The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Pretty self-explanatory
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Top balcony
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by Top balcony »

Cheers ANCT

That method which includes $56.18 shipping to UK, reduces the price to $183.58 or 142.15 of my shiny English Pounds, still way too steep for me.

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bronxapostle
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by bronxapostle »

Wait it out Top....you will get a bargain price yet. Might take until the Spring, but you shall.
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by fred darden »

wondering why spinning songbook deluxe was 350$ when all they had was one cd, one dvd, and a 10 inch ep?
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Ymaginatif
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by Ymaginatif »

fred darden wrote:wondering why spinning songbook deluxe was 350$ when all they had was one cd, one dvd, and a 10 inch ep?
Limited to 1500 copies
Individually numbered
Signed by Elvis Costello
Custom-made spinning wheel gadget

These things raise the price considerably.
And if they are your thing, they're rather pleasing. If they are not, then the set is a waste of money.
bronxapostle
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by bronxapostle »

Ymaginatif wrote:
fred darden wrote:wondering why spinning songbook deluxe was 350$ when all they had was one cd, one dvd, and a 10 inch ep?
Limited to 1500 copies
Individually numbered
Signed by Elvis Costello
Custom-made spinning wheel gadget

These things raise the price considerably.
And if they are your thing, they're rather pleasing. If they are not, then the set is a waste of money.
yes, a VERY great package. but, that one too. i couldn't afford the original pricing. i waited it out and got a rather nice copy, only a very slightly crushed outer box...for i think about only $98 at ebay. 8) 8)
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by Ymaginatif »

bronxapostle wrote:
Ymaginatif wrote:
fred darden wrote:wondering why spinning songbook deluxe was 350$ when all they had was one cd, one dvd, and a 10 inch ep?
Limited to 1500 copies
Individually numbered
Signed by Elvis Costello
Custom-made spinning wheel gadget

These things raise the price considerably.
And if they are your thing, they're rather pleasing. If they are not, then the set is a waste of money.
yes, a VERY great package. but, that one too. i couldn't afford the original pricing. i waited it out and got a rather nice copy, only a very slightly crushed outer box...for i think about only $98 at ebay. 8) 8)
I believe I bought my copy from someone here on the forum - I forget who, sorry. Uncrushed and 'reasonably' priced. Sometimes it pays to wait - although I find that these modern days superdeluxe boxes sell out fast and rarely drop much in price. On the contrary. Unless you wait a decade or two, perhaps.
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by Ymaginatif »

No signs yet of these boxes arriving tomorrow?
Tenterhooks, I know ...
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by fred darden »

Shipping tomorrow. That's what my email receipt stated.
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by And No Coffee Table »

And No Coffee Table wrote:Apple Music says "Busy Bodies (Alternate Version)" has a track length of 2:59, while it was about 3:45 on the Rhino Armed Forces. Is it a different alternate version or just an error on Apple Music?
It turns out the track labeled "Busy Bodies (Alternate Version)" is actually "Big Boys (Demo Version)."

So "Big Boys (Demo Version)" appears twice, and "Busy Bodies (Alternate Version)" does not appear at all.

Or at least that's how it is on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube. Perhaps the vinyl set includes the correct tracks.
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by sweetest punch »

I’m listening to it now on Apple Music.
The Pinkpop-tracks are great!
I remember sitting in my room in June ‘79 and listening to the radiobroadcast of the Pinkpop performances. I taped them on a cassette tape.
The radiohost said that Costello was being “difficult”: he insisted on mixing the recording himself.
Big festivals were just emerging then in Holland and Belgium. It was not easy for a seventeen year old to travel to a festival like Pinkpop, even if it was only 100 km away.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
sweetest punch
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by sweetest punch »

Tidal has just the regular album in it’s ‘remastered 2020’ version: https://tidal.com/browse/album/160530996
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by bronxapostle »

And No Coffee Table wrote:
And No Coffee Table wrote:Apple Music says "Busy Bodies (Alternate Version)" has a track length of 2:59, while it was about 3:45 on the Rhino Armed Forces. Is it a different alternate version or just an error on Apple Music?
It turns out the track labeled "Busy Bodies (Alternate Version)" is actually "Big Boys (Demo Version)."

