Elvis Costello / Armed Forces unboxed

Nice. Looks amazing but the price is pretty steep. If EC releases it on CD, I’m there.

just way too expensive

Regarding the singles, it’s disappointing that they didn’t leave the tracks like the original singles were and put the alternates on the 10” (or wherever they put them).
Also, they missed an opportunity to redo the original first version of the ”Accidents Will Happen” sleeve which is like the one in the box set but flipped ijnside-out. That is to say to say that the cober is all white, with the picture on the inside, as if it was an accident…

https://www.discogs.com/Elvis-Costello-The-Attractions-Accidents-Will-Happen/release/6829664

Also, in addition to the non-inside out sleeve, there was a third version (same catalgoue number) showing the shp advertising “Fish Is Brain Fodd!” on the front and EC in a silvery outfit on the back…

https://www.discogs.com/Elvis-Costello-The-Attractions-Accidents-Will-Happen/release/9830605

Also, while the ”Hollywood High” EP was released with the LP, there was another Barney Bubbles-designed 7” sleeve/single not present – the free single of ”Talking In The Dark” and ”Wednesday Week’ given away at the 1978 London Dominion Christmas shows in 1978, the 3 New York shows in January 1979, and when buying the Armed Forces LP at any January 1979 UK concert. Oddly enough I have one, although I was not at any of those shows (I think I bought in at Bleeker Bob’s* in NYC)…

https://www.discogs.com/Elvis-Costello-And-The-Attractions-Talking-In-The-Dark/release/2387813

Lastly, regarding the Nick Lowe single, which is credited very accurately on the B-side to ”Nick Lowe and His Sound”, one must remember that ”Peace, Love and Understanding” was NOT on the UK ”Armed Forces” album originally and was therefore the only place to find it.
And if you did not know about it, there was a very obvious clue on the back cover.
If you look very close in the bottom right of the back cover, just over Nick’s left shoulder you can see the image of Elvis with the camera from the US cover of ‘This Year’s Model” in the reflection of the window. I assume this is from a cardboard promotional stand-up which I have a copy of. Here’s the best image I could find…

Note also that as the orignal UK album did not have that song on it, but the new version in the box does, meaning there are 7 songss on side two instead of 6 (”Sunday’s Best” was not of the US version, and the UK version ended with ”Two Little Hitlers”. I think it’s problematic sticking one more song on the vinyl, even as the album has been remastered.

Semi-unrelated, I have both the original Brinsley Schwarz 7” and the album it was on ”The New Favourites Of Brinsley Schwarz”

*Speaking of Bleeker Bob, he was known to be a bit of a jerk, and you didn’t want to haggle with him. Columbia released a red vinyl promo single of “P, L & U” backed with ”My Funny Valentine” that was given away at a couple of NYC shows arounf Valentine’s Day. Luckily I was in the store when Bob was not there and aslked a clerk if I could get the single for cheaper than $15. He just gave me the single for free and said ”just don’t tell Bob”! I never did.

https://www.discogs.com/Elvis-Costello-Whats-So-Funny-Bout-Peace-Love-And-Understanding-My-Funny-Valentine/release/2141247

This was my first Elvis Costello album… my fiancé at the time (early spring of ’79 / now wife of over 41 years) brought it home for me after a days shopping with her mum. It stayed on my turntable for a month or more, before I took it off and listened to something else – more than likely ‘This Years Model’ or ‘My Aim Is True’, as I became a complete EC Geek within 30 seconds of ‘Accidents Will Happen’.
So yeah, I do love this album. But I also love CD’s and am still extremely reluctant to jump back on the Vinyl Train. So I’m thinking of going the download route – 16-bit/44.1kHz FLAC from 7digital and making my own custom made CD’s. I have to say, the samples on the site sound fantastic and I’m thinking it’s going to be well worth the $41.99 CDN.
But I have to ask, and this is for anyone who’s gone this route – is any artwork included at all? I’m planning on making my own deluxe edition and I’m hoping I can use some of what – to me anyway – looks like an amazing package.

I’m surprised how cheaply made some of it looks. There’s a lot of plain white cardboard/paper and particularly those folders could have been felt-lined on the inside or at least been a bit thicker and coloured on the inside as well.
That piece of foam could have been replaced with a slim box in which they could have put some gimmicks like pencils and socks. as the artwork would look great on pencils and socks in particular.

