Stiffed Again - Elvis Costello

Stiffed Again is a disc of two halves. The first part is essentially a reissue of the legendary Our Aim Is True bootleg of early demos; the second wraps up Costello's sessions for BBC radio DJ John Peel during 1977-1980. The sound is not always exemplary, but the material certainly is. Recorded during the period immediately before Elvis linked up with producer Nick Lowe, the first 12 tracks offer a fascinating reminder of just how developed Costello was at the time of his public debut, both as a performer and a songwriter. Just one of these cuts, the 1975 Flip City version of "Imagination Is a Powerful Deceiver," will be familiar from any official release; elsewhere, "Third Rate Romance" contains the blueprint for several tracks on This Year's Model, which is presumably why it never got any further. But neither time nor experience improved on the previous year's grinding models for "Living in Paradise" "Pay It Back," and "Radio Radio" (present here in its original incarnation as "Radio Soul"), while "I'm Packing Up" and the quirky "Don't Stop the Band" wouldn't have disgraced My Aim Is True either -- which brings us nicely to the Peel sessions, the first of which was recorded with that album fresh on the streets. "Blame It on Cain" and "Red Shoes" both date from Elvis and the Attractions' BBC debut session in July, 1977. Punchier than their album counterparts, "Cain" is also highlighted by some great boogie-type keyboards from Steve Naive and, after a few listens, you scarcely even notice the way the source tapes cuts off and then twists into "The Beat," the first of three songs dating from Costello's next session the following March. Recorded at a considerably faster tempo than the album versions, this session arguably captures Costello at his angry young iconoclast peak. "You Belong to Me" has a punky edge which would not have been out of place on his first album, while "Pump It Up" is a studio re-creation of the live show's duet for fiery guitar and organ. (A cleaner version of this same performance is available on the BBC's own One and Only compilation.) October, 1978 brought the most fondly remembered of Costello's BBC sessions. Highlighted by a positively demonic rendering of his then-latest single, the scathing "Radio Radio," it also gave rare airings to a genuinely yearning "Stranger in the House" and "I Just Don't Know What to Do with Myself." Disappointingly, all three suffer from either clipped intros or fades, and it's also galling to note the absence of "Really Mystified," a song which has never seen a regular release. But it's still a blistering showcase, and one of Costello's most typically atypical. The album closes with Costello's final session from February, 1980, and once again the power of the performances goes some way towards compensating for the deficiencies in sound. That, indeed, is what recommends Stiffed Again, just as it once recommended a Costello/Attractions gig. It didn't matter how lousy the venue, and how crumby the PA, you still got off on the sheer energy and adrenalin. Stiffed Again simply applies that same concept to your hi fi. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide