Armed Forces

about this album

Armed Forces is Elvis Costello's third album, his second with the Attractions, and the first to officially credit the Attractions on the cover. It was released in the UK by Radar Records and in the USA by Columbia in 1979. The album had the working title Emotional Fascism. Initial pressings of the album in the UK and USA included a promotional three-song single, Live at Hollywood High, which was recorded on 4 June 1978. The live tracks, also produced by Nick Lowe, are "Accidents Will Happen," "Alison," and "Watching the Detectives". The UK edition included 4 postcards featuring pictures of the band. The American version omitted "Sunday's Best" and replaced it with Costello's version of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love, and Understanding", which had been released the previous November as the B-side of Nick Lowe's "American Squirm" single, at the end of side two. The album has appeared on Q magazine and Rolling Stone magazine lists of "greatest albums". In the 1982 film E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Elliott's brother, Michael (played by Robert MacNaughton), sings "Accidents Will Happen" in the family kitchen after coming home from school. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.

tracks

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