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Blood & Chocolate
Rock · 1986 · 9 tracks

Blood & Chocolate

Elvis Costello & The Attractions

A raw, high-volume reunion with The Attractions. Snarling vocals and overdriven organs deliver a masterclass in sophisticated spite and claustrophobic intensity.

September 15, 1986 · UMe

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Blood & Chocolate is the sound of a bridge being burned in real-time. After the rootsy, acoustic-leaning detours of his previous work, Elvis Costello returned to The Attractions with a vengeance, cranking the amplifiers to the point of distortion. The result is an album that feels uncomfortably close, as if the band is performing in a room far too small for their volume. It is a record defined by its friction: the friction between Costello's increasingly complex songwriting and the blunt-force trauma of the band's delivery.

Tracklist · 9 Tracks
01
Uncomplicated
3:27
02
I Hope You’re Happy Now
3:07
04
Home Is Anywhere You Hang Your Head
5:05
06
Honey, Are You Straight or Are You Blind?
2:09
07
Blue Chair
3:42
08
Battered Old Bird
5:52
09
Crimes of Paris
4:21
10
Poor Napoleon
3:23
11
Next Time Round
3:35
Moments Worth Listening For
The suffocating, circular guitar motif in I Want You that feels like a physical weight.
The explosive, unhinged drum fill that kicks off Uncomplicated.
The way the organ screams through the mix on Tokyo Storm Warning like a siren.
Reviews
AllMusic
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Where This Album DepartsEach spoke is a trait. The orange shape shows where this album pulls away from — or holds to — the rest of the artist’s catalogue. Tap for more.

How does Blood & Chocolate sound next to the rest of Elvis Costello & The Attractions's catalogue?

Aggressive+4.0σ

Aggressive saturates this record far more than the artist's norm.

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