The "N-word" incident hurt his early commercial momentum there.
Archive Panic: He's made over thirty studio albums, plus a number of compilations containing B-sides, cast-offs, and the like.
Award Snub: Infamously beaten out for Best New Artist at the 1979 Grammy Awards by A Taste Of Honey.
Awesome Music: Pretty much everything he did between 1977 and 1982, especially My Aim Is True, This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Get Happy!! and Imperial Bedroom.
Common Knowledge: Contrary to what has been reported on countless websites (including this very wiki), Costello was not his mother's maiden name. Declan McManus is the son of big band singer Ross McManus and Lillian Alda Ablett. At one point the elder McManus used the name Day Costello as a Stage Name, and the Costello came from his grandmother Elizabeth Costello (meaning it's Elvis' great-grandmother's maiden name).
Covered Up:
- Made Nick Lowe's ^note "Peace, Love, and Understanding" his own.
- In turn, Dave Edmunds did the definitive version of Costello's "Girls Talk".
- Robert Wyatt's version of "Shipbuilding" is arguably better-known than Costello's version. Costello and Clive Langer originally wrote it for Wyatt — Costello's version is actually the cover.
Creator Worship: Costello is often considered one of the patron saints of alternative rock and New Wave music, being celebrated as one of the people who brought American New Wave music to the mainstream.
Even Better Sequel: Although all of Costello's first three albums are highly acclaimed, This Year's Model is generally regarded as better than My Aim Is True thanks to the addition of the Attractions. And Armed Forces is often regarded as better than This Year's Model due to its increased musical complexity and the presence of Signature Songs "Accidents Will Happen", "Oliver's Army" and "(What's So Funny 'bout) Peace, Love and Understanding".
First Installment Wins: Costello's first three albums are regarded as his best and established his reputation as the "angry" pub rock/punk-adjacent and New Wave singer-songwriter. While he's diversified since, he's still best known for these albums and this early persona.
Genius Bonus: Even Silly Love Songs are often peppered with literary and historical references, and his lyrics in general feature a lot of clever wordplay.
Hilarious in Hindsight: Costello has used "the imposter" in several places over the years, from the 1980 song to his current backing band and even as an occasional alias. He probably didn't expect his career to become so sus in 2018.
Hype Backlash: Costello feared this trope would come into play when his American label, Columbia Records, promoted his 1982 album Imperial Bedroom with the tagline "Masterpiece?". Ultimately, the trope was averted; the album is regarded as one of his best by both fans and critics. In his memoir, Costello describes the company's tag choice as:
"In the recipe book of disasters, that comes shortly before the instruction: First take your lion. Insert foot. Insert leg. Repeat with other limbs until fully consumed."
Moment of Awesome: In 1977, Saturday Night Live held a contest for the Guest Host spot on that year's Christmas episode. The winner was Miskel Spillman, an octogenarian grandmother from New Orleans. After learning that an old lady won the contest, the SNL production team tried to get the Sex Pistols on as the musical guest to drum up more publicity and because they thought the contrast between the controversial punk and their elderly host would be funny. However, visa problems with the Pistols caused them to pick Elvis Costello and the Attractions instead. NBC and Costello's record label insisted he play "Less Than Zero", but instead he dramatically stopped the Attractions during the second line and began playing "Radio, Radio" - a song he was specifically told not to play - instead. For this he was banned for several years from the program, but SNL now actively embraces the incident as one of the coolest things to ever happen on the show. To prove this, the show asked Costello to "crash" the Beastie Boys' performance of "Sabotage" during the SNL 20th Anniversary Special. After said crashing, Costello and the Beasties performed, of course, "Radio, Radio".
Nightmare Fuel:
- "I Want You". It sounds like a sweet, gentle love song at first, but then the screeching guitar kicks in and it all goes to hell, turning into a drawn-out stalker anthem with Costello sounding more and more desperate and deranged. Just listen to the way he sings the lines 'I might as well be useless, for all it means to you'. One critic described Costello as sounding like he was 'on the end of a noose', and with good reason.
- "This Offer Is Unrepeatable" from The Juliet Letters. It's supposed to represent an extreme form of junk mail (in keeping with the album's theme of correspondence), where the receiver is promised power of life and death over the rich, amongst other things, and is asked to sign the letter in blood.
- Invasion Hit Parade. Especially after 20 1 6.
Overshadowed by Controversy: "Oliver's Army" is considered one of Costello's greatest songs, but it's difficult to talk about the song without acknowledging that its lyrics use the words "white nigger". The song was inspired by The Troubles and is critical of the socioeconomic components of war, but is still embroiled in controversy over the aforementioned lyrics. Costello's usage of "nigger" during a drunken rant in 1979—the same year "Oliver's Army" was released—doesn't help matters. Costello fans and critics will defend the use of the word as part of the song's "anti-racism" message to no end, but the controversy has largely overshadowed the song.
Questionable Casting: "The Only Flame in Town" has a duet between Elvis and Daryl Hall. But it's still one of the better songs on one of his most maligned albums.
Tear Jerker:
- "Tramp the Dirt Down''. The sheer bitterness and anger in his voice and in the lyrics is heartbreaking, especially to people who have less than positive memories of Margaret Thatcher.
- "Veronica" is about Costello's grandmother suffering from late stage Alzheimer's, to the point where she's no longer sure of her own name. The chorus even dwells on how easy it is to get frustrated with her, and assume she's just playing a joke when she doesn't recognize him.
- "Let Him Dangle" is both this and Nightmare Fuel if you're familiar with the Derek Bentley case. The howls of 'string him up' make it even worse. Costello does not hold back on describing the injustice that was done to an innocent man.

YMMV / Elvis Costello

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