Elvis Costello released two great albums in 1986 but then took a break for three years before releasing his next disc, 1989’s Spike.
Spike was the first Costello album I bought as a new release, and as such it holds a special place in my heart.
Looking at it objectively, it’s a bit of a mess, but this batch of songs was like manna from heaven for a young guy who had recently discovered a new favorite artist and was dying for new material.
Following the double dip in 1986, Costello waited three years to put out his next album. During that time he signed with Warner Brothers and, as he tells it in the liner notes of Spike, was given a boatload of cash to make his next album. As a result, Costello writes, he took the five potential albums swimming around in his head and put them all out as one.
Indeed, Spike suffers a bit from schizophrenia. Though it is no longer than Get Happy!, Imperial Bedroom or King of America, it lacks those records’ thematic and musical cohesion and as a result feels about twice as lengthy as it is.
Meet Me In Montauk 