Elton John
When I started this blogging lark, I was fairly certain Elton John would never be tackled. I'm not a great fan, although I appreciate the talent and Your Song is probably the most perfect love song ever written. But that was 6 years ago and major artists covering a good wedge of the last 50 years are now thin on the ground. It's either Elton or Dylan and I can't face Bob just yet.
There are 30 albums in the Elton John studio album back catalogue and it looks like Spotify has them all. I won't list them out here but I expect him to be with me throughout the rest of lockdown.
EMPTY SKY
Released: 6th June 1969 (13th January 1975 in USA)
Elton John
Let's get one thing straight from the start. Elton is a rotten singer. Always was. That this seems to have been a revelation to many following is recent lockdown rendition of I'm Still Standing was quite a surprise to me. Had no-one noticed before? His voice swooops weirdly and he rarely finishes a word before moving on. What this tells us about his enduring appeal is that the music often transcends his vocal shortcomings.
Elton's songs do have a recognizable style, you can even hear it in his less personal work, like the Lion King and Billy Elliot songs. They sound like Elton songs even though he's not singing them. Here we get some forward flashes of better known songs. 'Western Ford Gateway' has a hint of Rocketman and 'Lady What's Tomorrow' is the proto-'Your Song'.
He's also an influence, even on this debut. Billy joel probably heard Val-Hala and got some ideas. It does feel like Elton arrived fuly-formed too. the opening title track is classic galloping piano rock, albeit with some interesting Tull-ish flute and a bongo intro, and an 8 minute opener on your debut speaks of a certain self belief as well.
'Hymn 2000' got me thinking. If the division of labour between Elton and Bernie Taupin is as strict as we're led to believe, then do we learn anything abut him from the lyrics. Most artists doing their own songs are judged on both music and lyrics, but Elton gets a pass on the words. I guess he wouldn't sing anything he didn't like. Anyway, 'Hymn 2000' touches on religious themes but ultimately just seems to be stream of consciousness. 'The Scaffold is similar'. Maybe for John/Taupin the music and lyrics are simply complementary aspects of the whole - the words just have to work with the music and vice versa. I know there's meaningful songs to come, but many of these seem very abstract. 'Sails' at least seems to be about eating sandwiches with Lucy on a merchant sailing ship.
'Skyline Pigeon' is apparently the most enduring track on the album. Elton on piano and harpsichord and more of a hymn than 'Hymn 2000'.
There's an odd ending to it all. 'Gulliver/It's Hay Chewed - Reprise Version' (a pun on Hey Jude?). It's a rambler and heads from ballad to jazz to rock and roll to a final run through of every song on the album. That he thinks this is necessary is perhaps an early indication of a grandiose self image?
Released 5 and a half years later in the USA, with different art that looks like a still from an unmade Mr Benn where he tries the Pharaoh's Costume.
Empty Sky
Val-Hala
Western Ford Gateway
Hymn 2000
Lady What's Tomorrow
Sails
The Scaffold
Skyline Pigeon
Gulliver/It's Hay Chewed - Reprise Version
ELTON JOHN
Released: 10th April 1970
Elton John
The difficult second album but Elton breezes in with his best song ever, never to be supplanted. The perfection of 'Your Song' lies in the simple and open admission of what it is. Taupin's lyrics have their own genius "If I was a sculptor, but then again no" like he just wrote down his thought process and then realized it didn't need changing. I dunno, maybe he agonized for weeks about the right phrasing but it doesn't feel like it. Elton curbs the worst excesses of his voice performance, and he was young anyway, so wasn't straining every vocal cord to hit the notes.
Funnily enough, it wasn't even the first single, that was 'Border Song', a gospel effort considered good enough for Aretha to cover it. I guess it's more obviously commercial but it's a bit of a plodder.
E
lton's weird vocal tics do kick in on 'Take Me To The Pilot', or should I say "tay m'tuh the pah-luh'? Online commentators seem confused about the meaning, but isn't it clear? He wants to hijack the and take control of the object's soul. Quite creepy in fact.
There's a touch of Jagger's drawling C&W stylings on 'No Shoe Strings for Louise' before an extemely irritating droning bee effect at the start of 'Sixty Years On', which is like a morose reply to 'When I'm Sixty-Four'. The song doesn't relish the prospect of old age, although the military theme might just be balut having a bleak outlook on life when you've fought in a war.