So "Big Boys (Demo Version)" appears twice, and "Busy Bodies (Alternate Version)" does not appear at all.

Or at least that's how it is on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube. Perhaps the vinyl set includes the correct tracks.

hmmm, very disheartening if that error is that way upon vinyl too!! keep us posted ANCT please.
sweetest punch
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by sweetest punch »

Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by verbal gymnastics »

bronxapostle wrote:
And No Coffee Table wrote:
And No Coffee Table wrote:Apple Music says "Busy Bodies (Alternate Version)" has a track length of 2:59, while it was about 3:45 on the Rhino Armed Forces. Is it a different alternate version or just an error on Apple Music?
It turns out the track labeled "Busy Bodies (Alternate Version)" is actually "Big Boys (Demo Version)."

So "Big Boys (Demo Version)" appears twice, and "Busy Bodies (Alternate Version)" does not appear at all.

Or at least that's how it is on Apple Music, Spotify, and YouTube. Perhaps the vinyl set includes the correct tracks.

hmmm, very disheartening if that error is that way upon vinyl too!! keep us posted ANCT please.
I can’t believe nobody’s posted Accidents will happen yet... :lol:

Perhaps the vinyl will have Big Boys on it twice and this will be corrected on the second run of the box set and you will all have a collectors’ Collector’s edition!
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
Pigalle
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by Pigalle »

sweetest punch wrote:The European store (store.uDiscovermusic.com ) seems to be sold out!

https://store.udiscovermusic.com/*/*/Ar ... Q8D0000000

https://store.udiscovermusic.com/*/*/Ar ... Q8C0000000
Seems pretty unlikely as they had 74 copies of the coloured vinyl edition available earlier in the week, which is about how many copies they had managed to sell in the last month!
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by sweetest punch »

Pigalle wrote:
sweetest punch wrote:The European store (store.uDiscovermusic.com ) seems to be sold out!

https://store.udiscovermusic.com/*/*/Ar ... Q8D0000000

https://store.udiscovermusic.com/*/*/Ar ... Q8C0000000
Seems pretty unlikely as they had 74 copies of the coloured vinyl edition available earlier in the week, which is about how many copies they had managed to sell in the last month!
The American store is not sold out:
https://shop.udiscovermusic.com/collect ... on-box-set

https://shop.udiscovermusic.com/collect ... on-box-set
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by Ymaginatif »

The recordstore.co.uk website now posts a 7-10 days delay in dispatch ...

https://www.recordstore.co.uk/recordsto ... Q8C0000000

Not that they have actually let me know ...
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

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Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
cwr
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by cwr »

Mine still says the post office has printed the label but is waiting for the package... I wonder whether my Armed Forces set will get here before or after my Hey Clockface vinyl...
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by Ulster Boy »

Just some musings on the live cuts on the SDE (based on the versions that are streaming, I don’t have the vinyl!).

Live at Hollywood High June 78 – all familiar stuff as these have been released before. The nine tracks (and one from the Washington Feb 78 show) are the same ones as issued on the Rhino edition so this seems to be an exercise solely to replicate that, on vinyl (though of course the 3-track ep that came with early copies in 1979 was on vinyl.) There’s not much else to say, the two shows these come from have both been officially released previously, in full. 3 more tracks, not present on the SDE, were released on vinyl for Record Store Day in 2010.

Riot At The Regent – Live In Sydney Dec 78 – sound and mix on these six tracks is excellent.
Oliver’s Army - first official live release of this, and follows the studio arrangement. Backing vocals (Bruce?) actually sound quite good, better than on some of the bootleg performances from this era
Waiting For The End Of The World – similar to the live versions on Washington, El Mocambo Feb 78 and Hollywood High. Not essential
Big Boys - first official live release of this, and follows the studio arrangement. Has a ‘cold’ ending, presumably as it’s the last track on one side of the vinyl
This Year’s Girl – similar to the live version on Hollywood High. Not essential.
You Belong To Me – an extra long version as a pissed-off EC berates the crowd, gives a good sense of the building tension of the gig (‘we can play this riff all night’)
Pump It Up – similar to the live versions on Washington, El Mocambo and Hollywood High, with band intros etc. Not particularly essential.

