This Year's Model

This Year's Model

Original British album cover
Studio album by Elvis Costello and The Attractions
Released 17 March 1978 (1978-03-17)
Recorded Eden Studios, London, 1977 (1977)–1978 (1978)
Genre Punk rock, New Wave
Length 35:44
Label Radar
Producer Nick Lowe
Elvis Costello and The Attractions chronology
My Aim Is True
(1977)		 This Year's Model
(1978)		 Armed Forces
(1979)
Singles from This Year's Model
  1. "Pump It Up"
    Released: 1978 (1978)
  2. "Radio Radio"
    Released: 1978 (1978)
  3. "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea"
    Released: 1978 (1978)
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic [1]
Pitchfork (10/10) [2]
Robert Christgau A [3]
Rolling Stone (positive) [4]
Rolling Stone Album Guide [5]
sputnikmusic (4.5/5.0) [6]
Stylus Magazine (very favorable)[7]
This table needs to be expanded using prose. See the guideline for more information.

This Year's Model is Elvis Costello's second album and his first with The Attractions, released in 1978 (see 1978 in music). It was recorded mainly at Eden Studios in West London.

It was voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll.[8] In 2000, Q magazine placed This Year's Model at number 82 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 1987, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number 11 on its list of the best albums of the period 1967-1987. In 2003, the album was ranked number 98 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[9]

Contents

Packaging and Artwork

Early issues of the album have an apparently misprinted sleeve, which cuts off the left side of the front cover (including the letters 'E' from 'Elvis' and 'T' from 'This') and shows a printers' color bar along the right side (see cover right). This was a deliberate mistake (a favourite technique of cover designer Barney Bubbles), as was pressing "Special pressing No. 003. Ring 434 32 32. Ask for Moira for your prize" between the holding spirals on Side A. Indeed people calling the aforementioned number ("Moira" being a press agent at FBeat) would get rewarded with a badge.

Early issues of the LP came with a free 7" single, housed in a Radar house sleeve, with "Stranger In The House" on side A and a live cover of The Damned's "Neat Neat Neat" on side B. The promotion also included a black and white sticker stuck on the LP shrinkwrap that said 'Free Album With This Single'.

The US version was a different photo from the same session and didn't feature the deliberate mis-cropping. The original American pressing on Columbia also says "Costello" instead of "Columbia" on the inner label.

Original LP track listing

All songs written by Elvis Costello.

Side one

  1. "No Action" – 1:58
  2. "This Year's Girl" – 3:17
  3. "The Beat" – 3:45
  4. "Pump It Up" – 3:14
  5. "Little Triggers" – 2:40
  6. "You Belong to Me" – 2:22

Side two

  1. "Hand in Hand" – 2:33
  2. "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" – 3:07
  3. "Lip Service" – 2:36
  4. "Living in Paradise" – 3:52
  5. "Lipstick Vogue" – 3:29
  6. "Night Rally" – 2:41

Bonus Tracks (1993 Rykodisc CD)

  1. "Radio, Radio" – 3:05
  2. "Big Tears" – 3:09
  3. "Crawling to the USA" – 2:53
  4. "Running Out of Angels" – 2:02
  5. "Green Shirt" – 2:20
  6. "Big Boys" – 3:00

Bonus Disc (2002 Rhino CD)

  1. "Big Tears" – 3:12
  2. "Crawling to the USA" – 2:55
  3. "Running Out of Angels" (Demo version) – 2:05
  4. "Greenshirt" (Demo version) – 2:22
  5. "Big Boys" (Demo version) – 3:00
  6. "You Belong to Me" (Capital Radio version) – 1:55
  7. "Radio Radio" (Capital Radio version) – 3:01
  8. "Neat Neat Neat" (Brian James) (Live) – 3:16
  9. "Roadette Song" (Ian Dury, Russell Hardy) (Live) – 5:40
  10. "This Year's Girl" (Alternate Eden Studios version) – 2:09
  11. "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea" (Basing Street Studios version) – 3:00
  12. "Stranger in the House" (BBC version) – 4:15

Deluxe Edition (2008 Hip-O/Universal CD)

Disc one

  1. No Action - 2:01
  2. This Year's Girl - 3:22
  3. The Beat - 3:48
  4. Pump It Up - 3:17
  5. Little Triggers - 2:43
  6. You Belong to Me - 2:25
  7. Hand In Hand - 2:38
  8. (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea - 3:10
  9. Lip Service - 2:39
  10. Living In Paradise - 3:47
  11. Lipstick Vogue - 3:33
  12. Night Rally - 2:46
  13. Radio, Radio - 3:12
  14. Big Tears - 3:12
  15. Crawling To The USA - 2:54
  16. Tiny Steps - 2:44
  17. Running Out of Angels (demo) - 2:04
  18. Green Shirt (demo) - 2:22
  19. Big Boys (demo) - 3:00
  20. Neat Neat Neat (live) - 3:16
  21. Roadette Song (live) - 5:40
  22. This Year's Girl (Alternate Eden Studios version) - 2:09
  23. (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea (Alternate Basing Street Studios version) - 2:57

Disc two (Live at the Warner Theatre, Washington, DC, February 28, 1978)

  1. Pump It Up 3:31
  2. Waiting For The End Of The World 3:59
  3. No Action 2:28
  4. Less Than Zero 4:29
  5. The Beat 3:43
  6. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes 2:35
  7. (I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea 3:58
  8. Hand In Hand 2:53
  9. Little Triggers 3:08
  10. Radio, Radio 2:37
  11. You Belong to Me 2:54
  12. Lipstick Vogue 5:02
  13. Watching The Detectives 6:02
  14. Mystery Dance 3:58
  15. Miracle Man 4:25
  16. Blame It On Cain 4:05
  17. Chemistry Class (solo acoustic) 2:44

