New releases, music videos and album news — indie, rap, rock and pop. Always covering Ren, Chris Webby, Sam Tompkins, bbno$, CHINCHILLA, Muse, Yungblud and more.
Elvis Costello marks album’s 49th anniversary with five-disc reissue
Developed over time first seen 3 months ago
Elvis Costello has marked the approaching 50th anniversary of his 1977 debut album My Aim Is True with a five-disc box set, My Aim Is True (49th Anniversary Edition), released on 2 October. The collection compiles 104 tracks, 52 previously unreleased, spanning a newly remastered edition of the original record alongside demos, live recordings and rare session material from Costello's earliest years as an artist, offering fans an unusually detailed portrait of the period that launched his career.
The set opens with a remaster merging the UK and US track listings, followed by The Blue Print, 17 pre-album recordings from 1975-76 including home tapes and a newly unearthed early version of "Radio Radio" called "Radio Soul". A third disc, The Stranger in the House, gathers surviving demos and outtakes, the fourth, Becoming the Attractions, features live material from his first shows with the Attractions, and the set closes with Covered in Clover, a previously unreleased 2007 reunion performance with Clover, the band that backed him in the studio on the original album. Costello and the Imposters continue touring through late September, with new reflections from Costello and producer Nick Lowe featured in the set's liner notes.
- Sources
- 2
- Outlets
- 2
- Left · Centre · Right
- 0 · 0 · 0
In short
- Costello releases five-disc My Aim Is True box set on 2 October
- Contains 104 tracks, including 52 previously unreleased recordings
- Spans remastered album, demos, live cuts and a 2007 reunion show
How this story developed
- 3 months ago Costello followed up by streaming four early versions of "Watching the Detectives" to promote the box set, revealing that disc two's early "Radio Radio" cut circulates simply under that title rather than as "Radio Soul," and confirming his US and Canadian tour dates with the Imposters run specifically from 10 to 24 September.
- 3 months ago Elvis Costello announced a five-disc box set, My Aim Is True (49th Anniversary Edition), containing 104 tracks (52 unreleased) across a remastered original album, a 1975-76 demos disc including "Radio Soul," a rarities disc, a live disc with the Attractions, and a previously unreleased 2007 Clover reunion set, ahead of its 2 October release and while he continues touring with the Imposters through late September.
Explained simply
Elvis Costello released his debut album, My Aim Is True, in 1977, and it became a defining record of the era, blending pub rock, punk energy and sharp songwriting. It launched his career as one of Britain's most respected singer-songwriters, known for his witty, often barbed lyrics and restless musical style across the decades since. Nick Lowe, who produced the original album, remains a well-known figure from that same period of British music.
Anniversary box sets like this one are a common way for record labels and artists to revisit landmark albums, typically adding remastered audio, demos, live recordings and other archival material aimed at longtime fans and collectors. They offer a fuller picture of how a well-known record came together, including the false starts and alternate versions that did not make the final cut.
Costello continues to perform regularly with his band, the Imposters, and this release sits alongside his ongoing live touring schedule.
Coverage · 2 sources
Read the full article at the source →
Originally published by Rolling Stone as “Elvis Costello to Celebrate 49th Anniversary of ‘My Aim Is True’ With Five-Disc Box Set”.