Elvis Costello’s 1986 reunion with The Attractions produced one of the most uncompromising records of his career, a tense, stripped-back album whose reputation has grown substantially in the four decades since its release.
by Paul Cashmere
Forty years after its release, Elvis Costello and The Attractions’ Blood & Chocolate remains a pivotal record in a catalogue defined by stylistic change. Released on 15 September 1986, the album followed King of America by only seven months and reunited Costello with Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas and Pete Thomas, as well as producer Nick Lowe. Recorded at London’s Olympic Studios between March and May 1986, it was made under considerable pressure and with a deliberately raw recording method that captured the four-piece playing together at high volume.
The album represented a sharp turn from the roots rock and Americana of King of America. Costello returned to the more abrasive guitar, organ and rhythm-section sound associated with his late 1970s work, particularly This Year’s Model and Armed Forces.
That decision was partly a response to the circumstances surrounding King of America. The Attractions had been largely sidelined during those sessions, with American musicians working alongside T Bone Burnett, and the resulting tensions carried into the making of Blood & Chocolate. Costello and The Attractions therefore entered Olympic Studios with a history of unresolved friction, while Lowe returned as producer for the first time since 1981’s Trust.
The recording method was unusually direct. The band established itself in the studio like a rehearsal-room ensemble, with the musicians positioned some distance apart and using monitor speakers rather than headphones. Most songs were recorded live in one or two takes, with very limited overdubbing. Costello later recalled that the intention was to create as much of a “combo sound” as possible.
The resulting album is dense, loud and deliberately imperfect. The production allows the instruments to bleed into one another, producing a murky, garage-like texture that became an important part of the record’s identity. Costello restricted Steve Nieve largely to piano and organ, while his own Telecaster supplied a particularly hard-edged guitar sound.
The material also marked a return to darker lyrical territory. “Uncomplicated”, “I Hope You’re Happy Now”, “Tokyo Storm Warning” and “I Want You” explore jealousy, resentment, obsession, betrayal and emotional endurance. “Tokyo Storm Warning”, co-written with Cait O’Riordan, moves through images of social and political disorder, while “I Want You” gradually intensifies from restrained declaration into an unsettling portrait of obsession.
O’Riordan, then Costello’s partner and bassist with The Pogues, contributed backing vocals to “Crimes of Paris” and “Poor Napoleon” and co-wrote “Tokyo Storm Warning”. Nick Lowe also played acoustic guitar on several tracks.
The album’s commercial performance was modest by Costello’s established standards. It peaked at No. 16 in the UK and No. 84 in the United States, making it his lowest-charting album to that point in both markets. Its two principal singles, “Tokyo Storm Warning” and “I Want You”, also performed poorly. Costello later acknowledged that releasing two singles of more than six minutes each had hardly been an obvious route to mainstream success.
Critical reaction in 1986 was divided. Some reviewers regarded the album as a step down from Costello’s strongest work, while others heard a convincing return to the directness of his early records. The album nevertheless performed strongly in several year-end critics’ polls, including a No. 9 placing in the Pazz & Jop album poll.
Its longer-term reputation has been considerably stronger. Retrospective assessments have frequently singled out the energy of The Attractions, the economy of the arrangements and the distinctive production. The album’s relatively unpolished sound has also been viewed in retrospect as anticipating aspects of alternative rock that became more prominent in the following decade.
Blood & Chocolate also represents an important dividing line in Costello’s relationship with The Attractions. After the album and its supporting tour, the group would not record together again until 1994’s Brutal Youth. It was also Costello’s final album with Nick Lowe as producer and his last release for Columbia Records.
The album’s unusual presentation remains part of its history. Costello’s own painting, “Napoleon Dynamite”, provided the cover artwork, while the packaging used Esperanto for musician credits and the LP sides. Costello also employed several identities across the credits, including Declan MacManus, Elvis Costello and Napoleon Dynamite.
Blood & Chocolate has subsequently been reissued several times, including expanded editions in 1995 and 2002 containing previously unreleased recordings, B-sides, alternate versions and covers. A 2007 CD reissue and 2015 LP reissue followed.
Four decades on, the album is best understood within the broader arc of Costello’s career rather than solely through its original chart position. The abrupt movement from King of America to Blood & Chocolate demonstrated the willingness to move between musical languages that would become a defining feature of his subsequent work. The album’s tensions, limitations and rough-edged execution are inseparable from its character, making it a distinctive document of Costello and The Attractions at a particularly volatile point in their history.
Tracklisting
Uncomplicated
I Hope You’re Happy Now
Tokyo Storm Warning
Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head
I Want You
Honey, Are You Straight Or Are You Blind?
Blue Chair
Battered Old Bird
Crimes Of Paris
Poor Napoleon
Next Time Round
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