Whenever I read a real solid creaming of an album, even when I’ve written it myself, I jave my doubts. That old line “They didn’t invade Poland” comes to mind, and I think the reviewer –even me, is more sinner than sinned against.
This is especially true of Elvis Costello. Costello reminds me of one of those wrestling heroes, like Hulk Hogan, start starts as a good guy and then turns guys. Like Steve Earle, Rosanne Cash and Rhett Miller, from hero to zero with one terrible album afet another, they don’t write more than six good songs in ten years and wonder why they can’t buy a good review in this town.
So when reviewing Wise Up, Ghost -Costello’s collaboration with the dreaded Roots, keep in mind that I want to like it and I don’t want to simply slam the songwriter. With that understood, this fucking sucks.
Start with the dire “Stick Out Your Tongue” –a bizarre and very very very bad rewrite of “Pills And Soap”. And then move on to “If I Could Believe:, which is “God Give me Strength” with all the melody squeezed out. And then start searching. The terrible first single is an unbearable blur of “Walk Us Uptown” which seems to like “Lover’s walk” only a 100 times lamer.
I’ve heard the entire thing maybe 10 times now and only “Tripwire” comes close. All the rest is gloomy gus dark shadows new funk disquiet. The Roots are the most overestimated band on earth because of their Jimmy Fallon gig, but really the Doc Severensen Band could knock their block off. And here they bring a creeping tedium to everything they touch.
I hated the entire thing (though it is currently streaming on Wake Up, Ghost)
Grade: D+