How can you go wrong with an Elvis Costello record? Okay, maybe you can. Kojak Variety wasn't his best album ever, not to mention Spike and, well, countless others.

The thing is, Costello is one of the true greats that is still more than capable of releasing good records more than twenty years. Oh, sure, he had some down time; Mighty Like a Rose and The Juliet Letters were less than perfect releases, but Brutal Youth was certainly a return to form when it came out in 1994.

All This Useless Beauty sounds like Brutal Youth on soft-focus. Songs like "The Other End of the Telescope," "Why Can't A Man Stand Alone?" and the title cut are the old Costello we know and love with a production value.

Needless to say, I'll take This Year's Model over Beauty any day, but this record stays in my collection. After all these years, Elvis is still lyrically and musically one of the most impressive artists ever.

-Ryan Schreiber