Blood & Chocolate

Costello is a master at making pub-esque pop rock. But whilst most pub rock entertain the themes of the ruckus of the happy hour, Blood Chocolate examines the feeling of guilt and inner turmoil alcohol unearths in troubled individuals.

It also saw a couple of reunions, which in my opinion shaped the sound of the album. The Attractions were back as a quartet after the unceremonious Goodbye Cruel World, and Nick Lowe was back on production duties for the first time since Trust from 1981. Both of those things made for a sound very reminisce of some of their best moments, but with a raw pep in its step, which amps the thematics to whole new level. Songs like Uncomplicated, I Want You, Home is Anywhere You Hang Your Head, and Blue Chair now have a darker, mournful undertone instead of the youthfully energetic delivery of yesteryear.

Its sound is also fairly up-to-date. Noisy and grungy. I guess Costello could be added to the list of guys who contributed to the 90s noise boom, y'know. Overall, a pretty good album in a mid career point of usual stagnation.

The reason there’s so many Elvis Costello albums on the list is on full display here: each one has a few flashes of true potential (I Want You) but ultimately, the whole package under-delivers. The moments of inspiration make us hope for all the songs to be better than they actually are. When he gets it right, it’s genius, but scouring through 6 albums is betting that something will occur far more often than it actually does.

This album is just another Elvis Costello album. It sounds basically exactly like every other Costello album, with the same nasally vocals and overcomplicated lyrics. There are some pretty good songs in here, but it doesn't leave much of an impact. Yeah, we can cut this one.

This album is ranked #19 of 23 albums for 1986. Other 1986 albums rated by me:
Graceland(1/23)-3
The Queen Is Dead(3/23)-4
Licensed to Ill(4/23)-4
Raising Hell(6/23)-5
Skylarking(9/23)-3
EVOL(20/23)-4
Guitar Town(21/23)-2

Should Elvis Costello have 6 albums on this list? Surely not!

Have I heard an Elvis Costello album on this list I've disliked? Not yet.

This album starts quite strong, but I think it loses something by the end, but maybe that was just my attention slipping.

Honestly getting pretty tired of this guy and many additions of him on the list, each one sounding like the last. To be fair, he's not bad, but then again one or two records is enough, so this time I won't be as generous and he gets 2 stars

After nearly 180 albums, it had to happen... my first Elvis Costello album, out of the 2000 on this list. Based on this listening, i can't say if i'm too excited about that. The only thing i can say is that this is an album that exists. It's not comically or outrageously bad like some albums can be. It's not exceptional. It's here to make me wonder how some albums were not chosen for this list, but this one was

2.18

seguinte: o my aim is true e o this year's model eu boto fé de estarem aqui. de resto, eh só pq o mano eh super fã do cara mesmo. enfim.

não eh péssimo. mas eh bem xoxo e BEM parecido com os que citei acima. eh de se pensar se elvis costello eh essa coca cola toda (não é)

Costello again?! Not bad, but this many is not warranted. 2*

Definitely has better records than this one, but even still, this was a solid mid-80s singer-songwriter record, with a couple of nice tracks (see "Blue Chair").

quite good on second listen. not an artist I'd ever really listened to and not really my thing but found it enjoyable! Incongruously made me want to listen to Invisible Touch and Exile in Guyville.

Better than the last Costello album that was given to me, but still not for me

Are we going to have to listen to every album that involves Elvis Costello? I've gone from listening to none of his albums to what feels like one every other week. None of them have convinced me I've missed anything yet. It's fine, but you don't need to listen to all of them.

3 Elvis Costello albums in 97 days.

If my maths is correct that means we can expect 31 Elvis Costello albums on this list.

I wouldn’t put it past Dimery. That crazy son of a bitch.

Pretty mid.

Elvis Costello and I aren’t going to be friends anymore. Having listened to "Blood And Chocolate", one of his earlier albums, I remember why: he basically plays simple 1960s rock ’n’ roll with a (post) punk attitude. There are simple guitar riffs, a croaky voice and an arrogant, rough-and-ready attitude. In other words, it's exactly the sort of rock music that's never interested me. However, anyone who likes early 1960s rock might find this to their liking. For me, it lacks sophistication and elegance, as well as surprising songwriting. Everything has this 'Oops, here I come' attitude typical of young Costello. Definitely not my cup of tea.

Not too bad musically, but I'm not exaggerating when I say that this album might house one of the most annoying vocal performances I've ever heard. Couldn't get through more than a couple of songs of his nasal whining. I've only got two more Costello albums left and I don't plan on wasting any of my time with either of them.

Oh, another Elvis Costello album—and once again, it doesn't win me over. After “My Aim Is True” (immature) and “Brutal Youth” (I still don’t know if that was supposed to be a parody), I’d speculated that he might have been good in the meantime—and indeed, “Blood And Chocolate,” that weird adaptation of *Napoleon Dynamite*, is less bad than the early and late work of Declan Patrick MacManus. We’re not really talking about “good” here yet (or, now that I’ve explored Costello’s best works independently of this project: not anymore), but there are some good song ideas, and his voice is still fantastic. But as with “Brutal Youth,” more input from the producer could have improved things quite a bit—I won’t go into detail again.
And once again, the question arises: why is every piece of trash from certain artists on the list, while true legends have been completely overlooked in some cases...

He has a good ear for a hook and the bass lines arebfull of verve - but his voice, the hyperactive songs, and really percussive pounding approach get grating fast. 'I Want You' has some cool spindly guitars.

Boring!