Continuing a countdown of my favorite albums of 1986…

#3 – King of America – Elvis Costello

Last week I noted that Blood & Chocolate was one of two great albums Elvis Costello released in 1986. The other, King of America, might be the best thing he’s ever done.

Costello has had a prolific and wide-ranging career, dipping his toe in every conceivable genre and teaming up with a laundry list of unlikely collaborators. But I’ll be boring and say the early to mid-80s remains the high point of his impressive catalog. My three favorite Castello albums — Get Happy!!, Imperial Bedroom, and this one — all came out during that span.

On King of America, Costello gave The Attractions a break and formed a new backing band with T-Bone Burnett — a band made up of Americans to suit the country and Americana songs he was writing.

Costello and Burnett shared production duties, utilizing very few overdubs and relying mostly on acoustic instrumentation. The songs were more emotionally open and less lyrically complex than his usual output.

And what songs! A short list of the album’s best tracks includes ‘Brilliant Mistake,’ ‘Indoor Fireworks,’ ‘I’ll Wear It Proudly,’ ‘American Without Tears,’ ‘Jack of All Parades,’ and ‘Suit of Lights’ — all songs any musician would kill to have written. And the “filler” tracks, mostly blues jams, inject levity and energy into an otherwise melancholy collection.

King of America and Imperial Bedroom were my gateway Elvis Costello albums (a gift from daily commenter Dana, in fact!) and I can’t think of a better introduction to the many things he does well.