Customer Reviews

Get Happy (Bonus CD) (Dlx)

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Elvis Costello was explosively prolific and consistent through his first five albums, from "My Aim is True" in 1977 through "Trust" in 1981. He remains a highly valuable and relevant artist, but what he accomplished in those first four years makes even the Beatles look relaxed.

To me, his fourth album "Get Happy" is his masterpiece. The first three were brilliant, but if you didn't like that punk/New Wave sound, they were hard to appreciate. On "Get Happy," Elvis began the stylistic stretching-out that he has continued to the present day. The fact that he moved on from the harsh, angular, almost stereotypically "angry" stance of his initial discs to encompass thoughtfully a range of traditional styles is the reason why we still listen to EC, and why we don't listen to most of the other New Wavers who burst on the scene with him in the late 70s.

"Get Happy" was the first one to take that step, embracing 60s soul music, especially the "sounds" of the Supremes, Booker T and the MGs, Dionne Warwick, and the Four Tops. A few songs almost sound like parodies of those styles, while on others, the influence is more subtle. But beyond the musical trickery, the grafting of soul music onto his clever lyrical wordplay and harsh insights into romance and political betrayal had the much-needed effect of rounding out his sound, giving Elvis himself a lot more "soul."

The original LP had 20 songs, and to fit that many discrete songs onto a vinyl LP, Elvis had to make each song short and sweet--again, to the tremendous benefit of the listener, who can be absorbed into these miniatures, feel all the emotion, enjoy the studio wizardry and brilliant musicianship (where would Elvis be without the keyboardist Steve Nieve?), and then bang, song's over, onto the next. There is not a single wasted moment on this disc, and -- again somewhat in contast to the first three discs -- this disc has a lot more fun on it. There are fewer people being turned into lampshades or submitting to Hitler's will on this disk. Instead, he is building entire songs around puns about money, setting them to the most infectious beat in town, and otherwise entertaining us while still retaining his emotional focus. I've loved this album for 20+ years, and it still sounds fresh today. Bravo.

Elvis Costello has called "Get Happy" his soul record. It's more like his tortured soul record. This disc reflects the cumulative effects of a manic, exhausting 3-year treadmill of touring/songwriting/recording on a 25-year-old Elvis. It also shows Elvis starting to face or at least realize the consequences of some aggressively self-destructive behavior that he had been exhibiting during 1979. When he and the Attractions convened to record these songs initially, Elvis was dismayed to find the results sounding stale and too much like "Armed Forces: the Sequel". A second-hand store excursion that netted Elvis a stack of Motown and Stax/Volt records caused him to consider adapting the sounds associated with these hit factories of the 60?s as a blueprint for the record. With this framework in mind, recording recommenced with much momentum and drive, and the resulting Nick Lowe-produced disc is one of the strongest in Elvis's deep catalog of excellence.

Elvis wrote 18 of the 20 songs on the album (disc 1). At various points in some of these tunes one can spot musical references to or faint reminders of songs by the Four Tops, Booker T. and the MG's, the Supremes, etc. No one would really mistake the Attractions for a Motown or Stax/Volt act, but they prove to be adept at allowing a definite 60's soul influence seep into their tight combo sound. No song gets as much as four minutes to unwind; most fly by in less than three and blend into an uptempo whirl that evokes 60's AM radio. The two covers on the first disc in this set include a Sam & Dave song (I Can't Stand Up...), and a mid-60's British pop song done by the Merseybeats (I Stand Accused). Both of these originally slow or mid-tempo numbers end up getting jolted into warp speed by the Attractions' breakneck treatment. The frenetic pacing of the 20 song set rarely lets up until the final song "Riot Act", which finds Elvis sounding appropriately worn out and speculating that he's not "going to be around much anymore". Nearly a quarter of a century later, we can gladly report that his fears of demise or disappearance from the musical world were unfounded.
The lyrics are a rushing torrent of some of Elvis's strongest wordplay, images, rhymes and allegory. He's pulling out all of the verbal stops to fill this huge batch of tunes, and he's even giving us insight into the terrible way lots of things were turning out for him at the time. Here are just a few of the many devastatingly clever lyrical tidbits to listen for:

