Imperial Bedroom

Costello credited the production to Emerick, assisted by Jon Jacobs, from an original idea by himself. The band had planned a nearly live record and rehearsed in Devon. When the material sounded too much like Trust, they switched to experimenting in the studio. The sessions were at AIR, where Emerick was also working on Paul McCartney's Tug of War. Nieve arranged the strings, including a 40-piece orchestra on ...And in Every Home, and George Martin was asked to review his work. The accordion part took three members of the band to play. Jacobs said Emerick taught him microphone techniques.

Costello wrote that the Attractions and he granted themselves the scope they imagined the Beatles had enjoyed in the mid-1960s. The album reached number 6 in the UK and 30 in the US. Richard Cook of the NME praised its pop sophistication, and Robert Palmer of the New York Times heard Beatles-style baroque and Phil Spector in it. Rolling Stone called it a masterpiece but thought it too long. Christgau gave it a B-plus. Costello toured it in full in 2017 as Imperial Bedroom and Other Chambers.