Elvis Costello - God's Comic

Rating:
Summary: His Aim is Askew
Review: Although the idea of reading a fellow diehard fan's personal interpretations of Elvis Costello's work is appealing, Gouldstone's lack of organization and shortcomings in musical knowledge make this an uneven read. Although his opinions on the songs are interesting and generally valid, his prose is weak and unbefitting of an artist as literary as Costello. His lack of musical knowhow can be source of irritation as well. As a songwriter and guitarist myself, I cringed every time I read the word "middle" being used in place of "bridge." If you can get past the poor structure and technical errors, it is fun to read one fan's opinions, and agree and disagree as you may. He does make a mistake in dedicating about equal time to masterpieces like "This Years Model" and less successful albums like "Goodbye Cruel World," but his song by song interpretations are fine, and his efforts to link themes from song to song and album to album are excellent. This is a fan book, it loses value for each one of these albums you don't actually own, but for those who do, try it out. It has been touched upon that the book stops at "Spike" and misses out on the nineties (in my opinion) Costello revival, offering no writing whatsoever on the lyrically fascinating "Brutal Youth" and "All This Useless Beauty." However, thanks to emergence of the Internet in the years since this book's pressing, it's pretty easy to find reviews of the newer albums to disagree with. For the old stuff, this is a decent compendium.

Rating:
Summary: Self-indulgent claptrap
Review: Elvis Costello may be one of the most literate songwriters in pop music -- he certainly has the best vocabulary. This book, however, consists mostly of tedious line-by-line dissections of his songs for hidden meanings and social commentary, and much of the artistry is lost along the way. One is reminded of '60s types looking for hidden messages in Beatles and Dylan lyrics, and it's not a pretty sight. Only a die-hard Costello aficianado could make it through this tedious book, and so I did -- despite the hopeless morass.

Rating:
Summary: This is the worst book on a significant artist ever.
Review: Gouldstone never claims to be a musical genius or a mind-reader, he just gives his honest assessment of every Elvis Costello song up from 'My Aim is True' to 'Spike.' It's exactly what I'm always looking for in the rock section of book stores: a book about one of my favorite artists' ALBUMS. I don't care what happened to him when he was a kid or growing up that made Elvis the way he is; I just care about the music. Gouldstone's analysis is often insightful, often funny, and often way off (he totally dismisses 'Blood and Chocolate!'). But, above all, he loves EC and appreciates his contribution to the art of songwriting as much as I do and he sits around pondering Elvis's brilliant and affecting use of the english language as much as I do. For an EC fan who doesn't have too many other friends familiar with his work, 'God's Comic' is a godsend. I've already read it five times cover to cover and I never get tired of it. It just simply makes your EC record collection better! To not buy it is foolish. It reminds me of that line from 'Suit of Lights:' "It's enough to make you think right now but you don't bother..."

Rating:
Summary: illuminating, but off the mark too often
Review: I found the book interesting, mostly because it's only book I could find analyzing his music. The author is way off on some of his "interpretations", and delves into fiction sometimes with his own theories about what songs or phrases in songs mean. This is why artists like Costello HATE having their songs dissected. they usually get it wrong.

Rating:
Summary: illuminating, but off the mark too often
Review: I found the book interesting, mostly because it's only book I could find analyzing his music. The author is way off on some of his "interpretations", and delves into fiction sometimes with his own theories about what songs or phrases in songs mean. This is why artists like Costello HATE having their songs dissected. they usually get it wrong.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Laugh
Review: If you plan to get some sort of deep insight into Costello's lyrics with this book, give up now. However, if you can stomach all 200 pages of this book, you will atleast walk away with a few good laughs. Gouldstone completely misunderstands practically each and every Costello song. Not to mention he insults some of his best albums. I got a kick out of this book because it made me realize that there are some people out there who are so arrogant as to think they know everything when they actually know nothing.

Rating:
Summary: A Good Laugh
Review: If you plan to get some sort of deep insight into Costello's lyrics with this book, give up now. However, if you can stomach all 200 pages of this book, you will atleast walk away with a few good laughs. Gouldstone completely misunderstands practically each and every Costello song. Not to mention he insults some of his best albums. I got a kick out of this book because it made me realize that there are some people out there who are so arrogant as to think they know everything when they actually know nothing.

Rating:
Summary: One Man's Opinion
Review: Seeing as music appreciation is a personal endeavor, writing about a songwriter and performer such as Elvis Costello can be dangerous, since his fans are fairly particular about what they like and what they don't. Mr. Gouldstone goes through Costello's catalog chronologically by album, with important odd tracks added when applicable, but because he is the first to publicly tackle such an oeuvre, his opinions stand out prominently. The reader occasionally is inclined to say out loud, "Is he kidding?", as the interpretations are somewhat personal. Which only illustrates the breadth of Costello's talent. After all, my Elvis is not your Elvis.One also wishes a revised edition was available, seeing as Costello has released much music since the publication of this book. Still, being the only of its kind available about the author, it is essential reading for any diehard fan, and states the case for Costello's own self-penned literary companion or anthology, should he ever be inclined to write one.

Rating:
Summary: Quite Terrible--ZERO stars
Review: Unless you care to know what color socks Elvis Costello was wearing the morning he laid down the fourth take of his harmony vocal track for the third verse in the song "Sour Milk-Cow Blues" from the album "Goodbye Cruel World" I don't recommend this book. Unfortunately, this vital piece of information isn't revealed, but some startling revelations about EC's songs are uncovered. The songs are tediously dissected searching for hidden meanings and questioning ridiculous aspects of the music and lyrics. At one point, when picking apart the song "Green Shirt" from the album "Armed Forces" he writes, "'Green Shirt' has a trick up it's sleeve, so to speak. It's basically in 4/4, but in the second line of the chorus a beat mysteriously disappears so that one bar is in 3/4. This device ensures that there's something subtly 'wrong' with the song, making the listener feel uncomfortable, as if something's going on behind your back but you're not quite sure what it is. This feeling of uncertainty of course echoes the song's theme of suspicion and paranoia." Riveting! That is exactly what I thought when I first heard the same song. He then ponders the question that has plagued every EC fan for decades......"Why 'green'shirt?" You'll have to get the book to find out, sorry to leave you in suspense.