the string parts using a violin. The video received heavy airplay on MTV in America during the programme's early days. "Sweet Dreams" was released as the second single in December, backed by a live version of Leon Payne's "Psycho", and reached number 42 in the UK. Almost Blue was released in October 1981 through F-Beat Records in the UK and Columbia in the US. It reached number seven on the UK Albums Chart and number 50 on the US Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart, the latter of which Costello attributed to the lack of promotion from country radio stations. F-Beat released an interview album subtitled Elvis Introduces His Favorite Country Songs to selected journalists and DJs as a promotional tool. Additionally, the South Bank Show special on its recording aired shortly after its release. The band took time off during the summer, with occasional live performances in late-July 1981 that mostly featured Costello's previous work with the Attractions and less country material. By August, he had begun writing original compositions on a grand piano and demoed several songs that would appear on his next album, Imperial Bedroom (1982). Critical reception Almost Blue received mixed reviews from music critics on release. In the UK, it was greeted with mostly positive reactions. In Melody Maker, Jones positively compared the artist's vocal performances to Trust, arguing that Costello's voice "has rarely enjoyed such freedom and expressive scope". He concluded that Almost Blue "unashamedly evoke[s] memories of all the places you thought you'd never leave but did, all the lovers you thought you'd still know, don't, but can't forget." Meanwhile, Paul Du Noyer deemed it "a richly satisfying sidestep" in NME, further saying that "it has the feel of being both a homage and a holiday". In a five-star review, Record Mirror Mike Nicholls proclaimed that "taken on its own terms, as a selection of country tunes with Elvis as mouthpiece, it's as flawless an LP as has been released all year". However, he noted that for his fans, Almost Blue "nowhere near approaches the intricate assortment of painstaking miniatures that comprise his usual collections," simply due to the lack of originals. The artist's vocal performances, in particular, proved divisive in America, with many signalling out some renditions as successes and others as failures. In Rolling Stone, Martha Hume argued that "a truly great country singer" possesses both control of their own voice,