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I can see you now: you are sitting in a dark, smoky bar with a beer for your only companion. "Alison" can be heard over the din of voices and clanking of glasses. "Those were the days," you say, "real Elvis Costello. None of that Punch the Clock pop drivel. None of that Costello Show nonsense." The days of real Elvis: you wonder what happened to them. Take heart — these are the days of Blood and Chocolate.
Blood and Chocolate is Elvis Costello as should be. The angry young man of days past has cleaned up his act, yet has managed with this new album to recapture the essence of such greats as Imperial Bedroom and Trust. The edge to the music, absent throughout Punch the Clock and Goodbye Cruel World, is alive and thriving on Blood and Chocolate. Unexpected rhythms and clever lyrics keep this album moving.
Elvis has been, in recent times, trying to change his image. An attempt to shed his chosen name of Costello for his real name, Declan MacManus, proved to be too much of a battle, and after venturing out as the Costello Show, he has reunited with the Attractions to produce an album that is the best of all his images: the old and the new, all rolled up in eleven songs that everyone can enjoy.
The great range of the album can be best enjoyed through such tracks as "I Want You," "Next Time Round," "Uncomplicated," and "Home is Where You Hang Your Head." Elvis takes his listeners into pain of unrequited (Misunderstood?) love and offers moments of everyday life with an upbeat rhythm and an off beat perspective. Blood and Chocolate is a necessary addition to any record collection.
Don't leave home without it.
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