Brutal Youth

Far too many Elvis Costello albums on this list, that's for sure. It's alright, but I see no reason there to be SIX of his albums included. Has he been particularly influencial or popular at some point in history? Because I don't remember ever running into an Elvis Constello fan in the wild nor really seen all that much talk about his stuff in my social bubble either. Granted, that shouldn't be a reason to be on this list, but come on, six albums? Yeah, this is just alright. But fucking six albums? Really?

There’s something about how he writes melody that is very satisfying to me. 3.5 but I’ll round up.

Un poco sin más, rollo no está mal pero pop rock noventero no?

Hell nah

I thought I would like this more but I found his vocals to bother me too much unfortunately.

It's an alright album but I'm just not a fan of this jazzy style of singing. The music is okay also but it gets a bit old towards the end of the album. I'm sure he was trying to do some big poetic album type thing and that's commendable I just didn't like it very much.

At some point, you're really just rating Elvis Costello against himself

Elvis Costello is a fantastic song writer who has the amazing ability to make nearly every one of his songs sound flat and a bit of a drag.

I generally don’t like his vocals and find his songwriting overly meandering, so was surprised to quite enjoy this. Could still do without that reedy vibrato, but found his vocals the best I’ve heard of him, and liked quite a few of the ideas, melodies and changes and the slightly raw feel of the rhythm section.

Inessential but OK.

Like this post if this is the worst Elvis Costello album you’ve ever heard!!!!!!!!!

🤓/ 5

I wish I liked Elvis Costello so I could stand listening to all of his albums on this list. This album just kept going and going when I wanted it to end.

Me gusta Elvis Costello pero encuentro excesivo el número de lps en esta selección. Este disco está bien para sus seguidores pero no es imprescindible.

Brutal was an appropriate word in this album name. Sheesh. What a terrible album! I guess I don't actually like Elvis Costello. 😭😒

Would love to meet this bastard before he dies so that I can tell him just how much I hate his music

….this was really generic. It sounds like a modern release that might get popular momentarily, but after decades, would not be considered a “classic.” For me, musically, this was…”listenable” enough…? Not Perfectly listenable; the voice is veryy slightly grating sometimes. To be fair, sometimes I still enjoy songs that are musically-mediocre like this if instead the lyrics are good, or really remind me of a story / character I like; but in this album, the lyrics don’t really speak to me either. “Still to soon to know” stood out as a good song in this. …also, is it just me or do some of the songs really remind me of Fall Out Boy (especially the way this singer enunciates things)

65

I enjoyed this. 4/5

Too much “singer songwriter” DNA for me. Nothing to hate but nothing really grabbed me either.

Everyone else can fuck off no one writes a song like Mr Costello. He continues to be the truth on this one; just incredibly solid songs that I couldn’t fathom writing myself. He’s too good. This may be weaker than the other entries on the list but it still has every part of the trademark Costello formula. This might be an 8/10 but don’t let me catch you speaking ill about my boy.

I am an Elvis Costello fan, but I've never really had a good reason to look at his work after the 80s. Mostly know the big albums (this list has them all), but never heard Brutal Youth before. I'm a bit confused about it's inclusion, not that it's a bad album at all it's good enough. I'm not sure what warrants it a 'must hear or die' status over his other, much more essential records. Much like Bowie's 'The Next Day' inclusion, you could subtract those albums for an artist that just misses the cut of the list, like Grace Jones or Lady Gaga. It's not so important to hear this record over literally all the other Costello albums on the list. Brutal Youth itself isn't unremarkable, but is an album I like bits and pieces of, rather than the album itself. I think it starts and mostly ends strong. The middle is a bit of the reason why I don't listen to Costello post 80s, I prefer his punkier mixed with new wave sound. He evolves more so as a songwriter here, but compositionally it just doesn't gravitate to me so much. Would be a 4 if it was someone else doing this, but with Elvis Costello I would expect something more cohesive.

Brutal indeed.

Not bad, but not nearly my favorite by them.

I had never heard anything from this album previously, but it's certainly not a departure from what I already know of Costello. Great songwriting with solid hooks and thought-provoking lyrics. As usual I enjoy the upbeat overdriven guitar-based tracks more so than the piano driven ballads, but even the latter is pretty great here. Something about Costello's distinctive voice ties it all together.