The sleeves of the 7-inch-singles look a bit too small and pulling the vinyl out of them looks like something you wouldn’t want to do all too often.
Why don’t they make jewel cases for vinyl records?
I hate them for CDs, but at least for 7-inch-vinyl they’d provide more protection than sleeves that are too small.

But it’s really nice of Elvis that he allowed the music to be available for digital purchase and streaming.
I think it sounds great and much, much better than my Demon CD, which is a boomy, hollow mess compared to the new mastering.

This is obviously a bit of a Christmas cash grab. It looks nice, if this were normally priced at $100-$130 I don’t think this set would have upset people so much. For $130 the colored vinyl set is a nice novelty. An autographed card would have also not been out if order here for the kind of luxury item this is aiming to be. My copy of unfaithful music was autographed, book and CD, and it cost about face value. I see some of your points about cutting corners, the ribbon would have been better. The 7″ singles would have looked better in their own pouch. The booklets really needed something to hold them as well. An actual replica of the Hollywood high 7″ is obviously missing for authenicity sake, and last, the deluxe set should have colored vinyl on the 7″ singles. This reminds me of the Frankie “Inside the Pleasuredome” however the OTT production on that one and the fact that you also got a DVD, unreleased studio material and a hi-res digital download also puts this to shame. If this were marketed on CD with full shows and unreleased alternate takes and rejected mixes, like the recent well curated Seeds of Love reissue then there would be little to complain about. Atleast the records are poly lined sleeves!

This debacle has reminded me how good the 10 Bloody Mary’s compilation is, containing much of the bonus material from EC’s first four albums (cd reissues) . Still available on cd for about a fiver for 20 tracks, all killer no filler. Out of our Idiot is not too shabby either.

Elvis recently did an interview with Variety discussing the boxed set and his new release, Hey Clockface. It includes some of his thoughts on what is included in the box and the release of a CD version. Additionally, it includes an unboxing video of the color vinyl version of the box.

https://variety.com/2020/music/news/elvis-costello-armed-forces-complete-boxed-set-vinyl-interview-1234832372/?fbclid=IwAR0a16axD36pTi8IiHjukIjbMrJQTh2WvBvyjdwalhyyThIQ2QebkPNpbU4

A shout out for Americathon? A tip of the cap to you, Paul for your knowledge of forgotten 70’s movies. And a warning to anyone who may be curious, no need to seek out the flick for EC (or Meat Loaf, who also appears briefly).
For what this may be worth, the next time Elvis Costello says something outrageous like CDs are “a medium that’s seen it’s day”, we may be best served remembering he announced his intention to provoke when he adopted his stage name.

Another excellent unboxing video. Thanks, Paul.
I have my 2 1/2 Years cd box set from Ryko and I’m very happy.

This is a nice looking set. But do I want Armed Forces on vinyl again? No. Having bought it twice I don’t really want to buy it on CD again either, so I am quite glad there isn’t a CD version with extra tracks to make me twitchy. Do I need any more Costello live shows? No. It’s a well-loved album and a great era for Elvis but I need to get over it. He has got a fine new album out after all. Here’s hoping the next few EC reissues are also ones that I don’t have to buy!

Great video Paul, shame i wont be getting it though because of no cd version…

Thanks Paul
Think I will give it a miss
Keep up the good work

For those of us (like me) who don’t want vinyl only or can’t afford such an expensive and unnecessary set, the entire content seems to be available on Spotify (and probably other streaming services)ying.st sa. Ju

I live in the US. I got the colored vinyl for $185. I have to say I am quite happy with it. I don’t really have an interest in the McCartney reissues, so I cannot use them as a comparison. I would say I found it to be beautifully made. The vinyl sounds great and the packaging suits the time and release. There is a complete digital download available and a 24/192 of the album itself with the addition of (What’s So Funny…).

Not worth the money, i’ll stick with my Mofi pressing which is outstanding

Great video, thanks Paul. I’m a massive EC fan, I love Armed Forces, I was at the Dominion, and I own pretty much everything he’s released. But impressive as this is, in many ways, I can’t see any way to justify spending £200 on a box which has very little genuinely essential unreleased audio (no studio tracks at all) and isn’t actually complete (due to the Hollywood High issue you highlight). It’s just horribly overpriced for a few notebooks. I might buy it at half the price, but this just doesn’t add up. It pains the collector in me not to own it, but then I think what else I can collect for £200!

