Armed Forces (Dig) (Spkg)

Elvis Costello - Armed Forces (Dig) (Spkg)

Armed Forces (Dig) (Spkg)
List Price: $10.99
Our Price: $6.38
You Save: $4.61 (42%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.36 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Listen soundtracks from this album



(Click here)
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store

CD Details

Artist: Elvis Costello
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
CD Release Date: 2007-05-01
Music Label: Hip-O Records
Soundtracks:
  1. Accidents Will Happen
  2. Senior Service
  3. Oliver's Army
  4. Big Boys
  5. Green Shirt
  6. Party Girl
  7. Goon Squad
  8. Busy Bodies
  9. Sunday's Best
  10. Moods For Moderns
  11. Chemistry Class
  12. Two Little Hitlers
  13. (What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love And Understanding

Music reviews of Armed Forces (Dig) (Spkg)

Music Review: Elvis completes his trifecta
Rating: 5 Stars

"Armed Forces" was Elvis and The Attractions' claustrophobic pop masterpiece, loaded with melody and paranoia, fueled by cramped touring vans, hotel rooms and long stretches of listening to ABBA, Kraftwerk, Bowie and the Beatles while driving between gigs. It was also the last of the Elvis albums that mirrored the tightly wound image/cliched "angry young man" singer-songwriter of the new wave world. It also happens to be one of the most indispensable albums of the 70's.

Songs like "Oliver's Army" and "Two Little Hitlers" brimmed with neo-fascist imagery and highly charged sexual/emotional content, yet flourished with pop-hooks. "Accidents Will Happen" portrays a barely apologetic philanderer as he tries to explain the infidelities of his life, and uses one of early Elvis' frequent descriptions of romantic partners as a "victim." (Think of how many times that word appears on his first three albums.) Many of the songs bear unmistakable ominous threatening qualities, like the roar of "Goon Squad," the hushed fear that underscores "Green Shirt" and the implied threat of "they took me in the office and told me very carefully, the ways that I could benefit from death and disability" (from "Senior Service").

Nick Lowe deserves a good deal of the credit for keeping this album in check (and when is he going to get into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?!?!). It is likely his pop sophistication that gave some of "Armed Forces" levity in its darkest points. It is also Lowe's one song - and the first cover to appear on a proper EC album - that brings the relentlessly downward outlook to a more optimistic close. "(What's So Funny About) Peace Love and Understanding" was the kind of song that, once Elvis claimed it as his own, provided a banner to his part during the formation of Rock Against Racism.

Unfortunately for this reissue, Rhino's 2002 double CD issue was also the CD that most justified Rhino's double disc reissues of Elvis' work. "Armed Forces" is the kind of album that more than holds its own as a singular entity, and the Ryko release that tacked the bonus selections on the same disc distracted from that sense of "piece" to me. So to have some excellent material on a bonus disc is just cream on the berry. Especially since it included the entire "Live at Hollywood High" recording as opposed to the three song bonus vinyl that was included in the original album. If it was possible to add a bonus star to an already 5 star album, Rhino managed that trick. That is the essential "Armed Forces." I understand that the rights to the EC CBS years catolog have turned over once again, but the double CD is really worth seeking out.

More Armed Forces (Dig) (Spkg) free music reviews:
1 2

Description of Armed Forces (Dig) (Spkg)

Produced under the direct supervision of Elvis Costello. Housed in a slim-line package, each rerelease contains a deluxe 28-page booklet with brand-new liner notes by Elvis Costello, rare photos, reproductions of memorabilia, and printed song lyrics. Album includes an entire second disc of bonus material!
Armed Forces was the last title in a trilogy of albums that rank with the greatest three-LP series in pop-rock history. In retrospect, it also now appears to be the one on which the young Costello's pop tendencies peaked, right before they began to "mature" and grow less accessible. "Accidents Will Happen" features a melody line as beautiful as any ever written; "Oliver's Army" easily competes with the best of Abba and Brian Wilson among pop masterpieces. This is also where Costello's early themes--most notably romantic rejection equated with the horrors of neo-Nazism and modern politics--came together most precisely (the album's working title was "Emotional Fascism"). Rhino does its usual superb job, with wonderful remastering, in-depth liner notes by Costello himself (including a catty paragraph about famous groupie-author Bebe Buell, who often claims this album is about her), and a second disc of concurrent singles and alternate versions. Best of all are nine live tracks from the legendary June 4, 1978, Hollywood High School show, fully documenting that Costello & the Attractions were once among the all-time dynamic live rock acts. --Bill Holdship
Less hot under the collar than This Year's Model, Armed Forces was partly inspired by Elvis Costello and the Attractions' 1978 American tour. The songs are set to deceptively poppy arrangements that use plinky Abba keyboards ("Oliver's Army," a hit single about mercenaries), Beatles-ish devices (the fade on "Party Girl"), and whimsical waltz-time signatures ("Sunday's Best") to mask their core cynicism. "Goon Squad," "Busy Bodies," and "Accidents Will Happen" are among Costello's most melodically powerful songs to this point, leading the way to the masterful Get Happy!!. --Barney Hoskyns

