Editing This Year's Model (section)

==Legacy and influence==
{{Album ratings
| subtitle = Retrospective reviews
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="AllMusic">{{cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/this-years-model-mw0000189632 |title=''This Year's Model'' – Elvis Costello |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=21 August 2022 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923094503/http://www.allmusic.com/album/this-years-model-mw0000189632 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| rev2 = ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]''
| rev2score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Blender">{{cite magazine |last=Wolk |first=Douglas |author-link=Douglas Wolk |url=http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3128 |title=Elvis Costello: ''This Year's Model'' |magazine=[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]] |issue=34 |date=March 2005 |access-date=27 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050204164650/http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3128 |archive-date=4 February 2005 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
| rev3 = ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
| rev3score = {{Rating|4|4}}<ref name="Chicago Tribune">{{cite news |last=Kot |first=Greg |author-link=Greg Kot |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-06-02-9102190176-story.html |title=The Sounds Of Elvis, From San Francisco And Beyond |newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]] |date=2 June 1991 |access-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201028180601/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1991-06-02-9102190176-story.html |archive-date=28 October 2020 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev4 = ''[[The Encyclopedia of Popular Music]]''
| rev4score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|chapter=Costello, Elvis|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|title-link=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|location=London|publisher=[[Omnibus Press]]|edition=5th concise|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}</ref>
| rev5 = ''[[Entertainment Weekly]]''
| rev5score = A<ref name="EW">{{cite magazine |url=http://www.ew.com/article/1991/05/10/elvis-costellos-albums |title=Elvis Costello's albums |magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]] |date=10 May 1991 |access-date=20 September 2015 |last=White |first=Armond |author-link=Armond White |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021214809/http://www.ew.com/article/1991/05/10/elvis-costellos-albums |archive-date=21 October 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev6 = ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]''
| rev6score = 10/10<ref name="Pitchfork">{{cite web |url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1615-this-years-model/ |title=Elvis Costello & The Attractions: ''This Year's Model'' |website=Pitchfork |date=9 May 2002 |access-date=18 October 2020 |last=LeMay |first=Matt |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160319145706/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/1615-this-years-model/ |archive-date=19 March 2016 |url-status=live}}</ref>
| rev7 = ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]''
| rev7score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Q">{{cite magazine |last=Eccleston |first=Danny |title=Elvis Costello & the Attractions: ''This Year's Model'' / ''Blood & Chocolate'' / ''Brutal Youth'' |magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]] |issue=188 |date=March 2002 |page=133}}</ref>
| rev8 = ''[[The Rolling Stone Album Guide]]''
| rev8score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref>{{cite book |chapter=Elvis Costello |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA193 |access-date=30 November 2011 |last=Sheffield |first=Rob |title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide |title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |editor1-last=Brackett |editor1-first=Nathan |editor1-link=Nathan Brackett |editor2-last=Hoard |editor2-first=Christian |editor2-link=Christian Hoard |publisher=[[Fireside Books]] |location=London |edition=4th |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-7432-0169-8 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/193 193–195] |archive-date=13 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213201516/https://books.google.com/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA193 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| rev9 = ''[[Spin Alternative Record Guide]]''
| rev9score = 10/10{{sfn|Wyman|1995|p=92}}
| rev10 = ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]''
| rev10score = {{Rating|5|5}}<ref name="Uncut Moody">{{cite magazine |last=Moody |first=Paul |url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/elvis-costello-this-years-model |title=Elvis Costello – ''This Year's Model'' |magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |issue=124 |page=84 |date=8 August 2007 |access-date=20 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304110310/http://www.uncut.co.uk/reviews/album/elvis-costello-this-years-model |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
}}

''This Year's Model'' continues to receive critical acclaim. Journalists praise the Attractions' music,<ref name="AllMusic" /><ref name="Troper PM" /><ref name="Pitchfork" /> describing them as one of the best backing bands in rock music.<ref name="Bray CoS" /><ref name="Troper PM" /><ref name="M&K PM" /> Gouldstone wrote that with Costello on guitar, they became a band who are "capable of making even mediocre music listenable and of giving Costello's greatest songs an enthralling sense of intensity and immediacy."{{sfn|Gouldstone|1989|loc=chap. 3}} Erlewine described them as giving the album a "reckless, careening feel", further commending the sound, concluding that "Costello and the Attractions never rocked this hard, or this vengefully, ever again."<ref name="AllMusic" /> Writing for ''[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]]'' in 2002, Matt LeMay said they were the reason the album was superior to ''My Aim Is True'', and that "it's not only a more complex and dynamic album, but also one that steers well clear of the retro guitar twang that marred the less interesting bits of his debut."<ref name="Pitchfork" /> Declaring ''This Year's Model'' not only Costello's best, but one of the best albums ever made, he stated that it balanced the "raw energy" of its predecessor with the "more elegant pop songwriting" of his later works."<ref name="Pitchfork" /> Writing for ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]'' magazine, [[Douglas Wolk]] considered the Attractions "perfect creative foils" for Costello, particularly signalling out Nieve's playing throughout the record.<ref name="Blender" />

