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When I'd heard that Costello's next album, Get Happy, would be a collection of 20 songs on a single disc (ten to a side), I though that this guy might be pushing it a little. Worried by some of the sub-standard material from the previous Armed Forces ("Chemistry Class" and "Party Girl"), I thought the material on the new one might be largely a collection of half-baked and unfinished notions that would indicate that Costello, the Dylan of the new wave, had burned out his talent. Well, surprise Although many of the songs are too short for my taste ("Man Called Uncle" could have used another chorus) the majority of these new songs rank with the best that Elvis has done to date. The songwriting is infectious with traces of reggae, vintage Motown, ska and hard rock, the Attractions perform with a verve that rivals the best of the Who, and Costello himself is masterful. As a lyricist he's shown himself to be the subtlest and mostly paradoxical of the new wave, and on here he shows himself to be veering away from the misogynist / angry-young-man stance by allowing himself some sympathy and even tenderness toward characters.
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