Alternative Rock CDs

Music Genres
Bestsellers in Alternative Rock CDs
Maniacal Laughter ImageBouncing Souls - Maniacal Laughter
Release date: 1996-01-26; Music CD
Best price: $30.00
Parallel Lines ImageBlondie - Parallel Lines
Release date: 1994-07-29; Music CD
Best price: $149.98
L.A. Woman ImageDoors - L.A. Woman
Release date: 1993-04-09; Music CD
Best price: $99.99
Phallus Dei ImageAmon Duul - Phallus Dei
Release date: 1997-04-08; Music CD
Price in other shops: $18.98
Melrose ImageTangerine Dream - Melrose
Release date: 1990-10-02; Music CD
Best price: $74.98
Private Music of Tangerine Dream ImageTangerine Dream - Private Music of Tangerine Dream
Release date: 1992-11-10; Music CD
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops: $11.98
Ska Explosion [VHS] ImageSka Explosion [VHS]
Cleopatra; Release date: 1995-02-28; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $14.99
Price in other shops: $16.98
Little Earthquakes [VHS] ImageLittle Earthquakes [VHS]
Atlantic / Wea; Release date: 1992-11-10; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.50
Price in other shops: $16.98
Exile ImageExile
by Geoffrey Oryema
Music CD
Best price: $4.95
Louder Than Live [VHS] ImageSoundgarden - Louder Than Live [VHS]
A&M Video; Release date: 1991-07-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $192.68
Similar CDs
London Calling ImageThe Clash - London Calling
CLASH; Release date: 2000-01-25; Music CD
Best price: $4.66
Price in other shops: $7.99
Almost Blue (Dig) (Spkg) ImageElvis Costello - Almost Blue (Dig) (Spkg)
Release date: 2007-05-01; Music CD
Best price: $6.48
Price in other shops: $10.99
More Songs About Buildings & Food ImageTalking Heads - More Songs About Buildings & Food
TALKING HEADS; Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $5.04
Price in other shops: $13.96
Trust (Dig) (Spkg) ImageElvis Costello - Trust (Dig) (Spkg)
Release date: 2007-05-01; Music CD
Best price: $10.36
Price in other shops: $13.98
King of America (Dig) (Spkg) ImageElvis Costello - King of America (Dig) (Spkg)
Release date: 2007-05-01; Music CD
Best price: $6.55
Price in other shops: $10.99
Blood & Chocolate (Dig) (Spkg) ImageElvis Costello - Blood & Chocolate (Dig) (Spkg)
Release date: 2007-05-01; Music CD
Best price: $6.52
Price in other shops: $10.99
Get Happy (Dig) (Spkg) ImageElvis Costello - Get Happy (Dig) (Spkg)
Release date: 2007-05-01; Music CD
Best price: $6.61
Price in other shops: $10.99
Imperial Bedroom (Dig) (Spkg) ImageElvis Costello - Imperial Bedroom (Dig) (Spkg)
Release date: 2007-05-01; Music CD
Best price: $6.63
Price in other shops: $10.99
My Aim Is True (Dig) (Spkg) ImageElvis Costello - My Aim Is True (Dig) (Spkg)
Release date: 2007-05-01; Music CD
Best price: $6.16
Price in other shops: $10.99
This Year's Model (Dig) (Spkg) ImageElvis Costello - This Year's Model (Dig) (Spkg)
Release date: 2007-05-01; Music CD
Best price: $6.38
Price in other shops: $10.99
Compare prices and find music notes for more than one million Music CD titles