Armed Forces (studio album) by Elvis Costello And The Attractions

From Brad1770 06/02/2024 22:25

Those first three EC albums are fantastic, and whilst ‘This Years Model’ for me is the pinnacle ‘Armed Forces’ is a worthy contender. Strangely enough “Oliver’s Army” was a minor hit in Australia in 1979 and god did I love hearing that song come on the radio to brighten my day amongst the other crap they used to play. Such a shame EC has all but disowned this gem because of the N word

Finishes off a really strong late '70s trilogy for Costello off the heels of My Aim Is True and This Year's Model. I don't think it's quite as strong as those two, since it doesn't quite reach the same heights and sags a little in the middle, but still a great album replete with Costello's snarky vocals and lyrics. Accidents Will Happen, Green Shirt, Senior Service, Goon Squad, Oliver's Army, Party Girl—all excellent songs. Here's a rare instance where the American version is superior to the original, as the album's worst track (Sunday's Best) is replaced in favor of what becomes the album's best track (What's So Funny 'Bout Peace, Love and Understanding).

Elvis Costello's third album, "Armed Forces" is, like all his early albums, inspired and full of fine songs. Nick Lowe produced Costello's first five albums and thus he played a big part in securing Costello artistic and commercial success. In contrast to the raw and slightly punky sound of the first two albums a more produced and polished sound characterizes this album.
You might thus well fear that Costello's music would lose some of the edge that made him interesting and relevant in the first place. This is by no means the case, partly because his songwriting on this album is so strong, probably the most consistent of any of his numerous albums.

Songs like "Accidents Will Happen" and "Oliver's Army" with its Abba sound are well-known classics, but several of the lesser known songs also have a durability that makes them great listening still and songs you may feel like singing along with. "Busy Bodies," "Two Little Hitlers" and the magnificent "Chemistry Class" are among my absolute Costello favourites. In fact there is only one or two songs on this highly successful album which do not quite hold level. "Moods of the Modern's" has never really been my cup of tea, and "Goon Squad" is a rather ordinary rocker.

As an added bonus, this edition features Costello's version of Nick Lowe's legendary "What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding" - a song originally found on Brinsley Schwarz's last album.

If you think you could settle for just one Costello album, "Armed Forces" would be a good choice.

https://www.angelfire.com/nv/Badfinger/BANDcostello.html

There is so much filler content on this record and the album only has 2 or 3 great songs and the rest just fade into the background. The ones that always stand out to me are Oliver's Army and Accidents Will Happen. Both are classic Costello with his infectious voice dominating the tracks and the Attractions putting in a fantastic performance in backing him up. These two songs are so energetic and catchy and this makes the dramatic fall off of the record feel even worse. Basically every song except the two I mentioned are filler and provide nothing to the record. You could skip those songs and I don't think anyone would be missing out on anything. None of the songs are bad but they just do nothing and don't really have that charm and infectious nature we are used to with Costello. Overall, this was quite a disappointing record for me as Costello has shown he can create brilliant music but he doesn't show it on here.

Not as good as his previous records, but still very strong album.

superb - not flawless

Favorite Tracks:Big Boys, Busy Bodies, Sunday's Best

From Goliath 10/16/2018 13:03

Accidents Will Happen, Oliver's Army and Goon Squad are great tracks, the rest are mediocre at best.

From indieshins 02/25/2018 06:30

This is the weakest of Costello's run of albums from his debut to 1982's Imperial Bedroom. This is somewhat of an unpopular opinion, and there was a time when I would have disagreed with anyone who held it. But, it is hard to deny that it sounds a bit dated, and after the first five songs, which are ridiculously strong, I find myself less enamored with the others (except Little Hitlers, which I think is a fine closer). Still a great album - at this point Costello was incapable of making anything less - but not one of my favourites.

My first Elvis Costello album. Really, really good all the way through. Songs are good or great.