Imperial Bedroom
Encyclopedia
Imperial Bedroom is a 1982 album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
. It was the second Costello album, along with Almost Blue
, not produced by Nick Lowe
, the production duties handled by Beatles
engineer Geoff Emerick
. "I wanted to try a few things in the studio that I suspected would quickly exhaust Nick's patience," as Costello put it in the liner notes to the 1994 Rykodisc reissue.
It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice
Pazz & Jop
critics poll. In 1998 readers of Q magazine
named it the 96th greatest album ever. In 1989, it was ranked #38 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 166 on Rolling Stone
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album reached number 6 in the UK charts and number 30 in the U.S., but the singles were less successful. "You Little Fool" and "Man Out of Time" each briefly appeared in the British top 60, but neither charted in America.
s were done during the twelve-week recording session at AIR Studios. It was recorded at the same time as Paul McCartney
's Tug of War, on which Emerick simultaneously served as recording engineer.
Unlike the previous two albums, there was no intent to have the songs in any particular arrangement or production style. Instead, they covered a variety of styles and included songs that were written at the end of the Trust (1981) sessions, through Costello's production of Squeeze's East Side Story, and during the "Nashville adventure" of Almost Blue
.
Imperial Bedroom continued a direction, started with Trust, where Costello used a piano to compose songs, which was different from the writing approach he used on his first four albums. As initially recorded, the album sounded very much like Trust, but none of these versions survived to the final recording, except the intro and outro of "Man Out of Time". Instead, the band experimented with different instrumental choices, including a 40-piece orchestra
for ".....And in Every Home". Costello also attempted to vary his vocal performances, such as the contrasting vocal tracks in "Pidgin English". Many of these studio embellishments had to be stripped when the songs were played live in concert.
Despite some of the lyrical content, Costello had imagined this to be his most optimistic album to date.
The album inspired the title of Bret Easton Ellis
' novel Imperial Bedrooms
, a sequel
to Ellis' earlier novel Less Than Zero, whose title was borrowed from Costello's song "Less Than Zero
".
(but credited to "Sal Forlenza") is a pastiche
of "Three Musicians
" by Pablo Picasso
, and letters on the zipper-like creatures in the upper right spell "PABLO SI".
This was the first Elvis Costello album to include lyrics, printed on the inner sleeve in all capitals with no punctuation. The UK release varied this presentation of the lyrics, such that on one side of the inner sleeve there was a circular cut, which made one side of the LP's center label visible. The lyrics, printed on that side of the inner sleeve, continued straight across that side of the LP's center label.
Note: The Rykodisc version has the original tracks and bonus tracks on one CD. The Rhino version has two CDs with the original tracks on the first CD.
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
. It was the second Costello album, along with Almost Blue
Almost Blue
Almost Blue is an album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It was recorded May 1981 in Nashville, and released on 23 October 1981. The record's songs consist entirely of country covers, including works originally written by Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, George Jones and Gram Parsons...
, not produced by Nick Lowe
Nick Lowe
Nicholas Drain "Nick" Lowe , is an English singer-songwriter, musician and producer.A pivotal figure in UK pub rock, punk rock and new wave, Lowe has recorded a string of well-reviewed solo albums. Along with vocals, Lowe plays guitar, bass guitar, piano and harmonica...
, the production duties handled by Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
engineer Geoff Emerick
Geoff Emerick
Geoffrey Emerick is an English recording studio audio engineer, who is best known for his work with The Beatles' albums Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles and Abbey Road...
. "I wanted to try a few things in the studio that I suspected would quickly exhaust Nick's patience," as Costello put it in the liner notes to the 1994 Rykodisc reissue.
It was voted as the best album of the year in The Village Voice
The Village Voice
The Village Voice is a free weekly newspaper and news and features website in New York City that features investigative articles, analysis of current affairs and culture, arts and music coverage, and events listings for New York City...
Pazz & Jop
Pazz & Jop
The Pazz & Jop critics' poll is a poll of music critics run by The Village Voice newspaper. It is compiled every year from the top ten lists of hundreds of music critics...
critics poll. In 1998 readers of Q magazine
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
named it the 96th greatest album ever. In 1989, it was ranked #38 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of The 100 Greatest Albums of the 80s. In 2003, the album was ranked number 166 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The album reached number 6 in the UK charts and number 30 in the U.S., but the singles were less successful. "You Little Fool" and "Man Out of Time" each briefly appeared in the British top 60, but neither charted in America.
