Re-Issues Re-Viewed
The Detroit Free Press Reports: FROM THE VAULT - Elvis Costello
"Get Happy!!" FOUR STARS out of 4 stars
"Trust" FOUR STARS out of 4 stars
"Punch the Clock" THREE STARS out of 4 stars (Rhino)
The bountiful Costello reissue program continues with two-disc revisits to three albums. On "Get Happy!!" (1980), the originally generous 20 tracks of Motown and Stax-styled R&B are supplemented with 20 alternates, outtakes, single B-sides and demos. "Trust" (1981) gets nine more bonus cuts added to eight that appeared on a Rykodisc reissue. "Punch the Clock," (1983) adds a whopping 25 bonus tracks to the original 1983 lineup.
Most of the bonus material has Costello trying out different arrangements of songs like "Watch Your Step" and "Human Touch," both of which get subjected to a ska beat, and "From a Whisper to a Scream," heard in two very different attempts that only make the song's lack of a melody more pronounced. Bringing in Squeeze's Glenn Tilbrook as a duet partner for the officially issued "Trust" version pretty much saved the song. "Punch the Clock" was Costello's first blatant attempt to penetrate America's Top 40. He succeeded with the bouncy "Every Day I Write the Book," which can be heard in a less ornate, Beatlesque arrangement now. The real treat is a pair of BBC radio performances: a cover of Percy Mayfield's "Danger Zone" and a medley that segues from "Big Sister's Clothes" to the English Beat's poppy protest "Stand Down Margaret."
For Costello fans, this treasure trove actually justifies buying the titles for a third time.