Ranking the 5 Best Album-Openers by Elvis Costello

Due to his interest in and ease with a wide variety of music genres, you never know quite what you’re going to get when you plop the needle down on an Elvis Costello record. But it’s a pretty safe assumption that it’s going to be high-quality stuff.

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We’re taking a deep dive through his catalog to find the record-opening songs we believe are his best. Rest assured, we left out some killers (“Accidents Will Happen,” “Clubland,” “Walk Us Uptown”) just to narrow this list down to five.

5. “No Hiding Place” from Momofuku (2008)

Like we said, we went deep into his catalog for this list. Momofuku might not get a lot of mention from all but the most diehard Costello fans when it comes to listing his finest work. But it’s a gem of a record, full of music as colorful and forceful as anything from his brilliant early era. And it all begins with some of the old anger he largely sanded away as his career progressed. “No Hiding Place” is a fierce diatribe against keyboard critics who hide behind their words, but won’t back them up: See how brave you are / When I’m about this far away.

4. “The Other Side of Summer” from Mighty Like a Rose (1991)

Costello didn’t seem to be in a particularly rosy mood, notwithstanding the album title, during the making of the 1991 album Mighty Like a Rose. Maybe it was the beard he sported while promoting it, but it seemed like he had a lot of bile to get off his chest. The opening track “The Other Side of Summer” certainly sounds playful enough, as Costello and the instrumentalists do an awesome job aping The Beach Boys. Dive into the lyrics, however, and you get a breathlessly eloquent story of seasonal disconnect, referencing poisonous tides, marauding dogs, and drug-addled pop stars.

3. “No Action” from This Year’s Model (1978)

Not even two minutes long, “No Action” had to serve two roles. Not only was it kicking off Costello’s sophomore album, but it was also introducing his backing band, the Attractions, to the world. In both aspects, it was perfection. Costello’s new cohorts had a knack for creating music maelstroms, as on this track, that were the ideal accompaniment to his verbal tirades. As such, the song packs a ton into its short running time, from the a cappella open to the final ambivalent declaration: Every time I phone you, I just want to put you down.

2. “Beyond Belief” from Imperial Bedroom (1982)

We’re of the opinion that Imperial Bedroom is the finest album in the Costello canon, in no small part because of the impact of the opening track. This is the record where E.C. used studio wizardry to accentuate his songs and you can hear some of that here, from the shimmering open to the strange effects on his vocals. But the Attractions make their presence felt as well, especially drummer Pete Thomas, who grounds all the weirdness with his decisive beat. If you’re looking for a Costello song with the highest percentage of quotable lines, “Beyond Belief” needs to be high on your list.

1. “Brilliant Mistake” from King of America (1986)

Within the King of America album, Costello wrote plenty about the ups and downs of being an outsider of sorts, spending so much time in the U.S. To convey that, it made sense for him to largely eschew the Attractions, instead relying on American musicians. On this glittering opening track, he benefits from the limber bass work of Jerry Scheff and the evocative accordion of T-Bone Wolk. “King of America” utilizes a tried-and-true Costello technique of toying with the perspective to muddle just who’s bearing the emotional brunt. It becomes pretty clear by song’s end: I was a fine idea at the time / Now I’m a brilliant mistake.

Photo by Frans Schellekens/Redferns