I’ve tried to give the benefit of the doubt to the other couple Costello albums I’ve gotten so far. Ya he has too many albums on the list but I generally don’t think he makes bad music by any means. This album is an exception to that though. It sounds like Costello doesn’t even care about making this music and is just going through the motions

This project has confirmed my dislike for Elvis Costello.

There's better Elvis Costello albums on this. Most all of the tracks were uninspiring to me, and Elvis's voice was particularly rough compared to other works.

I’ve got heaps of respect for Elvis Costello but this album has no place on this list. There’s a couple toe tappers but for the most part, it’s not clicking with me

not bad, really, but I will not remember much about this album until the next time i listen to it. The songs with the Attractions are p good.

According to the 1 star reviews of this, and I’m assuming all Elvis Costello albums, there’s too many Elvis Costello albums on this challenge and many of you “just can’t with his voice”. Well, I guess some of you don’t understand the meaning of “challenge” and, regarding the voice thing… ugh… what a cop out. One person had Bob Dylan among their top artists. Don’t get me wrong I love Bob Dylan. A lot more than most people, I tell you what, but you’re trying to tell me that you like Dylan but, Costello is a nonstarter? Get outta here. A lot of them like mostly metal and not just good metal, but stuff like, Slipknot and System Of A Down, etc… it’s pretty obvious what is the issue in this case. Not that I don’t like metal! I don’t JUST like metal. So, some angry man screaming into the void is ok, but intelligible, if not unconventional, voices really grind your gears… I’m shocked that so many people have participated in this experience who seem to not like music that much. It’s weird… I digress, 1994’s Brutal Youth is Costello’s first album with his regular band, The Attractions, since 1986’s Blood And Chocolate and they don’t miss a step. Bassist Bruce Thomas plays on half the record and bassist/songwriter extraordinaire, Nick Lowe plays on the other half. This record doesn’t have the manic energy of those early Attractions records but, the more mature and deliberate playing on this one is a welcome shift. When I get through this whole thing and I get to recommend an album, I’m going to choose another Elvis Costello album. I’m joking!… Or, am I? I am. I’m going to recommend Nick Lowe’s Labour Of Lust 4.4

great but a bit too long

Brutal Youth is a brutal listen

Elvis Costello gets a lot of grief here, but his voice is darn-near irresistible. And this is a set of smartly written songs, even if none of them quite landed in my subconscious. 3.5?

I thought I’d finished the Elvis Costello marathon, but then this pops up. This album kind of sums up the whole Costello experience in the project - there is some undeniably good music here, plus some very average music, and overall there is just too much of it.

The other Elvis Costello albums are better. I did like the fuzzed up bass on a couple of the peppier tracks. The construction and talent are there. But, 15 tracks is too much. Honestly, a better album would have been 8-10.

ts buns, there’s just too many of his own albums, not even the beatles have as many albums as this guy and all of them sound the same

Preferred his earlier catchy songs

This sounds like a cartoon version of someone trying to be Elvis Costello. It's so hard to take seriously. After this week of music, I just couldn't take it.

Jamais écouté avant. Un album de power pop sophistiquée, bavarde et érudite à la Elvis Costello (ça tombe bien), sorti au sommet de la vague britpop, comme pour rappeler aux petits jeunes que l'ancêtre en a encore sous le pied. C'est plutôt très bon, même si le tout est un peu long, assez safe et sans réel morceau de bravoure. Top : Kinder Murder Flop : Clown Strike

2.5 Not terrible, and there are a couple of songs I really enjoyed, but disappointing considering some of his previous stuff

Meh. Fairly boring and overlong. Passable pop rock but it’s pretty uninspired and the vocal performance is quite mid

Eh. It was alright. 3/5 ⭐️ 273/1089

ganz ok!

Gut gemacht, aber diese Stimme macht mich nervös

Why is this here? Is it because "Elvis Costello" is the name of the artist? Yes, it's better than some of the other entrants (not mentioning ABBA or ELO. Those are some of the worst albums ever released. That's easy). But really? At best, mediocre.... And I love Elvis Costello's voice. But these are 2nd rate Costello songs. 3 "for the mediocrity" stars.

