Mighty Like a Rose

{{about|the album by Elvis Costello|the album by Eddie Harris|Mighty Like a Rose (Eddie Harris album)}}

{{Infobox album

| name = Mighty Like a Rose

| type = studio

| artist = Elvis Costello

| cover = Elvis Costello - Mighty Like a Rose.jpg

| alt =

| released = 14 May 1991

| recorded = 1990–1991

| studio = Ocean Way, Hollywood

| genre =

Rock
pop{{cite magazine | title = Mighty Like a Rose| last = Blackwell | first = Mark | magazine = Spin |page =79| date = May 1991}}
baroque pop{{cite news| work=Miami New Times| title=Still The King| author=John Floyd| url=http://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/still-the-king-6361423| access-date=6 February 2016| date=11 July 1996| archive-date=12 March 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160312144414/http://www.miaminewtimes.com/music/still-the-king-6361423| url-status=live}}

| length = 54:19

| label = Warner Bros.

| producer =

Elvis Costello
Mitchell Froom
Kevin Killen

| prev_title = Spike

| prev_year = 1989

| next_title = G.B.H.

| next_year = 1991

| misc = {{Singles

| name = Mighty Like a Rose

| type = studio

| single1 = The Other Side of Summer

| single1date = April 1991

| single2 = So Like Candy

| single2date = October 1991

}}

{{Album reviews

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|2|5}}{{cite web |url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/mighty-like-a-rose-mw0000263144 |title=Mighty Like a Rose – Elvis Costello |website=AllMusic |access-date=4 January 2016 |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |archive-date=22 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160122064606/http://www.allmusic.com/album/mighty-like-a-rose-mw0000263144 |url-status=live }}

| rev2 = Blender

| rev2Score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite journal |url=http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3138 |title=Elvis Costello: Mighty Like a Rose |journal=Blender |date=March 2005 |access-date=16 June 2016 |last=Wolk |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Wolk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204161408/http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3138 |archive-date=4 February 2005}}

| rev3 = Chicago Tribune

| rev3score = {{Rating|2.5|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1991/05/16/elvis-costellomighty-like-a-rose-warner-starstar/ |title=Elvis Costello: Mighty Like a Rose (Warner) |work=Chicago Tribune |date=16 May 1991 |access-date=4 January 2016 |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304103732/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1991-05-16/features/9102130208_1_star-elvis-costello-mighty |url-status=live }}

| rev4 = Christgau's Consumer Guide

| rev4score = C+{{cite book |chapter-url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=6277 |chapter=Elvis Costello: Mighty Like a Rose |access-date=4 January 2016 |last=Christgau |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Christgau |title=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s |publisher=Macmillan Publishers |year=2000 |isbn=0-312-24560-2 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055309/http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_album.php?id=6277 |url-status=live }}

| rev5 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev5score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|chapter=Costello, Elvis|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|location=London|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=5th concise|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev6 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev6score = A−{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/1991/05/10/mighty-rose |title=Mighty Like a Rose |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |date=10 May 1991 |access-date=11 July 2015 |last=White |first=Armond |author-link=Armond White |archive-date=15 July 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715013558/http://www.ew.com/article/1991/05/10/mighty-rose |url-status=live }}

| rev7 = Los Angeles Times

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite news |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1991-05-12-ca-2331-story.html |title=Costello's 'Rose' a Warm Tour de Force |work=Los Angeles Times |date=12 May 1991 |access-date=4 January 2016 |last=Willman |first=Chris |archive-date=7 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160307164740/http://articles.latimes.com/1991-05-12/entertainment/ca-2331_1_elvis-costello |url-status=live }}

| rev8 = NME

| rev8score = 5/10{{cite journal |title=Imperial Boredom |journal=NME |date=18 May 1991 |last=Ellen |first=Barbara}}

| rev9 = Q

| rev9score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite journal |title=Vengeful |journal=Q |issue=57 |date=June 1991 |last=Snow |first=Mat}}

| rev10 = Rolling Stone

| rev10score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/mighty-like-a-rose-19910516 |title=Mighty Like a Rose |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=16 May 1991 |access-date=4 January 2016 |last=Garbarini |first=Vic |archive-date=18 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161218071023/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/mighty-like-a-rose-19910516 |url-status=live }}

| rev11 = Uncut

| rev11Score = {{rating|4|5}}{{cite journal |title=Snide effects |journal=Uncut |issue=68 |date=January 2003 |last=Hasted |first=Nick |page=138}}

}}

Mighty Like a Rose is the 13th studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1991 on compact disc as Warner Brothers 26575. The title is presumably a reference to the pop standard "Mighty Lak' a Rose", and although that song does not appear on the album, the words of its first stanza are quoted in the booklet of the 2002 reissue.Costello, Elvis. Mighty Like A Rose. Rhino Records R2 78189, 2002, liner notes.{{rp|23}} It peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart, and at No. 55 on the Billboard 200.

