Wise Up Ghost is a collaborative studio album by British singer/songwriter Elvis Costello and American hip hop group the Roots.

[5] Growing out of Costello's appearances on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon, where the Roots are the house band, Wise Up Ghost was well received by critics.

"[8] Elvis Costello also spoke about the origins of the album, stating: "We were walking off the set of the show together after we did 'Brilliant Disguise' and Quest dropped this little code phrase to me.

Club gave the album a C+, saying "At this point in his career, an album-length experiment like Wise Up Ghost seems to satisfy Costello artistically, thanks to his chameleon tendencies, but there isn't much to add to the best of either catalog.

Costello is the pop equivalent of a shark: He must keep moving through fresh artistic ground—or doubling back across territory he hasn't touched recently—in order to survive.

Though that movement helps Costello maintain a consistent level of output, that process doesn't always leave essential records in his wake.

"[1] Kitty Empire of The Observer gave the album three out of five stars, saying "Devotees of Elvis Costello will find this collaboration with hip-hop band the Roots a more labour-intensive listen, perhaps, than the casual arriviste.

Most politically, there is a sequel, of sorts, to his Falklands-era screed, Shipbuilding, called Cinco Minutos Con Vos, which imagines the view from the south Atlantic.

Actually, this collab is something sturdier and more interesting: a pained set about decaying culture long on verbose vitriol and (obviously) wicked grooves – think a dyspeptic What's Going On or a soul-powered Armed Forces.

"[16] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune gave the album three out of four stars, saying "In a world in which government surveillance, chemical weapons and citizen revolts are ascendant, Wise Up Ghost provides an appropriately nerve-racking soundtrack with a desperate message: Indifference is death.

"[11] Jim Farber of the New York Daily News gave the album four out of four stars, saying Wise Up Ghost contains some of the most fleshy and smart work of either act's career.

"[19] Colin McGuire of PopMatters gave the album an eight out of ten, saying "Some people turn their obsessions into careers, the singer argues at one point during "Stick Out Your Tongue".

"[20] Randall Roberts of the Los Angeles Times gave the album a positive review, saying "'Gather some stones and make them atone,' sings Costello on 'Come the Meantimes,' a line that captures the essence of Wise Up Ghost.

"[21] Nick Coleman of The Independent gave the album four out of five stars, saying "There's something artificial and experimental in the project's very DNA, but that need not be a bad thing, and it isn't.