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The Boy Named If is the 32nd studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello and The Imposters. The album was released on 14 January 2022 by EMI Records and Capitol Records.[2][3]

The Boy Named If received critical acclaim and was nominated for Best Rock Album at the 65th Annual Grammy Awards.[4]

Content

The album's first single, "Magnificent Hurt" was released on October 27, 2021. Stereogum's Tom Breihan described the track as a "a straight-up rocker" and compared it to his late 70s work.[5]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic83/100[6]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic [1]
American Songwriter[7]
Classic Rock[8]
Paste7.8/10[9]
Pitchfork7.5/10[10]
Slant Magazine[11]

The Boy Named If received positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from critics, the album received an average score of 83, which indicates "universal acclaim", based on 14 reviews.[6] Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that The Boy Named If was Costello's "purest doses of rock and roll since maybe Blood & Chocolate (1986)".[1]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Elvis Costello

No.TitleLength
1."Farewell, OK"2:54
2."The Boy Named If"4:24
3."Penelope Halfpenny"2:57
4."The Difference"3:45
5."What If I Can't Give You Anything But Love?"4:03
6."Paint the Red Rose Blue"4:46
7."Mistook Me for a Friend"4:13
8."My Most Beautiful Mistake"4:47
9."Magnificent Hurt"3:13
10."The Man You Love to Hate"4:53
11."The Death of Magic Thinking"3:31
12."Trick Out the Truth"4:53
13."Mr. Crescent"3:39
Total length:51:58
Japanese edition bonus track[12]
No.TitleLength
14."Truth Drug"1:41
Total length:53:45

Personnel

Musicians

Technical

  • Elvis Costello – production
  • Sebastian Krys – production, mixing, engineering
  • Brian Lucey – mastering
  • Daniel Galindo – engineering
  • Ron Taylor – engineering
  • Dex Green – recording (8)

Charts

Chart performance for The Boy Named If
Chart (2022) Peak
position
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[13] 47
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] 20
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[15] 149
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[16] 41
Irish Albums (IRMA)[17] 55
Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] 1
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] 15
UK Albums (OCC)[20] 6
US Billboard 200[21] 200
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[22] 34

References

  1. ^ a b c "Elvis Costello, Elvis Costello & the Imposters - the Boy Named if Album Reviews, Songs & More | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  2. ^ "The Boy Named If by Elvis Costello & The Imposters". Music.apple.com. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  3. ^ Althea Legaspi (27 October 2021). "Elvis Costello & the Imposters Preview 'The Boy Named If' LP With New Song". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  4. ^ Lee, Taila (15 November 2022). "2023 GRAMMY Nominations: See The Complete Nominees List". Grammys.com. Retrieved 15 November 2022.
  5. ^ Breihan, Tom (27 October 2021). "Elvis Costello and the Imposters 'Magnificent Hurt'". Stereogum. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  6. ^ a b "Elvis Costello & the Imposters - The Boy Named If". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  7. ^ "Review: With His New Album, Elvis Reemerges as Classic Costello". American Songwriter. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 15 January 2022.
  8. ^ "Elvis Costello & The Imposters continue winning streak with The Boy Named If". Classic Rock. 14 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  9. ^ "Elvis Costello and The Imposters Show Their Fangs on Fiery Return to Form The Boy Named If". Paste. 12 January 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2022.
  10. ^ Soto, Alfred (19 January 2022). "Elvis Costello / The Imposters: The Boy Named If Album Review". Pitchfork. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Elvis Costello The Boy Named If Review: An Adrenaline-Fueled Picture of Fleeting Youth". Slant Magazine. 12 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2021.
  12. ^ "ザ・ボーイ・ネームド・イフ [SHM-CD]" (in Japanese). Universal Music Japan. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  13. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Elvis Costello & the Imposters – The Boy Named If" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Ultratop.be – Elvis Costello & the Imposters – The Boy Named If" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Ultratop.be – Elvis Costello & the Imposters – The Boy Named If" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  16. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Elvis Costello & The Imposters – The Boy Named If" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  17. ^ "Irish Albums Chart: 21 January 2022". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Elvis Costello & the Imposters – The Boy Named If". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 January 2022.
  20. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 21 January 2022.
  21. ^ "Elvis Costello Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  22. ^ "Elvis Costello Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved 25 January 2022.

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