My Aim Is True is the debut studio album by the English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, originally released in the United Kingdom on 22 July 1977 through Stiff Records.

[12] More adventurous numbers such as "Hoover Factory", "Dr. Luther's Assistant", "Ghost Train" and "Stranger in the House" were also recorded during the sessions, but were omitted from My Aim Is True and instead appeared on EPs and singles.

[3] Looking like, in Clayton-Lea's words, an "average ordinary-looking computer operator geek", he lacked "neither aggression nor energy" in his live performances, as musician Graham Parker told Mojo.

While the songs range from mellow country twang to full-on, spitting assault, there's a strange cohesiveness to the album simply by virtue of its rough, rushed feel.

[21] William Goodman of Billboard magazine called it "rough edged and bluesy" in a style reminiscent of New Orleans, and recognised the presence of punk, rockabilly, UK pub rock, jazz and honky-tonk country.

He found tracks like "Miracle Man", "No Dancing" and "Alison" utilise that style to create doo-wop and R&B melodies, thereby "taking the '50s and '60s ideas and adding the modern spin".

[3][25] The biographer David Gouldstone writes that the album's primary theme is "the unaccommodating nature of the world", which is explored in two distinct ways: "the personal songs as the microcosm, and the public as the macrocosm".

"[8] Regarding Costello's vocal performance on the record, Gouldstone writes that his directness contributes to listeners' constant interest: "he continually grabs us by the shirtfront and harangues us, and we are sucked into the vortex.

[8] It depicts a checkerboard pattern (surrounding the photo of Costello) on which the phrase "Elvis Is King" is written,[34] which Hinton states was intended as a parody of Bridget Riley's Swinging Sixties op art paintings.

[8] Gouldstone compares his look to "a demented version" of Brains from the 1960s British science fiction series Thunderbirds, actor Woody Allen and Piggy from Lord of the Flies (1954).

[32] In early July, Stiff released "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes" as a single, backed by "Mystery Dance"; it lacked a picture sleeve and failed to chart.

[8] Regarding the poor commercial performances, Costello recalled: "I remember it being very demoralising, feeling that my only contact with the world was those singles, and those people who I didn't know or I'd never met had to make or break of it…that was very depressing.

"[8] Nevertheless, he continued to garner attention from music journalists, including Melody Maker's Allan Jones and the NME's Nick Kent, who gave positive assessments to live shows in May and June.

[8][32][40] My Aim Is True was released in revised form in the United States through Columbia Records on 1 November 1977, adding "Watching the Detectives" as the final track on side one.

[43] Marketing for the American release was spearheaded by Columbia's product manager Dick Wingate, who commissioned a billboard for the LP on Los Angeles's Sunset Boulevard, which was usually reserved for more major acts.

[41] On 13 October, Wingate sent a memo to key Columbia staff, which read: "Despite his appearance, Costello is a deadly serious artist, singer and songwriter ... in the R&B revivalist/rock-and-roll school of Graham Parker, Southside Johnny, or even Springsteen.

His newfound popularity led My Aim Is True to selling 100,000 copies towards the middle of the tour,[32] and shortly before Christmas 1977,[44] it reached number 32 on Billboard's Top LPs & Tape chart.

[32] Writing for Trouser Press, Dave Schulps hailed My Aim Is True as 1977's "most auspicious debut album", praising Costello's musicianship and songwriting, concluding he has "produced a classic in his first try".

[50] Chas de Whalley of Sounds called Costello "a songwriter of rare sensitivity and talent" but had trouble getting a grip with the songs, nevertheless concluding: "Like a flower, Elvis' debut album is opening up into something of metallic beauty.

[51] He further noted the record contained "enough potential hit singles to stock a bloody juke-box", concluding "I can think of only a few albums released this year that rival its general excellence.

"[51] Roy Carr of the NME came across "sexual psychoanalysis set to a dozen superb juke joint anthems ... a Seventies interpretation of Sixties rhythm and roll," while the songs "spill over with emotional torture and melodrama".

"[25] In Stage Life, Jeffrey Morgan wrote that at only 22 years old, Costello "gashed a line in his soul using rock 'n' roll as the blade", creating an LP that, as "flawed as it is, cannot be ignored".

He criticised the misogynistic lyrics, which he compared to the mid-1960s material of Mick Jagger, concluding that Costello has "some way to go before his emotional maturity matches his prodigious artistic skill".

[55] In The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics' poll of the year's best albums, My Aim Is True finished at number two, behind the Sex Pistols' Never Mind the Bollocks.

"[5] Senior AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote: "Costello went on to more ambitious territory fairly quickly, but My Aim Is True is a phenomenal debut, capturing a songwriter and musician whose words were as rich and clever as his music.

[22] Writing in 2010, Nick Freed of Consequence of Sound called My Aim Is True one of the strongest debut albums, stating, "You couldn't find a stronger way to bring your style to the world", further recognising Costello's influence on bands such as They Might Be Giants and the Hold Steady.

Reviewing in 2001, Adam Bresnick of Rolling Stone wrote: "Balancing the rage of punk with the formalism of the century's best songcraft, the album delivers passion and intelligence in equal measure.

"[14] LeMay summarised the album as: "Wordy, witty, and geeky as fuck, My Aim Is True is without question one of the finest statements of brilliant nerddom ever to be released.

The event took place at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco, and was a benefit for the Richard de Lone Special Housing Fund, which assists those with Prader–Willi syndrome.

[68] Six years later, My Aim Is True was reissued again by Universal/Hip-O on 11 September 2007 in a single-disc "Original Masters" package and a two-disc deluxe edition comprising 48 tracks, 26 previously unreleased.