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the fall of 1986 Elvis Costello was 32 years old. He had released 11 new records in less than nine years, at least one a year from 1977 until 1984, pausing only after Goodbye Cruel World, the only album of his that to this day Costello disowns. He was tired. Almost two years passed before his next release in early 1986, but it proved to be worth the wait: King of America, recorded with session men on loan from the dead Elvis, was widely praised as one of Costello's best records. He could have waited another two years before his next release, but he was back to his old ways, apparently refreshed, and before the year was over he released Blood & Chocolate. The initial reviews of Blood & Chocolate were good, but critics had already spent themselves praising King of America earlier that year, and at that time critics were the only friends Costello's records had. The record barely got noticed. Radio programmers couldn't find a single. It peaked at #84 on the charts, the weakest showing of his entire career excepting an album recorded with a string quartet. Costello may have gotten his strength back, but now his audience was tired of him. Even his record company, Columbia, wanted nothing to do with him. "They hated it and buried it a rock somewhere in Utah," Costello wrote years later when the album was released as a CD on another label. He was to take another two years off before his next release. Blood & Chocolate was largely forgotten. I'm taking it with me to my desert island in part because hardly anyone cares about it, and since I'll be the only person there the album will sit comfortably atop my island's hit parade. The record will also remind me that some things in civilization are worth doing without. The sky fell over cheap Korean monster-movie scenery And spilled into the mezzanine of the crushed capsule hotel Between the Disney abattoir and the chemical refinery And knew I was in trouble but thought I was in hell" - Elvis Costello, "Tokyo Storm Warning" Blood & Chocolate sounds disorienting at first, a jumbled mess. Most of the songs were recorded live in one take. Guitar, keyboards, bass, drums, and that's pretty much all of it. Guitar solos consist mostly of a couple notes or chords repeatedly stabbed at until it's time to return to the chorus or just end the song. Add producer Nick Lowe's three-chords-and-a-case-of-beer approach to everything and it was guaranteed that all the rough edges would show. The first song is called "Uncomplicated," which states it clearly and sets the tone. The song has two chords, one more than Costello originally intended. The song pounds, grates, exhilarates. We're off. And as the man sings, "this is only the beginning." A brutally upbeat song follows the first, called "I Hope You're Happy Now," in which the singer makes it quite clear that happiness is the last thing he's hoping for. The Attractions, Costello's house band, are so tight on this record.
Approximate Word count = 2013
Approximate Pages = 8.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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