Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. No Action
2. This Year's Girl
3. The Beat
4. Pump It Up
5. Little Triggers
6. You Belong To Me
7. Hand In Hand
8. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea
9. Lip Service
10. Living In Paradise
11. Lipstick Vogue
12. Night Rally
13. Radio, Radio

Disc 2:

1. Big Tears
2. Crawling To The USA
3. Running Out Of Angels (Demo)
4. Greenshirt (Demo)
5. Big Boys (Demo)
6. You Belong to Me (Demo)
7. Radio, Radio (Demo)
8. Neat Neat Neat (Live)
9. Roadette Song (Live)
10. The Price Of Love
11. This Year's Girl (Alt. Version)
12. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea (Alt. Version)
13. Stranger In The House (BBC Version)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96271 in Music
• Released on: 2002-02-19
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered

Album Description
Next batch of Rhino Records expanded reissues, each beautifully remastered and presented with a bonus disc of rarities. Bonus disc material Running Out Of Angels (Demo) 'Greenshirt' (Demo), 'Big Boys' (Demo), 'You Belong to Me' (Demo), 'Radio, Radio' (Demo), 'Neat Neat Neat' (Live), 'Roadette Song' (Live), 'The Price Of Love', 'This Year's Girl' (Alt. Version), '(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea', (Alt. Version) & 'Stranger In The House' (BBC Version).

Amazon.com essential recording
Only months after his initial conquest with My Aim Is True, Elvis Costello delivered an even fiercer diatribe. His first record with the long-running Attractions, 1978's This Year's Model remains one of that blistering rock year's most indelible albums. Orwellian even when not directly alluding to the great man (a sly nod to 1984 on "Living in Paradise"), the 22-year-old and band crashed through the raging anti-party of "Pump It Up" ("When you don't really need it"), the perverted Spectorisms of "Hand in Hand," the punk manifesto "Radio, Radio," and the stylishly anti-fashion "This Year's Girl" (in the season of Suzanne Somers, no less) with no less force than the Clash. Probably his greatest, most elegantly imagined and rendered long-player. The bonus tracks on Rhino's 2002 edition include an "Alison"-style take on Costello's country ballad "Stranger in the House" and a cover of the Damned's "Neat Neat Neat," both early proof of the new king's adeptness at outfitting his sets with conceptually brilliant surprises. --Rickey Wright

Customer Reviews

Fall in to submission, hit and run transmission.
If "My Aim Is True" landed on the music scene like a stick of dynamite with the fuse lit, "This Year's Model" was the explosion that came after. Elvis' first album with the Attractions more than lived up to its predecessor, in that having a working band behind him matched the music to the blunt force of the songs.

Once again, it is the stark voice of EC that opened the album as he ominously intones "I don't wannna kiss you, I don't wanna touch." When the players kick in, it's a whole 'nother world from "My Aim Is True," and for the first time, "new wave" had a front man. Before this album had been released, one of the central songs had made headlines. Elvis' broadside at narrow-format broadcasting, "Radio Radio," was performed in such a bizarre fashion on Saturday Night Live that he was effectively banned from the show for almost a decade and made this (then) seventeen year-old a fan for life. That performance sealed a decision for me to get into radio and make artists like Elvis accessible to listeners. When I was fortunate enough to tell him this many years later, Elvis kindly autographed a ragged poster of "Armed Forces" "Don't blame me."

Personal nostalgia aside, this double disc version "This Year's Model" contains all the songs that comprised the original US and UK versions and the original UK artwork. These are some of the songs by which EC is measured, like "Radio Radio," "Pump it Up" and "The Beat." The Attractions' playing was melody driven in addition to frenetic, a perfect compliment to Elvis' brilliant lyrics. And it was already becoming apparent that keyboardist Steve Nieve was becoming an architect of what American ears would identify as "punk rock."

The bonus disc contains two finished cuts with "Big Tears" and "Crawling To The USA." "Big Tears" is noteworthy in that Elvis has often said he wanted Dusty Springfield to record it and it was written in the style of Bacharach...and we all know where that ambition eventually led. The liner notes, as Elvis describes the whirlwind of forming The Attractions and heading for the US, are fun as well as the pictures. (I do wish the US album cover shot of Elvis with his face partially obscured by the camera had been included somewhere.) The remainder of the bonus CD provides some hot live recordings that proved what this band of raving 20 somethings were capable in their rock and roll youth.

One of the Greatest Albums of That Era
The first three albums by Elvis Costello are not only his three best albums ever---they are three of the finest albums released by any artist of that era. While "My Aim Is True" stands as one of the greatest debut albums ever, I feel that his next two releases, "Armed Forces" and "This Year's Model," were even better than his first excellent work.

"This Year's Model" is the peak of Elvis Costello's angry and cynical lyrical database, with fast, raucous music that ups the intensity like only Elvis could. When I think of the numerous punk groups of that era that I enjoyed like Black Flag, Sex Pistols and The Dead Kennedys, I take the odd step of lumping "This Year's Model" in with the same sarcastic emotion backing the music. While the abovementioned Punk groups may have marketed themselves to the kids who fancied themselves raw, gritty, and streetwise, Elvis seemed geared toward the everyday middle-class Joe who, despite no torn jeans or Mohawks, still possessed that bitterness toward commercialism and the rat race.

This album has classic Costello rants that range from relationships gone sour to the greedy corporate world, with some songs like "Living in Paradise" seemingly combining both. The tunes grow increasingly intense with each track, with "Hand in Hand" and "Lipstick Vogue" grabbing most of the glory in the second half of the album. No resting, no misleading Guajardian twists, just sharp music and seething lyrics.

"Radio, Radio" is the appropriate finale of "This Year's Model," which is a loud, fast, break-free tune that totally bashes the formula based model of commercial radio. I remember when this song was released, and how much I loved it every time I heard it played on one of the same commercial radio stations he was thumbing his nose at; it was like hearing an employee cursing out his boss and receiving a promotion for it.

Elvis Costello has since released quite a diverse array of music since "This Year's Model." Some of it I love, some I don't get... but there is nothing quite like his first three albums. If you want to buy a "Best Of" Elvis Costello compilation, then STAY AWAY from his "Best Of" compilations. Buy his first three releases instead, because they truly are the very best of Elvis Costello.

Definitely worth the upgrade
Most people considering buying this disc are already well aware of this album as a masterpiece in EC lore. Thus, the real question is, whether the updated/remastered version of this classic is really worth it. The answer is a resounding YES.

I do not have the Ryko reissue, so I purchased the Rhino reissue and did not even have to do an A/B test with the original release to see if I could hear a difference. The sound is light years better on this Rhino release. The songs feel much more expansive and there is much more detail. Songs like Chelsea, Radio Radio, Pump it Up and Big Tears really shine. Especially if you are used to listening to Chelsea and Big Tears from the Taking Liberties album -- those versions of the songs always sounded muffled to me. Here they are clean and focused. You can hear every thump of Bruce Thomas' bass and it is much easier to hear EC's efforts on the guitar (which are too often mixed to the back).

The bonus disc is also a treat. New and fun versions of the classics. But the first disc is the real gem. The same songs you know and love, remastered in a crisp, clear and powerful way.

Elvis is King.