Elvis Costello – Get Happy!! (1980/2015)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/192 kHz | Time – 48:13 minutes | 1,85 GB | Genre: Rock
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © UMe – Elvis Costello
The fourth album by Elvis Costello, his third with the Attractions, Get Happy!! is notable for being a dramatic break in tone from Costello’s three previous albums, and for being heavily influenced by R&B, ska and soul music. The cover art was intentionally designed to have a “retro” feel, to look like the cover of an old LP with ring wear on both front and back.It was placed at No. 11 on Rolling Stone magazine’s list of the 100 greatest albums of the 1980s.
Get Happy!! was born as much from sincere love for soul as it was for Elvis Costello’s desire to distance himself from an unfortunate verbal faux pas where he insulted Ray Charles in an attempt to get Stephen Stills’ goat. Either way, it resulted in a 20-song blue-eyed soul tour de force, where Costello doesn’t just want to prove his love, he wants to prove his knowledge. So, he tries everything, starting with Motown and Northern soul, then touching on smooth uptown ballads and gritty Southern soul, even finding common ground between the two by recasting Sam & Dave’s “I Can’t Stand Up (For Falling Down)” as a careening stomper. What’s remarkable is that this approach dovetails with the pop carnival essayed by Armed Forces, standing as a full-fledged Costello record instead of a genre exercise. As it furiously flits through 20 songs, Costello’s cynicisms, rage, humor, and misanthropic sensibility gel remarkably well. Some songs may not quite hit their targets, but that’s part of the album’s charm — it moves so fast that its lesser songs rush by on the way to such full-fledged masterpieces as “New Amsterdam,” “High Fidelity,” and “Riot Act.” Get Happy!! bursts with energy and invention, standing as a testament to how Costello, the pop encyclopedia, can reinvent the past in his own image.
Tracklist:
01. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Love For Tender (01:57)
02. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Opportunity (03:13)
03. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – The Imposter (01:58)
04. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Secondary Modern (01:58)
05. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – King Horse (03:01)
06. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Possession (02:03)
07. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Men Called Uncle (02:17)
08. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Clowntime Is Over (02:59)
09. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – New Amsterdam (02:12)
10. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – High Fidelity (02:26)
11. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – I Can’t Stand Up For Falling Down (02:06)
12. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Black And White World (01:56)
13. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Five Gears In Reverse (02:38)
14. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – B-Movie (02:03)
15. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Motel Matches (02:30)
16. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Human Touch (02:30)
17. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Beaten To The Punch (01:47)
18. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Temptation (02:33)
19. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – I Stand Accused (02:21)
20. Elvis Costello & The Attractions – Riot Act (03:35)