rock · 2002
When I Was Cruel
Elvis Costello
After years detouring through Bacharach ballads and string quartets, Elvis Costello walks back into a loud room and slams the door, and 2002 rewards him for it.
"45" opens with a guitar figure that snaps like a turnstile, counting off the vinyl format and the man's own age in one pun, and the whole album keeps that clenched, wired quality. The centerpiece, "When I Was Cruel, No. 2," runs almost seven minutes over a sampled Italian pop loop, Costello hissing accusations across a wedding scene while the beat refuses to resolve. It's the sound of a writer who has learned every trick from his side projects and now uses them to sharpen a rock record rather than smooth it. Menace, not nostalgia, is what carries him home.