A run of incredible hits and all-time great work blessed Elvis Costello in the early years of his career. All that stood in his way was getting tired of the set tones of his sound. He would get to that point after Get Happy!!, his fourth studio album, and with the benefit of hindsight it seems the twenty-song record is a blowout of the post-punk, new wave sound. Costello had done all he could in this particular genre and would begin to experiment, be it with the blues or with contemporary sounds outside of the new wave boom. More power to him for doing so, it does not negate the effectiveness of a great album like Get Happy!!, nor does it have people longing for more. He has provided an ample sample of material with these catchy guitar riffs and fast-tempo vocals. There’s a crucial difference for Get Happy!! and the preceding material, particularly Armed Forces and the political bite heard across that masterpiece. Costello is not as claws-out, raging, as he was previously.
Instead, he plays up the new wave tones a little too much, a chance to break from the political reliance and instead a showcase of his more agreeable talents. Those who could hear it before Get Happy!! will already know what Costello and The Attractions were capable of, but there is some logic in an album of subtle slip-ups and suggestive romances. Opportunity is a nice balance between the two tones Costello had identified with, and much of this twenty-song strong album is Costello showing his range. He doesn’t gloat or boast of what he can do, merely shows how great a read he has on catchy tones that serve his style and the wider genre. Some all-time great Costello tracks can be found on Get Happy!!, and that’s perhaps the problem for this fourth album. It’s a collection of songs without a theme, like Armed Forces had. Heading back into the cluster of songs, as great as they are, feels more like Costello is cleaning house before moving onto a different style.
Costello throws out so many great writings it’s hard to keep up. Possession into Men Called Uncle is an excellent moment but it takes listening to the songs in isolation, with a breath between those two upbeat powerhouses, to get to grips with the nuance. Too much of a good thing is not a complaint that holds up, but Get Happy!! certainly feels like a scattershot of hits. It’s the consistency Costello has across a multitude of genres, that’s what is showcased here. Surely that’s the best part of Get Happy!!, then, that you can head through again and pick out something new? High Fidelity is a magnificent end to the A-side, and from there it just gets better. I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down is a Costello classic, as are Motel Matches and Riot Act.
For the unprepared mind, this is just overwhelming extras, but it’s easy to forget the real benefit of this collection of songs is their brevity. Costello gets in, carries out a great message, and gets out. Beaten to the Punch is an excellent, late-stage song. What remains impressive about Get Happy!! is how Costello maintains this frenetic energy the whole way through. It’s not the length that makes this an achievement, given the context of other albums it’s a completely normal length, but the volume of quality songs is remarkable. Costello would effectively double the number of songs and maintain the same quality as the likes of My Aim is True and This Year’s Model. For those who wanted to hear the deeper cuts, the earlier works which still define Costello around this period, you would be hard-pressed to find a better release than Get Happy!!.
