Blood & Chocolate
| Blood & Chocolate | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by Elvis Costello and the Attractions | ||||
| Released | 15 September 1986 | |||
| Recorded | March–May 1986 | |||
| Genre | Alternative rock, hard rock, new wave | |||
| Length | 47:48 | |||
| Label |
Demon (UK) Columbia (US) Rykodisc (5 September 1995 reissue) Rhino (19 February 2002 reissue) Hip-O (1 May 2007 reissue) |
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| Producer | link | |||
| Elvis Costello and the Attractions chronology | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Blender | |
| Chicago Tribune |  |
| Entertainment Weekly | A− |
| Q | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Uncut | |
| The Village Voice | A− |
Blood & Chocolate is the eleventh studio album by the British rock singer and songwriter Elvis Costello, released in the United Kingdom as Demon Records XFIEND 80, and in the United States as Columbia 40518. After his previous album King of America with producer T-Bone Burnett and different musicians, this album reunited him with producer Nick Lowe and his usual backing group the Attractions. It peaked at No. 16 on the UK Albums Chart, and No. 84 on the Billboard 200.
Six months after the Los Angeles sessions for King of America, Costello returned to the studio with the Attractions to work on the songs for this album. Recording at Olympic Studios in London, several songs were re-workings from those earlier L.A. sessions, including "Blue Chair", "I Hope You're Happy Now", and "American Without Tears No. 2". An outtake from these sessions, a cover of the 1959 hit by Little Willie John "Leave My Kitten Alone", had also been an outtake for the Beatles during the sessions for Beatles for Sale. Blood & Chocolate was recorded in a single large room at high volume, with the band listening to each other on monitor speakers and playing at stage volume, an unusual practice in the studio for its time. Costello reported the band's relationship as having 'soured', and after the album's completion and one more tour, Costello would not work again with the Attractions for another eight years until Brutal Youth.
As on his previous album, Costello uses three different names to credit himself: his given name of Declan MacManus; his stage name of Elvis Costello; and the nickname Napoleon Dynamite, his alter ego as master of ceremonies for the Attractions' spinning songbook tour. The name would later grace the title of the 2004 motion picture.
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