Verdict – 3 hits, 3 so whats? The bootleg of this show (which I haven’t heard) lists a further five tracks, so would have been nice to have the full concert.

Christmas In The Dominion Dec 78 – four tracks, from just a few weeks after the Sydney show, sound and mix are again excellent
(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes – very similar to previous live versions on Nashville Rooms Aug 77, Washington, El Mocambo and Hollywood High, but played at a slower (more plodding) tempo. Not essential
No Dancing – a treat, very different to the version on Nashville Rooms. Has an almost disco-type rhythm going on.
I Stand Accused - first official live release of this, and not quite the 2 x studio arrangements that ended up on the Rhino Get Happy! Nice to have and had only entered the repertoire a few weeks previously
(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding? - first official live release of this. Stellar version. Nick Lowe joins in for a bit.

Verdict – 3 hits, 1 miss. Like Sydney, would have been great to have the full concert, presuming it was all recorded.

Live At Pinkpop June 79
Goon Squad - similar to the live version on Hollywood High, but faster.
B-Movie - first official live release of this, and different to the studio arrangement
Green Shirt - first official live release of this, and follows the studio arrangement
(I Don’t Want To Go To) Chelsea – similar to the live versions on Washington, El Mocambo Feb 78 and Hollywood High. Not essential
Opportunity – similar to the version from the Palomino Feb 78, released on the Get Happy! Bonus disc. Not essential.
So Young - first official live release of this, and follows the studio arrangement
High Fidelity – previously released on the Get Happy! bonus disc. Crowd noise fades out at the end. Not essential
Lipstick Vogue – previously released in video form on The Right Spectacle, but in much better quality here. Nothing particularly essential about this.
Watching The Detectives – previously released in video form on The Right Spectacle, but in much better quality here. Nothing particularly essential about this.
Big Boys – very similar to the arrangement on the Sydney show so not particularly essential
Pump It Up – similar to previously released live versions. Not essential
You Belong To Me – similar to previously released live versions. Not essential
(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love & Understanding? – similar to the Dominion show. Not essential

Verdict – 4 hits, 7 so-so. Overall the performance is good, very energetic and great sound and mix for an outdoor festival gig. Feels like a missed opportunity to release the complete show, a further five songs are on the bootleg version of this (three of which are Armed Forces songs), only the opener of I stand Accused is not ‘out there’

Overall – nice to have these and I don’t wish to be churlish, but feels a bit random in terms of song selection. Did the world really need three more versions of You Belong To Me, on an Armed Forces SDE? Mindful that EC has been quoted as saying these show the bands progression over a period of time, ideally either the Sydney or Dominion shows in full, and the PinkPop show in full would have been a better comparison – in the way that the leap from Nashville Rooms, to El Mocambo, to Hollywood High were.
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by Mr. Getgood »

Is it me or did the keyboard chords and bass part in the intro to Pinkpop High Fidelity get reused on the intro to CINCO Minutos Con Vos?
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by sulky lad »

Mr. Getgood wrote:Is it me or did the keyboard chords and bass part in the intro to Pinkpop High Fidelity get reused on the intro to CINCO Minutos Con Vos?
It sounded to me like the intro from High Fidelity from the Bethlehem show from 12 April 1979 !
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by sweetest punch »

https://americansongwriter.com/vinyl-lo ... s-reissue/

Vinyl Lovers Can Rejoice With Elvis Costello’s Sumptuous ‘Armed Forces’ Reissue

Elvis Costello & the Attractions | The Complete Armed Forces | (UMe)
5 out of 5 stars

CD collectors, you’re out of luck.

