Armed Forces
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
1979
Album Summary
Armed Forces is the third studio album by English singer-songwriter Elvis Costello, released on 5 January 1979 in the United Kingdom through Radar Records. It was his second album with the Attractions–bassist Bruce Thomas, drummer Pete Thomas (no relation) and keyboardist Steve Nieve–and the first to officially credit them on the cover. The album was recorded in six weeks from August to September 1978 at Eden Studios in London under the working title Emotional Fascism. Produced by Nick Lowe and engineered by Roger Béchirian, the sessions saw Costello exert more control over production compared to This Year's Model (1978), while Nieve contributed more to song arrangements. Most of the material for Armed Forces was written on the road throughout 1978. For the album, Costello sought a more commercial sound than the punk rock style employed on his two previous records, resulting in a more pop-oriented production reflecting the new wave era. Musical influences included David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Kraftwerk, the Beatles and ABBA. The overtly political lyrics concern the effect of politics on human relationships. The UK release featured an elaborate fold-out LP packaging, with a cover depicting a herd of elephants, which was simplified for the US release through Columbia Records, which featured an alternate drip-cover. Initial pressings of also included a promotional three-song EP titled Live at Hollywood High. Supported by the successful UK singles "Oliver's Army" and "Accidents Will Happen", Armed Forces reached number two in the UK, becoming Costello's biggest commercial success up to that point. The American version, released in February 1979, omitted "Sunday's Best" and replaced it with Costello's version of Lowe's "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding". The album received positive reviews from music critics and appeared on several lists of the year's best albums. Costello and the Attractions supported the album on the Armed Funk tour in America, which was plagued with issues, including an incident with Stephen Stills that nearly destroyed Costello's reputation in the country. In later decades, Armed Forces has continued to receive positive reviews, with many highlighting the production. Others noted that it contained musical styles Costello would utilise for later records. It is considered one of Costello's best works and has appeared on various best-of lists. The album has been reissued multiple times, including in 2020 as a super deluxe edition, which was positively received.
WikipediaElvis Costello is highly overrated. This album is no exception. Literally. There is not a single exceptional track on this album. The mixing and production isn't even very good on this album. It's all mids and compressed to hell so everthing sounds flat.
Elvis Costello was huge for me and my friends in college. Got a taste for his music in high school from my stepdad. Especially the 77-80 albums. Some of the most brilliant lyrics. So intelligent yet they still have have real emotional punch.
I don’t need to listen to this. I could sing it to you I’ve played it so many times. A favourite album by a favourite performer. The lyrics and the ever changing arrangements, his voice gets richer with age.
I love this album. So smart, so melodic, such great production. The songs are varied, each with its own identity, great playing, whip-smart lyrics, great melodies, inventive and tight playing. Beatle-esque in places, this album was great leap forward, and showed much more of the breadth of what E.C. could achieve. I could listen to this album over and over without getting bored. The singles are classics.
I've given Elvis Costello's music so many chances with selections from across the decades, and no matter what I listen to I find his singing and songwriting to be absolutely insufferable.
The angry nerd returns, spitting lyrics as sharp as the twanging chords on his guitar. He originally wanted to call this album 'Emotional Fascism". If that doesn't let you know the theme of this album then nothing will. Best Tracks: Accident Will Happen; Oliver's Army; Green Shirt
I really enjoyed this album. Funnily, I had never listened to an Elvis Costello album despite loving all of the singles. The sound is really lush and well produced. I enjoyed it, although the singles are definitely the most singalongable of all the tracks on the album. I do enjoy Elvis's lyrics too. He is very witty.
Besides the weirdness of a time where progressive dudes thought they could throw around the n-word, this is a back to back classic.
The middle album of what I like to think of EC's Big 3. Great song after great song. The run from Senior Services through Goon Squad is absolute song writing gold. It bogs down slightly after that with the next three songs which aren't quite as strong, but we finish with a bang with Chemistry Class, Two Little Hitlers and the Nick Lowe penned; Peace Love and Understanding (though that last one is not included on my British pressing). A great album easily worthy of a 5 star rating.
This is a work of genius. Pastiche meets pop. I’ve forgotten how brilliant the lyrics are. How dense each song is. How distinctively Elvis Costello’s voice is in each song. Puns and deft rhymes. Rhythms pushing each track forward. One of the greats.
