Graham Reid | | <1 min read
Elvis Costello and the Attractions: Stranger in the House (out-take)
Elvis had a fair run here on Elsewhere when the recent reissue of his first 11 albums prompted a consideration of his quite remarkable career (see tag).
But this Deluxe double disc edition of his debut album adds extra texture to that exceptional album with its touchstones in Phil Spector, country-rock, beat pop, Chuck Berry-meets-Dylan and so on.
Here is the original album on the first disc with out-takes (No Action, Living in Paradise, Radio Sweetheart and Stranger in the House) plus eight demos.
The second disc is Costello and the Attactions (who hadn't played on the original album) live from August 77 on a typically taught and tight adrenelin-fuelled set playing the album (pretty faithfully) plus Night Rally, Hoover Factory, The Beat and other material that would appear on later albums.
That disc goes out with five crisp songs from the soundcheck including Crawling to the USA.
For casual listeners this repackage (with lyrics but no essay, for that you need to go to Absolute Elsewhere!) won't be essential if they have the original album, but for longtime fans there are nuggets scattered about, especially in the out-takes and demos.
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