Elvis Costello & the Attractions’ 1979 classic (initially titled Emotional Fascism until Costello was convinced to call it something less edgy), gets the expanded treatment, 41 years after shaking up the band’s career. And, like on the 13 track album’s first appearance, it’s on vinyl only (digital downloads are available too).

The outfit’s second album together, (his My Aim Is True debut was backed by the group Clover) came at the end of a remarkably fertile and prolific 3 ½ year stretch. It found them and producer Nick Lowe gelling around a bunch of terrific and diverse songs that range from the edgy waltz time “Sunday’s Best” to the ticking time bomb waiting to explode beat of “Green Shirt,” the opening sardonic salvo of “Accidents Will Happen” and the final fiery attack of Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?” In between was the powerful political “Oliver’s Army,” surely one of Costello’s most insurgent recordings (also his highest charting UK single) and the brooding ballad “Party Girl” with its “I can’t give you anything but time” lyric. Even minor, deeper items like the pop “Senior Service” and the witty, wordy “Chemistry Class” remain far more than filler. The sound remains lean but far more textured than Costello’s previous releases, something the remastered audio highlights. The disc doesn’t break 40 minutes yet its impact has only grown over time.

A remastered version of the album only covers the first record in this abundant vinyl set. Two others present a pair of live shows from the era; Live at Hollywood High & Elsewhere 1978 expands the original Hollywood High EP included with the original UK pressings (although only three tracks are from Armed Forces), and Live at Pinkpop-Europe ’79 is a previously unreleased 48 minute professionally recorded gig with four more…Forces tunes and selections that would later appear on 1980’s Get Happy. The Attractions had been on the road nearly constantly and their concerts were honed to a tight, fast and exciting presentation, all attributes of these recordings.

Three 10” EPs feature even more live work with Sketches for Emotional Fascism A.K.A. Armed Forces presenting some finished songs cut from the final rundown such as the rollicking “Clean Money” and “Tiny Steps” (a Costello favorite) plus demos and alternate versions. A trio of additional pieces of plastic are picture sleeve 7” singles with alternate “B” sides. They include Nick Lowe’s “American Squirm” which first featured Elvis’ version of his “…Peace, Love and Understanding.” Add over 200 pages of pictures, Costello’s detailed notes, handwritten lyrics and other ephemera, plus the original imaginative origami styled cover art, for the last word on this iconic release.

Since the majority of the studio music has been available for decades (although there are 23 previously unreleased live recordings) with no physical CD component at this time, the mammoth box is clearly aimed at the Costello obsessive. Not surprisingly, it appears just before the Christmas buying season.

Those who aren’t collectors would do well to pick up a copy of Rhino’s 2002 double disc reissue, still easily available, which includes all of the best material here for a fraction of the price and a shorter version of Costello’s liner notes.

But for vinyl devotees this is a cool, beautifully curated item that is likely the last word on one of the artist’s early career peaks; a classy, costly package guaranteed to provoke “oohs” and “ahhhs” from friends, whether they are Costello fans or not.
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by sweetest punch »

https://www.elviscostello.com/#!/armedf ... irdnetwork

1. CLEAN MONEY - from “Sketches For Emotional Fascism”
2. BIG EYES - from “In Color” by Cheap Trick

The opening track of our 1979 album was supposed to be, “Clean Money”. It was definitely indebted to The Beatles “Back In The U.S.S.R” and a favourite group of ours from Madison, Wisconsin: Cheap Trick. Indeed, Rick Neilsen generously introduced us to a slightly skeptical crowd at “Bunky’s” in Madison in the Winter of 1977. I never did learn how to juggle all those guitars.


https://twitter.com/ElvisCostello/statu ... 29/photo/1

Image
Last edited by sweetest punch on Wed Nov 11, 2020 1:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Since you put me down, it seems i've been very gloomy. You may laugh but pretty girls look right through me.
fred darden
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Re: The Complete Armed Forces (Super Deluxe Edition)

Post by fred darden »

Is this 33 and a third a new installation project? Didn't hear anything about it.
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