Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. No Action - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch
2. This Year's Girl - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas
3. The Beat - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas
4. Pump It Up - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch
5. Little Triggers - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch
6. You Belong To Me - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas
7. Hand In Hand - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch
8. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch
9. Lip Service - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch
10. Living In Paradise - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch
11. Lipstick Vogue - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch
12. Night Rally - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch
13. Radio, Radio - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas
14. Big Tears - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe
15. Crawling To The USA - Elvis Costello
16. Tiny Steps - Elvis Costello
17. Running Out Of Angels - Elvis Costello
18. Green Shirt - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas
19. Big Boys - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas
20. Neat Neat Neat - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
21. Roadette Song - Elvis Costello
22. This Year's Girl - Elvis Costello, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas
23. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch

Disc 2:

1. Pump It Up - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
2. Waiting For The End Of The World - Elvis Costello
3. No Action - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
4. Less Than Zero - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
5. The Beat - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
6. (The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
7. (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea - Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Nick Lowe, Roger Bechirian, Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, Pete Thomas, Dan Hersch
8. Hand In Hand - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
9. Little Triggers - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
10. Radio, Radio - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
11. You Belong To Me - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
12. Lipstick Vogue - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
13. Watching The Detectives - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
14. Mystery Dance - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
15. Audience Noise/Applause / Miracle Man - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
16. Audience Noise/Applause / Blame It On Cain - Elvis Costello & The Attractions
17. Audience Noise/Applause / Chemistry Class - Elvis Costello & The Attractions

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #33141 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-07
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: Box set, Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .35 pounds
• Running time: 131 minutes

CD Description
For his second album, Elvis Costello fine-tuned his aesthetic by abandoning the California studio cat accompanists of his debut for the more aggressive, quirky and very British Attractions, who would define EC's sound over the next severalyears. Where MY AIM IS TRUE highlighted Costello's rootsy influences (the Band, etc.), THIS YEAR'S MODEL wholeheartedlyembraces the "new wave" out-with-the-old mindset, favoring tightly wound ferocity over back-porch-isms. Irresistibly catchy, in a twitchy, neurotic, white-knuckled way, THIS YEAR'S MODEL is Costello at his edgiest. The classic "Pump It Up"pummels the listener with garage-band organ, pounding drums, and HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED-style ranting. "Radio, Radio" turned into something of an anti-authoritarian anthem for Costello. The snaky guitar and reggae-tinged drums of "I Don't Want to Go to Chelsea" complement his verge-of-a-nervous-breakdown vocal performance nicely. Come to think of it, so does nearly everything else here.

Customer Reviews

Market forces and choice
This is a classic album, there is absolutely no doubt about that, the production, the performance, the energy and the emotion on the album has rarely been equalled let alone surpassed by anyone.

So it's been issued a few times before, the purpose of these reviews is to focus on the actual product not the motive behind its release. The product is stunning quality and value, if you disagree with the bare bones of the album being released for the 4th (or is it the 5th) time that should not detract from the sheer quality of this album. Simple fact is, if you already have a previous incarnation of the album and you don't want the extras that this release brings then don't buy it, if you are interested in reading the extended liner notes, or if you want to hear the previously unreleased tracks (more tracks "extra" than there was on the original album) then join me and celebrate all things Elvis. If you don't already own the album all I can say is "why not?"

Basically, it comes down to this...
...if you're a huge EC fan, you've got most of this material. However, there are a lot of new, eager, young fans out there, just discovering (or on the verge of discovering) some really good stuff from the late 70s. If I was one of those new, eager, young fans, I'd want to get my hands on a lot of the material very quickly - not just the usual album stuff, but the peripheral recordings that were being made at the time the albums were being made. This is a brilliant introduction. If you have all this stuff already, you don't have/need to buy it! If you don't have the stuff, and you're keen to learn... BUY IT! Probably, the best album EC ever made, with lots of extra material on top. But bear in mind you shouldn't overlook "My Aim is True", or "Get Happy". Do you know what? "Painted from Memory" (released 1999) is pretty damn fine too. Anyway, if you're a newbie fan - get this! If you're a die-hard old fan, don't get so bloody worked up about it. You go out to work to make a living, don't you? So does our El.

This Year's Reissue
Much as I love This Year's Model - Nick Lowe's pin-sharp but punchy production hasn't dated at all - I won't be shelling out on this repackage. This must be the fourth version on CD now at least! What are we supposed to do with previous versions now supposedly rendered obsolete by this latest 'definitive' issue (until the next one comes along in 2010)? And experience has proved that 'Previously Unreleased' material was kept in the can for the plain and simple fact that invariably it's substandard stuff. The original 1978 This Year's Model is a solid, perfect 5 out of 5 record musically, but gets less than zero for yet another pointless face-lift.