Content

The album was initially intended to be released under Costello's birth name, Declan MacManus, as the singer had grown tired of the Elvis Costello pseudonym. Record label pressures, however, won the day and the release was as an Elvis Costello record.

Mighty Like a Rose continues in the vein of Costello's previous album Spike from 1989, although with Mitchell Froom taking over the producer's chair from T Bone Burnett. This time, the tracks were recorded in one location, Ocean Way in Hollywood, with orchestral and vocal overdubs taking place at Westside Studios in London.{{rp|26}} Two more songs from his collaboration with Paul McCartney appear, "Playboy to a Man" and a song selected as a single, "So Like Candy".

Costello refers to this as an angry record, recorded in the aftermath of the Gulf War.{{rp|3}} The opening track, "The Other Side of Summer" was designed as a Beach Boys pastiche after their style in the early 1970s.{{rp|5}} The track "Invasion Hit Parade" features a trumpet solo by Costello's father, Ross MacManus. The album also features "Broken", a song written by his wife at the time, Cait O'Riordan, to whom the album is dedicated.

The lead single, "The Other Side of Summer", peaked at No. 43 on the UK Singles Chart. Although it missed the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, it reached No. 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 40 on the Album Rock Tracks chart. The second single, "So Like Candy", did not chart in either nation.

Release history

The album was released initially on compact disc in 1991. As part of the Rhino Records reissue campaign for Costello's back catalogue from Demon/Columbia and Warners, it was re-released in 2002 with 17 additional tracks on a bonus disc. Several of these were recorded at Costello's home.{{rp|26}}

Track listing

All songs written by Elvis Costello, except where noted; track lengths taken from Rhino 2002 reissue.

=Original release=

"The Other Side of Summer" – 3:56
"Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)" (Declan MacManus, Jim Keltner) – 4:05
"How to Be Dumb" – 5:14
"All Grown Up" – 4:16
"Invasion Hit Parade" – 5:34
"Harpies Bizarre" – 3:44
"After the Fall" – 4:38
"Georgie and Her Rival" – 3:38
"So Like Candy" (Paul McCartney, MacManus) – 4:36
"Interlude: Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 2" – 0:22
"Playboy to a Man" (McCartney, MacManus) – 3:20
"Sweet Pear" – 3:36
"Broken" (Cait O'Riordan) – 3:37
"Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4" – 3:50

=2002 bonus disc=

Tracks 2, 9–13, and 15–17 are solo demo recordings.

"Just Another Mystery" – 4:15
"Sweet Pear" – 3:46
"Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4" – 4:18 live at Great Woods 21 June 1991
* issued as a b-side to "So Like Candy" single
"Mischievous Ghost" (with Mary Coughlan) – 5:47
* released on Bringing It All Back Home for BBC Records
"St. Stephen's Day Murders" (Costello, Paddy Moloney) (with The Chieftains) – 3:25
* released on The Bells of Dublin
"The Other Side of Summer" – 4:06 recorded for MTV Unplugged 3 June 1991
"Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" – 4:43 recorded for MTV Unplugged 3 June 1991
"Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)" (Costello, Keltner) – 4:18 recorded for MTV Unplugged 3 June 1991
"All Grown Up" – 4:36
"Georgie and Her Rival" – 3:22
"Forgive Her Anything" – 4:02
"It Started to Come to Me" – 2:48
"I Still Miss Someone/The Last Town I Painted" (Johnny Cash/Roy Cash Jr., Buddy Word) – 2:47
"Put Your Big Toe in the Milk of Human Kindness" (with Rob Wasserman) – 4:10
* released on Trios
"Invasion Hit Parade" – 4:21
"Just Another Mystery" – 3:43
"Broken" (O'Riordan) – 3:22