incident in an interview with Rolling Stone in 1982, feeling that it "outweighs my entire career", but later reflected in his 2015 memoir Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink: "So what if my career was rolled back off the launching pad? Life eventually became a lot more interesting due to this failure to get into some undeserved and potentially fatal orbit." Although he was not dropped by Columbia, he did not tour America again until 1981 in support of Trust. Legacy Hinton argues that Armed Forces marked the end of the angry persona of Costello's early works, although Thomson cites Get Happy!! as the first step away from the persona. Bruno saw the songs on Get Happy!! as a response to the events of the Armed Funk tour. Despite the tour's initial impact on him, his career recovered from the incident. He later reflected: "Some of the highly charged language may now seem a little naive; it is full of gimmicks and almost overpowers some songs with paradoxes and subverted clichés piling up into private and secret meanings. I was not quite 24 and thought I knew it all." Although he continued to reference aggressive and fascist themes in his lyrics, including on his 2020 album Hey Clockface, David A. Graham of The Atlantic argued that "he has never written another record so searing in its combination of romantic and political fury as Armed Forces." Graham further contended that the fascist elements described on Armed Forces were still alive in America during the presidency of Donald Trump, writing: "More than four decades after its release, Armed Forces feels more frighteningly vital and relevant than ever." Retrospective appraisal In later decades, Armed Forces has continued to receive positive reviews. In 1991, Entertainment Weeklys Armond White called the album a "landmark", while Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune called it "Costello's 'political' record, and also one of his most irresistibly melodic." Reviewing for Rolling Stone in 2002, Gavin Edwards found a record "filled with great rock songs that explore the boundaries between the political and the personal". He further highlighted Costello's wordplay, Nieve's keyboard playing and the inclusion of "(What's So Funny 'Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding?" as the final track. Ultimate Classic Rocks Jeff Giles stated that with the album, Costello achieved a balance between critical and commercial success, creating an album that proves "a smart, sardonic set of pop songs can