'The Greatest Discovery' pinpoints a problem with Elton that I reckon I'm going to struggle with through these 30 albums. Whatever meaning or interpretation you derive from the songs are based on the words coming out of Bernie Taupin's head, so here, Elton, an only child, is singing from a child's perspective about the arrival of a baby brother. It's a lovely song, but Elton's singing it having never lived it, and it feels slightly wrong.
It's a clever cover photo, almost like an optical illusion, it could be full profile or full face, hard to tell.
Your Song
I Need You To Turn To
Take Me To The Pilot
No Shoe Strings For Louise
First Episode At Hienton
Sixty Years On
Border Song
The Greatest Discovery
The Cage
The King Must Die
TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION
Released: 30th October 1970
Elton John
This may have been a mistake. I'm only 10% of my way through Elton's back catalogue and I'm running out of things to say. For someone with such a rich life, his output canbe unremittingly bland and samey. I mean I'm sitting here listening to this for the third or fourth time and it's completely washing over me and I'm getting more satisfaction with arguing with people on social media. He's also on maximum churn in his early career, so far we've had 3 albums in two years, by the time I get to 1976's Here And There I'll be up to 13, which is almost half his entire career output in 7 years.
So, it is very much going through the motions, light pastiches of a number of musical styles. 'Country Comfort' is a good example of musical nominative determinism and 'Son Of Your Father' is not a surprising early version of Chicory Tip's 'Son Of My Father' which would have been about 100 times more fun. 'Love Song' is a kind of sub-CSNY light dirge.
There must be better to come, and soon I hope, although 1973's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is still 4 albums away. Maybe I just have to face facts. I don't actually like Elton all that much, or at least, his particular style and sentiment doesn't float my boat. But let's see, I've never given up yet and I've listened to all of Michael Jackson's albums in pursuit of this endeavour.
Ballad Of A Well Known Gun
Come Down In Time
Country Comfort
Son Of Your Father
My Father's Gun
Where To Now St. Peter?
Love Song
Amoreena
Talking Old Soldiers
Burn Down The Mission
MADMAN ACROSS THE WATER
Released: 5th November 1971
Elton John
This is a bit more promising. I do love 'Tiny Dancer' and Elton is not an adherent to the Marks And Spencer school of marketing which puts your best stuff at the back of the shop in order to get you to walk past the tat. Previously 'Your Song' and now 'Tiny Dancer' are presented first and foremost, like he knew they were something special, or maybe it was a canny record company man who made the decision. Whatever, it draws you in and introduces an album where Elton seems much more engaged with the subject matter of what he's singing about.
There's a harder edge as well. Song titles like 'Razor Face', 'Madman Across The Water', 'Rotten Peaches' and 'All The Nasties' don't sound like the output of a bland piano balladeer. They're songs about people with problems. 'Levon' is a complex song that plays with words and phrasing, flipping "he shall be Levon" with "he shall believe on" like one of those optical illusions that could be a candlestick or two face profiles.
There is a big red sore thumb in the middle of it though. 'Indian Sunset' is very much of its time, in which a couple of songwriters from Pinner and Sleaford respectively believe they can reflect the native American experience. In fairness it doesn't feel offensive, but did they do their research? No-one talks about Squaws and Tomahawks now do they? It's quite tragic too. Plenty of death.
Still, we can all relate to the horror of having to stay at a 'Holiday Inn', and if they are, at best, bland places to lay your head now, it's probable that in 1971 they were grim indeed. The intricate plucked guitar at the end is a bit too nice in comparison to the sentiment.
Tiny Dancer
Levon
Razor Face
Madman Across The Water
Indian Sunset
Holiday Inn
Rotten Peaches
All The Nasties
Goodbye
HONKY CHÂTEAU
Released 19th May 1972
Elton John
Time for a discussion about 'Rocket Man'. I've done the research and Bernie Taupin absolutely denies that it is influenced by 'Space Oddity', but I just don't believe him. It doesn't help that both songs share a producer, and that shows too. As a result, it's always felt to me like a pale imitation and an attempt to jump on the whole moon-landings,/space race bandwagon. Let's leave aside the fact thet Bowie himself tried to up the sci-fi ante with Starman, which is broadly contemporary with Elt's effort here. Sure, it's a good song and iconic enough to qualify as the title of the Elton movie, but it's too close to its prdecessor thematically to convince me otherwise.
Otherwise there's quite a lot of piano rock, as you might expect. 'I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself' is unsurprisingly dark and 'Salvation' is hopeful but downbeat, if that's possible.