"You check your effects and check your reflection/ I'm so affected in the face of your affection" (Man Called Uncle)

"So I see us lying back to back/my case is closed my case is packed/I'll get out before the violence/or the tears, or the silence" (Possession)

"He'd seen the bottom of a lot of glasses/but he'd never seen love so near/he'd seen love get so expensive/ but he'd never seen love so dear" (King Horse)

"When I said that I was lying I might have been lying/never let me hear you say you're not trying" (The Imposter)

"Tryin' to be so bad is bad enough/Don't make me laugh by talking tough/Don't wear your heart out on your sleeve/When your remarks are off the cuff" (Riot Act)

Disc two of the Rhino package collects a generous, 30 song outpouring of material from around the same timeframe on the second disc. Prolific seems too mild a word to describe Elvis's writing and recording habits at the end of the 70's. Eleven of these selections were previously released recordings consisting of B-sides, cover versions of two songs (So Young, Getting Mighty Crowded), demos/alternate versions, and one live song (from the "Concerts for the People of Kampuchea" soundtrack). Ten of them (plus about half of the "Love for Tender" demo as a hidden track) were on the Rykodisc reissue of "Get Happy". (Eight of these ten were also on the 1980 Columbia compilation called "Taking Liberties".) The rest of the previously unreleased goodies include more demos of Disc 1 songs, alternate versions of many songs (we finally get to hear the "Armed Forces, Part II" versions of some songs), three early versions of songs that appeared on the next album "Trust", and some live material from around this time period. This insightful and rockin' 30-song bonus set concludes appropriately enough with an excellent live cover of the Temptations' "Don't Look Back", bringing the Motown influence full circle.

"Get Happy" is essential listening for any Elvis fan, and the Rhino reissue lives up to the usual standards of excellence we've come to expect from them. Get this sprawling 50 song set and relive those wonderful, terrible, substance-and-adrenaline-fueled, whirlwind months of Elvis's musical life when he was burning both ends as well as the middle of his candle. His "soul record" still reflects the brilliance of that combustion.

To my ears, this is the best edition of the Rhino 2-on-1 reissues of the Costello catalog. Aside from the fact that it was always a fantastic and generous (20 tracks on vinyl!) album, it's augmented here by not only all 10 bonus tracks that were on the Rykodisc reissue, but 20 more tracks beyond that - for a total of 50 (plus a funny radio ad which is unlisted but tacked on to the end of the bonus CD).

The first three albums didn't have many crucial recordings added to them beyond what was already on the Rykodisc versions - an alternate version or two, some live tracks - many of which were clearly inferior to the released material. That's not true with the 20 new (and 10 old) bonus tracks here. Clearly this was a prolific time for Costello and a sort of peak - although his diversity of style has increased steadily, never again did it reach the perfect balance with consistently high-quality material that it does here.

New highlights are many - pretty different alternate versions of songs like "Girls Talk", "King Horse" and "I Stand Accused", early stabs at "New Lace Sleeves" and "Watch Your Step", a fantastic live take on the soul classic "Don't Look Back", a different set of lyrics set to a minimalist musical backing which became "Luxembourg" (that's "Seven O'Clock") and plenty more.

Of course, you can't forget the album itself, which holds up wonderfully more than two decades later and exemplifies the Attractions' arranging brilliance. The liner notes and packaging are top-notch as well.

It's astonishing to think that even as Elvis cranked out an album or two a year, there was still a lot left in the vaults. But here's the proof!

Elvis Costello looked at the television, listened to the radio saw and heard a handful of EC imitators. So, in response, he created a record that swam in the echoes of the music that inspired him. Get Happy! is the closet album that EC has made in spirit to the classic rhythm & blues albums he loved as a child. It's a great mix of EC's sharp, pop songwriting instincts and the earthier elements of R&B.

Unlike some albums, each time it gets reissued it gets better. This the third reissue of Get Happy on CD features all the original tracks, the bonus tracks plus a generous helping of previously unreleased material pushed to the second disc.

