"Armed Forces" consolidates everything that Elvis Costello achieved with The Attractions on Last Year's Model. Some of the songs and arrangements here would have fitted on the last album ["This Year's Model"]; others seem designed to 'stretch' the band and demonstrate its flexibility. There's less gut attack, less overall aggression this time; instead a more relaxed display of energy and precision, of the kind that springs from unusual self-confidence. And the confidence is largely justified. Who else currently makes 12-cut albums without a single duff track?…
But it's still a sideways step. Costello has moved away from the put-down-by-numbers approach of his earlier songwriting towards—what? A 'concept'?…
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