All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

The Phoenix

Cut in Nashville with ace session players, what might have been a disastrous mess in other hands coheres into one of Costello's most satisfying releases in some time.

Read Full Review >

Entertainment Weekly

Costello sounds downright frisky at times on this acoustic set, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, which musically calls to mind 1986's sublime, countryish "King of America."

Read Full Review >

Observer Music Monthly

It's Elvis (or Mr Diana Krall as he's also known) in fine, lovelorn country form.

Read Full Review >

Slant Magazine

Unlike Costello's other excursions, Secret waters down his pretensions without losing his welcome pop sophistication.

Read Full Review >

Uncut

Most crucially, Costello manages--apart from the previously cited cringe-worthy lapses--to play along with Burnett’s in-soft/out-LOUD approach, making this his most engaging album in a very long time.

Read Full Review >

Boston Globe

Elvis Costello has flirted with country music in the 28 years since his classic covers homage "Almost Blue," but "Secret" marks a full-blown return to Nashville with splendid results.

Read Full Review >

Mojo

Costello has again hauled material from diverse regions of his writing life into a strangely cohesive cornucopia. [Jul 2009, p.96]

Rolling Stone

The music brings out the terser side of one of pop's most prolix lyricists, with some spectacular results.

Read Full Review >

Under The Radar

With Secret, Profane & Sugarcane, Costello once again hits his mark and makes yet another case for his position among the greatest songwriters of his generation. [Summer 2009, p.65]

Paste Magazine

His prototypically clever and articulate lyrical work infuses the album with a native intelligence that transcends the inherent limitations of any given genre.

Read Full Review >

Billboard

Burnett's settings are much more stripped-down than his work on Robert Plant & Alison Krauss' "Raising Sand" but no less precise: 'My All Time Doll,' one of the strongest cuts, Jeff Taylor's accordion shades the desperation in Costello's lyric with just the right amount of sarcasm.

Read Full Review >

Los Angeles Times

With considerable contributions from producer T-Bone Burnett and star string players out of Nashville (where the collection was recorded) including fiddler Stuart Duncan, dobra ace Jerry Douglas, mandolinist Mike Compton and upright bassist Dennis Crouch, Costello instills much of this outing with a fitting old-timey feel.

Read Full Review >

Spin

Pairing with producer T-Bone Burnett (who helmed 1986's rootsy antecedent "King of America") and a distinguished pickup band of country heavyweights, he gives his typically fussed-over tunes a tent-revival authority.

Read Full Review >

All Music Guide

Despite the occasional stuffiness, there's a lot of good material here and it's all executed well, but it's hard not to shake the feeling that this is a collection of leftovers masquerading as a main course.

Read Full Review >

PopMatters

Despite T-Bone Burnett’s warm production, some excellent playing by the best bluegrass players around, and a few keeper cuts, Secret, Profane & Sugarcane falls all too easily into the middle ranks of Elvis Costello’s vast discography.

Read Full Review >

No Ripcord

He is starting to concern me though, since this is the third album in a row that has left me wallowing in mild to severe disappointment.

Read Full Review >

Q Magazine

As confusing or thought-provoking as ever, depending on how far you want to walk down Costello's mazy career path. [Jul 2009, p.118]

cokemachineglow

Oh, charm abounds; what the album lacks is direction.

Read Full Review >

The Onion (A.V. Club)

Like Momofuku, the new record was knocked out quickly, drawing heavily on material left over from other Costello projects, but while the looseness worked for the driving rock ’n’ roll songs on Momofuku, the freeform ballads and back-to-basics roots workouts of Secret mostly fade into Burnett’s tasteful woodwork.

Read Full Review >

Austin Chronicle

Self-assurance draws out opening salivation 'Down Among the Wine and Spirits' seemingly longer than its three minutes, and 'Complicated Shadows' follows suit, but anything longer--and almost everything is--stagnates.

Read Full Review >

Pitchfork

At its worst, this is effectively a contemporary acoustic neo-No-Depression record with Costello's signature vocal tics slapped on top.

Read Full Review >

What Our Users Said

The average user rating for this album is 6.2 (out of 10) based on 8 User Votes

Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

TD G gave it a0:
If you're going to make a country-themed album, you do it in Nashville. I get it. But I don't get this work from EC. The song cowritten with Loretta Lynn is interesting, but the Hans Christian Anderson angle combined with the twang = fail. There's not much to really love about the effort, although the band is fine as is EC's singing. But it's all rather carried out rather than enthusiastic. Why bother? Next.

Drew D gave it a0:
I am a big Costello fan, but, like most of the distracting singer-songwriter tosh Barnes and Noble plays on repeat to keep people from reading in their stores, there is no reason for this album to exist and I think Costello knows that too. Like Rob Pollard, he seems content to just produce produce produce indiscriminately, refusing to sort the good (or even tolerable) from the crap. Elvis is a pop connoisseur; he knows the good from bad. So why would he release this? It's an album of nothing; I refuse to believe that he actually considers these a quality set of songs. Sure, the backing band does what a backing band should do, and the production is sufficient, and every now and then Costello says something half clever, but it's all decoration hiding the fact that nothing's there. Not a single song is a keeper. Tom Waits, Bob Dylan, hell, even Neil Young and to an extent Randy Newman prove that just because you're old doesn't mean you can't still put out some great (if not quite classic-quality) material. Costello is sadly not a part of that group.

Conor D gave it an8:
Approaches but never quite reaches perfection. Impeccable musicianship; for about the millionth time though, I wonder about Costello's vocals. This isn't one for fans of The Attractions, but like T-Bone Burnett's previous work, Raising Sand, it may well end up as the year's middle-class dinner party background.

Music

Upcoming &Recent Releases

Secret, Profane & Sugarcane

Album Info

Summary

What The Critics Said

What Our Users Said

Upcoming &
Recent Releases