When I Was Cruel by Elvis Costello

When I Was Cruel, Elvis Costello's 19th studio album, came out in the US on Island on 23 April 2002, and the promo materials weren't shy about it, billing it as his first loud album in years. It's a solo credit on paper, but really it's the debut of the Imposters: Steve Nieve on keyboards and Pete Thomas on drums from the old Attractions, with Davey Faragher on bass in place of Bruce Thomas, with whom Costello had feuded.

The songs are sharp-elbowed and wordy in the best way. "45" is about turning 45, the age Costello was when he wrote it, and it works the number every way it can: the year 1945, the pistol caliber, the single spinning at 45 rpm. "Tear Off Your Own Head (It's a Doll Revolution)" took its idea from a set of Japanese dolls covered in mangled English. Critics mostly liked it, and it sold respectably.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.