I like elvis but this is just ok. 2.5

I know there is too much of this guy on the list and I’d call myself somewhat of a fan only, but I was surprised to quite like this album. It was a little heavier and up tempo than I was expecting for being a little later than his really big period.

I didn't enjoy Brutal Youth as much as This Year's Model, but it was still a fun listen.

meh

Overall Rating - 3.37/5 (6.73/10). Good musicianship, solid album.

Honestly pretty boring. Not a bad album by any means, but a hefty no thank you from me.

Pop Rock/Power Pop Favorite Songs: *Did not record* Least Favorite Song: *Did not record* When I got my first album from Elvis Costello, I thought that it was going to be an album that just wasn’t going to be my thing. That album being Armed Forces. It was actually one of the more higher rated albums on Rate Your Music with a 3.71. I thought that it would just be an overall fluke and I’ll just get on with my life. And then this site generated this album. And honestly…yeah, no, I’m not a fan of Elvis Costello. His voice just sounded so nastily that it’s to the point that I can’t take him seriously. I didn’t liked his voice back in the first album, and I don’t like his voice here, too. It’s annoying, and I really hope that I don’t get another album of his anytime soon. 3/10

Declan MacManus, International Art Thief!!!

This is not my favorite Elvis Costello album. This album was just okay.

ok

brutally boring

Very big day for me today, finally my last Elvis Costello album. Somehow he was deemed an important enough artist to justify having SIX entries on this list, and I'm so glad it's finally over. Every single one of this man's albums sound exactly the same, and they aren't even that good or noteworthy to begin with. Just the same old formulaic pop rock for 45 minutes every single time (although this one just had to be a bit longer, thanks for saving it until last for me!)

I paused this about a week and a half ago and was dreading this album because I didn’t like the last one at all. I’m on track two and this is WAY better than the last one I listened to. Which means “fans” probably hate this one. 🤣😂 my finger is never on the pulse of pop culture but I like what I like. 😂

So this is my first Elvis Costello album on this list (and in general). There are two options, as far as i see: 1.) This is a terrible Costello album to start with - bland, boring, vocally annoying. Maybe at some point he was better, more interesting, visionary. or: 2.) This is just what Elvis Costello sounds like and the rest of the project will be accompanied by an an ongoing fear that the next Costello album is waiting just around the corner.

I wonder how many people have stopped this project after hearing another middling Elvis Costello album. And I like Elvis Costello!

I’m not sure what the list curator is thinking here. I imagine a universe in which I had never listened to Elvis Costello before and I am told to listen to this album. I might think “this Elvis guy is really boring I’m not going to listen to him anymore.” That would be a mistake. Elvis has a lot of good albums, this is not one of them. He has a lot of great songs, none of them are on this record. It’s Elvis Costello so it’s not terrible but it’s also not good. It’s mostly just boring- possibly self indulgent but I would have to listen again more closely to make that determination and that ain’t happening.

