Declan Patrick Aloysious MacManus became Napoleon Dynamite and then did an about-face releasing his eleventh album under the moniker of Elvis Costello and the Attractions. Only a few months after finishing recording 'King of America' in Los Angeles, the Little Hands of Concrete reunited with Steve Nieve, Bruce Thomas, and Pete Thomas in London to record a new album. Nick Lowe returned to produce with the band thrashing away live in the studio at concert volume. As a result, 'Blood and Chocolate' is one of his most dark and intense records with the loud and angry noisefest perfectly complementing the edgy Dylanesque songs. The album made it to number sixteen in the UK and nineteen in the Netherlands. Due to the soured relationship with his old band, it was his last album with the Attractions for eight years.
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'Uncomplicated' sets the stage for the emotional rollercoaster.
"Blood and Chocolate
I hope you're satisfied what you have done
You think it's over now
But we've only just begun"
'I Hope You're Happy Now' was an old song from the 'Goodbye Cruel World' era credited to Costello.
"He's got all the things you need and some that you will never
But you make him sound like frozen food, his love will last forever
Still he know what you want and what you don't allow"
'Tokyo Storm Warning' was credited to MacManus and Cait O'Riordan. It was the only single from the album to chart, peaking at number seventy three in the UK.
"Tokyo Storm Warning is a thug's nightmare travelogue from Narita to Heysel, from Pompeii to Port Stanley, Paris and London. It was cut on 'take one.' I then added the backing vocals, distorted guitar figure and backwards solo. In case you were wondering, a 'Japanese God-Jesus Robot' is a little electric fortune-telling toy that waves a cross to indicate whether your girlfriend or boyfriend loves you."
"What do we care if the world is a joke
We'll give it a big kiss
We'll give it a poke
Death wears a big hat 'cause he's a big bloke
We're only living this instant "
Declan spills his guts and who-knows-what-else in the seductively scary 'I Want You'.
"I want you
You've had your fun
You don't get, well, no more
I want you
Your fingernails go dragging down the wall
Be careful, darling
'Blue Chair' was released as a single; but never charted.
"Now it's just you and me, my blue friend
And you say that it's you that she's thinking of
And our affair must end
But if it's you that she's thinking of
I think my broken heart might mend
Chorus: Now it's my turn to talk and your turn to think
Your turn to buy and my turn to drink
Your turn to cry and my turn to sink down in the Blue Chair
Down in the Blue Chair "
The harrowing 'Battered Old Bird' feels like a three act play.
""Well here's a boy if ever there was
Who's going to do big things
That's what they all say and that's how the trouble begins
I've seen them rise and fall
Been through their big deals and smalls
He'd better have a dream that goes beyond four walls"
You think he should be sent outside playing with the traffic
When pieces of him are already scattered in the attic"
Blood and Chocolate
full album:
All tracks written by Declan MacManus except as noted
Side one
Side two
bonus tracks
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