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Title: all-round disappointment
Review: I'm a big fan of Costello, a big fan of Bacharach, and through Deep Dead Blue, became a fan of Frisell. This combination seemed too good to be true, and actually, I was so looking forward to hearing it as one piece that I saved listening to it until I had a long car journey.Sadly, the Sweetest Punch is much less than the sum of the parts.I understand that Bill recorded it without hearing Elvis & Burt's finished album. I wish he'd waited and used it as inspiration, as The Sweetest Punch is neither sweet nor punchy. Instead it is passionless, routine and flat. Moreover it's just dull if you compare it to the rich, elegant, touching soundscapes of Painted From Memory.I am surprised that as someone with so much creative control over his output, Elvis didn't take Bill aside and suggest re-mixing or re-recording or simply not releasing.Sad really.
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