Great video, Paul. I’m a long-time hardcore EC fan, so I took the plunge (and I do mean plunge!) on the colored vinyl set. Even I have to admit that this set under delivers and is wildly overpriced. I guess it’s not too surprising considering that in previous reissues (Ryko and Rhino) Armed Forces always had the fewest amount of bonus material. There just isn’t much to pick from. I would argue that even Hollywood High isn’t really an Armed Forces show – it took place seven months before the album was released and the full show only contains three Armed Forces tracks. I suspect this set wasn’t issued on CD because it would have been at most a 3-disc set and could not have commanded anywhere near the price of this vinyl set. And no download code? Amazing.

I will say that the books look interesting, but overall the package doesn’t look posh enough to justify the price tag.

One minor quibble with the video – Paul, you stated that the American Squirm single has the “album version” of Peace, Love, and Understanding on it. There really is no album version of the song as it was never on the original album. It was added to the US version of the album and eventually the UK version – so all versions are the “single” version.

Thanks for posting the unboxing video Paul detailing the contents of this deluxe box set and providing details concerning missing live tracks which are available on CD.

Are the 4 postcards, doubled sided with the Don’t Join Postcard text / graphics ?

The 7″ sleeve reproductions do not have the ada ** catalogue numbers.

The backing sheet reprises the original grenade hype sticker on the original UK sleeve which was yellow & red in design indicating the Free EP Inside ~ I wonder why there are 4 of them on this set?

This Box set seems to me an art project, in homage of Barney Bubbles and the lovely 7 custom comic books and pulp novels, would fit in a CD box quite easily :)

In 2017 UMe issued the Yeah Yeah Yeahs – Fever To Tell Limited deluxe box which was limited to 2,000 signed copies worldwide with the first 500 including a bonus cassette. This set is available on discogs for £170 mint / sealed, so these Elvis Costello Fan will wait for a more appropriate price for this box set before purchase.

Paul, if you have a chance would you be able to check the b side of the Accidents 7″ as I believe it duplicates Big Boys demo by mistake. If so this is stunning, in a bad way!

Off topic but have you ditched your CD jewel cases, Paul? It’s something I’ve been considering – any regrets or needs must?

Another quality video, btw. Not a product I was in for but always interesting to see how these sets are put together.

Download version available in the UK from 7 digital

https://uk.7digital.com/artist/elvis-costello/release/armed-forces-super-deluxe-edition-remastered-2020-13514344?f=20%2C19%2C12%2C16%2C17%2C9%2C2

I don’t really mind the lack of a CD option but what I’d really like is everything on a blu ray including graphic files of all the various paper items.

Incomplete live shows – what a mistake.

Still waiting for mine, as I ordered an OMD reissue of Enola Gay to be sent in the same parcel thus saving a few quid in postage.
Got the black vinyl set too, as I was a bit put off by the price of the coloured vinyl set. Managed to get 10% off at Sound Of Vinyl by ordering from a ‘new’ email account.
This is going to be my Xmas treat to myself.
Enjoy everyone.

I believe the Green Shirt demo is on Rhino’s This Year’s Model reissue, so all the studio tracks in this release are available on disc somewhere (whew).

Random thought about hype stickers: instead of cutting the cellophane around them and leaving it as is, I peel them off the plastic and place them on a Post-It note. That way you can stick it in the book, it’s reasonably secure, and it doesn’t damage the page/inside cover you’re attaching it to.

I think it should be mentioned that the reference to Barney Bubbles’ design in Universal’s announcement is a bit misleading. Yes it’s great to have the fold-out vinyl cover and the original singles (more or less) intact, but apart from those weird cardboard “folders” there’s not much Barney in there. The Pink Pop and the “Presley” sleeves are almost insults to everything Mr. Bubbles tried to achieve. And speaking as someone who contributed a little to the “Reasons To Be Cheerful” book – there are lots of (mostly unused) designs from that period that they could have used in this package.
And, are the ‘notebooks’ really that small???

The set I compare others too for value from this year is the Deep Purple box set for Whoosh.
This and many others do not come close……and I love Armed Forces.