Enjoyed it a lot more overall than I thought I would when I first put it on. His voice isn’t the best, but he wrote some meat songs that lyrically were surprising densely packed. Favorite Track(s): “Senior Service,” “Party Girl,” and “Two Little Hitlers
Fortuitously enough for me, Elvis Costello’s third album appeared in sequential order, having already heard My Aim Is True and This Year’s Model. Fortuitous, because it gave me a chance to really hear his songwriting and musicality develop. The angry spiky first album, gave way to a more fleshed out sound with The Attractions on the second; and this, Armed Forces, builds on everything with a more soulful sound. I also love the depth of songwriting, clever word play and range of subjects (not just aggressive, brooding internal monologues on unobtainable women). This could be his best album yet. It’s terrific.
Musically, I was into this. I could even dig Costello's voice at times, which is an accomplishment! But lyrically? Eh...throwing around slurs has not been, is not, and will never be, cool.
On This Year's Model his paranoia was a dazzle of primarily romantic barbs and hexes, deliberately flirting with nastiness, which makes this Zevonian fixation on geopolitics a refreshing change. He's a phrase maker above all, so it's longer on rhetoric than ideas, but that's fine with me when his word slinging is this good - "a breath you took too late... a death that's worse than fate", "it's no laughing party / when you've been on the murder mile", "you tease and you flirt / and you shine all the buttons on your green shirt", "somewhere in the Quisling Clinic / there's a shorthand typist taking seconds over minutes", "two little Hitlers will fight out until one little Hitler does the other one's will" - and his rhythmic smarts this sharp. And then amidst all the political wordplay, "He wants as no one can / he wants to know the names of / all those he's better than" comes across like an accidental nugget of self-knowledge. Bet that describes Elvis to a T.
The middle album of what I like to think of EC's Big 3. Great song after great song. The run from Senior Services through Goon Squad is absolute song writing gold. It bogs down slightly after that with the next three songs which aren't quite as strong, but we finish with a bang with Chemistry Class, Two Little Hitlers and the Nick Lowe penned; Peace Love and Understanding (though that last one is not included on my British pressing). A great album easily worthy of a 5 star rating.
¡Qué agradable sujeto! Ya habíamos hablado de lo agradable que puede ser la música de Elvis Costello, y sin embargo, creo que este disco es todavía mejor y hasta lo agrego a mi biblioteca. Creo que mi único y muy pequeño pero, es que su voz no es mi favorita. No como que sea desafinado, sino que el siento que sus canciones podrían sonar aún mejor con otro timbre.
Creo que nunca le había puesto atención a algo de Elvis Costello y vaya que me gustó. Siempre me ha causado un poco de problema cuando cantan letras que no riman y se hacen cuadrar con la música un poco a fuerza y aunque esto sucede en varias de las canciones, las letras son muy buenas y puedo hacer caso omiso de esto. Las mayoría de las melodías son pegajosas con letras que dicen más que lo que está escrito. Sí me dejó un poco de arrepentimiento no haberle pegado antes a Elvis Costello. Songs: Senior Service, Sunday's Best, Two Little Hitlers, (What's so Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding
I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes, you’d know what a drag it is to see you. You’re an idiot, babe, it’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe. You say you’re lookin’ for someone… to close his eyes for you, someone to close his heart, someone who will die for you and more- but it ain’t me babe. ‘Mr Narrator, this is Bob Dylan to me. My story could be his songs. I’m his soldier child.’ So writes the late D. Boon- guitarist, singer/songwriter of The Minutemen- on ‘History Lesson-Part II. Surely, Elvis Costello is Dylan’s other soldier child. He possesses every characteristic that makes Dylan Dylan: brutal honesty (including self-assessment), civil/cultural/political/martial/ecclesiastical awareness/astuteness, humor; and, let’s not forget, a supportive backing band as good as any Dylan ever led (and he led some great ones.) Elvis and The Attractions are categorized as new wave, but that’s like labeling Dylan folk rock. Sure, sometimes. But artists like these (Neil Young, as another example) just don’t fit and remain in one place very long. Too melodic for punk, too deep for new wave, too modern for classic rock- look, I don’t care what you call it, 'Armed Forces' is just a great LP every which way you experience it. It might even sound good played backwards, or repeatedly beaten with a plunger. I bet your bangers and mash would even taste better if you ate ‘em off this LP! I sat on this CD once in my bare ass and then wrote three good songs. ‘For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise,’ the early Christian evangelist Paul sarcastically wrote to one of his congregations. Elvis, though, like Dylan before him, really IS wise, IS speaking wisdom. And most certainly IS NOT suffering gladly fools or fascists, fortunate fledglings or feckless forbears. Elvis may have been willing to give his ‘Party Girl’ ‘anything but time,’ but as a lifelong fan (upon hearing his debut LP in college) I’m ‘pledging my time, to you (Elvis), hoping you’ll come through too.’ And you always do.
