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Two weeks before Elvis Costello's Get Happy came out, I saw a poster at Co-Op records store advertising it. The poster read: "20 songs — All Different!" My first thought was, did Costello have 20 good songs he wanted to use, or did he use 20 songs for the novelty of having so many on an album? After listening to Get Happy, I would say the latter was the case.
That's not necessarily bad, though. Cramming an album full of songs was surely done out of great confidence, one that works more than it doesn't. Even the title shows that Costello is feeling rather smug these days. His first LP, My Aim Is True, an incredible, creative work, is a plea to his listeners, but Get Happy is an imperative.
This confidence brings many rewards. For instance, Costello obviously feels he can experiment in variety. I think he realizes that he had done his greatest work already (My Aim Is True), so he might as well look for something different. This is why last year's Armed Forces was such a courageous album. I like Get Happy better, though, since Costello is singing again about things I want to hear about.
Some of his experiments that work are "Opportunity" and "Secondary Modem" on side one. In "Secondary Modern," Costello sings in a softer, less forceful vocal style. Never fear, fans, he still holds that element of nervous energy, vocally and lyrically. Costello gets on a roll on side two with the vigorous "Black and White World," "Five Gears in Reverse," and "B Movie." He reaches a new high in intensity in the closing song, "Riot Act."
I would say that this album is 25 percent filler. The remaining 15 songs are songs that jump, from a New Wave artist who doesn't have to prove himself anymore.
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