Armed Forces (album)

Armed Forces
Studio album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions
Released 5 January 1979 (1979-01-05)
Recorded August–September 1978
Studio Eden Studios, London
Genre New wave
Length 40:05
Label Radar
Producer Nick Lowe
Elvis Costello and the Attractions chronology
This Year's Model
(1978)This Year's Model1978		 Armed Forces
(1979)		 Get Happy!!
(1980)Get Happy!!1980
Singles from Armed Forces
  1. "Oliver's Army"
    Released: 2 February 1979[1]
  2. "Accidents Will Happen"
    Released: 4 May 1979[1]

Armed Forces is Elvis Costello's third album, his second with the Attractions, and the first to officially credit the Attractions on the cover. It was released in the UK by Radar Records and in the USA by Columbia in 1979. The album had the working title Emotional Fascism.

Initial pressings of the album in the UK and USA included a promotional three-song single, Live at Hollywood High, which was recorded on 4 June 1978. The live tracks, also produced by Nick Lowe, are "Accidents Will Happen," "Alison," and "Watching the Detectives". The UK edition included 4 postcards featuring pictures of the band. The American version omitted "Sunday's Best" and replaced it with Costello's version of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding", which had been released the previous November as the B-side of Nick Lowe's "American Squirm" single, at the end of side two.

The album has appeared on Q magazine and Rolling Stone magazine lists of "greatest albums". In the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Elliott's brother, Michael (played by Robert MacNaughton), sings "Accidents Will Happen" in the family kitchen after coming home from school.[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Blender[4]
Chicago Tribune[5]
Entertainment WeeklyA+[6]
Pitchfork9.5/10[7]
Rolling Stone[8]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Uncut[10]
The Village VoiceA−[11]
Initial

Janet Maslin in a 1979 review in Rolling Stone felt the album was a "killer in several senses of the word"; remarking on the brief, energetic songs with dense and sometimes overly-clever but snappy lyrics. Maslin felt that Costello "wants to be daring, but he also wants to dance".[12] Robert Christgau in a 1979 review in The Village Voice felt Costello was using words to "add color and detail to his music" rather than as "a thinking, feeling person"; though he approved of the "intricate pop constructions", and found the album overall to be "good" but not "great".[11] Both reviewers felt the album was more densely or richly produced than the two predecessors.[11][12]

Retrospective

In a retrospective commentary for AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine felt that Armed Forces is a more "detailed and textured pop production" than Costello's first two albums, making the music more accessible, though the lyrics are "more insular and paranoid".[3] Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, in his 1991 review, called the album "Costello's 'political' record, and also one of his most irresistibly melodic."[5] Matt LeMay, in a 2003 review for Pitchfork Media, also commented on the production, which he felt was "extravagantly layered with dense instrumentation and rich, effusive textures" which "often serves to conceal, rather than reveal the nuances of Costello's songwriting"; and concluded that "the greatest strength of Armed Forces may be the same thing that makes it less viscerally powerful than Costello's two prior records – its songs absolutely demand to be appreciated for their craftsmanship".[7] LeMay argued that the album marks the point at which Costello found his role as a songwriter.[7]

In 2000 Q magazine placed Armed Forces at number 45 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, the album was ranked at number 482 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time",[13] and then in 2012, was moved to number 475 on an updated list.[14] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[15]

Track listing

All songs written by Elvis Costello.

Side one
  1. "Accidents Will Happen" – 3:00
  2. "Senior Service" – 2:17
  3. "Oliver's Army" – 2:58
  4. "Big Boys" – 2:54
  5. "Green Shirt" – 2:42
  6. "Party Girl" – 3:20
Side two
  1. "Goon Squad" – 3:14
  2. "Busy Bodies" – 3:33
  3. "Sunday's Best" – 3:22
  4. "Moods for Moderns" – 2:48
  5. "Chemistry Class" – 2:55
  6. "Two Little Hitlers" – 3:18

The U.S. release omitted "Sunday's Best" and added "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding" to close side two.[16]

Live at Hollywood High promo single

  1. "Accidents Will Happen" (Live) – 3:18
  2. "Alison" (Live) – 3:08
  3. "Watching the Detectives" (Live) – 5:51

Reissues

US 1979 and 2002 reissue cover, also known as "paint spatter cover"

There was a Rykodisc reissue in 1993, and a Rhino reissue in 2002. The Rykodisc version contains the original album and bonus tracks on one CD; the Rhino version has two CDs – disc one contains the original UK album plus "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" and disc two contains bonus tracks.

1993 Rykodisc reissue bonus tracks

  1. "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding" (Nick Lowe) – 3:31
  2. "My Funny Valentine" (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) – 1:28
  3. "Tiny Steps" – 2:42
  4. "Clean Money" – 1:57
  5. "Talking in the Dark" – 1:56
  6. "Wednesday Week" – 2:01
  7. "Accidents Will Happen" (Live at Hollywood High) – 3:18
  8. "Alison" (Live at Hollywood High) – 3:08
  9. "Watching the Detectives" (Live at Hollywood High) – 5:51