Critics consider ''This Year's Model'' one of Costello's best, and "angriest",<ref name="Bray CoS" /><ref name="RS 2008" /> works.<ref name="UCR" /><ref>{{cite web |last=Gallucci |first=Michael |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/elvis-costello-albums-ranked/ |title=Elvis Costello Albums Ranked Worst to Best |website=[[Ultimate Classic Rock]] |date=15 February 2022 |access-date=10 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220225071018/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/elvis-costello-albums-ranked/ |archive-date=25 February 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Spin" /> ''[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]''{{'s}} Al Shipley argued that Costello was never able surpass the record's "inventive punch",<ref name="Spin">{{cite magazine |last=Shipley |first=Al |url=https://www.spin.com/2022/01/elvis-costello-albums-ranked/ |title=Every Elvis Costello Album, Ranked |magazine=[[Spin (magazine)|Spin]] |date=30 January 2022 |access-date=10 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220219184839/https://www.spin.com/2022/01/elvis-costello-albums-ranked/ |archive-date=19 February 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> while Michael Gallucci of ''[[Ultimate Classic Rock]]'' deemed it the work that "bridged his brief past with his wide-open future".<ref name="UCR">{{cite web |last=Gallucci |first=Michael |title=How Elvis Costello Created His Masterpiece, 'This Year's Model' |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/elvis-costello-this-years-model/ |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |access-date=1 March 2022 |date=17 March 2018 |archive-date=29 October 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211029173310/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/elvis-costello-this-years-model/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Troper deemed it Costello's "most consistent" release and finest with the Attractions, finding it the artist's "most live-sounding, most punk, and most honest record of his dauntingly expansive career".<ref name="Troper PM">{{cite web |last=Troper |first=Morgan |title=Between the Grooves: Elvis Costello – 'This Year's Model' |url=https://www.popmatters.com/elvis-costello-this-years-model-2650329505.html |website=[[PopMatters]] |pages=1–12 |access-date=1 March 2022 |date=5 February 2021 |archive-date=14 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210914162147/https://www.popmatters.com/elvis-costello-this-years-model-2650329505.html |url-status=live }}</ref> ''PopMatters'' writers Jason Mendelsohn and Eric Klinger hailed the album as "simple, refreshing, and surprisingly modern" and "an object lesson that the New Wave could compete on the old school's field", respectively.<ref name="M&K PM">{{cite web |last1=Mendelsohn |first1=Jason |last2=Klinger |first2=Eric|title=Counterbalance No. 79: Elvis Costello's 'This Year's Model' |url=https://www.popmatters.com/157449-elvis-costello-2495861071.html |website=PopMatters |access-date=18 March 2022 |date=27 April 2012 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111190249/https://www.popmatters.com/157449-elvis-costello-2495861071.html|url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Consequence (publication)|Consequence of Sound]]''{{'s}} Ryan Bray named it the first of Costello and the Attractions' eight-year run he nicknamed "murderer's row".<ref name="Bray CoS">{{cite web |last=Bray |first=Ryan |title='This Year's Model' Is Still Elvis Costello at His Angry Best |url=https://consequence.net/2018/03/this-years-model-is-still-elvis-costello-at-his-angry-best/ |website=[[Consequence (publication)|Consequence of Sound]] |access-date=1 March 2022 |date=17 March 2018 |archive-date=11 July 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711194314/https://consequence.net/2018/03/this-years-model-is-still-elvis-costello-at-his-angry-best/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Reviewing in 2008, ''Rolling Stone''{{'s}} [[Rob Sheffield]] named ''This Year's Model'' as an album everyone should own, saying the songs "remain brutally funny, sung with moments of unexpected tenderness".<ref name="RS 2008" /> Regarding Costello's musicianship, ''Uncut''{{'s}} Paul Moody argued that after he "dispensed with his musical safety net entirely" from ''My Aim Is True'', ''This Year's Model'' began "his insatiable urge to 'bite the hand that feeds me'."<ref name="Uncut Moody" /> The album was not without its detractors. ''[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]]'' magazine's Jim Irvin was more mixed on the material and arrangements, overall finding the album "unfeasibly invigorating" following its "mild-mannered" predecessor, but liked Lowe's production.<ref name="Mojo 2002">{{cite magazine |last=Irvin |first=Jim |title=Elvis Costello: ''This Year's Model/Blood & Chocolate/Brutal Youth'' |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/elvis-costello-ithis-years-modelblood--chocolatebrutal-youthi |magazine=[[Mojo (magazine)|Mojo]] |date=March 2002 |access-date=1 March 2022 |via=Rock's Backpages {{subscription required}} |archive-date=5 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201205105845/https://rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/elvis-costello-ithis-years-modelblood--chocolatebrutal-youthi |url-status=live }}</ref>

