Elvis Costello - National Ransom

The album’s name and cover illustration of a thieving fox seem to indicate that Costello has a bone to pick with greedy wheeler dealers. While that message is certainly evident in the rocking title track, the versatile songsmith covers a lot of ground thematically and musically. “Jimmie Standing in the Rain,” rooted in traditional jazz, portrays a struggling singing cowboy in 1930s England, while the folky “Bullets for the Newborn King,” one of several sweet ballads on the album, deals with the regrets of a political assassin.