I write this as the Black Lives Matter movement makes significant progress in bringing home the truth about the history of slavery, so, just like with 'Indian Sunset' on the previous album, listening to 'Slave' leaves a slightly queasy feeling. Just like 'Indian Sunset', it means well and in some ways is before it's time, not shying away from the idea that violent struggle might become necessary, but these are two middle class blokes from England providing the voice after all.
'Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters' promises more in the title than it delivers. A trial run for the melody of 'Daniel' I think, but 'Hercules' is a good rock and roll romp and presumably led to the full transformation from Reginald Kenneth Dwight to Elton Hercules John.
Honky Cat
Mellow
I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself
Susie (Dramas)
Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)
Salvation
Slave
Amy
Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
Hercules
DON'T SHOOT ME I'M ONLY THE PIANO PLAYER
Released: 22nd Jnauary 1973
Elton John
As always, I'm as interested in what memories the albums I isten to bring back for me. On this, Elton's most famous tracks are 'Daniel' and 'Crocodile Rock'. I was reminded of 'Daniel' quite recently with the passing of The Sweet's Steve Priest. We had 'Blockbuster' on a Top Of The Pops compilation album. You got them from Woolworth's and included recent hits, but not by the original artists. Not that you'd know when you were 6 or 7 years old, they sounded right to me. Another track on the same album was 'Daniel', which I thought was quite a strange song. It sounded like a love song, but it was between brothers? You have a very set idea about what makes sense at that age. I daresay now it is considered a reasonably overt reference to Elt's sexuality, because all analysis of his songs from this era seem to come down to that, despite all the words being written by the heterosexual Taupin. Anyway, considering the lyrics now, it's clearly more about grief than love. Well that would really have flown over my head at age 6.
Talking of childhood relationships to Elton's songs, the first thing that springs to mind when I hear 'Crocodile Rock' is Bob The Builder. I probably need to explain. Bob was big in our house when my kids were young and there was an hour long all-star Christmas episode featuring the vocal talents of Noddy Holder, Chris Evans (the DJ not the hunk) and Elton John. Elton (playing 'John') was the pianist in Evans' band (he was a rock star). Noddy was a roadie I think, with mirror topper in place. The big musical number at the end was John doing Crocodile Rock after his latent talent was finally spotted. I think the song was played straight.
I've always been struck by the straight rip-off of 'Speedy Gonzales' by Pat Boone in 'Crocodile Rock'. The song is suppsed to be a reflection on the early days of rock and roll, so I suppose it's excusable. FYI The Wurzels did a version of Speedy Gonzales too.
The rest of this feels considerably lighter than what has gone before, more upbeat and more fun in general. There's something of the Layla riff in the intro to 'Have Mercy On The Criminal' which is otherwise rather melodramatic. 'Texan Love Song' doesn't seem to be much of a love song as yet again, Elton and Bernie try their hand at American poltical history. This time it's rednecks running hippies out of town and so it feels like it has some relevance right now.
Elton has been a grind so far, but next is maybe the first of his albums that is generally considered a classic (number 91 in the Rolling Stone Top 500), so let's see if Goodbye Yellow Brick Road can spark my interest.
Daniel
Teacher I Need You
Elderberry Wine
Blues For My Baby And Me
Midnight Creeper
Have Mercy On The Criminal
I'm Going To Be A Teenage Idol
Texan Love Song
Crocodile Rock
High Plying Bird
GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD
Released: 5th October 1973
Elton John
Goodness me, this is going at snail's pace even by my recent standards. The first few tracks of this double album sets the pace which the rest of it struggles to keep up. So we get 'Candle In The Wind', 'Bennie and The Jets' and the title track in quick succession, but first of all there's the 11+ minute overture of 'Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding', which mixes long tracts of instrumental with some caharcteristic piano-thumping rock.
Oh dear. 'Candle In The Wind' a song which started out as an interesting reflection on celebrity in a time when the idea of the artist as an exploited commodity was quite new before being comandeered for that, frankly weird (even by current standards) week in September 1997 following the death of Princess Diana. All I can remenber of Elton's performance at the funeral was the way his eyebrow seemed to take on a life of its own as he mawked his way through the rewritten lyrics. It's a shame in the end, the original song is insightful and sad.
