Wise Up Ghost

Elvis Costello & The Roots - Wise Up Ghost
Critic Score
Based on 34 reviews
2013 Ratings: #132 / 1115
User Score
Based on 56 ratings
2013 Rank: #483
Liked by 3 people
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CRITIC REVIEWS

100
The Telegraph
Only the schmaltzy If I Could Believe left me unmoved. Otherwise, this is a very cool, politically charged collaboration which finds the Roots and Costello at their thrilling best.
90
American Songwriter

Wise Up Ghost is a fearless, invigorating gut-punch of a record, one that never settles and surprises from start to finish.

90
Drowned in Sound

The combination of one of England’s great lyricists and production from arguably America’s most forward-thinking band resulting in a crisp, funky, even dangerous sounding album as political and as relevant as anything this year.

87
Paste

The surprise comes from how easily Costello’s somewhat reedy voice melds into the soupy mix of Dilla-inspired soundscapes and disco string-stabs cooked up by the Roots.

83
Pretty Much Amazing

It’s rare that a record comes along that so boldly states its own greatness, and it’s rarer still that such an album actually lives up to that promise. Wise Up Ghost does.

80
Mojo

Thanks to The Roots, Costello has new access--and Wise Up Ghost should bring new listeners to mess with.

80
HipHopDX

While they largely reside in separate spaces, Questlove and Costello are perfect counterparts in their musical zaniness. Still, instead of an album that requires a sit down they’ve struck the careful balance of both immediately gratifying and study worthy. 

80
musicOMH

Wise Up Ghost And Other Songs is undoubtedly a smart and richly-detailed album, but it’s not offputtingly cerebral. This is an album that’s aimed equally at the head and the feet.

80
AllMusic

This is an exquisitely detailed, imaginative record that pays back dividends according to how much knowledge, either of Costello or the Roots or their idols, a listener brings to the album.

80
Under the Radar

In all, Wise Up Ghost achieves something much greater than the sum of its parts.

80
Consequence of Sound

It’s hard to recall a record in recent memory that pays such rich rewards off of so much heightened suspicion and curiosity. 

80
SPIN

More than half of Wise Up Ghost is faultless: more exciting and hooky than much recent work from either camp.

75
The Line of Best Fit

Neither band is adapting their playing to the other, yet somehow you can’t imagine the Roots tackling these songs with any other vocalist, nor Costello with any other band.

70
NME

This collaboration with veteran genre-hopper Elvis Costello follows his appearance on the show, and its only disappointment is the absence of Roots rapper Black Thought to joust with him.

65
Pitchfork

This isn't the sound of old masters getting loose, in other words, as much as lifelong A-students coasting a bit. 

60
The 405

The merit of Wise Up Ghost lies more in the very coming together of these artists, and not the product, despite a handful of sweet tracks that bring out the funk. 

58
A.V. Club

At this point in his career, an album-length experiment like Wise Up Ghost seems to satisfy Costello artistically, thanks to his chameleon tendencies, but there isn’t much to add to the best of either catalog.

SoundWAV
56

Overall Album Experience: ▬

Tracks
▲ = #12, #15
▬ = #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #13, #14
▼ = -

Score: 56
___________________________
▲ - 1
▬ - 0,5
▼ - 0
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Gaspurga87
67

Elvis Costello no es un "soulman", eso queda patente en este disco.

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11mo


Added on: September 12, 2013