Blood & Chocolate Reviews
All-Music Guide (Stephen Thomas Erlewine)
Costello returned to The Attractions as quickly as he abandoned them, hiring
the band and old producer Nick Lowe to record Blood & Chocolate, his
second record in the span of one year. Where King Of America was a
stripped-down, roots-rock affair, Blood & Chocolate is a return to the
harder rock of This Year's Model. Occasionally, there are hints of
country and folk, but the majority of the album is straight-ahead rock & roll
-- the opener, Uncomplicated, only has two chords. The main difference
between the reunion and The Attractions' earlier work is the tone -- This
Year's Model was tense and out-of-control, where Blood & Chocolate
is controlled viciousness. Tokyo Storm Warning, I Hope You're Happy
Now and I Want You are the nastiest songs he has ever recorded,
both lyrically and musically -- Costello snarls the lyrics and The Attractions
bash out the chords. Blood & Chocolate doesn't retain that high-level
of energy throughout the record and loses momentum toward the end of the
album. Still, it's a lively and frequently compelling reunion, even if it is a
rather mean-spirited one.