Elvis Costello may be the most exciting rock musician around today. Certainly his new album Armed Forces does nothing to dispel that belief.
This new record is Costello's most complex work to date. However, the complexity doesn't mar the raw vitality which earned Costello the Rolling Stone magazine album-of-the-year award in 1977.
Armed Forces contains 12 songs, all of which are based upon the general theme of dissatisfaction and conflict.
The album also includes a separate single record with three cuts that was recorded at a concert held at Hollywood High School. The highlight of the single is a six-minute version of Costello's hit "Watching the Detectives" which unquestionably is one of the best "live" rock songs ever recorded.
Costello has his roots in punk rock. Most of his songs begin with either a throbbing bass guitar or a pounding drum beat. None of the cuts on this album come close to four minutes in length and all of the songs have simple, direct titles.
What sets Costello apart from the yammering trivialities of most punk rockers is the sophistication of his lyrics. Costello takes a very black view of life and as the title of his new album indicates he is more comfortable singing about conflict than rhapsodizing about love.
Interestingly enough, the absoluteness of Costello's hard-line stance on this record indicates a possible change in attitude on future albums. Armed Forces is his third record and all of the albums have been extensions on the theme of conflict and despair. Costello has nowhere else to go in this direction. He must either vary his subject matter or run the risk of becoming stale and repetitive.
Whatever his direction may be in the future, for now there's no questioning Costello's freshness and spark. Armed Forces is an exceptional record and it deserves a listen from anyone interested in rock music.
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