Some reviewers mention the album's influence on punk and its evolution into new wave. In 2002, ''[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]]'' magazine's Chris Roberts called Costello the "bitter bard of the punk era", writing that with ''This Year's Model'', he "articulat[ed] a generation's ire every bit as caustically as the [Sex] Pistols' gigantic guitars".<ref name="Uncut Roberts">{{cite magazine |last=Roberts |first=Chris |url=https://www.rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/elvis-costello-reissues |title=Elvis Costello: Reissues |magazine=[[Uncut (magazine)|Uncut]] |date=April 2002 |access-date=1 March 2022 |via=Rock's Backpages {{subscription required}} |archive-date=14 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200814175513/https://rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/elvis-costello-reissues |url-status=live }}</ref> Bray cited it as the album that proved pop and punk could co-exist.<ref name="Bray CoS" /> Writing for ''[[Record Collector]]'' in 2008, Terry Staunton cited it as "the [[post-punk]] distillation of the times", especially in London,<ref name="RCStaunton" /> and ten years later, Nick Hasted named it the "template" for the transition from punk to new wave.<ref name="RCHasted" /> Regarding the album's position in the new wave genre, punknews.org's Julie River described ''This Year's Model'' as one of the first and strongest new wave albums, ultimately standing as one of Costello's finest albums.<ref name="punknews.org">{{cite web |last=River |first=Julie |title=Elvis Costello and the Attractions – ''This Year's Model'' |url=https://www.punknews.org/review/15855/elvis-costello-and-the-attractions-this-years-model |website=Punk News |access-date=21 August 2022 |date=2 June 2018 |archive-date=22 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201022013402/https://www.punknews.org/review/15855/elvis-costello-and-the-attractions-this-years-model |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]]'' magazine's Andy Whitman went further, describing the album as "the moment when New Wave found its frontman".<ref name="WhitmanPaste">{{cite web |last=Whitman |first=Andy |title=Elvis Costello: ''This Year's Model'' (Deluxe Edition) |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/elvis-costello/this-years-model-deluxe-edition/ |website=[[Paste (magazine)|Paste]] |access-date=21 August 2022 |date=3 March 2008 |archive-date=14 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210414042538/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/elvis-costello/this-years-model-deluxe-edition/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Both River and Whitman agreed the album has aged well.<ref name="punknews.org" /><ref name="WhitmanPaste" />

Thomson described the songs as "tight and instantly memorable", and mentioned Costello's improved songwriting and the Attractions' performances.{{sfn|Thomson|2004|loc=chap. 5}} Hinton considers it "light years ahead" of its predecessor, creating a "paranoid universe, where everyone is being watched."{{sfn|Hinton|1999|loc=chap. 3}} St. Michael similarly writes that the record "provokes and invokes" the listener as much as it entertains.{{sfn|St. Michael|1986|loc=chap. 3}} In ''The Words & Music of Elvis Costello'', Perone calls ''This Year's Model'' one of the "strongest sophomore efforts of any singer-songwriter", arguing that it affirmed the seeds that outlined on ''My Aim Is True'' that predicted the artist's future projects. The author also comments that it debuted one of the strongest four-piece rock bands of the era.{{sfn|Perone|2015|pp=16–25}}

[[Black Francis]] of [[Pixies (band)|Pixies]] named the album as a favorite, recalling, "The [album] I listened to the most [at college], though, was ''This Year's Model''. ... Instead of studying I'd go in [my room] and listen to Elvis Costello over and over until my ears hurt and my head couldn't take it anymore".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Fox |first=Killian |date=2014-06-28 |title=Black Francis: soundtrack of my life |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2014/jun/29/black-francis-soundtrack-of-my-life-pixies |access-date=2024-02-15 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref>

