Armed Forces

One of the best albums of all time. The Attractions firing on all cylinders, Steve Naive especially. I just don't know where to begin... Read Franklin Bruno's brilliant 33 1/3 book on Armed Forces.

2.0

I’m a sucker for a strong melody, strong tunes with a strong message

najbolja pjesma "oliver's army" u kojoj me podsjetio na b. dilana ne samo glasom kao u ostalim pjesmama nego i odabirom određene riječi koju je rimovao sa trigger hahahaha. ovo ostalo je čisti rok prosjek, kao i njegov album koji sam prethodno slušao. ni vanredno dobro ni vanredno loše. al jako fora omot! slonovi!

I’m at a 4.

This is our fifth Elvis Costello album, so I’m running out of words to really say about the guy. If you’ve heard “My Aim Is True”, “This Year’s Model”, or “Imperial Bedroom”, then this is generally more of the same, with a little more of a pop lean as opposed to the sort of new wave-y stuff that was more prevalent on the former two.

Seriously, I can’t think of anything more to say: an Elvis Costello album at this point feels like a pretty nice slice of pizza. It’s some fine rock music that generally hits pretty well, with a few tracks that just… don’t. This is a totally competent 40 minute album that never really had a bad track, thankfully. If someone wanted to give this a 5, I wouldn’t even blame them. To my ears, there’s just a couple of mediocre tracks, some flatter instrumentals, a less engaged vocal performance at times, & one baffling (if historically relevant, I suppose) use of the N-word as it relates to Northern Ireland’s struggles around this time. I won’t defend it, but I don’t think I have enough historical knowledge to really indict the guy for it. Someone else can tear into him if they want, it just makes “Oliver’s Army” a really awkward listen otherwise.

There are a few really standout tracks to me: “Party Girl”, “Goon Squad”, & “(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding” are my highlights here. “Oliver’s Army” would be there too, but… y’know. I do think about 9 of the 13 tracks have some really nice moments within each of them – “Big Boys,” “Green Shirt”, “Chemistry Class” & “Two Little Hitlers” are the ones that didn’t click for me, and even then, they’re not bad, they’re just flatter & don’t have anything that really perk the ears up past a passive listen.

I got nothing more to add: good instrumentals from the Attractions, fine vocals from Elvis, and some solid songwriting for a pretty solid 40 minutes. Hence, a 4, but a recommended 4.

P.S.: I like Elvis Costello, but I’m more just surprised that he has 6 albums on the list when it feels like you could really just get away with “My Aim Is True” & “Next Year’s Model” and be done with it.

Not super impressive. Pretty basic for the time with no memorable tracks, other than the tracks with tasteless lyrics. His voice is sometimes good but not enough to keep this afloat. 2.4/5 - > 2/5

This is easily the best Elvis Costello album out of the three I've heard. It's stuffed with great melodies taken from early sixties pop and psychedelic rock, performed over a groundwork of reggae, fifties symphonic arrangements, and a thunderous bass. While the vocals are not great, the combination of interesting musical choices, fine melodies, and vitriolic anti-war lyrics makes this album outstanding.

4.5/5.0: Excellent

This was pretty weak. I HAAATED the first song thought id give it a 1 but then it got better thankfully. Still find his voice annoying.
It is worth a very weak 3 though

A little more pop influence than previous albums but there are some great songs here none the less. Very solid album.

Costellolta taas varsin laadukasta pop-rockia. Kolmoseen jää kuitenkin kun mikään ei salaman lailla iske selkäpiihin.

Elvis Costello has generally be a good discovery (for me) on the 1001 list, but 6 albums??!! That's enough for the book.

Anyway, I did like this one, Oliver's Army is the highlight.

Armed Forces, just like all of Elvis Costello's album is a decent album but doesn't exactly go all the way. This one seems to be much closer in line to how i remember This Year's Model sounding (which makes sense considering the two albums only came out a year apart). This album also really makes me remember how cheesy a lot of Costello's lyrics are and i do think that they can be pretty charming at point and do work well with the music that's being played by The Attractions which i also think sounds pretty good. I don't believe that this album made a huge impression on me but it still remains a decent listen.
Best Song: Goon Squad
Worst Song: Accidents Will Happen

I think this really good. It has the pop appeal that I enjoyed from his debut with better lyrics. It sounds to me like Prince was inspired by Green Shirt when making Darling Nikki. Favorite songs were Accidents Will Happen, Oliver’s Army, Green Shirt, Chemistry Class, and Peace, Love, And Understanding.

I usually can only listen to maybe two or three Costello songs in a row before I need a break. I like a few of his songs a lot, his voice is just a bit much after a while. I actually enjoyed this album a bit though. By the end I was ready for it to be over, it went on a little too long. There are some really cool songs on here though, I really liked Senior Service. I’m marking it a 3 but it’s a solid 3.5

Singable danceable and melodic. A refreshing change from the cacophony that’s come through this week.

It's hard to have three better albums to start off a discography than Elvis Costello did. Armed Forces has a more textured production than his first two albums, but it works really well. Costello may have too many albums on this list, but this one is one of the essential ones.

Solides Rock-Album der späten 70er Jahre. Es bietet eine brauchbare Mischung aus Rock und New Wave, ohne jedoch sensationelle Highlights zu setzen. Der Stil und die Abstimmung der Songs sind ordentlich und gut durchdacht. Besonders hervorzuheben ist der Track “Busy Bodies”, der sich als persönlicher Favorit herauskristallisiert hat. Auch “Party Girl” sowie die Singles “Oliver’s Army” und “Accidents Will Happen” sind angenehm zu hören und runden das Album gut ab.

I still don't really get the hype about this guy. I think Next Year's Model was a bit better, but Oliver's Army is such a great song that I'll numb this up 1 star.

This album is pretty cool and enjoyable although some lyrics are repetitive.

Now, I grew up in the West of Scotland and I've heard 1,001 names for Irish catholics that would make your blood boil and your toes curl, and the N word WAS NEVER ONE OF THEM.

"Accidents Will Happen" is a bop though, as is "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding"...