Disc one consists of the original, glorious album in full technicolor with great sound. While the previous version had something on the order of 10 bonus tracks (for a grand total of 30 songs), this new, expanded edition ups the ante with a grand total of 50 tracks. While not all of them are essential or add to the luster of EC's 4th studio album, they're welcome additions for long time fans.

If you're a casual fan and have the previous edition of Get Happy! more than likely you'll be quite happy with the Rykodisc version. If, on the other hand, you're an EC fan this edition is an essential addition to your EC collection. It all depends on which side of the fence you're sitting.

Included are the original lyrics and some rather pithy comments from EC about this album and phase in his career. Will you enjoy Get Happy!? Yes although keep in mind it's a bit of a shift for EC from the poppier sound of his first three albums. It's not a radical departure just a detour down a road that inspired the artist a long time ago.

GET HAPPY was introduced to me by a co-worker back in 1980. At that time, I only had a handful of Elvis Costello singles (remember 45s?) but no albums. After the moment my co-worker lent me the album, I never stopped listening to Elvis Costello and to this album in particular. The rush of twenty two-minutes-and-change songs was breathtaking and still is. Its mix of passionate love tunes, whimsical poppiness, and downright raw soul was unprecedented.

I only wish I could reach back across the decades to shake that guy's hand for lending me GET HAPPY.

After three brilliant albums of tart, taut albums fueled by incessant touring and the excesses of rock living, Elvis Costello made the headlines with a single regrettable drunken utterance. Before anyone knew what was happening, he became better known than most pop artists of the day, and for all the wrong reasons. It forced him to a place that made him reevaluate his career to that point, and "Get Happy" began to emerge. He immersed himself in a stack of his old favorite soul records (Booker T, Four Tops, Stax/Volt albums), and emerged a different songwriter. "Get Happy" was the album where EC challenged himself to move beyond a public's expectation and led to his forth five star record.

While Elvis and the Attractions weren't completely r'n'b and alcohol saturated, some of Elvis' songs here do show the frenzy that they were recorded in. He once said that Nick Lowe's attitude toward production was "a fader in one hand an a vodka bottle in the other." The result was that these songs were frequently written and recorded in canon blasts, like the boast of "Possession" being written in five minutes after an afternoon's infatuation with a cocktail waitress. The band was challenging itself to pound out as much music as possible, as if every idea could be turned into a song. It created a wealth of material, as evidenced by the original album's sonic blast of twenty songs (and this CD's abundance of bonus material).

It also meant that EC's vocal performances were sometimes given all the nuance of a party reveler standing astride the jukebox ("I Stand Accused" and "Possession" being two obvious violators). On the other hand, there are some stunners here that point at the upcoming "Trust" and EC's vocal growing sophistication, as in the brilliant "Riot Act." It didn't stop the compositions from frequently striking the bull's-eye, and to this day I am amazed that the twenty multiple genre hook heavy songs on "Get Happy" somehow couldn't produce one radio single. (Also of interest is that "The Sopranos" lifted "High Fidelity" as one of the songs for an episode about Tony and Carmella's marital dysfunction.)

All told, Elvis, along with the invaluable input of The Attractions and Nick Lowe, rose to the occasion to make an album that shattered boundaries. Soul, ska and country (as well as the trademark "new wave" sound) still effortlessly roll from the grooves of "Get Happy."

I was so disgusted when Costello's catalog was released for the 3rd time on CD in 2003 that didn't even bother to take a close look. Therefore, I missed this. When I finally realized what a great reissue it was (30 "bonus" songs!) Rhino had already discontinued it. So what did I do. I paid the price for my tardiness -- I bought it used at an exorbidant price. Was it worth it? Absolutely. I'm sure that Hippo will get around to releasing it's "deluxe" version someday, but I wasn't waiting. If you're an Elvis Costello fan and your disgust with all the reissues kept you from getting this, like mine did, rectify your mistake before it's really too late. It's a super reissue, making the Rykodisc version totally unnecessary.

