It is questionable whether Costello really needed to update his sound following the startling run of greatness that comprised his first five albums of original material, but by 1982’s Imperial Bedroom, he was feeling ambitious, and recruited legendary Beatles engineer Geoff Emerick to bring new approaches to the studio. The resulting album benefits not so much from Emerick’s studio wizardry – indeed the fussiness can be distracting at times – but instead from the immense quality of Costello’s songs, including uptempo masterpieces like “The Loved Ones,” “Man Out Of Time,” and “Beyond Belief,” and affecting character studies “The Long Honeymoon” and “Shabby Doll” (containing the singer’s priceless self assessment: “Being what you might call a whore/ always worked for me before.”) Imperial Bedroom is one of several releases by the artist that belongs in any discerning rock music fan’s collection.