- With solid Double Plus (A++) sound from start to finish, this copy is doing most everything right – fairly quiet vinyl too
- This early import pressing showed us a Spike we never knew existed – there was so much energy and presence that it just came jumping out of the speakers and simply refused to mind its manners. Elvis should be proud. Why don’t more records sound like this?
- “Any King’s Shilling” on side two with its authentic Irish instrumentation (fiddle, uilleann pipes, Irish harp, bodhran) has Demo Disc quality sound of the highest order
- One of the best batches of songs Elvis (and his buddy Paul McCartney) ever wrote – the combination of such good sound and such good music makes this the last of the great Elvis records from an audiophile perspective
- Problems in the vinyl are sometimes the nature of the beast with these vintage LPs – there simply is no way around them if the superior sound of vintage analog is important to you
costespike
The Last Consistently Good Elvis Costello Album
Some reviewers think that this sprawling album with widely diverse musical styles lacks focus, but that’s precisely what makes it a work of genius.
On Spike, Elvis Costello tries his hand at every style of pop music he can think of and succeeds brilliantly with each and every one of them. This is one of the few compelling albums of the ’80s. I still play mine regularly on CD in the car.
Any King’s Shilling on side two with its authentic Irish instrumentation (fiddle, uilleann pipes, Irish harp, bodhran) has Demo Disc Quality sound of the highest order.
Another song on side two with top audiophile recording quality was Satellite. (For those of you who know Jellyfish, this has to be where they found some of the sound they would put to such good use on Bellybutton and Spilt Milk a few years later.
One side one God’s Comic is Demo Quality — so rich and natural. Where has this kind of sound gone? The way of the Dodo, baby, and it ain’t coming back. Mitchell Froom, the man who gave Crowded House such a polished pop sound, plays some wonderful keyboards here and elsewhere on the album. He’s joined by a slough of notables.
Elvis searched far and wide for this group and managed to find top players for every position on his team. The musicianship is top drawer all the way. Elvis clearly knows talent when he hears it.