There's some faux crowd noise at the start of 'Bennie And The Jets' and Elton comes on like Dave Gilmore vocally. That plodding, deliberate piano really shouldn't work. He stutters "Bennie" and prolongs the "Jetssss". See also my concerns with the pronunciation of this word by McCartney on 'Band On The Run'. Some funny electronic noises going on midway through too. I can't help being tempted to develop my theme of Elton dogging Bowie's footsteps by doing a song about a fictional band too (although Bowie might have nicked Elton's sax riff in the middle of 'Social Disease" for 'Young Americans")
'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' flatters to deceive. It seems deep, but is superficial and ultimately a little unsatisfying. He goes both meta and literal for the title of 'This Song Has No Title', my preferred example of this sort of thing is Loudon Wainwright III's 'This Song Don't Have A Video' ("just focus on the audio, the visual is missing") because he does it for comic effect. Rippling piano intro that he learned from Pete Townshend for 'Grey Seal' and then the probably-not-the-meaning-intended of 'Jamaica Jerk-Off' which is not as good as 'Barbados' by Typically Tropical.
'Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock And Roll)' at the start of side four is breakneck and joyous gallop that segues nicely into 'Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting', which apparently is supposed to capture the glory of getting pissed and into a scrap in the boozers of Taupin's youth. It works too. It's furious stuff.
I've slagged this album off a bit because I'm already weary of Elton and Bernie, but I'm being unfair. This must be his best so far by any measure, the songs are memorable and varied 'The Ballad Of Danny Bailey (1909-34)' is a great epic story song, 'All The Girls Love Alice' is a good solid rock tune and 'Roy Rogers' is a song about Roy Rogers) to and there are some on here that have stood the test of time, no matter what I think. The artwork is mediocre at best though.
Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Candle In The Wind
Bennie And The Jets
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
This Song Has No Title
Grey Seal
Jamaica Jerk-Off
I've Seen That Movie Too
Sweet Painted Lady
The Ballad Of Danny Bailey (1903-34)
Dirty Little Girl
All The Girls Love Alice
Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock And Roll)
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
Roy Rogers
Social Disease
Harmony
CARIBOU
Released: 28th June 1974
Elton John
The Johniscenti consider this to be an inferior offering, but I can't really differentiate it from most of what has come before. It's starts well enough with 'The Bitch Is Back'. When you look at the lyrics sites for Elton John songs the go-to analysis is always to look for clues to his hidden homosexuality (see previous '...Piano Player' piece for the gaping hole in that argument) but at least referring to himself as a bitch hints at something extra going on.
Maybe the disappointment comes from some of the song titles, 'Pinky', 'Grimsby', 'Stinker' and 'Ticking' are unpromising after all, and we also get an alien abduction song 'I've Seen The Saucers'. 'Grimsby' is clearly all coming from Taupin's youth, and whilst I have some affection for my own rather deadbeat stamping ground, I don't think it could have inspired a lyric such as:
"Oh oh Grimsby, a thousand delights;
Couldn´t match the sweet sights;
Of my Grimsby". Funnily enough he forgot to mention the odour of herring drifting in from the docks.
'Solar Prestige A Gammon' is simply bewildering. Sort of a cod-operatic/vaudeville hybrid with nonsense Franglais lyrics. Maybe I am beginning to see the problems after all. John later claimed it was a bit of a rush job due to tour commitments. The rather uninspring cover and title (named after the Caribou Ranch in Colorado where it was recorded) also give a 'let's just get it done' feeling.
Perhaps it's redeemed by 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me', but that seems to owe it's reputation to the George Michael version where Elton pops up midway through. That manages to portray a bleak song as somehow uplifting.
Bonus tracks from reissues include 'Pinball Wizard' but it's hardly contemporary with the album. Tommy the movie came out in 1975 and Elton's version charted in 1976.
The Bitch Is Back
Pinky
Grimsby
Dixie Lily
Solar Prestige A Gammon
You're So Static
I've Seen The Saucers
Stinker
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Ticking
CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY
Released: 19th May 1975
Elton John
Aha! A concept album and autobiographical to boot, chronicling Elt and Bernie's early years in the music biz. Elton is Captain Fantastic and Bernie is the BDC, which feels like there was a stick with a nice end and a not-so-nice end and Bernie grabbed the wrong one. It means I have to pay attention to the lyrics and try to follow the story, something which has not been a strong point for Elton's album so far.
