Elvis Costello has announced a deluxe reissue of King of America, his 1986 album produced by longtime collaborator T Bone Burnett. The expanded edition—titled King of America & Other Realms—includes the full LP, remastered from the original master tapes, as well as newly discovered demos, outtakes, unreleased concert audio from Costello’s 1987 show at London’s Royal Albert Hall, a 35-page essay by Costello, photo booklet, and more. The collection arrives November 1. Below, listen to a remastered version of “Indoor Fireworks.”
Recorded entirely in the United States, King of America reflected Costello’s growing interest in country and roots music—a departure from the new-wave edge of his prior albums. Costello enlisted session musicians like Ray Brown, Earl Palmer, James Burton, Jerry Scheff, and Ronnie Tutt (the latter three having been in Elvis Presley’s TCB Band) for the recording process in Hollywood. A number of CDs in the King of America & Other Realms super deluxe box set will include outtakes from Costello’s later albums recorded in the United States, such as 2004’s The Delivery Man, 2010’s National Ransom, and more.
The box set also includes a 17-song live recording captured at Costello’s 1987 Royal Albert Hall show in London, previously unreleased tracks with collaborators like Allen Toussaint and T Bone Burnett, early drafts of tracks like “Jack of All Parades” and “Sleep of the Just,” and solo versions of “Poisoned Rose,” “I’ll Wear It Proudly,” “Suffering Face,” and “Having It All.”
Costello also re-recorded King of America’s opener “Brilliant Mistake,” as well as “Indoor Fireworks,” and “That’s Not The Part of Him You’re Leaving” earlier this year. Those appear on the last disc of the collection. Costello is also releasing a single-LP remaster of the original album, and a 2xCD set that includes the full album and a compilation of selections from the expanded box set.
All products featured on Pitchfork are independently selected by our editors. However, when you buy something through our retail links, we may earn an affiliate commission.