My first real exposure to Elvis Costello was through two albums I still consider his best — King of America and Imperial Bedroom.
Those two albums contain a wealth of styles and moods, from the laid back country crooning and rockabilly of the former to the Beatles-esque menagerie of the latter. They both serve as perfect vehicles for Costello’s brilliant lyrical word salad and as entry points go, I couldn’t have been blessed with better ones.
So now we come to Imperial Bedroom, the second album in my Costello Holy Trinity and probably my favorite of his records. To paraphrase Ed Wood in Tim Burton’s film: “This is the one they’ll remember him for!”
To be fair, Costello will be remembered for far more than Imperial Bedroom, not least the fact that he can put out an Imperial Bedroom as well as a country album, a classical album and a Burt Bacharach album. But this is certainly a highlight in his discography.
Meet Me In Montauk 