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 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
  2. "Radio Radio"
    Released: 1978
  3. "(I Don't Want to Go to) Chelsea"
    Released: 1978
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Blender[2]
Chicago Tribune[3]
Christgau's Record GuideA[4]
Entertainment WeeklyA[5]
Pitchfork Media10/10[6]
Q[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Uncut[10]

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

It was voted the best album of the year in The Village Voice Pazz & Jop critics poll.[11] 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.[12]

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' colour 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 1. Indeed people calling the aforementioned number ("Moira" being a press agent at F-Beat Records) 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's shrinkwrap that said 'Free Album With This Single'.

The USA 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.

The title This Year's Model indirectly references two songs on the original UK album: most obviously "This Year's Girl",[13] but also "(I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea",[14] which contains a lyric about "last year's model".

About the photo session, photographer Chris Gabrin's words

"The concept of him behind a camera for the sleeve of This Year's Model had already been chosen, so I decided to equip Elvis with exactly the same tripod and camera as I was using to create a 'mirror' for him. Alongside a powerful stereo I kept a large record collection at my Camden Studio, and artists would choose music they enjoyed or were interested in for their sessions. Just as we were about to start shooting, Elvis asked me if I had "Hotel California" by The Eagles, and could I play it? I was puzzled by his choice – until he told me that he loathed the record, but wanted to look really pissed off and angry in the shots! We played the record several times during the session and whilst I directed him, I was also aware of his copying some of my own actions as I took the photographs."

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" – 3:42
  6. "Night Rally" – 2:41

Some European versions of the album added "Watching The Detectives" at the end of side one. This non-album single released in 1977 shortly after My Aim Is True was already included on the US version of Costello's first album. The original Japanese release (Radar P-10538F) has "Watching The Detectives" at the end of side two but omits "Night Rally".

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" (demo) – 2:02
  5. "Green Shirt" (demo) – 2:20
  6. "Big Boys" (demo) – 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, 28 February 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

Personnel

Charts

Chart positions

Chart Position
Australian Albums Chart[15] 26
Canadian Albums Chart[16] 21
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[17] 14
New Zealand Albums Chart[18] 11
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[19] 15
Swedish Albums Chart[20] 10
UK Albums Chart[21] 4
United States Billboard 200[22] 30

Year-end charts

Chart (1978) Position
UK Albums Chart[23] 39

Certifications

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Region Certification Sales/shipments
Canada (Music Canada)[24] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Gold 100,000^
United States (RIAA)[26] 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 Radar Records LP RAD 3
US May 1978 Columbia Records LP JC 35331
UK 1981 F-Beat Records LP XXLP 4
UK January 1986 IMP Records CD IMP FIEND CD 18
US January 1986 Columbia Records CD CK 35331
UK 18 October 1993 Demon Records CD DPAM2
US 19 October 1993 Rykodisc CD RCD 10272
Worldwide 19 February 2002 Rhino 2 CD R2 78354
Worldwide 10 September 2007 Hip-O CD B0008638-02
Worldwide 4 March 2008 Hip-O 2 CD 'Deluxe Edition' B0010681-02

References

  1. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "This Year's Model – Elvis Costello / Elvis Costello & the Attractions". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  2. ↑ Wolk, Douglas (March 2005). "Elvis Costello: This Year's Model". Blender. Archived from the original on 4 February 2005. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  3. ↑ Kot, Greg (2 June 1991). "The Sounds Of Elvis, From San Francisco And Beyond". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Christgau, Robert. "Elvis Costello: This Year's Model > Consumer Album Guide". RobertChristgau.com. Retrieved 16 October 2004.
  5. ↑ White, Armond (10 May 1991). "Elvis Costello's albums". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  6. ↑ LeMay, Matt (9 May 2002). "Elvis Costello & The Attractions: This Year's Model". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 13 May 2006.
  7. ↑ Eccleston, Danny (March 2002). "Elvis Costello & The Attractions: This Year's Model / Blood & Chocolate / Brutal Yotuh". Q (188).
  8. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (6 March 2008). "Elvis Costello: This Year's Model (Deluxe Edition 2008)". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 8 August 2009. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  9. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Elvis Costello". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. London: Fireside Books. pp. 193–95. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  10. ↑ Moody, Paul (8 August 2007). "Elvis Costello – This Year's Model". Uncut. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  11. ↑ "The 1978 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. 22 January 1979. Retrieved 28 October 2007.
  12. ↑ 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 1-932958-61-4. OCLC 70672814. Archived from the original on 16 March 2006. Retrieved 12 April 2006.
  13. ↑ http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/This_Year%27s_Girl
  14. ↑ http://www.elviscostello.info/wiki/index.php/(I_Don%27t_Want_To_Go_To)_Chelsea
  15. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  16. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 October 2011
  17. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Elvis Costello – This Year's Model" (ASP). dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  18. ↑ "charts.org.nz – Elvis Costello – This Year's Model" (ASP). Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  19. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Elvis Costello – This Year's Model" (ASP). VG-lista. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  20. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Elvis Costello – This Year's Model" (ASP) (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  21. ↑ "Elvis Costello – This Year's Model". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  22. ↑ Allmusic – Elvis Costello > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums
  23. ↑ "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  24. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Elvis Costello – This Year's Model". Music Canada.
  25. ↑ "British album certifications – Elvis Costello – This Year's Model". British Phonographic Industry. Enter This Year's Model in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Gold in the field By Award. Click Search
  26. ↑ "American album certifications – Elvis Costello – This Year's Model". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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