Blood and Chocolate marks yet another Nick Lowe-produced foray into the dark world of yearning and desperation that Elvis Costello has explored since his 1977 debut, My Aim is True.
But now, as with most of Costello's post-Imperial Bedroom work, there's little of the bemused fatalism and, more important, the easygoing, uptempo tunes that made such early numbers as "Less Than Zero," "(The Angels Wanna Wear My) Red Shoes," and "Lipstick Vogue" the alluring, often disturbing mini-masterpieces they are.
In other words, this is pretty grim stuff.
On the gloomiest of these 11 tunes, Costello hauls out murky, often inaccessible word play and literary references to cloak his annoying self-pity, then weights it all down even further with plodding, minor-chord melodies and some very uninspired organ and acoustic-guitar work by his usually superb three-man back-up, The Attractions.
However, when he finds his stride on some of the best cuts, "Blue Chair" and "I Hope You're Happy Now," Costello flaunts his genius.
These are the kind of tunes you expect from Costello; fast, happy numbers carried by churning, hard-rock instrumentals that, whether you like it or not, force you to see through his eyes. It's a vision summed up on Blood and Chocolate's one truly great song, "Tokyo Storm Warning": "What do we care if the world is a joke."
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