Elvis Costello 3: Armed Forces

At this point in his two-year career, Elvis Costello was poised for worldwide superstardom. The novelty of his name had dissipated casual listeners, and his output was keeping up the pace of his tours. And then, as the man himself has said, he screwed it up completely, mostly by being generally disagreeable to the press and specifically via a certain punk in drublic incident.

Armed Forces was the product of several trips across America in a tour bus, with such disparate sounds as Iggy Pop and ABBA in the tape deck providing the soundtrack to the observations from the window seat. There are a few more keyboard sounds in the mix, but the lyrics are as nasty as ever. (After all, the original title of the album was Emotional Fascism.) The pop touches keep the album from being as immediately abrasive as This Year’s Model, but there’s still plenty of anger bubbling beneath the shiny surface.

The brilliance begins in the first track, “Accidents Will Happen”, the opening line of which is “Oh, I just don’t know where to begin.” (This is his third album in a row that starts off with his voice alone for a few notes.) “Senior Service” would seem to be a pun on the cigarette brand to comment on the British welfare system, which would be doubly confusing to American listeners, but they were likely enraptured by the “Dancing Queen”-inspired intro to the equally pointed “Oliver’s Army”. “Big Boys” and “Green Shirt” are further dizzying feats of wordplay accompanied by catchy melodies, while “Party Girl” shows a little tenderness through the Beatlesque fade.

“Goon Squad” continues the martial theme in another excellent arrangement that highlights the band, and “Busy Bodies” returns to his other theme of unrequited lust. “Moods For Moderns” isn’t more than a groove, but it gets more interesting during the verses. “Chemistry Class” is a good slow burner, complete with a joke edit on the word “accidents” reminding you what album it’s on, while “Two Little Hitlers” expertly melds political and romantic references. In the US, in an excellent swap, the album ended with a cover of Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding?” that has since become the standard rendition. (We particularly like the little “yang” of the guitar after the final chorus.)

For the longest time, Armed Forces had only been reissued twice. Rykodisc’s CD again followed the UK sequence, which had the hideous “Sunday’s Best” in the middle of what was side two, followed by “Peace, Love And Understanding”, some B-sides (all album outtakes), and the three tracks from the Live At Hollywood High EP that had been included with the first pressings of the LP. The Rhino version followed the Rykodisc sequence up through “Peace, Love And Understanding” on one disc, while the second disc had the Ryko bonus tracks, two alternate takes, and further performances from the Hollywood High concert in their original sequence. (The full show was eventually released on its own, as was the concert that offered the solo version of “Chemistry Class” that closes the second Rhino disc.)

A full decade after its older brothers had undergone their third expansions, Armed Forces was treated to a “Super Deluxe Edition” as fascinating as it was infuriating. The set was only released on vinyl—three LPs, three EPs, and three singles (repeating three songs from the album proper, with “Peace, Love And Understanding” on the flip of Nick Lowe’s “American Squirm”, on which he was backed by the Attractions rhythm section). The package also included notes and ephemera packaged as “comic books and pulp novels”, all for a highly inflated price that defied all but the fanatic rich to afford. (The set was also made available for streaming and download, but with none of the notes.)

All of the bonuses from the Rhino version were carried over, along with a couple repeated from the deluxe edition of This Year’s Model. (That meant the Hollywood High portion was again abridged.) Musically, the most interesting aspect of the set was the three discs gleaned from three different concerts, all previously unreleased (save one song from a Get Happy!! reissue and two from an official DVD). Besides presenting the Attractions in all their splendor, even yelling backing vocals, we get a sampling of several Armed Forces tracks that preceded the album’s release, as well as pre-studio versions of things like “B Movie”, “Opportunity”, and “I Stand Accused”. Nick Lowe himself even turns up to offer harmonies on “Peace, Love And Understanding”. Of course, we also get multiple runs through the likes of “Pump It Up”, “Lipstick Vogue”, and “Watching The Detectives”, but this was when they were still fresh.

As far as the original album is concerned, the nod goes to the US version, which also sported a different cover to the UK version’s marauding elephants. Besides, anyone would take such an anthemic closer as “Peace, Love And Understanding” over “Sunday’s Best”. But with all the different versions, Armed Forces is still classic power pop.

Elvis Costello & The Attractions Armed Forces (1979)—4
1993 Rykodisc: same as 1979, plus 9 extra tracks
2002 Rhino: same as 1993, plus 9 extra tracks
2020 Super Deluxe Edition: same as 2002, plus 27 extra tracks