Search - Elvis Costello :: Get Happy (Dig) (Spkg)

Get Happy all over it

Writer18 | Pittsburgh,PA | 03/11/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Got this album upon release in 1980. It is a brilliant album filled with very short songs. 'Five Gears In Reverse' was played on FM radio in South Florida.

'I Can't Stand Up For Falling Down' kicks off the album in high gear.

'Beaten To The Punch' is a favorite. 'Riot Act' is one of the most under rated songs in the whole Costello catalog.

This album is not only must have for any Elvis Costello fan, it's also a must for any fan fan of pop or rock music. A must!"

Get Happy,Get Going!

Andre S. Grindle | Brewer Maine | 04/06/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Getting caught up in non stop recording can have very mixed results.All one has to do is eyeball the catalog of people like Prince or Todd Rundgren in their prime to figure that out. One of the main issues I tend to have with Elvis Costello during this time. His first few albums with the Attractions have this tendancy to sound a bit........well alike. The songwriting hugely strong across this but pretty much everything is,for example is done very speedily.There is no question that,especially when the tempo is upped that he is just really rushing everything.His version of "I Stand Accused",along with "Love For Tender","Opportunity"...pretty much everything here just bleeds into a whole:the speedy tempos,the Stax/Motown organs and basslines,which are particularly strong here and a lot of....slightly unintelligable singing at times. Some tunes like "High Fidelity" and "B Movie" are even a little cluttered up.It's great,reckless and rocks like nobody's business but it all but totally lacks that combination of focus and diversity Costello would achieve as the 80's wore on. Oddly enough something very interesting happens when the album gets into the ballad side of things. "Motel Matches" and "Riot Act" both have this genuine release of tention and great musical build,probably because even at the manic pace at which he kept his music Costello realized you had to keep the style of the ballad as it was so...on these the tunes themselves have more focus,the playing sounds better and Elvis shows us what he has in him as a singer. I would'nt say by any means this is a retro 60's soul album by any means:it has that flavor but producer Nick Lowe still gives everything that....revved up British New Wave sound so there kind of a musical cultural clash here,not all that different then would appear on The Jam's final recording The Gift.However I must point out on a soul/new wave kind of project like this,it's best kept short and sweet.And maybe this one runs on a bit long (about 50 minutes) to really hit it's point home. But it will sure cook at a party both in the backround and especially on your rock lobster era dancfloor!"

One of the best ever

stranger2himself | Down Here | 06/12/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Get Happy by Elvis & the Attractions is up there with Abbey Road as one of the greatest rock albums ever made, from the first cut to the last. Incredible wordplay floating in a stew of crunchy, tight, sparkling rockin' new wave rhythm country & ska. This one album contains enough golden nuggets to make careers for 4 or 5 lesser artists. I listened to it constantly 25 years ago - it's just as stunning today."