release date: Feb. 15, 1980
format: vinyl / cd (1994 remaster Extended Play)
[album rate: 4,5 / 5] [4,46]
producer: Nick Lowe
label: F-Beat / Demon Records - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 1. "Love for Tender" (5 / 5) - 2. "Opportunity" - 3. "The Imposter" (4,5 / 5) - 5. "King Horse" - 6. "Possession" (5 / 5) - 7. "Man Called Uncle" - 8. "Clowntime Is Over" - 10. "High Fidelity" - 11. "I Can't Stand Up (For Falling Down)" - 14. "B Movie" - 15. "Motel Matches" - 18. "Temptation" (5 / 5) - 19. "I Stand Accused" - *23 "Getting Mighty Crowded" - *24. "So Young"
*Bonus track on 1994 remaster 'Extended Play'
4th studio album by Elvis Costello is like the predecessor made with The Attractions, and it's his now fourth album to be produced by Nick Lowe. The original vinyl release is released on F-Beat and the '94 remaster in the Extended Play-series, is released by Demon Records.
Already, at this point Costello was known for the incredible production speed he was pursuing. Many artist spewed out albums faster than ever before at this point in modern music history, but Costello wrote and composed close to 100% of his material on his own, and here just one year after the new-found style of Armed Forces he bangs another style-shift on the counter with this one to avoid repeating himself.
Get Happy!! contains 20 tracks in the original vinyl version, which in itself is an accomplishment and something almost unheard of with its running time at 48 mins they indeed pressed the limits with the vinyl format. Several songs run out under 2 mins, and the average playing time of the songs must be somewhere around 2:30, but still he demonstrates impressive writing pace. Stylistically, the album showcases Costello's musical strengths as he explores soul and r&b sources to mix his own new wave and power pop version of pop soul and with the tight backing band, The Attractions they make it a bomb of sheer rhythmic energy.
I think the album is one of my first purchases after having bought This Year's Model with Costello in the early 1980s, and it immediately felt great. I know, contemporary critics praised his earlier and some later releases higher than this, but from my perspective this is Costello at his best. Much like with his '79 album it's a pretty hard job to enlist the track highlights on an album that just consists of great songs, which is why I have only enlisted the very very best. The 1994 remaster on Demon is worth every penny. Like the vinyl was followed by producer Nick Lowe's comment to the record buyer to pay attention that the album has 10 tracks on each side without loss of quality, the remaster has another 10 bonus tracks in the 'Extended Play' series (actually, 11 tracks counting the unlisted 31st incomplete demo track of "Love for Tender" intentionally ending abruptly after 1:39). The original vinyl album was issued with a wrong playing order - having swapped the A and B-sides, and the '94 remaster plays along with this by enlisting the total tracks in reverse order.
The first (and the best charting) single from the album is I Can't Stand Up (For Falling Down) (Feb. 1980) peaking at number #4 on the UK singles chart list, followed by High Fidelity (Feb. 1980) and New Amsterdam (Jun. 1980). The album was well-received, and it reached the same high position on the national albums chart list with a second place, although, it wasn't met by the same positive reviews as his two previous albums. Retrospectively, however, the album is by many considered one of Costello's absolute best. On the website Acclaimed Music, the album is ranked the 76th most acclaimed album of the 1980s, and in 1989, Rolling Stone placed Get Happy!! at number #11 on its list of 'The 100 Best Albums of the 1980s'.
The album is and has always been one of my absolute favourites by Costello, and would surely end up on my personal top 3 list of his extensive production, if I should ever attempt to make such a list.
Highly recommended.
"EveryHomeShouldHaveOne."
[ allmusic.com, Blender, Sounds, Uncut 5 / 5, Rolling Stone, Select 4 / 5 stars ]
