# Mighty Like a Rose

Professional ratings :
| Review scores ||
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic | |
| Blender | |
| Chicago Tribune | |
| Christgau's Consumer Guide | C+ |
| Encyclopedia of Popular Music | |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| NME | 5/10 |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Uncut | |
Mighty Like a Rose is the 13th studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released in 1991 on compact disc as Warner Brothers 26575. The title is presumably a reference to the pop standard "Mighty Lak' a Rose", and although that song does not appear on the album, the words of its first stanza are quoted in the booklet of the 2002 reissue.$^{:23}$ It peaked at No. 5 on the UK Albums Chart, and at No. 55 on the Billboard 200.

## Content

The album was initially intended to be released under Costello's birth name, Declan MacManus, as the singer had grown tired of the Elvis Costello pseudonym. Record label pressures, however, won the day and the release was as an Elvis Costello record.
Mighty Like a Rose continues in the vein of Costello's previous album Spike from 1989, although with Mitchell Froom taking over the producer's chair from T Bone Burnett. This time, the tracks were recorded in one location, Ocean Way in Hollywood, with orchestral and vocal overdubs taking place at Westside Studios in London.$^{:26}$ Two more songs from his collaboration with Paul McCartney appear, "Playboy to a Man" and a song selected as a single, "So Like Candy".
Costello refers to this as an angry record, recorded in the aftermath of the Gulf War.$^{:3}$ The opening track, "The Other Side of Summer" was designed as a Beach Boys pastiche after their style in the early 1970s.$^{:5}$ The track "Invasion Hit Parade" features a trumpet solo by Costello's father, Ross MacManus. The album also features "Broken", a song written by his wife at the time, Cait O'Riordan, to whom the album is dedicated.
The lead single, "The Other Side of Summer", peaked at No. 43 on the UK Singles Chart. Although it missed the Billboard Hot 100 in the US, it reached No. 1 on the Modern Rock Tracks chart and No. 40 on the Album Rock Tracks chart. The second single, "So Like Candy", did not chart in either nation.

## Release history

The album was released initially on compact disc in 1991. As part of the Rhino Records reissue campaign for Costello's back catalogue from Demon/Columbia and Warners, it was re-released in 2002 with 17 additional tracks on a bonus disc. Several of these were recorded at Costello's home.$^{:26}$

## Track listing

All songs written by Elvis Costello, except where noted; track lengths taken from Rhino 2002 reissue.

### Original release

* "The Other Side of Summer" – 3:56
* "Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)" (Declan MacManus, Jim Keltner) – 4:05
* "How to Be Dumb" – 5:14
* "All Grown Up" – 4:16
* "Invasion Hit Parade" – 5:34
* "Harpies Bizarre" – 3:44
* "After the Fall" – 4:38
* "Georgie and Her Rival" – 3:38
* "So Like Candy" (Paul McCartney, MacManus) – 4:36
* "Interlude: Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 2" – 0:22
* "Playboy to a Man" (McCartney, MacManus) – 3:20
* "Sweet Pear" – 3:36
* "Broken" (Cait O'Riordan) – 3:37
* "Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4" – 3:50

### 2002 bonus disc

Tracks 2, 9–13, and 15–17 are solo demo recordings.
* "Just Another Mystery" – 4:15
* "Sweet Pear" – 3:46
* "Couldn't Call It Unexpected No. 4" – 4:18 live at Great Woods 21 June 1991
** issued as a b-side to "So Like Candy" single
* "Mischievous Ghost" (with Mary Coughlan) – 5:47
** released on Bringing It All Back Home for BBC Records
* "St. Stephen's Day Murders" (Costello, Paddy Moloney) (with The Chieftains) – 3:25
** released on The Bells of Dublin
* "The Other Side of Summer" – 4:06 recorded for MTV Unplugged 3 June 1991
* "Deep Dark Truthful Mirror" – 4:43 recorded for MTV Unplugged 3 June 1991
* "Hurry Down Doomsday (The Bugs Are Taking Over)" (Costello, Keltner) – 4:18 recorded for MTV Unplugged 3 June 1991
* "All Grown Up" – 4:36
* "Georgie and Her Rival" – 3:22
* "Forgive Her Anything" – 4:02
* "It Started to Come to Me" – 2:48
* "I Still Miss Someone/The Last Town I Painted" (Johnny Cash/Roy Cash Jr., Buddy Word) – 2:47
* "Put Your Big Toe in the Milk of Human Kindness" (with Rob Wasserman) – 4:10
** released on Trios
* "Invasion Hit Parade" – 4:21
* "Just Another Mystery" – 3:43
* "Broken" (O'Riordan) – 3:22

## Personnel

* Declan MacManus – acoustic guitar, bass guitar, electric guitar, maracas, keyboards
* Mitchell Froom – organ, celeste, harmonium
* Larry Knechtel – organ, piano, Hammond organ, clavinet
* Marc Ribot – guitar, cornet, rhythm guitar, horn
* Jerry Scheff – electric bass, electric guitar
* Jim Keltner – drums, percussion

### Additional personnel

* Lionel Batiste – drums
* Nicholas Bucknail – clarinet
* James Burton – acoustic guitar
* Gregory Davis – trumpet
* Andre Findon – flute
* Steve George – backing vocals
* Charles Joseph – trombone
* Kirk Joseph – tuba
* Roger Lewis – baritone saxophone
* Ross MacManus – trumpet
* Jenell Marshall – drums, percussion
* Richard Morgan – oboe
* Steve Nieve – keyboards
* Richard Page – backing vocals
* Simon Rayner – french horn
* Steven Soles – backing vocals
* Benmont Tench – piano
* Pete Thomas – drums, percussion, castanets, tambourine, bells
* Efrem Towns – trumpet
* Rob Wasserman – electric bass
* Tom "T-Bone" Wolk – bass

## Charts

| Chart (1991) | Peak position |
| UK Albums Chart | 5 |
| The Billboard 200 | 55 |

### Singles

| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
| 1991 | "The Other Side of Summer" | UK Singles Chart | 43 |
| 1991 | "The Other Side of Summer" | Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks | 40 |
| 1991 | "The Other Side of Summer" | Billboard Modern Rock Tracks | 1 |