People I know and respect like Elvis Costello albums from his, ah, mature phase. But I saw this pop up and said, "Oh, for f#@&k's sake" out loud. I am not a believer in .... what I recently realized is "all the albums Elvis Costello recorded without Nick Lowe producing" ... which is suggestive, in terms of understanding the sneaky genius of Nick Lowe. When I unsuccessfully attempted to become a record reviewer for my campus weekly newspaper as a first year student, I was told to go find a new album and review it. That album turned out to be Spike, and I tried to do a good job, but ... something didn't click. My big take there was that all of the songs are pretty good, but then they go on too long. If they had been made punchy 3-ish minute songs, he might have had something. That take shows up here, where repeatedly in the first minute, I think, Hey, ok, this sounds pretty good. And by the end I'm like, Are we still doing this? Jeez. A story oft repeated in my life comes from the time in 1987 when my best friend and I went to see Elvis C, on his King of America tour if memory serves, at the Orpheum in Boston. (The anecdote isn't really about EC; it's about us lying on the floor of my friend's family living room in front of the tv, at the time stated on the tickets as the concert's scheduled start time, saying, Yeah, we'll leave fairly soon, and his mom saying, You two are a couple of beauts -- if you were any more laid back, you'd be dead. Which still strikes me as a pretty good line. That concert was not altogether satisfactory. Kind of erratic. He was dodgy, hard to follow, ragged ... the whole thing was uneven. But the conceit (gimmick) was that there was this Wheel of Fortune type thing he would spin to determine the next song they would play. Very "look at me," but not great flow, concert-wise. Even assuming the wheel was not rigged to follow a set playlist. I didn't love that concert, but didn't really have a developed take on it. (Bonus aside: I bought a t shirt that night that not only didn't fit me ... I don't think it was tailored to human proportions. I think a medium to large sized dog would maybe have been able to wear it.) Looking back, it strikes me that what I was picking up on is a tendency in Costello to be very self-satisfied and think that whatever he does will work because he's him. And that shows up on this album, too -- especially in the word play that he seems to think is So, So Clever. [Eye roll] And it shows up in the huge volume of albums he has recorded since ... pick a date between 1985 and 1990 ... in which he repeats himself, recording new versions of the same songs endlessly, generally without the deft, punchy pop song effect that to my mind his whole successful career depended on. So -- I think I have not believed in Costello really since that concert. And this just adds to the illustrative examples. There are moments. Not a lot of songs that work start to finish. Clown Strike is pretty good. But consider Rocking Horse Road: it starts, and I'm thinking, with relief, Hey, ok -- we've got something here. And by the end, I said aloud, to the air around me, The pacing is f*&$king killing me. (referring not to this song as much as -- all. the. goddamn. songs. Had it up to here! And for me, that's the whole EC story for the last 40 years. It's hard to believe that someone could like This Year's Model as much as I do, and be irked by Brutal Youth as much as I was today.

I did not enjoy this at all. I found it chaotic and nonsensical. I felt like her choose a title for a song and then just randomly blathered on

Just based on the group text chain, it doesn't seem like I need to spend a lot of time reviewing this record. To put it briefly, this was disappointing. I had an Elvis Costello moment in late high school, and have always had a fondness for him since that time. But this album just was so lazy. It really seemed like someone said, buddy, you need to put a record out. It doesn't matter if you have run out of ideas; just recycle your old stuff. No one will care. Why this record is on this list is just another mystery.

Quite boring, slow and dull album, don't really get why it's on the list

oh look some more elvis costello

If "This Is Hell" wasn't so relatable, this would have gotten a 2 instead. I don't really like Costello's vocals, and the instrumentals have no substance to speak of.

Elvis Costello is usually good, but for some reason this was kind of really good.

Who knew that I liked Elvis Costello???? Three stars

I do like Elvis Costello but this sounds a lot like his other better albums

I liked this album. No particular standout, but good overall. 3.4

This could’ve been a four star for me but it really dragged towards the end. I don’t think it needed to have 15 songs on it. A pity because it started off brilliantly with Pony St. and there are a few other great tracks on here. Top Track - This Is Hell

Man I'm so sick of Elvis Costello clogging up my ears

2026.10.21.

Fine but nothing special. Nowhere near essential listening. 1 - doesn't belong on this list

For the third time I say Elvis Costello would have been more influential if he didn't have to compete with Bruce Springsteen. He is constantly trying to one up the Boss and seems to come up short. I could not get through this album. Just uneventful and lacking genuine emotion.

I really like Elvis Costello. I saw him open for Bob Dylan when I was in college in ~2008 and he was amazing, and I’ve listened to most of his discography over the years. I start with this context as I think it at least gives me some credibility with what I’m about to say: Elvis Costello is significantly over represented in this list. Like, he’s great! I think he had a remarkably consistent run of very good albums from the late 70’s through the 80’s, and this solid album from the 90’s. Costello is legit enough to have multiple albums on the list, but I think the list would be better had this been capped at 2, and then bands like Weezer (seriously how are the blue album and Pinkerton not here?) could have been represented. Obviously the above is an issue with the list itself and not the album, though I found Brutal Youth a little less interesting than most of Costello’s work prior to this.