2002 Rhino reissue bonus disc

  1. "Tiny Steps" – 2:42
  2. "Busy Bodies" (Alternative version) – 3:48
  3. "Talking in the Dark" – 1:56
  4. "Big Boys" (Alternative version) – 2:56
  5. "Clean Money" – 1:57
  6. "Wednesday Week" – 2:01
  7. "My Funny Valentine" (Rodgers, Hart) – 1:33
  8. "Accidents Will Happen" (Live at Hollywood High, 4 June 1978) – 3:18
  9. "Mystery Dance" (Live at Hollywood High, 4 June 1978) – 2:01
  10. "Goon Squad" (Live at Hollywood High, 4 June 1978) – 3:42
  11. "Party Girl" (Live at Hollywood High, 4 June 1978) – 3:19
  12. "Stranger in the House" (Live at Hollywood High, 4 June 1978) – 3:52
  13. "Alison" (Live at Hollywood High, 4 June 1978) – 3:08
  14. "Lipstick Vogue" (Live at Hollywood High, 4 June 1978) – 4:26
  15. "Watching the Detectives" (Live at Hollywood High, 4 June 1978) – 5:51
  16. "You Belong to Me" (Live at Hollywood High, 4 June 1978) – 2:39
  17. "Chemistry Class" (Live solo at the Warner Theatre, Washington DC, 28 February 1978) – 2:34

2007 Hip-O Records reissue bonus track

Personnel

The Attractions
Technical

Charts

Weekly charts
Chart (1979) Position
Australian Albums Chart[17] 9
Canadian Albums Chart[18] 8
Dutch Mega Albums Chart[19] 13
New Zealand Albums Chart[20] 9
Norwegian VG-lista Albums Chart[21] 12
Swedish Albums Chart[22] 11
UK Albums Chart[23] 2
United States Billboard 200[24] 10
Year-end charts
Chart (1979) Position
Australian Albums Chart[17] 32
Canadian Albums Chart[25] 60
UK Albums Chart[26] 13
Certifications
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Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Canada (Music Canada)[27] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[29] Gold 500,000^

^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 "Main Single Release Discography". The Elvis Costello Home Page. Retrieved 25 August 2008.
  2. ↑ Q Magazine. March 2008. Missing or empty |title= (help) Cited at "E.T.: – The Extra-Terrestrial (1982) – Trivia". imdb.com. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  3. 1 2 Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Armed Forces – Elvis Costello / Elvis Costello & the Attractions". AllMusic. Retrieved 7 December 2015.
  4. ↑ Wolk, Douglas (March 2005). "Elvis Costello: Armed Forces". Blender. Archived from the original on 4 February 2005. Retrieved 9 January 2016.
  5. 1 2 Kot, Greg (2 June 1991). "The Sounds Of Elvis, From San Francisco And Beyond". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 6 November 2015.
  6. ↑ White, Armond (10 May 1991). "Elvis Costello's albums". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 20 September 2015.
  7. 1 2 3 LeMay, Matt (2 March 2003). "Elvis Costello & The Attractions: Armed Forces". Pitchfork. Retrieved 20 June 2005.
  8. ↑ Edwards, Gavin (12 December 2002). "Elvis Costello: Armed Forces". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 16 June 2016.
  9. ↑ Sheffield, Rob (2004). "Elvis Costello". In Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. London: Fireside Books. pp. 193–95. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  10. ↑ Hasted, Nick (January 2003). "Snide effects". Uncut (68): 138.
  11. 1 2 3 Christgau, Robert (26 February 1979). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
  12. 1 2 Maslin, Janet (22 March 1979). "Armed Forces". Rolling Stone (287). Archived from the original on 14 November 2007. Retrieved 24 April 2005.
  13. ↑ Levy, Joe; Steven Van Zandt (2006) [2005]. "482 | Armed Forces – Elvis Costello and the Attractions". Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (3rd ed.). London: Turnaround. ISBN 1-932958-61-4. OCLC 70672814. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2006.
  14. ↑ Wenner, Jann S., ed. (2012). Rolling Stone – Special Collectors Issue – The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. USA: Wenner Media Specials. ISBN 978-7-09-893419-6
  15. ↑ Robert Dimery; Michael Lydon (7 February 2006). 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition. Universe. ISBN 0-7893-1371-5.
  16. ↑ "Elvis Costello And The Attractions* ‎– Armed Forces". Discogs. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  17. 1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992. St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  18. ↑ Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 24 October 2011
  19. ↑ "dutchcharts.nl Elvis Costello – This Year's Model". dutchcharts.nl (in Dutch). MegaCharts. Archived from the original (ASP) on 16 July 2012. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  20. ↑ "charts.org.nz – Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Armed Forces". Recording Industry Association of New Zealand. Archived from the original (ASP) on 11 January 2014. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  21. ↑ "norwegiancharts.com Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Armed Forces". VG-lista. Archived from the original (ASP) on 16 January 2014. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  22. ↑ "swedishcharts.com Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Armed Forces" (ASP) (in Swedish). Sverigetopplistan. Retrieved 18 September 2011.
  23. ↑ "Elvis Costello and the Attractions – Armed Forces". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  24. ↑ Elvis Costello > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums at AllMusic. Retrieved 23 October 2011.
  25. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Albums of 1979". RPM. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  26. ↑ "Complete UK Year-End Album Charts". Archived from the original on 19 May 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  27. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Elvis Costello – Armed Forces". Music Canada.
  28. ↑ "British album certifications – Elvis Costello – Armed Forces". British Phonographic Industry. Enter Armed Forces in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  29. ↑ "American album certifications – Elvis Costello – Armed Forces". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
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