San Diego Union-Tribune, October 1, 1986

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Elvis Costello's new album is punchy, clever, menacing


Divina Infusino

In Elvis Costello's new album Blood & Chocolate, a horse knows arithmetic, a dog tells your fortune, fountains fill with "second-hand perfume," a blue chair is available to sulk in, a man named Mr. Misery stands in the supermarket shouting at the customers and a slow dissolving kiss equates with murder.

The lyrics on this LP, Costello's second in 1986, are his most disturbing and menacing since Trust in 1981. On Blood & Chocolate, sour love affairs, emotional suffering and suspicion abound. Even a love song, "I Want You," which begins with the line, "Oh my baby baby, I love you more than I can tell," rapidly turns into a skulking tale of obsession and possession.

Given the upbeat mood of today's Top 40, Blood & Chocolate shouldn't be Costello's most commercially viable album in years — and yet it is. Costello has returned — at least in part — to the good old days. That is: a punchy, clever, Nick Lowe production; plenty of '60s-influences including pumping organs and twisting Beatleque melodies and vocal arrangements; and pun-filled lyrics.

I guess he felt it was now safe to resume the sound that initially made him famous in the '70s. Working in eclectic forms for the last seven years — from country to pre-rock 'n' roll pop — Costello has finally struggled out of the straitjacket of expectations usually worn even by rock's biggest stars.

On his last album and previous 1986 release King of America he went so far as to rid himself of his Elvis Costello moniker and its associated angry young man stigma. He resumed partial use of his given name Declan MacManus and shed his longtime band The Attractions for guest musicians.

King of America was a final break from the past. Costello now had his fans right where he wanted them — never knowing what to expect except an effort most often sincere, tuneful, adventurous, emotionally intense and inspired by personal experiences.

Having staked out this roomy musical territory where he feels free to roam, Costello can go back to working with his old band, the Attractions, and pursuing a line of rock 'n' roll, unfettered by outside influences.

Yet, Blood & Chocolate is not a replay of Costello in the late '70s. The lyrics are more agonizing than smug. The mood is too depressed despite some bright production. The musical ideas are more straightforward, more connected to the lyrics, less concerned about radio play and sales prospects than in the early days.

And yet, although Imperial Bedroom is still his best and the earlier King Of America contained finer songs and the excitement of discovery, Blood & Chocolate contains more radio friendly cuts than almost any album in his recent past.

But instead of roosting on his roots, Costello is resurrecting the past as only another temporary phase. That's very unlikely, especially given the series of five concerts he performs starting tonight at Los Angeles' Beverly Theatre.

Each night will be different. Sets will include Costello solo and performances by Costello and the Attractions, the consortium of '50s rock 'n' roll, blues, and jazz musicians he assembled for King of America, and special guests. The highlight of the series will be Saturday's "Spectacular Spinning Songbook," where audience members will decide the concert's playlist by spinning a giant wheel containing the names of 40 different Costello songs. The five shows are sold out.

In these unorthodox concerts that he is presenting in only six cities across the country, Costello is attempting to draw his skewed past into a comprehensible whole, and go forward — without expectation — from there.

It is only logical that he begins again on Blood & Chocolate where he began before. But don't expect him to stay there long.


Tags: Blood & ChocolateThe AttractionsNick LoweTokyo Storm WarningBlue ChairHome Is Anywhere You Hang Your HeadI Want YouTrustImperial BedroomKing Of AmericaDeclan MacManusThe BeatlesBeverly TheatreSpectacular Spinning Songbook

Copyright 1986 Union-Tribune Publishing Co.

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San Diego Union, October 1, 1986


Divina Infusino reviews Blood & Chocolate.


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