I just don't know why there are so many of his albums on here

The List Makers love Elvis Costello almost as much as David Bowie. That can be annoying but remember, it’s not Costello’s fault. He was just standing there making music. So, how does this album rate? I think it’s a solid album with an energetic, direct feel. Much like his earliest work that way. Lyrically, it’s strong and rewards (maybe requires) multiple listens. I find this to be generally true with EC after his first couple albums…he packs a lot in there. I will take another strong Costello offering any day.

Elvis Costello is an acquired taste, and putting six of his albums on this list is perhaps asking a bit much of your audience. Still, I am surprised at how much I enjoy his work. Initially, I thought he was pretentious and overrated, however, with each album I find myself tempering my original opinion. This is a later album that captures a lot of the energy of his earlier works while dabbling in multiple genres and styles. I'm not going to downrate the album because others are included on the list. Just gonna click four stars and keep this one in rotation.

Not good enough to be on this list. Slow, dull and uninspiring pop rock. Like I said in the last Costello review. You need My Aim is True and This Year's Model on this list and that's it. The rest is superfluous and dilutes the legacy. 2 stars but maybe it deserves 1.

An ok album, goes seemingly slowly through the record.

I like Elvis Costello but this one isn’t for me

One of his weakest efforts

Não é a minha chávena de chá. A música do hell foi especialmente dolorosa

Irritante

Também não foi a minha jam, a voz dele não ajuda

not really in the mood for this today.

Elvis Costello is not my regular artist to listen to. Mainly the vocal part is for me an absolute no go. Brutal Youth doesn't really live to it's title. This is some mainstream indierock which will scare off any youngsters or anyone who loves good music.

Enough with fucking Elvis Costello

Alors, si j'en crois l'article de Wikipédia qui est proposé avec cet album, il y a 6 album d'Elvis Costello dans la liste ??? 6 ? Pour une seule personne ? C'est n'importe quoi ! Tiens et d'ailleurs, j'apprends qu'Elvis Costello est britannique. Je sais pas pourquoi, mais j'aurais jamais pensé qu'un anglais pouvais s'appeler Elvis. Oui, c'est un pseudo, je vais, mais quand même. Bon ben écoute, je suppose qu'Elvis Costello est un artiste influent et tout ça, mais j'aimerais comprendre comment cet album a été sélectionné. Si j'en crois sa discographie, c'est loin d'être son album le plus significatif et les gens semblent beaucoup moins l'apprécier que d'autres albums du début de sa carrière. Alors pourquoi, après avoir déjà mis 5 albums du même gars dans une liste limitée à 1001 albums, rajouter celui-ci ? Explique-moi, Robert Dimery, explique-moi ! Parce que cet album n'est pas mauvais. Pas du tout, il est très sympathique et c'est un 3 enthousiaste, que je mets. Mais, pour la je-ne-sais-pas-combientième fois, pourquoi cet album ?

This Elvis Costello album was a bit of a let-down here; I have a lot of respect for him, but his other album (Armed Forces) on this list, which I’ve already listened to, was enough – and far better than this one, mind you! Anyway, a 2 for his contribution to pop music. Next ;-)

Although I’m sure that the same can be said for a lot of artists and bands, for me pretty much every Elvis Costello song sounds about the same. This album is good but not very exciting.

I really reminded me of high school musical

This is some 15 years after his cultural peak so I expected it to be some late career renaissance. Not really the case though, it kind of sounds exactly the same as all the other Elvis Costello albums on here. It's just another album of exactly what you'd expect with him. Worthwile inclusion? Not really, but at least all my Elvis Costello albums are done now. Sure is a lot that's worse that you could listen to.

Baustelle, Gerstetten, Deutschland. Gabz okay.

Hey, I love Elvis Costello a lot, more than most people. But he has too many albums on this list. We don’t need a 90s Elvis Costello album on this list. There’s some nice songs here. But it doesn’t illuminate either Costello or music in any new or innovative way. It’s just nice Elvis Costello music, which is coveted by two or three better albums already on this list.

Always a good listen when it's Elvis 3/5

Not awful, but it felt like a weird mix of songs from musicals, pop, a little punk all with the unique voice of Elvis Costello. Not my favorite.