Thanks for the video Paul. I’m not going to mention the price

From streaming I think the Dominion 10″ (Christmas Eve show) might have deserved a full outing. the faux London Calling/Elvis Presley sleeve is a bit crass for the Regent 10″. I think this is the level of detail you get when it is assembled by non fans. Described thus in their blurb

“Armed Forces is the third studio album from Elvis Costello & The Attractions. Originally released January 1979 and produced by Nick Lowe.
Key Songs: “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?”, “Accidents Will Happen”, “Oliver’s Army” and “Green Shirt””

Of course it was the second studio album from Elvis Costello & The Attractions and “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding?” wasn’t on it in the UK.

I don’t Elvis had that much to do with “curating” this

Seeing all that almost, ALMOST, makes me think I want this after all. Maybe. But I’ll wait to see if there’s another big sale on it. Thanks for this, Paul!

Thanks for the marvelous unboxing video, Paul. Like others have said, this EC box set is still a bit pricey. I’m not really excited about the look of the vinyl included in this set, but absolutely love all the colorful artwork printed outside and inside the box AND the assortment of little books. It seems to me that the books and postcards would have a more proper and secure fit inside a 6″ x 12″ box design for compact discs. Please, please, compact disc version to follow, Mr. MacManus :-)

With a combination on a sale and a 30% off coupon I was able to get my Black Vinyl Version in the US for about 100USD plus shipping. At that price its a totally solid set but i really do hope they scale back the price/add more exclusive audio if this series goes forward.

Great unboxing video Paul, thank you & thank you again for saving me some of my hard earned salary! The price is astronomical for what you actually get inside the box……
I’ll wait for a discount of at least 50% for this one I think !

A further 3 track 7” single from the Hollywood High show was released as a limited edition to promote the complete concert’s release on cd . still leaves 8 songs short on vinyl sadly . Interesting they have used the correct sleeve for the Accidents 7” and not the reverse sleeve version that some of us got way back in 79. Don’t get why they didn’t use the original b-sides for both those sevens and put the demos together on one disc . Something of a missed opportunity methinks

Even at US $200 (what it costs at UDiscover) this is overpriced, and that awful folder for the 7″s and 10″s is, frankly, insulting. Compare to the similarly-priced 10LP+DVD Prince 1999 box, and wait for your eyes to stop rolling. I’m put off the physical product entirely on this one.

As usual, an excellent video. I bought the black vinyl version. I think the decision not to include the complete Hollywood High on vinyl was a bit of a cheek when you consider the price. So whilst I am pleased with, and like, the product I do feel a bit let down.

Hi Paul,
Really interesting to see the video. I love this period of Elvis Costello, but the price of £200 is astronomical for what you get. I’m glad you’re there to go through everything with a fine tooth comb and airing your honest opinion.
Cheers,
Danielz

This would have fitted nicely into the Marillion style bookshelf format for £25, but even then would have struggled to fill 4 CDs. Perhaps 3 CDs and a 5.1 of the album plus concert footage would have been nice. As a purchaser of the original album (which has all the best bits on its own, really) on release day for under a fiver, the whole thing seems a massive con to me

Thank you Paul, for another great unboxing video!
This one was very helpful to me. I hesitated because of the price and now definitely decided against buying it.
I guess Universal couldn’t care less about that, because the coloured vinyl box is selling very well I understand. Don’t know about the black vinyl box. I hope one fine day it will be cheaper somewhere…….Great album nevertheless.
Thanks again.

I was positively giddy when I opened mine. A treasure trove of early Elvis. I loved sitting with mine and playing all the vinyl.

As usual, you make very good points!
Maybe I feel them a bit more accutely, as I can’t help being generally disapointed with this expensive cardboardy product. Add to this Elvis’s typical ‘don’t blame me, I’m only the artist’ attitude, and we’re left with the feeling of fan-exploitment stamped over this project (again).

The books look as if the paper was somehow deliberately yellowed to make them look older than they are.

Great Video, Paul, you should receive an Oscar for best documentary film!

A little bit of a bulging wallet after Elvis Costello has emptied yours.

Everything you’ve unboxed looks amazing! Luckily, I’ve never been a huge fan of live material (which is what the bonus material is mostly comprised of), so I can safely say I’ll either not buy this or wait til it’s in the low-100 dollar range. It is nice looking though!