===Rankings===
''This Year's Model'' often appears on lists of the greatest albums of all time. In 2000 ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' placed it at number 82 on its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever".<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The 100 Greatest British Albums Ever! – Elvis Costello: ''This Year's Model'' |magazine=Q |issue=165 |date=June 2000 |page=62}}</ref> In 1987, ''Rolling Stone'' placed the album at number 11 on its list of the best of the past 20 years, and said that Costello charted "the modern romantic terrain with keen cynicism, caustic wit and furious energy."<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Best Albums of The Last 20 Years – 11. ''This Year's Model'' |magazine=Rolling Stone |issue=507 |date=27 August 1987 |page=72}}</ref> The same magazine ranked the album number 98 in its list of [[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]] in 2003,<ref>{{cite book |chapter=98 &#124; ''This Year's Model'' – Elvis Costello |chapter-url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/this-years-model-elvis-costello-19691231 |access-date=12 April 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060316133449/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6598183/98_this_years_model/ |archive-date=16 March 2006 |url-status=dead |title=Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |title-link=Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |editor-last=Levy |editor-first=Joe |publisher=Turnaround |location=London |edition=3rd |year=2006 |orig-year=2005 |isbn=978-1-932958-61-4 |oclc=70672814}}</ref> maintaining the rating in a 2012 revised list,<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/elvis-costello-this-years-model-173024/ |title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time |magazine=Rolling Stone |date=31 May 2012 |access-date=19 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628015239/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-156826/elvis-costello-this-years-model-173024/ |archive-date=28 June 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> and dropping to number 121 in a 2020 revised list.<ref>{{Cite magazine|date=22 September 2020|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/|access-date=4 October 2021|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US|archive-date=22 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200922163403/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/|url-status=live}}</ref> In lists compiling the 100 greatest albums of all time, ''Mojo'', ''NME'' and ''Spin'' ranked ''This Year's Model'' at numbers 69, 40 and 8 in 1995, 1985 and 1989, respectively.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made |magazine=Mojo |date=August 1995 |issue=21 |pages=50–88}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=Top 100 |magazine=NME |date=30 November 1985 |page=12}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |title=The 25 Greatest Albums of All Time – No. 8: Elvis Costello and the Attractions: ''This Year's Model'' |magazine=Spin |date=April 1989 |page=47}}</ref> ''NME'' listed it at number 256 in their 2013 list of [[NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]].<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Barker |first=Emily |url=https://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-300-201-1426482 |title=The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 300–201 |magazine=NME |date=24 October 2013 |access-date=10 March 2022 |archive-date=5 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190405220011/https://www.nme.com/photos/the-500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-300-201-1426482 |url-status=live }}</ref> In a 2018 issue selecting 70 landmark albums of the past 70 years, ''Record Collector'' chose ''This Year's Model'' as their pick for 1978.<ref name="RCHasted">{{cite magazine |last=Hasted |first=Nick |title=The 70 Landmark Albums of the Last 70 years – Elvis Costello: ''This Year's Model'' |magazine=[[Record Collector]] |issue=487 |date=December 2018 |page=83}}</ref> In 2004, ''Pitchfork''{{'s}} Sam Ubl ranked it the 52nd best album of the 1970s, calling it "one of [Costello's] most deceptive rock records",<ref>{{cite web |last=Ubl |first=Sam |url=https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/?page=5 |title=The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s |website=Pitchfork |date=23 June 2004 |access-date=10 March 2022 |page=5 |archive-date=2 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220302092927/https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/5932-top-100-albums-of-the-1970s/?page=5 |url-status=live }}</ref> and in 2012, ''Paste'' placed it at number 35 in a similar list.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/1970s/best-albums-of-the-1970s/ |title=The 70 Best Albums of the 1970s |magazine=Paste |date=7 January 2020 |access-date=23 February 2022  |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211211130126/https://www.pastemagazine.com/music/1970s/best-albums-of-the-1970s/ |archive-date=11 December 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref> ''Ultimate Classic Rock'' also included it in their list of the 100 best rock albums from the decade.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://ultimateclassicrock.com/70s-rock-albums/ |title=Top 100 '70s Rock Albums |website=Ultimate Classic Rock |date=5 March 2015 |access-date=10 March 2022 |archive-date=16 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116164140/https://ultimateclassicrock.com/70s-rock-albums/ |url-status=live }}</ref> ''Paste'' magazine also ranked it the 19th greatest new wave album in 2016.<ref name="PasteBestof" /> The album was included in the 2018 edition of Robert Dimery's book ''[[1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die]]''.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Robert |last1=Dimery |first2=Michael |last2=Lydon |title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die |edition=Revised and Updated |date=2018 |location=London |publisher=[[Cassell (publisher)|Cassell]] |isbn=978-1-78840-080-0}}</ref>