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- Summary: Costello's second album with producer T-Bone Burnett is both reminiscent of his earlier work and experimental in sound, with a foray into finger-picking country and eclectic folk-rock tunes.
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- Record Label: Hear Music
- Genre(s): Pop/Rock
- More Details and Credits »
Top Track
| A Slow Drag with Josephine | |
|---|---|
| The snitch, the snoop, the tattletale lead a threadbare up the stairs Adieu, my little ballyhoo, you broke my heart in two And now I haunt the bars... | See the rest of the song lyrics |
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Score distribution:
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Positive: 18 out of 20
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Mixed: 2 out of 20
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Negative: 0 out of 20
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Nov 5, 2010The album winds up with trace echoes of all eras of Costello, but that's only a reflection of how National Ransom is a masterwork in the traditional sense: he's summoned all his skills to deliver an album that summarizes his world view.
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Nov 2, 2010There's never been an Elvis Costello album like National Ransom, even though nothing about the record is especially new.
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Nov 11, 2010You'd be hard pressed to find an album as varied as Elvis Costello's National Ransom (his 26th, give or take).
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Nov 17, 2010It's a lot to take in, but his aim is true as always.
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Oct 29, 2010National Ransom isn't the midlife masterpiece that obsessives have been pining for, but its finer points are worth seeking out, in all their sepia-tinted glory.
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Nov 1, 2010At 16 songs, the album can feel disorienting, but it's further proof that for an Englishman, Costello has become an improbable - and invaluable - ambassador of America's overlooked musical past.
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Q MagazineNov 4, 2010Recorded in 11 days in Nashville and LA, National Ransom sees Costello continuing his obsession with bluegrass and Americana, under the watchful eye of producer T-Bone Burnett. [Dec. 2010, p. 104]
Score distribution:
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Positive: 1 out of 1
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Mixed: 0 out of 1
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Negative: 0 out of 1
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Nov 6, 2010
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