Paul says: I just don't know where to begin. One of my favourite Elvis albums, with three of my favourite Elvis songs: Accidents Will Happen and What's so Funny (yeah, I know it's a Nick Lowe tune, but like Jeff Buckley singing Hallelujah, it's become the definitive version) and Oliver's Army. Steve Nieve became his George Martin and made Elvis's songs into post-punk treasures.
Oh, I just don't know where to begin Love doesn't wait forever It's now or never But she keeps 'em hangin' on The silly champion She says she can't go home without a chaperone Accidents will happen They only hit and run You used to be a victim now you're not the only one
Anything Elvis Costello did with the Attractions is magic, but Armed Forces is one of their very best. The band's chemistry is rock solid, Nick Lowe's production is rich and nuanced, and Costello's songwriting is witty and incisive in a way most lyricists could only dream of being. The man can turn a phrase like no one else. These songs are incredibly listenable with stellar pop hooks and some beautiful arrangements, but it's not always easy music. It's beyond clever to couch interpersonal and sexual politics in the language of sociopolitical conflict (and vice versa), but it's also the kind of songwriting that leaves some listeners cold. I happen to love it. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Oliver's Army; Two Little Hitlers; (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding; Big Boys; Accidents Will Happen; Goon Squad; Party Girl; Senior Service; Green Shirt; Busy Bodies; Chemistry Class; Sunday's Best; Moods for Moderns
The randomizer did not give me a lot of time between Elvis Costello albums. That's fine with me. "Armed Forces" is the third album from Elvis Costello and his second with The Attractions. It found Elvis moving in a more pop direction relative to his first two which were more punk focused. Produced by Nick Lowe. I would say the music is fairly more complex for pop with great layers of keyboards and an outstanding rhthym section. Influences were and appear to be David Bowie, the Beatles, Beach Boys and 60's pop in general. There's also a dance and funk element. The song themes are politics and relationships. And just some wonderful lyrical interplay between the two in some of the relationship songs. The political theme focuses on the armed forces and bigger companies taking advantage of the underprivileged. The original title was called "Emotional Facism." The title change was probably a good move. The album starts with "Accidents Will Happen," the second single, and a more pop-oriented song with great keyboards and styled after The Left Banke's "Walk Away Renee." Based on a relationship Elvis had with a taxi driver in Tucson. The first single was the politically charged "Oliver's Army" with a piano intro and great drumming. It's about the army taking advantage of disadvantaged young people in Northern Ireland and Oliver is Oliver Cromwell. Some other great politically-themed songs are "Senior Service," "Green Short" and "Goon Squad." "Moods for Moderns" has always been a favorite of mine with again great keyboards and a dance groove. The narrator is defintely bitter towards his ex-girlfriend. A special mention goes to his Nick Lowe cover "What's So Funny (About Peace, Love and Understanding). It was not included on the initial UK release but appeared on the US edition and reissues. A concert highlight in the couple of times I've seen him. This is a fantastic album and one of Elivs' best for sure.
Name a better lyricist than Elvis Costello. Pro-tip: you can't. The way he blends interpersonal strife with world politics is on great display here as evidenced by the title of the record. New wave music brought new sounds but this album does not depart from The Attractions sound: chirpy keyboard, muscular bass, and tight, anxious drums.
Amazing infusion of New Wave sounds with The Attraction's classic touches. Insightful lyrics about world politics, imperialism, life, love. Catchy melodies. What's not to love about this classic?
Elvis can't do anything wrong, it's perfection. the N-word should bother me but it doesn't. The mention of the term darkies should too as well as that one of the songs are called "Two Little Hitters", but it doesn't every song is just perfect that all those problematic terms feel like afterthoughts.
LOVE Elvis Costello. Never listened to an entire album though, so this is a great opportunity.
Loved this. I think this is an easy 5 stars, along with Costello’s two albums before this. Only knew a few songs, but it’s amazing all the notable different influences that got pulled into this while still feeling utterly Elvis Costello.
очень прикольненько, сразу слышно что англичане тк звучит как Боуи немногого, короче nice
Clever (& audible!) lyrics. catchy, well-written songs all round. Some of them (Goonsquad, Peace Love & Understanding) still get indie radio play.
That's how Buzzcocks should have sounded. I will probably listen to it again.
Very, very solid Elvis Costello album. A few more experimental tracks on here, which was fun to hear in his style!
