Goodbye Cruel World

Elvis Costello began the liner notes to one reissue of this album with the words “Congratulations! You just bought the worst album of my career.” Considering how high he’d set the bar, it was only a matter of time before he’d need a creative recharge. While Goodbye Cruel World isn’t the perfect place to start an Elvis Costello collection — the production by Clive Langer and Alan Winstanley, who’d done a solid job on the previous Punch the Clock, is stifling and often faceless at times — it does contain the absolutely essential “Peace In Our Time,” a muted, haunting and sorrowful ballad that looks disparagingly on the ensuing ‘80s. Costello’s duet with Daryl Hall for “The Only Flame In Town,” the R&B cover of “I Wanna Be Loved,” and the vitriol of “Worthless Thing” contain enough vintage Costello to make the process less grueling. However, it is the first Costello album where you must listen past the production to hear the genius behind “The Comedians” and “Sour Milk Cow Blues.”