Xavier News, October 8, 1986

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Costello cleans up his act


John Woulfe

Why Elvis Costello would call his new album Blood and Chocolate is beyond me. However, my Mother (another Elvis fan), did point out to me that those arc the toughest stains to remove. And perhaps it is true Costello has lately had his career stained with the accusations of "going mellow" and "lacking artistic direction". Earlier this year, his King of America surprised a lot of people with it's toned down simplicity. 1984's Goodbye Cruel World was his worst selling record, and listening to it explains why.

Well, there's some good news for Costello fans: the artist is back. Not only is he recording with his longtime backup group the Attractions, but his old producer/pal Nick Lowe lends a hand with production. Dubbing himself Napoleon Dynamite (only for this record anyway), The Little Emperor rocks for just under 50 minutes in true royal style.

The album opens with "Uncomplicated," which unfortunately is uncomplicated and unimpressive. However, no sooner does this dud end when the fun really begins. "I Hope You're Happy Now" is a taste of the old Elvis everyone is familiar with—spiteful, sarcastic and sublime. The lyrics display a typical Costello paradox of saying one thing and meaning anything but the opposite: "He's a fine figure of a man and handsome too / with his eyes upon the secret places he'd like to undo / still he knows who knows who and where and how / and I hope you're happy now...like you're supposed to be / and I know that this will hurt you more than it hurts me."

"Tokyo Storm Warning" might be described as a stream of consciousness protest song . Aside from a somewhat familiar melody, the rest is unmistakably Elvis, tearing through a dictionary like a chainsaw: "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! I knew I was in trouble but I thought I was in hell." Stream of consciousness? More like a tidal wave.

After this mind scrambler comes the atrabilious "Home is Anywhere You Hang Your Head" followed by the seductively eerie "I Want You." Side two opens with a sixties-type guitar rocker entitled "Honey are You Straight or are You Blind." A sensational number follows teeming with great musical hooks and humorous wordplay: "Now, it my turn to talk and your turn to think / your turn to buy and my turn to drink / your turn to cry and my turn to sink / down in the blue chair."

Elvis turns storyteller on "Battered Old Bird" with less than successful results. The trouble is the story's not that great. "Crimes of Paris" and "Poor Napoleon" are two more notables which feature backup vocals by Cait O'Riordan of The Pogues, now Elvis's fiancee. Blood and Chocolate doses with "The Next Time Around," another "girl done me wrong" song, in standard Costello .fashion.

Overall, the album is a success, despite a few numbers that are obviously not up to par with Costello's high musical standards, Blood and Chocolate is proof that the toughen stains, even Elvis', can come clean.

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Xavier Newswire, October 8, 1986


John Woulfe reviews Blood & Chocolate.

Images

1986-10-08 Xavier News page 06 clipping 01.jpg
Clipping.

1986-10-08 Xavier News page 06.jpg
Page scan.

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