"Chemistry Class" is a solo acoustic recording which was previously released on the 2002 Rhino re-issue of Armed Forces

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

Charts

Chart positions

Chart Position
Australian Albums Chart[10] 26
Canadian Albums Chart[11] 21
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[12] 14
New Zealand Albums Chart [13] 11
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[14] 15
Swedish Albums Chart[15] 10
UK Albums Chart [16] 4
United States Billboard 200[17] 30

Year-end charts

Chart (1978) Position
UK Albums Chart[18] 39

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[19] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[21] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Release history (selected)

Region Date Label Format Catalog
UK 17 March 1978 (1978-03-17) Radar Records LP RAD 3
U.S. May 1978 (1978-05) Columbia Records LP 35331
UK 1981 (1981) F-Beat Records LP XXLP 4
UK January 1986 (1986-01) Demon Records CD IMP FIEND CD 18
U.S. January 1986 (1986-01) Columbia Records CD CK 35331
UK 18 October 1993 (1993-10-18) Demon Records CD DPAM2
U.S. October 19, 1993 (1993-10-19) Rykodisc CD RCD 10272
Worldwide 19 February 2002 (2002-02-19) Rhino 2 CD R2 78354
Worldwide 10 September 2007 (2007-09-10) Hip-O CD B0008638-02
Worldwide 4 March 2008 (2008-03-04) Hip-O 2 CD 'Deluxe Edition' B0010681-02

References

  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. This Year's Model at Allmusic. Retrieved 16 Oct 2004.
  2. ^ LeMay, Matt (May 9, 2002). "Elvis Costello & The Attractions This Year's Model > Review". pitchfork.com. Pitchfork Media. http://www.pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1615-this-years-model-with-the-attractions/. Retrieved 13 May 2006. 
  3. ^ Christgau, Robert (April 24, 1978). "Christgau's Consumer Guide: Elvis Costello: This Year's Model". The Village Voice. http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv4-78.php. Retrieved 30 November 2011.  Revised version posted at "Elvis Costello: This Year's Model > Consumer Album Guide". Robert Christgau. http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=1153. Retrieved 16 Oct 2004. 
  4. ^ Rachlis, Kit (June 29, 1978). "Elvis Costello This Year's Model > Review". Rolling Stone (268). Archived from the original on 27 September 2004. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/this-years-model-19780629. Retrieved 16 October 2004. 
  5. ^ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Elvis Costello". In Brackett, Nathan with Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. London: Fireside. pp. 193–195. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. http://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA193#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 30 November 2011.  Portions posted at "Elvis Costello > Album Guide". rollingstone.com. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/elvis-costello/albumguide. Retrieved 25 June 2011. 
  6. ^ Murray, Amanda (March 15, 2006). "Elvis Costello This Year's Model > Staff Review". sputnikmusic. http://www.sputnikmusic.com/album.php?albumid=4387. Retrieved 7 July 2008. 
  7. ^ Beckett, Colin (2003-09-01). "On Second Thought: Elvis Costello - This Year's Model". Stylus Magazine. http://www.stylusmagazine.com/articles/on_second_thought/elvis-costello-this-years-model.htm. Retrieved 24 May 2006. 
  8. ^ "The 1978 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. January 22, 1979. http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/pnj/pjres78.php. Retrieved 28 Oct 2007. 
  9. ^ Levy, Joe; Steven Van Zandt (2006) [2005]. "98 | This Year's Model - Elvis Costello". Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1932958614. OCLC 70672814. http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/this-years-model-elvis-costello-19691231. Retrieved 12 Apr 2006. 
  10. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970-1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. 
  11. ^ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 2011-10-24
  12. ^ "dutchcharts.nl Elvis Costello - This Year's Model" (in Dutch) (ASP). dutchcharts.nl. MegaCharts. http://dutchcharts.nl/showitem.asp?interpret=Elvis+Costello&titel=This+Year's+Model&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-23. 
  13. ^ "charts.org.nz - Elvis Costello - This Year's Model" (ASP). Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. http://charts.org.nz/showitem.asp?interpret=Elvis+Costello&titel=This+Year's+Model&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-10-23. 
  14. ^ "norwegiancharts.com Elvis Costello - This Year's Model" (ASP). VG-lista. http://norwegiancharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Elvis+Costello&titel=This+Year's+Model&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-18. 
  15. ^ "swedishcharts.com Elvis Costello - This Year's Model" (in Swedish) (ASP). Sverigetopplistan. http://swedishcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Elvis+Costello&titel=This+Year's+Model&cat=a. Retrieved 2011-09-18. 
  16. ^ "Elvis Costello - This Year's Model". UK Albums Chart. http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=38605. Retrieved 2011-10-23. 
  17. ^ Allmusic - Elvis Costello > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
  18. ^ "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". http://chartheaven.9.forumer.com/a/complete-uk-yearend-album-charts_post21.html. Retrieved 2011-10-03. 
  19. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Elvis Costello – This Year's Model". Music Canada. http://www.musiccanada.com/GPSearchResult.aspx?st=This+Year%27s+Model&sa=Elvis+Costello&smt=0. 
  20. ^ "British album certifications – Elvis Costello – This Year's Model". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx.  Enter This Year's Model in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Click Go
  21. ^ "American album certifications – Elvis Costello – This Year's Model". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22This+Year%27s+Model%22.  If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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