Tim Brough hit the nail on the head
It's very uplifting to hear, regardless if you've heard anything else by him, and that speaks VOLUMES for any artist. Way to go, Tim, I totally felt this sentiment and was glad to hear it from someone else! --folks, this one is really the epitome of what Elvis had done and what he was to become: It's sentiments, it's energy, it's directness, it's homage to musics past both echoes Costello's past and boldly introduces us to what he would do in the future TO music, and FOR music.
I advise you all to own this record, it's TOP 10-Alltime-worthy to be sure! .
A heaping helping of Costello's greatness.
Costello's fourth album is a twenty-track tour-de-force that sees him nodding to the visceral new wave punk of This Year's Model while further expanding his musical vocabulary. Get Happy may not be entirely free of filler, but there's still enough great stuff here to make your head spin. He builds on Armed Forces' pop influences, incorporating them into a vision that now includes soul, punk, folk, classicist rock `n' roll, as well as references to reggae, disco, and whatever else he can get his hands on. Get Happy is more noticeably soul-influenced than his previous records, but it's more than just a genre exercise- Costello builds on the Stax/Volt sound, using its raucous and hook-filled ideals as the basis for some of the most creative songs ever written or performed: The music is smartly built, catchy in every way imaginable, and performed with the kind of breathless urgency that is the Attractions' (Costello's backing band at the time) trademark. Lyrically, this disc features some of Costello's most scathing wit and cutting observations. His poetry is wry and acidic, barbed and evocative, hilarious and brutal.
Which makes for some great material- highlights include the smoldering, bloody-minded sarcasm of "Opportunities," and the surprisingly tender (but subtly barbed) reverie of "New Amsterdam. " "Beaten To The Punch" is a raw soul screamer that shows off Costello's raucous vocal skill, and "King Horse" is a smug stab at mach male aggression. "Love For Tender" is a rip-roaring barrage of puns and great melodies, and "The Imposter" is a runaway musical freight train. "B Movie" is full of tense, squirming dub-reggae, and a cover of the old r&b chestnut "I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down" bristles with throat-shredding soul.
But there is some filler (and with a twenty-track album, how can there not be some?)- Nothing truly horrible, but tracks such as "Clowntime Is Over" and "Temptation" do cause the record's momentum to drag somewhat. Nonetheless, this is still classic Costello, and a great addition to his gem-stuffed catalogue. .
The wages of sin are an expensive infection
Essentially a re-write of Love Me Tender by the other better looking Elvis what can you say :) One thing to mention is the clever monetory double meaning running throughout the lyric surely one of the more witty attempts to do this type of song - I'll pay you a compliment, And you'll think I am innocent, You can total up the balance sheet, And never know if I'm a counterfeit, You won't take my love for tender - All sung with that negative passion he excels at. Love For Tender is a classic. There are others goodies here too - i also think Motel Matches is on his A-List. Although he is not as consistent as some of the true greats he does have his moments up there with the big boys :) Anyway if you want to Get Happy in a strictly cathartic sense maybe give some of these tunes a spin. .
Elvis grows into his songwriting
Before anyone knew what was happening, he became better known than most pop artists of the day, and for all the wrong reasons. After three brilliant albums of tart, taut albums fueled by incessant touring and the excesses of rock living, Elvis Costello made the headlines with a single regrettable drunken utterance. It forced him to a place that made him reevaluate his career to that point, and "Get Happy" began to emerge. He immersed himself in a stack of his old favorite soul records (Booker T, Four Tops, Stax/Volt albums), and emerged a different songwriter. "Get Happy" was the album where EC challenged himself to move beyond a public's expectation and led to his forth five star record.
While Elvis and the Attractions weren't completely r'n'b and alcohol saturated, some of Elvis' songs here do show the frenzy that they were recorded in. He once said that Nick Lowe's attitude toward production was "a fader in one hand an a vodka bottle in the other. " The result was that these songs were frequently written and recorded in canon blasts, like the boast of "Possession" being written in five minutes after an afternoon's infatuation with a cocktail waitress. The band was challenging itself to pound out as much music as possible, as if every idea could be turned into a song. It created a wealth of material, as evidenced by the original album's sonic blast of twenty songs.
It also meant that EC's vocal performances were sometimes given all the nuance of a party reveler standing astride the jukebox ("I Stand Accused" and "Possession" being two obvious violators). On the other hand, there are some stunners here that point at the upcoming "Trust" and EC's vocal growing sophistication, as in the brilliant "Riot Act. " It didn't stop the compositions from frequently striking the bull's-eye, and to this day I am amazed that the twenty multiple genre hook heavy songs on "Get Happy" somehow couldn't produce one radio single. (Also of interest is that "The Sopranos" lifted "High Fidelity" as one of the songs for an episode about Tony and Carmella's marital dysfunction. )
All told, Elvis, along with the invaluable input of The Attractions and Nick Lowe, rose to the occasion to make an album that shattered boundaries. Soul, ska and country (as well as the trademark "new wave" sound) still effortlessly roll from the grooves of "Get Happy. ".
You can see a complete list of all Elvis Costello & the Attractions discography, or go back to the Elvis Costello & the Attractions tabs
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