A Tonic for the Troops

The album featured dark themes in an often upbeat, pop-punk style. One of the album's tracks, "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun", was described by one critic as "the happiest, cheeriest, best upbeat song about Hitler ever written."{{Citation needed|date=March 2008}} The lyrics of other songs discussed suicide ("Living in an Island") and euthanasia ("Can't Stop").

The album's title was taken from a line in "She's So Modern": "And Charlie ain't no Nazi/ she likes to wear her leather boots/ 'cuz it's exciting for the veterans/ and it's a tonic for the troops."

"Rat Trap" was the final cut on the UK version of the album but the opening track on the US version.

{{Album ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite web|last=Ruhlmann|first=William|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/a-tonic-for-the-troops-mw0000654612|title=A Tonic for the Troops – The Boomtown Rats|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=9 April 2014}}

| rev2 = Christgau's Record Guide

| rev2score = B+{{cite book|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|year=1981|chapter=B|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=B&bk=70|accessdate=22 February 2019|via=robertchristgau.com|title=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|title-link=Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies|publisher=Ticknor and Fields|isbn=0-89919-026-X}}

| rev3 = The Irish Times

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite news|last=Boyd|first=Brian|date=11 February 2005|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/reissues-1.414335|title=Reissues|newspaper=The Irish Times|accessdate=7 November 2020}}

| rev4 = Mojo

| rev4score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite magazine|title=The Boomtown Rats: A Tonic for the Troops|magazine=Mojo|page=114|quote=Full of smart, acerbic, punky pop sounds...}}

| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev5score = {{rating|3|5}}{{cite book |title=The Rolling Stone Album Guide |date=1992 |publisher=Random House |page=75}}

| rev6 = Uncut

| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=The Boomtown Rats: A Tonic for the Troops|magazine=Uncut|page=116|quote=[B]oasting Geldof's most finely tuned lyrics and their best tunes.}}

}}

Rolling Stone critic Tom Carson described A Tonic for the Troops as "an inventive and melodically forceful piece of work, glossily ingratiating all the way", but also found the band "far too impressed by their own wit to be particularly incisive or convincing musically."{{cite magazine|last=Carson|first=Tom|date=5 April 1979|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theboomtownrats/albums/album/109808/review/5945247/a_tonic_for_the_troops|title=The Boomtown Rats: A Tonic For The Troops|magazine=Rolling Stone|accessdate=7 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071002102641/http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/theboomtownrats/albums/album/109808/review/5945247/a_tonic_for_the_troops|archive-date=2 October 2007|url-status=dead}} Robert Christgau of The Village Voice was more positive, remarking that while the album "does turn rather campy at times... it will certainly do." He concluded: "I'll take a good calculating song about Adolf Hitler over an ordinary calculating song about the perils of romance any day, and if you're heading your music toward the rock mainstream, wit and flash don't hurt." The Globe and Mail noted that "A Tonic for the Troops isn't so much a rock and roll album as it is a hot scamper through a number of recently-molded styles, from Talking Heads to Elvis Costello."{{cite news |last1=McGrath |first1=Paul |title=Boomtown Rats |work=The Globe and Mail |date=30 Aug 1978 |page=F2}}

All songs written by Bob Geldof except where indicated.

SIDE 1

1. "Like Clockwork" (Bob Geldof, Pete Briquette, Simon Crowe)
2. "Blind Date"
3. "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun"{{efn|Eva Braun (1912–1945) was Adolf Hitler's longtime companion and, during the 40 hours before they committed suicide together, his wife.}}
4. "Living in an Island"
5. "Don't Believe What You Read"

SIDE 2

1. "She's So Modern" (Geldof, Johnnie Fingers)
2. "Me and Howard Hughes"{{efn|Howard Hughes (1905–1976) was an American business magnate, investor, record-setting pilot, engineer, film director, and philanthropist, and in his later years a recluse.}}
3. "Can't Stop"
4. "(Watch Out For) The Normal People"
5. "Rat Trap"

1. "Like Clockwork" (Bob Geldof, Pete Briquette, Simon Crowe)
2. "Blind Date"
3. "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun"
4. "She's So Modern" (Geldof, Johnnie Fingers) (Track 6 – 1 on Side 2 – on the European version)
5. "Don't Believe What You Read"
6. "Living in an Island"
7. "Me and Howard Hughes"
8. "Can't Stop"
9. "(Watch Out For) The Normal People"
10. "Rat Trap"
11. "Lying Again" (CD bonus track)
12. "How Do You Do?" (CD bonus track)
13. "So Strange" (CD bonus track)

SIDE 1

1. "Rat Trap"
2. "Me and Howard Hughes"
3. "(I Never Loved) Eva Braun"
4. "Living in an Island"
5. "Like Clockwork" (Geldof, Briquette, Crowe)

SIDE 2

1. "Blind Date"
2. "Mary of the 4th Form" (a re-recorded version of the original found on their first LP The Boomtown Rats)
3. "Don't Believe What You Read"
4. "She's So Modern" (Geldof, Fingers)
5. "Joey's on the Street Again" (from The Boomtown Rats)

Credits adapted from album liner notes{{cite AV media notes|title=A Tonic for the Troops|others=The Boomtown Rats|publisher=Ensign Records|year=1978|id=ENVY 3|type=liner notes}} and AllMusic.{{cite web|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/a-tonic-for-the-troops-mw0000654612/credits|title=A Tonic for the Troops – The Boomtown Rats | Credits|publisher=AllMusic|accessdate=9 April 2014}}

The Boomtown Rats

• Bob Geldof – vocals, saxophone
• Pete Briquette – bass, vocals
• Gerry Cott – guitar
• Johnnie Fingers – keyboards, vocals
• Simon Crowe – drums, vocals
• Garry Roberts – guitar, vocals

Additional musicians

• Alan Holmes – saxophone{{cite web|url=http://www.musicteachers.co.uk/user/8a5ff2822e08e9993822/biography|title=Mr Alan Holmes|website=musicteachers.co.uk|accessdate=23 October 2014}}

Technical

• The Boomtown Rats – production
• Stuff Brown – engineering
• Fin Costello – photography
• Chalkie Davies – photography
• Tim Friese-Greene – engineering
• Hothouse – artwork, design
• Chuck Loyola – painting
• Robert John "Mutt" Lange – production

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Category:1978 albums

Category:The Boomtown Rats albums

Category:Albums produced by Robert John "Mutt" Lange