Editorial Reviews With tempers and adrenalin running high from 1978's oddly-named "Armed Funk" tour, Costello and the Attractions started work on a new album, only to find they were well and truly sick of the "new wave" sound they found themselves...
Get Happy
Music Review:
Music Review
Brandl: Bassoon Quintets, Opp. 14 & 52
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City of Blinding Lights [CD-single] [EP] [Import]
Amazon.com essential recording
Costello continued his most-prolific-man-alive act with the 20-track Get Happy!!, his fourth album in 30 months. He says what he has to say and shuts up--only a small handful of cuts approach or go over the three-minute mark--often in a pile-driving style inspired by Stax/Volt. (Sometimes loosely inspired; his version of the Sam & Dave ballad "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down" is played in a rush.) Costello's wordplay is at a height here, but it doesn't divert the eye from the emotional wreckage behind the scenes: as he sings on "Human Touch," "What the makeup hides can't be made up with a kiss." The Rykodisc CD adds 11 bonus tracks, including a suitably fragmented (and unlisted) demo of "Love for Tender." --Rickey Wright
From the Label
The guy who's writing these little blurbs would like it to be known that he thinks GET HAPPY!! is Elvis Costello's best album (so far, anyway). It's certainly the most surprising one, cramming a big 20 songs onto the original album, with another ten added for CD.