Search - Elvis Costello :: Mighty Like a Rose

Mighty Like a Rose
Elvis Costello
Mighty Like a Rose
Genres: Alternative Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock
 
  •  Track Listings (14) - Disc #1
  •  Track Listings (17) - Disc #2

Produced under the direct supervision of Elvis Costello. Housed in a slim-line package, each rerelease contains a deluxe 28-page booklet with brand-new liner notes by Elvis Costello, rare photos, reproductions of memorabil...  more »

     
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CD Details

All Artists: Elvis Costello
Title: Mighty Like a Rose
Members Wishing: 4
Total Copies: 0
Label: Rhino / Wea
Original Release Date: 1/1/1991
Re-Release Date: 11/19/2002
Album Type: Extra tracks, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
Genres: Alternative Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock
Styles: Singer-Songwriters, Singer-Songwriters, Adult Alternative
Number of Discs: 2
SwapaCD Credits: 2
UPC: 081227818920

Synopsis

Album Description
Produced under the direct supervision of Elvis Costello. Housed in a slim-line package, each rerelease contains a deluxe 28-page booklet with brand-new liner notes by Elvis Costello, rare photos, reproductions of memorabilia, and printed song lyrics. Album includes an entire second disc of bonus material!

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Member CD Reviews

Mike M. from SEATTLE, WA
Reviewed on 12/28/2006...
Double Album. Great condition.

CD Reviews

Primal scream therapy
Wayne Klein | My Little Blue Window, USA | 11/24/2002
(4 out of 5 stars)

"I suppose you could call this EC's answer to John Lennon's primal scream album Plastic Ono Band. EC spits out a number of angry observations to fill up an entire career with Mighty Like a Rose. It's certainly one of his most ambitious albums after Imperial Bedroom and it's well crafted to boot. As to the songs themselves, there's a couple of numbers that don't stand up to scrutiny but, on the whole, Mighty Like a Rose has enough melodic ideas for three or four albums. The programming and players on the album suggest that Rose is the angrier, less pop cousin of Spike.It's flawed but the flaws seem less of an issue than when the album was first released. What's interesting is the nasty reviews Rose endured when it was first released. It's a stronger album than Spike and just as ambitious lyrically and musically. The first disc has all the original album and it is an improvement on the original CD. The depth and clarity is sharper.
The Other Side of Summer and So Like Candy benefit significantly from the improved sound. The "wall of sound" Costello and co-producers Mitchell Froom & Kevin Killen makes the opening track one of the richest, most decadant tasting desert Costello has ever whipped up. It's The Beatles' Back in the USSR mated with Holland era Beach Boys. Costello's wife Cait provides the other most powerful song on the album with the moving Broken.The second disc isn't quite as interesting as the second one for the other concurrent releases but is worth the additional investment. The tracks from his MTV unplugged performances are the most interesting tracks. Costello also gathers up the various B-sides to singles and collaborations with other artists from the same time period and puts them on the disc as well. Most of the collaborations are equally as good as the best songs on Rose. The demos, while interesting, aren't as revealing as those for Imperial Bedroom or even Armed Forces. Nevertheless, they are essential for hardcore Costello fans.Overlooked and underrated upon it's initial release, Rose has aged well. Although it hasn't mellowed (how could it?), it's retained its power and the best tracks stand as some of Costello's best crafted work to date."
Perhaps the most underrated of Costello's set
C. Parr | London, England | 09/23/2004
(5 out of 5 stars)

"As Elvis Costello says himself in the liner notes, this is a very "angry record." Some have been surprised by the spiteful, caustic lyrics that accompany upbeat music, but this has to my mind always been the case with Costello, from Armed Forces to this one. It seems like a three-pronged attack on Attractions bassist Bruce Thomas (How to be Dumb), the 1991 Gulf War, and strangely - it occurs to me at least - the confines and constrictions of married life (to former Pogues member Cait O'Riordan).

What's most impressive about this record is Costello's stomping iconoclasm as regards the historical situation. The songs about Thomas are far easier for someone of Costello's talents to pull off; small fry for him. What hits you when listening to this - aside from the wonderful arrangements and musicianship, including his toy piano - is the political rage inherent lyrically. The targets are mass media/Desert Storm coverage ("the revolution will be televised"), the tiny conflict itself in the Gulf, and even the downside of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The first two strands are obvious enough; you've got pop tunes played over footage of dying civilians and soldiers - happening today as well, further example of Costello's prescient mind.

The attack on the fall of the Wall is most interesting though. Of course political rights improved for those effected, but a consequence was the capitalist investors moved in and many could not afford to live there anymore (thus the woman selling her body for money in Invasion Hit Parade). Thank heavens (and Costello) for a slice of challenging iconoclasm."