The Best of Elvis Costello: The First 10 Years in Bloomington, MN

Six years after the commencement of a major
Elvis Costello
reissue campaign at
Rhino
, his catalog transferred over to
Universal
, which had been releasing new
Elvis
music since 1998's
Painted from Memory
. Like every one of his previous two big catalog shifts -- a campaign with
Rykodisc
/
Demon
in 1994, a jump to
in 2001 -- the 2007 series is preceded by a new hits collection, this time
The Best of Elvis Costello: The First 10 Years
, a 22-track collection of highlights that's pretty much exactly what it says it is. It is quite similar to the last previous single-disc collection, the 1994
Ryko
set
The Very Best of Elvis Costello and the Attractions
, which also ran 22 tracks, 19 of which also appear on
The First 10 Years
. The three omissions --
"Watch Your Step,"
"New Amsterdam,"
and
"Love Field"
-- will not be missed by anybody looking for a new
Costello
comp in 2007, particularly because all three substitutions are better choices for the casual man:
"New Lace Sleeves,"
"Almost Blue,"
"(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes,"
which bizarrely wasn't on the 1994 set. With these three songs rubbing shoulders with
"Alison,"
"Watching the Detectives,"
"Pump It Up,"
"Oliver's Army,"
"(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding,"
and all the other usual suspects,
winds up being the best single-disc summary and introduction to
's prime years. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine