When I Was Cruel

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When I Was Cruel is Elvis Costello's 20th album, recorded in 2001 and 2002 and released in the US by Island Records on 23 April 2002. Although officially a solo Costello album, this was the first album to feature Elvis' new band, The Imposters, whose only difference from his previous band, the Attractions, was the replacement of bassist Bruce Thomas, with whom Costello has feuded, with Davey Faragher (formerly of Cracker).

Contents

1 Track listing
2 Personnel

2.1 Additional personnel

3 Facts
4 External links

Track listing

All songs written by Elvis Costello.

"45" – 3:33
"Spooky Girlfriend" – 4:22
"Tear Off Your Own Head (It's a Doll Revolution)" – 3:31
"When I Was Cruel No. 2" – 7:06
"Soul for Hire" – 3:55
"15 Petals" – 4:01
"Tart" – 4:03
"Dust 2..." – 3:21
"Dissolve" – 2:22
"Alibi" – 6:42
"...Dust" – 3:03
"Daddy Can I Turn This?" – 3:41
"Little Blue Window" – 3:10
"Episode of Blonde" – 5:01
"Radio Silence" – 4:58

Personnel

Elvis Costello – vocals, guitars, horn arrangements on 6 11 14, melodica, cymbal, bass, piano, harmonica
Steve Nieve – organ, pianet, piano, vibraphone, melodica, filters
Davey Faragher – bass, handclaps
Pete Thomas – drums, handclaps, percussion, shaker, tambourine

Additional personnel

Steven Kennedy – backing vocals on 1 12 13
Leo Pearson – electric tabla on 3, rhythm processor on 5 8, tambourine, mixing
Bill Ware – vibraphone on 4
Ku-umba Frank Lacy – trumpet on 6, flugelhorn on 11 14
Curtis Fowlkes – trombone on 6 11 14
Jay Rodriguez – tenor saxophone on 6 11 14
Roy Nathanson – alto saxophone on 6 11 14

Facts

The song "45" is about being 45 years of age, which was Elvis' age at the time it was written.

The idea and title of "Tear Off Your Own Head (It's A Doll Revolution)" came from a set of Engrish-laden dolls in Japan. The song was covered by The Bangles as the title track on their 2003 album, Doll Revolution.

"When I Was Cruel No. 2" is most likely a noir look at Elvis' life, using his signature wordplay to describe, among other things, his surprisingly numerous marriages and relationships.

When the album was released, promotional materials billed it as Costello's "FIRST LOUD ALBUM SINCE 199?".

External links

[Review by Connor Ratliff (5/5)]
[MoreThings] 2002 Album of the Year

Elvis Costello
Albums
My Aim Is True \| Spike \| King of America \| Brutal Youth \| Mighty Like a Rose \| Kojak Variety \| North \| Il Sogno
Elvis Costello and The Attractions
This Year's Model \| Armed Forces \| ''Get Happy > Trust \| Almost Blue \| Imperial Bedroom \| Punch the Clock \| Goodbye Cruel World \| Blood and Chocolate \| All This Useless Beauty''
Elvis Costello and The Imposters
When I Was Cruel \| Cruel Smile \| The Delivery Man
Collaborations
The Juliet Letters with The Brodsky Quartet \| Terror & Magnificence with John Harle \| Painted from Memory with Burt Bacharach \| The Sweetest Punch with Bill Frisell \| For the Stars with Anne-Sofie von Otter \| My Flame Burns Blue with The Metropole Orkest \| Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland \| The River in Reverse with Allen Toussaint
Live Albums
Live at the El Mocambo \| Deep Dead Blue \| Costello & Nieve
Soundtracks
G.B.H. \| Jake's Progress
Collections
Taking Liberties \| Ten Bloody Marys & Ten How's Your Fathers \| The Best of Elvis Costello & The Attractions \| Out of Our Idiot \| Girls+£÷Girls=$&Girls \| 2 ½ Years \| The Very Best of Elvis Costello and The Attractions 1977-86 \| Extreme Honey \| The Very Best of Elvis Costello \| Singles, Vol. 1 \|Singles, Vol. 2 \|Singles, Vol. 3

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