Background
In addition to being the first album of original material not produced by Lowe, this was the first of Costello's albums to be recorded without any of the songs having already been performed live. As such, the songwriting and arrangementArrangement
The American Federation of Musicians defines arranging as "the art of preparing and adapting an already written composition for presentation in other than its original form. An arrangement may include reharmonization, paraphrasing, and/or development of a composition, so that it fully represents...
s were done during the twelve-week recording session at AIR Studios. It was recorded at the same time as Paul McCartney
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney, MBE, Hon RAM, FRCM is an English musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Formerly of The Beatles and Wings , McCartney is listed in Guinness World Records as the "most successful musician and composer in popular music history", with 60 gold discs and sales of 100...
's Tug of War, on which Emerick simultaneously served as recording engineer.
Unlike the previous two albums, there was no intent to have the songs in any particular arrangement or production style. Instead, they covered a variety of styles and included songs that were written at the end of the Trust (1981) sessions, through Costello's production of Squeeze's East Side Story, and during the "Nashville adventure" of Almost Blue
Almost Blue
Almost Blue is an album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions. It was recorded May 1981 in Nashville, and released on 23 October 1981. The record's songs consist entirely of country covers, including works originally written by Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, George Jones and Gram Parsons...
.
Imperial Bedroom continued a direction, started with Trust, where Costello used a piano to compose songs, which was different from the writing approach he used on his first four albums. As initially recorded, the album sounded very much like Trust, but none of these versions survived to the final recording, except the intro and outro of "Man Out of Time". Instead, the band experimented with different instrumental choices, including a 40-piece orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
for ".....And in Every Home". Costello also attempted to vary his vocal performances, such as the contrasting vocal tracks in "Pidgin English". Many of these studio embellishments had to be stripped when the songs were played live in concert.
Despite some of the lyrical content, Costello had imagined this to be his most optimistic album to date.
The album inspired the title of Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis
Bret Easton Ellis is an American novelist and short story writer. His works have been translated into 27 different languages. He was regarded as one of the so-called literary Brat Pack, which also included Tama Janowitz and Jay McInerney...
' novel Imperial Bedrooms
Imperial Bedrooms
Imperial Bedrooms is a novel by American author Bret Easton Ellis. Released on June 15, 2010, it is the sequel to Less Than Zero, Ellis' 1985 bestselling literary debut, which was shortly followed by a film adaptation in 1987. Imperial Bedrooms revisits Less Than Zeros self-destructive and...
, a sequel
Sequel
A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...
to Ellis' earlier novel Less Than Zero, whose title was borrowed from Costello's song "Less Than Zero
Less Than Zero (song)
"Less Than Zero" is the eighth track on Elvis Costello's debut album My Aim Is True, and the first Costello single that Stiff Records released.In the liner notes to the Rhino edition of the album, Costello writes:...
".
Packaging and Artwork
The name of the album "Imperial Bedroom" appears on the sleeve as IbMePdErRoIoAmL. The cover painting, titled "Snakecharmer & Reclining Octopus" by Barney BubblesBarney Bubbles
Colin Fulcher aka Barney Bubbles was a radical English graphic artist, whose work primarily encompassed the disciplines of graphic design, painting and music video direction. He is most renowned for his distinctive contribution to the graphic design associated with the British independent music...
(but credited to "Sal Forlenza") is a pastiche
Pastiche
A pastiche is a literary or other artistic genre or technique that is a "hodge-podge" or imitation. The word is also a linguistic term used to describe an early stage in the development of a pidgin language.-Hodge-podge:...
of "Three Musicians
Three Musicians
Three Musicians is the title of two similar collage and oil paintings by Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. They were both completed in 1921 in Fontainebleau near Paris, France, and exemplify the Synthetic Cubist style...
" by Pablo Picasso
Pablo Picasso
Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso known as Pablo Ruiz Picasso was a Spanish expatriate painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, and stage designer, one of the greatest and most influential artists of the...
, and letters on the zipper-like creatures in the upper right spell "PABLO SI".
This was the first Elvis Costello album to include lyrics, printed on the inner sleeve in all capitals with no punctuation. The UK release varied this presentation of the lyrics, such that on one side of the inner sleeve there was a circular cut, which made one side of the LP's center label visible. The lyrics, printed on that side of the inner sleeve, continued straight across that side of the LP's center label.
Side one
- "Beyond Belief" – 2:34
- "Tears Before Bedtime" – 3:02
- "Shabby Doll" – 4:48
- "The Long Honeymoon" – 4:15
- "Man Out of Time" – 5:26
- "Almost BlueAlmost Blue (song)"Almost Blue" is a song by Elvis Costello that appears on his 1982 album Imperial Bedroom."Almost Blue" was also performed by Everything but the Girl , Diana Krall , The Reputation , Judy Wexler , Alison Moyet "Almost Blue" is a song by Elvis Costello (Declan Patrick MacManus) that appears on his...
" – 2:50 - "...And in Every Home" – 3:23
Side two
- "The Loved Ones" – 2:48
- "Human Hands" – 2:43
- "Kid About It" – 2:45
- "Little Savage" – 2:37
- "Boy with a Problem" (music: Costello; lyrics: Chris DiffordChris DiffordChris Difford is a singer, musician, songwriter, and record producer....
; additional lyrics: Costello) – 2:12 - "Pidgin English" – 3:58
- "You Little Fool" – 3:11
- "Town Cryer" – 4:16
Bonus tracks (1994 Rykodisc CD)
- "From Head to Toe" (Smokey RobinsonSmokey RobinsonWilliam "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
) – 2:34 produced by Elvis Costello - "The World of Broken Hearts" (Mort ShumanMort ShumanMort Shuman was an American singer, pianist and songwriter, best known as co-writer of many 1960s rock and roll hits, including "Viva Las Vegas"...
, Doc PomusDoc PomusJerome Solon Felder, better known as Doc Pomus , was a twentieth-century American blues singer and songwriter. He is best known as the lyricist of many rock and roll hits. Pomus was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in the category of non-performer in 1992. He was also inducted into...
) – 3:01 produced by Elvis Costello - "Night Time" (Patrick Chambers) – 2:52 produced by Elvis Costello
- "Really Mystified" (Tony CraneTony CraneAnthony Steven "Tony" Crane is a former English footballer. He notably played as a professional for Sheffield Wednesday and Grimsby Town and was active between 1999 and 2009. His original position was in the centre of midfield, but he later became utilised as a defender. During his time with...
, John GustafsonJohn Gustafson (musician)John "Gus" Gustafson also known as Johnny Gustafson is an influential bass player who has had a thirty eight year recording and live performance career...
) – 2:03 produced by Elvis Costello - "I Turn Around" – 2:09 produced by Elvis Costello
- "Seconds of Pleasure" (Version 2 of The Invisible Man) – 3:43 produced by Elvis Costello
- "The Stamping Ground" – 3:09 produced by Elvis Costello
- "Shabby Doll" (Early version) – 4:18 produced by Elvis Costello
- "Imperial Bedroom" – 2:47 produced by Elvis Costello
Bonus disc (2002 Rhino)
- "The Land of Give and Take" (Early version of "Beyond Belief") – 3:05
- "Tears Before Bedtime" (Alternate version) – 3:03
- "Man Out of Time" (Alternate version) – 3:43
- "Human Hands" (Early version) – 2:44
- "Kid About It" (Alternate version) – 3:18
- "Little Savage" (Alternate version) – 3:07
- "You Little Fool" (Alternate version) – 2:59
- "Town Cryer" (Fast version) – 2:15
- "Little Goody Two Shoes" (Alternate version of "Inch by Inch") – 3:10
- "The Town Where Time Stood Still" (Alternate version) – 2:57
- "...And in Every Home" (Rehearsal) – 3:12
- "I Turn Around" – 2:09
- "From Head to Toe" (Robinson) – 2:34
- "The World of Broken Hearts" (Shuman, Pomus) – 3:01
- "Night Time" (Chambers) – 2:52
- "Really Mystified" (Crane, Gustafson) – 2:03
- "The Stamping Ground" – 3:09
- "Shabby Doll" (Demo version) – 4:18
- "Man Out of Time" (Demo version) – 3:27
- "You Little Fool" (Demo version) – 3:11
- "Town Cryer" (Demo version) – 3:03
- "Seconds of Pleasure" (Demo version) – 3:19
- "Imperial Bedroom" – 2:47
Note: The Rykodisc version has the original tracks and bonus tracks on one CD. The Rhino version has two CDs with the original tracks on the first CD.
Personnel
- Elvis CostelloElvis CostelloElvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal... - Steve NieveSteve NieveSteve Nieve is an English keyboardist, best known for his work with Elvis Costello and the Attractions and Elvis Costello and the Imposters.-Musical career:...
– pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, orchestrations - Bruce ThomasBruce ThomasBruce Thomas is best known as bassist for The Attractions; the band formed in 1977 to back Elvis Costello in concert and on record....
– bassBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick.... - Pete ThomasPete ThomasPete Thomas is best known as the longtime drummer for Elvis Costello. Tom Waits has referred to him as "one of the best rock drummers alive".-Career:...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
Charts
Album| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1982 | Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Pop Albums |
30 |