relevance. He commented, "It was a lazy way out — I think everybody at the company recognises that now. We were going through the beginnings of the recent upheaval, the corporate insanity at Warners, which affected everything at the company. It gave the troops of the company much less leeway to be creative. Therefore they grabbed hold of the one thing they saw as a saleable feature, which was, hey, the band is back, and they're rockin'! It's a bit of a simplification." Critical reception Trouser Press wrote: "Throughout, deft instrumental touches, superb singing and the easy confidence of a still-competitive athlete returning to the scene of his greatest triumph make this another effortless win." In The Village Voices annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for the year's best albums, Brutal Youth finished at #31. It was among the six Costello albums featured in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. Track listing All songs by Declan MacManus unless otherwise indicated. "Pony St." – 3:25 "Kinder Murder" – 3:25 "13 Steps Lead Down" – 3:16 "This Is Hell" – 4:27 "Clown Strike" – 4:05 "You Tripped at Every Step" – 4:12 "Still Too Soon to Know" – 2:19 "20% Amnesia" – 3:26 "Sulky Girl" – 5:07 "London's Brilliant Parade" – 4:23 "My Science Fiction Twin" – 4:10 "Rocking Horse Road" – 4:03 "Just About Glad" – 3:14 "All the Rage" – 3:52 "Favourite Hour" – 3:31 Bonus disc (2002 Rhino) "Life Shrinks" – 3:37 "Favourite Hour" (Church Studios Version) – 3:32 "This Is Hell" (Church Studios Version) – 4:10 "Idiophone" – 1:58 "Abandon Words" – 2:55 "Poisoned Letter" – 3:48 "A Drunken Man's Praise of Sobriety" (MacManus, William Butler Yeats) – 1:08 "Pony St." (Bonaparte Rooms Version) – 3:36 "Just About Glad" (Bonaparte Rooms Version) – 3:41 "Clown Strike" (Bonaparte Rooms Version) – 4:19 "Rocking Horse Road" (Demo) – 3:18 "13 Steps Lead Down" (Demo) – 2:07 "All the Rage" (Demo) – 3:38 "Sulky Girl" (Demo) – 4:31 "You Tripped at Every Step" (Church Studios Version) – 3:25 B-sides (available on the 13 Steps Lead Down EP) "Puppet Girl" "Basement Kiss" "We Despise You" "London's Brilliant Parade (EP)" "London's Brilliant Parade" "Sweet Dreams" "The Loved Ones" "From Head to Toe" Personnel Elvis Costello – guitar, vocals, piano on 15; bass on 2 and 8 The Attractions Steve Nieve – organ, piano, harmonium Bruce Thomas – bass on