Few artists managed to prevent themselves from falling for pop sounds that would erode their songwriting. Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, and Neil Young all staggered through the 1980s with a lacklustre set of albums. Where the one-time Wings frontman would still be topping charts, the soul was lost from his work until Elvis Costello, who rode through the ‘80s with some all-time great albums, revived him. Imperial Bedroom is an indication of what Costello could bring not just to the work of others, but why he remained at the top of his game throughout this period. He had a little slip-up like all artists, but the hits of his career, on par with the likes of Armed Forces and This Year’s Model, were still to come. Imperial Bedroom features an obvious hit with Man Out of Time but there is much to love about the rest of the songs releasing from this period, too. That’s the difference. Costello was still an albums man, his peers had drifted to rough live shows and hollow hit singles.
Where it may feel like Man Out of Time is the standout track amid a collection of solid but forgettable album tracks, Imperial Bedroom is a white-hot piece of work. Costello held onto the punk spirit of his message but moulded his shift towards new wave and popular rock tones. Crucial is the momentum which carried his earliest works. The tempo may change but a song like Beyond Belief is still a thrill ride. One of his very best songs and it’s a strong opener, too, that frenetic energy Costello had made his own throughout the 1970s is alive and well. He could do a lot more with it, and would do just that with Imperial Bedroom. Songs like The Long Honeymoon sounds as though the doubt of marriage has taken over despite the baroque flirtiness found in the instrumentals. Both doubt and desire existing, overlapping, is a classic component of Costello at his best. Imperial Bedroom oozes with that quality.
That howl which marks the end of The Long Honeymoon and start of Man Out of Time may as well serve as a splash of cold water, that reality setting in moment. A story of a man unhappy with his standing and the desire to run from the trouble he should’ve noticed long before he howled. Costello is a master of subtle storytelling because above all of that is an incredible instrumental style. Just an outstanding double bill. Two of Costello’s very best when it comes to that blur of heart on his sleeve songwriting and impressive, piano-led instrumentation from Steve Nieve. The Imposters are in career-best form for parts of Imperial Bedroom, always teasing that spirited punk blowout as they do at the end of Man Out of Time.
Honesty is what prevails on Imperial Bedroom. Sadness overwhelms the lyrical context of the B-side, with Kid About It utilising that Geoff Emerick production extremely well. Back is that rage which defined the earlier albums, but not the out and out tempo, it’s not the noise but the notes Costello has made that feel through one of his very best albums. Boy With a Problem is nothing short of magnificent, one of the many songs that highlights the desperation we sometimes feel to get out of situations we never thought we’d end up in. Costello finds that brilliant line between the rage of his early works and the more experimental, honest sound heard on Almost Blue. He fine-tunes everything he can, instrumentals included, and brings out one of the best albums of his career. Imperial Bedroom holds up as an immense heartbreaker but also a championing of those instrumental thrills he’s so often brought out.
