A year after The Juliet Letters, Costello’s most adventurous album to date, he reunited with The Attractions and put out what critics hailed as a return to old-school form.
Brutal Youth is indeed Costello’s first straight-up rock-and-roll album since Blood and Chocolate eight years earlier, though it does feature some of the baroque tricks he picked up through Spike and Mighty Like a Rose. And for my money, though it hits a few speed bumps along the way, it’s one of the highlights of his career.
For one thing, Brutal Youth marks the return of a favorite Costello staple, the acidic breakup song. ‘All the Rage’ is one of the better examples of this genre in his catalog — it’s a shuffling Phil Spector-influenced kiss-off with delightfully bitter lyrics:
You murder time and truth, love, laughter and belief
So don’t try to touch my heart, it’s darker than you think
And don’t try to read my mind because it’s full of disappearing ink
…
Although I’ll never be
Unhappy as you want me to be
Still it’s all the rage
Elsewhere on the album, Costello has more fun than usual, describing a Hell (in ‘This is Hell’) where “‘My Favourite Things’ is playing again and again, but it’s by Julie Andrews and not by John Coltrane” and spinning a tale about his public persona (‘My Science Fiction Twin’) that makes great use of cheap horror movie imagery.
‘Just About Glad’ is a great song about being kind of relieved you didn’t sleep with somebody:
That we never did that thing we were going to do
I’m just about glad I can look you in the eye
But I can’t say the same for you
And though the passion still flutters and flickers
It never got into our knickers
For all of the courage that we never had
I’m just about glad
And then there’s ‘London’s Brilliant Parade,’ which I see as Costello’s ‘Penny Lane’ — a nostalgic look at the city he grew up in. The melody is about as lovely as McCartney’s tune, too. Here’s a nice live version (though the bass seems a bit high in the mix and they have the gall to run the credits over his final verse).
Not long before sleep arrives
They come with their sirens
And they sweep away all the boys
Busy draining the joy from their lives
They never said their prayers out loud
And while I’m dreaming
There’s a passing motor car
That broadcasts a popular song
And a girl appears to be saying
“Do you think that I’m going to go far?”
FIRST CHORUS:
Just look at me
I’m having the time of my life
Or something quite like it
When I’m walking out and about
In London’s brilliant parade
She’s one of those girls that you just can’t place
You feel guilty desiring such an innocent face
But of course they knew that when they cast her
Along with the red Routemaster
And the film takes place in an MGB
And a perfect re-creation of “The Speakeasy”
Everybody looks happy and twisted
Though she probably never existed
For old times’ sake
Don’t let me awake
I wouldn’t want you to walk across Hungerford Bridge
Especially at twilight
Looking through the bolts and the girders
Into the water below
You’ll never find your answer there
They sounded the “all-clear” in the occidental bazaar
They used to call Oxford Street
Now the bankrupt souls in the city
Are finally tasting defeat
SECOND CHORUS:
Don’t look at me
I’m having the time of my life
Or something quite like it
When I’m walking out and about
In London’s brilliant parade
When I’m walking out and about
In London’s brilliant parade
From the gates of St. Mary’s, there were horses in Olympia
And a trolley bus in Fulham Broadway
The lions and the tigers in Regents Park
Couldn’t pay their way
And now they’re not the only ones
At the Hammersmith Palais
In Kensington and Camden Town
There’s a part that I used to play;
The lovely Diorama is really part of the drama, I’d say
Meet Me In Montauk 
Well, I’m not sure if comparisons to Penny Lane are warranted, but it is a wonderful song. And I agree that this is a very strong album, and most welcomed by me since i really never got into the Juliette Letters.
I’m curious what you consider the “bumps” in this album. I’m personally not a big fan of 20% Amnesia or Sulky Girl. But one of the standouts worth mentioning is Clown Strike.
I actually like ‘Sulky Girl’ a lot. The weaker spots for me are ‘20% Amnesia,’ ‘Kinder Murder’ and ’13 Steps Lead Down.’
And I agree, ‘Clown Strike’ is a definite high spot.
I’m okay with Kinder Murder, though I can see that the chorus might get a bit redundant.