There is a certain energy in his performances, and his recognizable voice make it easy for me to say that I like Elvis Costello. I’ve heard a lot of songs from Costello before, but up until now, I think that the only album I’ve listened to is a greatest hits compilation. Hearing this studio album was a pleasant surprise. About 1/4 of the tracks are, “I WILL listen to this song again” (5 stars), 1/4 are “I WOULD listen to this song again” (4 stars) and rest of the album was at least likeable (3 stars). There were familiar tracks that I still like ("Oliver's Army", "Accidents Will Happen", and "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" <-- the album I listened to contained this additional track from the US / Canadian release). Interestingly enough, my favorite track was "Green Shirt", which I don't think I've ever heard before. "Busy Bodies" was also a pleasant surprise. My least favorite track was "Sunday's Best". I would listen to this album again as a whole (4 stars).
Not groundbreaking, but upbeat and solidly enjoyable the whole way through.
Very different than what I’m used to listening to, but surprisingly enjoyed most of the tracts. Added Oliver’s Army to my 1001 playlist
Insisto: Elvis Costello tiene una gran voz y fluye bien con todo lo que sucede alrededor. Me quedo sobre todo con "Accidents Will Happen", "Senior Service", "Sunday's Best" (canción juguetona) y "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding". 8/10
A gusto, supongo que súper popular en la época. Siento que es el ancestro del britpop (hasta lo culero y a la vez satisfactorio de escuchar a los vocalistas, entre voz de embrios y con un atisbo de que en realidad sí podrían cantar mejor, pero deciden no hacerlo) y predecesor de lo único interesante que pudo ofrecer el britpop: un rock pegajoso, semibailable y exitoso con las juventudes jajajaja :V Favs: Goons Squat.
14 canciones. 3 muy malas, incluyendo la que le da nombre al album. Aún así, es muy bueno. Tiene Big Boys, que es de mis favoritas de este wey.
I cannot get enough of Mr Costello’s voice. It has an elasticity and a fragility, a tenderness and a boisterousness. Here it’s put to good effect rolling with the punkish punches of the attractions. It’s consistently good and consistently danceable. High quality stuff.
enjoyed this album, don't recall having previously heard any of the songs
Elvis Costello is typically hit and miss with me, but this album was mostly hit. Pleasantly surprised. I do like his version of Peace Love and Understanding.
Political and sarcastic songs. Nevertheless, there is also no shortage of danceable tempos in pure teenage style, like Chemistry Class and Green Shirt. This album will remain his masterpiece. (7/10) Favourite tracks: Olivers Army, Two Little Hitlers
While not as good as his previous album, he is 2 for 2 for good rock music and a great sound. I love Lowe’s timeless production.
Het had niet twee dagen op rij gehoeven, maar ook deze plaat van Elvis C kan ik erg waarderen.
Oliver’s Army was a cracking tune. Others didn’t make such an impression, but maybe they deserve another listen.
Un disco que me agrada bastante, es una muestra muy sólida de por qué Elvic Costello sí es bueno a pesar de sus constantes cambios. Especialmente agradables los sencillos "Oliver's Army" y "Accidents Will Happen". También me encanta (What’s So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding, una canción que algunos fans de Costello sé que desprecian. No había escuchado nada de este disco quizá en quince años y en realidad ha envejecido muy bien. Las canciones son todas de Costello, pero son un poco más brillantes, ajustadas y densas, manteniendo bastante elemento pop. Me gusta cómo es capaz de hacer todo eso cuando la letra de muchas de las canciones tiene un elemento político. Puedes cantar alegremente "Oliver's Army" para darte cuenta de que se trata de una guerra, un asesinato y que contiene insultos raciales. En cierto modo, eso hace que estas canciones sean muy adecuadas al fondo y forma de este tipo de musicos como Costello (o Devo... que no viene al caso pero me recuerda un caso similar). La mayoría simplemente cantarán coros, pero algunos de nosotros lo investigaremos más a fondo para encontrar un contexto para estas canciones.
Die einzigen Probleme: die Lieder klingen einander sehr ähnlich und eine bestimmte Textstelle, die auch den meisten anderen hier aufgefallen ist.
I am all about Elvis Costello on this list. Clearly I should have made more of an effort to get to know his catalog before now, but I am lazy and was too busy listening to some other bullshit because that's the life I've chosen. Didn't flip for every song, but overall it's an easy 4 stars from me.
Disliked it at first, but I slept on it and gave it another listen. Now I really like it!
Very solid Costello album, not quite up there with My Aim is True but still tons of funny lyrics and catchy tunes. 8/10
7/10 a little disappointed to see that Elvis Costello succumbed to the British musician instinct to make a song that sounds like circus music. Less frantic sounding than his prior two albums but also way less catchy. Lyrics are pretty strong though