10 Perfect New Wave Albums With No Bad Songs
9. My Aim Is True - Elvis Costello (1977)
Elvis Costello came right out of the British pub-rock scene. He was swept up in the first wave of punk acts, but didn't fit comfortably into the category.
His debut album was a smorgasbord of musical influences, drawing from: ska, blues, country and Motown. He blended the pissed off nature of punk rockers like Johnny Rotten, with the songwriting and melody skills of Bruce Springsteen. Whereas Rotten seemed vaguely pissed off at everyone and everything, Costello had the emotional intelligence to identify specific grievances. He poked fun at his own self-pity on tracks like, Welcome To The Week - a track that in under a minute and a half manages to encapsulate the monotonous necessity of a 9-5. Alison, has became Costello's defining sombre love ballad. Costello has always been somewhat cryptic as to the meaning of the song, but contemporary understandings consider it as a mourning for lost love.
His bitterness gave a distinct edge to his more pop-centric melodies. His debut distinguished him as an accomplished song writer - who was able to write numbers that spoke to the blight of the working class, while simultaneously expressing universal frustrations.