Declan Drohan 2008-04-16

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

Amazing! Abba meets kraftwerk as sung by a twitchy paranoid buddy holly/woody allen composite. Live stuff on disc 2 really compelling

Matthew T. Medlock 2008-02-12

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

On his third album, Costello's lyrics are just as sweaty, cynical and paranoid as ever, but the music was opening up very steadily. No one would confuse this with the sort of songs he was releasing ten and fifteen years from now, but there was an unmistakable sense of flowering pop. In fact, there's hardly any hint of his ahead-of-its-time post-punk style on here (excepting the lyrics, of course).

But "Armed Forces" doesn't suffer from it; in fact, its very trademark transition is what makes it rank nearly on par with his first two near-masterpieces. "Senior Service" and "Accidents Will Happen" are the two best, but check out the R&B funk of "Moods For Moderns" and the sharp lyrics and attitude of the potential-disaster-turned-marvel "Party Girl." Although he'd rarely be as good as this again, he out-lasted some of his populist influences (the deadly punk movement and Buddy Holly), and not just because he managed to, um, live.

Best cuts: "Senior Service," "Accidents Will Happen," "Moods For Moderns" "Party Girl," "(What's So Funny `Bout) Peace, Love and Undersanding," "Sunday's Best," "Oliver's Army," "Green Shirt," "Goon Squad"

Laszlo Matyas 2007-11-23

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

While his previous album (This Year's Model) was a jugular-grabbing blast of new wave sneer, Armed Forces is a sumptuous musical buffet. Although Elvis (and the Attractions) still have an obvious affection for all things mean and rockin', this album is just as informed by pop, soul, and disco as it is by rock and punk. The arrangements are often lush and spacious, casting aside the breathless, compressed fury of This Year's Model in favor of a more textured and intricate approach. Thankfully, Elvis Costello is a great, versatile songwriter and the Attractions (Elvis included) are a great, versatile band, so it all works incredibly well. The lyrics revolve around Costello's favorite topics: Bitterness, jealousy, paranoia, fascism, cynicism, and of course, love. The result is a more varied and sensual (if not necessarily better) album than its predecessor, and a major step forward in Costello's artistic development.

Armed Forces opens with the beautiful lament of "Accidents Will Happen," which sees Costello contemplating the death of a relationship while a dreamy piano-driven melody twists around behind him. "Oliver's Army" is a lush, candy-coated gem... with lyrics about military propaganda. Sandwiched in between these two classics is the hyperkinetic, unrelentingly vicious disco-punk of "Senior Service," which sees some ambitious young hothead gleefully contemplating a violent coup. There's also the pained, prematurely sober "Party Girl," and the tense throb of "Green Shirt." "Moods For Moderns" marries an infectious melody to a stomping rhythm and soul-inflected vocals, while "Sunday's Best" is a sharp, bitterly satirical, and unsettlingly catchy classic. "Two Little Hitlers" brings together the album's twin themes of political and emotional oppression, portraying interpersonal struggles as violent confrontations between megalomaniacs, and vice versa. Great melody, too!

Yet another fantastic addition to the Costello catalogue, if y'ask me.

Andrew Furst 2007-09-23

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

The bonus disc alone makes this worth most of the price. The Hollywood High live songs (9 of them) are amazingly well recorded, very energetic great performance, with an enthusiastic crowd that doesn't intrude on the music. If you remember the live "El Mocambo" bonus disc that was part of an EC boxed set several years ago, well this is FAR better than that. The Hollywood High set alone could have been released as a great live CD, possibly the only reason it wasn't was because it would be seen as too short. The "bonus disc" here has other songs (B sides, etc.) not from the original "Armed Forces" which are worthy and interesting as well.

As to the original studio album ("Armed Forces", the supposedly main disc), it's great, though not up to "This Year's Model" which is easily my favorite EC album. The lyrics on the album are especially great. One problem I have though is that the sound quality should be better. I don't know what the problem is, if the source tape is somewhat degraded or if the remastering has been over or under done. It's not terrible, just seems like it should be substantially better fidelity for a recording of a successful (by then) artist at that point in time. That's why I'm knocking off one star, otherwise it would get five stars from me. But the Hollywood High part alone would get five stars, so you might think of this as a great live album plus bonus studio tracks.

Pieter 2007-07-23

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

With the legndary Nick Lowe producing, Armed Forces turned out to be an album of very catchy tunes which masks the bitter satire of the lyrics. The arrangements are especially great on songs like Busy Bodies, Green Shirt and Big Boys. My favorite track is the lilting ballad Oliver's Army, but every single song is tuneful with a unique pop appeal. Costello is amongst the most literate and versatile of rock musicians and especially on this album, the tight writing and clear melodies are prominent, whilst The Attractions must be the best band he ever recorded with. Armed Forces is classic of late 70s poprock.