this is totally bizarre. for the second time in a week, someone else starts a thread about the exact album i'm listening to at the time. first VU & Nico and now Blood & Chocolate. even stranger, these are two albums that i haven't listened to in eons, i had just dusted them off for nostalgia's sake.
B & C is a brilliant album, even though it doesn't quite match up to the genius of Trust, Imperial Bedroom or This Year's Model.
for the record, Costello invented the alter-ego Napoleon Dynamite for this album... which led to his idea for the Wheel of Fortune tour, wherein audience members (with the assistance of emcee Tom Waits) would spin a giant wheel with song titles on it, and that's the song the band would play.
getting back to the album...
as a whole, the album is a portrait of anger, bitterness, envy and sadness; hence the nom de plume, Napoleon Dynamite. at the outset, he's almost reveling in his rage, happily angry, spitting out aggressive rockers. but you can see the anger evolve into resigned sadness and cynicism by the end of the album, like an old man who's lived a tough life and seen it all.
"Uncomplicated" sets up the album perfectly as an angry grinder. it's another one of Costello's attempts to write an entire song based around a single chord (see also the Imperial Bedroom opener, "Beyond Belief").
"I Want You" is easily one of the five best songs Costello has ever written. it starts off as a saccharine love song, the likes of which you could hear in any downtown coffee shop on open mic night. within seconds, it pulls off its mask and mutates into a twisted screed on deranged obsession. the one-note, off-kilter guitar solo is one of my all-time favorites: a perfect interlude that's as creepy as the character singing.
"Blue Chair" is about the resignation of being jilted by a lover for your friend, just as the friend suffers the same fate. i actually prefer the alternate version from the outtakes album, Out of Our Idiot, but listening to the two versions side by side is fascinating, and it reveals how Costello goes through the songwriting process.
"Battered Old Bird" is just a devastating song. it paints such a dark, bleak picture of neglect, poverty and addiction, and i can't stop listening to it. the first time i heard this song i just played it over and over.
these are the reall standout tracks on the album; the remainder of the songs vary from quite good to nearly great.