(This is a late edit based on careful A/B comparison with the Ryko release):

I was so excited when I finally got this Rhino reissue...normally nobody beats the sound of Rhino reissues, particularly when Bill Inglot is involved, as he was here. However, when I played this, I felt it sounded a bit flat, so I pulled out my Ryko and did an A/B comparison. In fact, the Ryko sounds MUCH better, on SOME of the songs. Their seems to be a split between the original Side 1 and Side 2 of the album. On side 1, the Ryko disc sounds better; on Side 2, the Rhino disc sounds better. Go figure. My guess is that two different master tapes were involved, and Rhino didn't have the same master to work with on Side 1.

On the bonus songs that are common to both, the Ryko disc sounds better. It has more depth, clarity and punch. That's hard to believe, but it's true. I don't know if Inglot was involved in name only and some flunky did the actual remastering, but it is hard to believe this is his work.

However, it is still worth it to have the bonus disc, although as I stated many of the songs on the bonus disc suffer from the same poor remastering. Just thought you should know.

The reason the album was entitled "Get Happy" is b/c Elvis wanted a work of elation. He completely succeeded.

This is a collection of short, bouncey songs that radiate with glee. There is a wide variety of sounds, the musicianship (something that you never hear enough about with "the Attractions") is first rate and the songs move at a fast pace. They all have the common denominator of getting you happy.

"Love for Tender" opens the cd and establishes the tone and pace. It is giddy, bouncey and danceable. "Opportunity" slows it down and allows the voice and bass to take center stage. ""Clowntime is Over" showcases Costello's dramatic range. "5 Gears in Reverse" turns into a cool rave up. "Girls Talk" is a wonderful song (it is not as peppy as the Dave Edmund's version but Elvis wrote it so he can perform it the way he wants). Another reviewer stated that the song is not on the cd but he is wrong it is definetely there

This cd has been reissued a couple of times with bonus tracks. This cd is a good value b/c you get a lot of music, quality music, for the money.

The first 4 Elvis Costello works, "My Aim is True", "This Year's Model", "Armed Forces" and "Get HAppy" are usually conidered his greatest period. His band "The Attractions" had a cool, unique and sparce sound. As time passed he became a more mature, diverse artist but the first 4 cds are his most rocking.

Everything Elvis did during his first four or five albums was absolute gold. I have the older Ryko edition of this one, which is a single disc containing fewer numbers, and it is my most consistently played Costello disc, over "Imperial Bedroom," "My Aim is True" and "This Year's Model." Thing is, Elvis broadens out here and leaves the pseudo-punk stylings behind in all but the subtleties, adopting instead a kind of hyperactive-sounding take on the old-school motown sound. Of course, it sounds only like Elvis, no rip-off, just original. I'd almost argue it's a genre onto itself that hasn't been explored enough. There's a lot of depth and wit to the lyrics, and the melodies are hook-laden but not so much so as to be corny. "I Stand Accused" is one of the greatest songs ever written, and "New Amsterdam" is a close follow-up in that regard. I also love "I Can't Stand Up for Falling Down," the one cover here. And "High Fidelity," wish they had included that one in the movie (a favorite of mine). Really one of the true greats of the Rock N Roll era, you won't find anything like this nowadays.

Just picked this up recently, I had been skeptical of the current Rhino campaign to "reissue" EC's brilliant albums with a second disc (especially after I had already bought the Rykodisc versions from '96 of My Aim is True, This Year's Model, and Armed Forces), but I was pleasantly surprised by the two-disc of Blood and Chocolate. I was open, then, to the two-discer of Get Happy, which I got for myself on my birthday.

Each song registers at barely three minutes, but that's part of the appeal: before you get tired the song ends, and another begins. Of course it was hard to find anything boring about this album, especially the more-than-generous 20-song LP. The bonus disc I haven't gotten into much, but I'm impressed with the overall scope of the reissue, along with a great essay by EC explaining the gestation of the album. He had made a racial slur against Ray Charles and James Brown sometime in 1979, clearly under the influence of alcohol, and watched in horror as his comments were blown up by the major music mag of the day (a certain "Rolling Stone"). EC recorded this album as a way to convey his love for the music of Charles, Brown, and all the great soul artists of the Sixties, and to atone for his comments. The result is a tour de force of sheer beauty and wealth.

Get this album after first exploring the back catalogue of 1977-1979, it's EC and the Attractions at their best. You can't go wrong when you "Get Happy!"