Elvis Costello

After the critical success of his debut, Elvis Costello got the Attractions together and recorded what many consider his finest effort. Meaner and harder than his debut -- everything sounds oddly threatening -- This Year's Model still brims over with intelligence, melody, dark humor, quotable lyrics and jittery new wave vibes (keyboardist Steve Neive was a co-architect of Elvis' sound). The jerky classic "Pump It Up" actually earned some FM radio airplay in America and the album's stature would only grow throughout the 1980s.

This is not punk rock. But anyone who thinks it's uninfluenced should compare the bite and drive of the backup here to the well-played studio pub-rock of his debut and ask themselves how come he now sounds as angry as he says he feels. I find his snarl more attractive musically and verbally than all his melodic and lyrical tricks, and while I still wish he liked girls more, at least I'm ready to believe he's had some bad luck. (Grade - A)