So how do you start any story? "How The Gang Got Together" of course. The title track introduces our two protagonists. There's the coddled suburban city boy Captain and the rural Cowboy. It's an overture really, from humble beginnings to touring the world, a framing device of sorts. The debauchery encountered as an aspiring artist in the music industry seems to be the subject of 'Tower Of Babel' and demands placed on them to keep the songs coming, if only for other artists, is the subject of 'Bitter Fingers'.
The only notable hit is 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight', which is a seemingly quite mean spirited account of a close shave with marriage where he was pulled out of the nuptial fire by Long John Baldry.
They're still on their uppers at the start of side 2 with '(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket' which is a good energetic piano and guitar thrash. By the time we get to 'Writing' though we're on to a settled and successful songwriting partnership presented in a refreshingly straightforward manner. Kind of like a love song, but celebrating a very specific type of partnership.
'We All Fall In Love Sometimes' seems to be a prototype for 'Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word', but it must be well regarded since both Jeff Buckley and Coldplay have seen fit to cover it.
Bonus tracks include an interpretation of 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' which sets out faithfully enough to the original but gets Eltonized after an odd electronic piccolo section followed by reggae stylings and tubular bells, and 'Philadelphia Freedom'. Presumably they just didn't fit the concept.
As a result of all this narrative, the music is a bit flat at times. Elton usually mixes it up a bit but here the music seems mainly intended to serve the lyrics
Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
Tower Of Babel
Bitter Fingers
Tell Me When The Whistle Blows
Someone Saved My Life Tonight
(Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket
Better Off Dead
Writing
We All Fall In Love Sometimes
Curtains
ROCK OF THE WESTIES
Released: 24th October 1975
Elton John
I've listened to this a lot and mainly out of choice rather than duty. It's quite an engaging album and there are some genuinely suprising moments on it. That weird sound at the start of 'Island Girl' really grabs you attention and I found myself appreciating the song much more than I have in the past. There's a similar bubbly guitar thing in the 'Ugly' part of the opening medley.
The subject matter 'Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future)' seems to be just something to hang the melody on. I'm guessing Bernie was a keen Eagle reader back in the day. Similarly 'I Feel Like A Bullet (In the Gun Of Robert Ford)' is not about Jesse James at all, just a rather hackneyed metaphor to support an underpaced breakup song.
The Layla riff is partially stolen at the start of 'Street Kids', a tale of East London gangs. Elton and Bernie do go for quite violent subject matter at times, yet neither give the impression spending their youth tooled up on street corners. The lyric 'you've seen gasoline buring in my eyes' gives them away somewhat too, they know full well we call it petrol over here.
Oh dear. Quite a lot of suspiciously misogynist sentiment in 'Hard Luck Story', despite the great
"oo-ee-oo-ee-oo"s throughout the chorus.
Elton is working his arse off all day and getting no appreciation from the missus. The closing line of
'
'Cause you're still the woman of a working man;
You've got the heart of a working girl" is quite dodgy. That's my interpretation however, you could twist it all to make the husband look bad if you tried. They wrote it under a pseudonym of Ann Orson and Carte Blanche. There's quite a lot of self pity in 'Feed Me' too, which has a great soulful melody.
The 1995 reissue includes 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' with Kiki Dee. Elton does seem to be one of those artists that never necessarily felt the need to release singles as a warning shot of an album to come, or at least he was unafraid to keep some singles off the albums.
It's not a great cover picture. He never was a looker and it's hard to pull off a deerstalker and shades.
Medley (Yell Help, Wednesday Night, Ugly)
Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future)
Island Girl
Grow Some Funk of Your Own
I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)
Street Kids
Hard Luck Story
Feed Me
Billy Bones and the White Bird
BLUE MOVES
Released 22nd October 1976
Elton John
It's a double album and it feels thinly spread. I get the impression he wanted to do more instrumental songs but I might just be carrying a first impression from the long intro to the opening track into my perception of the rest of it. 'Song for Guy' is on the next one, which really was a puzzle as to why he sang anything on it.
'Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word' is here. An effective break up song with an interesting turn of phrase in the lyric, and in a clear case of lyrical determinism, as a song, it's sad (so sad).
Wait, is that the Top Gear theme, 'Jessica' by the Allman Brothers? Oh no. It's something called 'Out of The Blue'. But wait! It turns out it is the music from Top Gear, but the one used on the closing credits. This leaves me wondering whether the two songs really are very similar or are just associated in my subconscious. I'm confused and not a little disoriented. It is an instrumental, but I would argue is not all that Eltonish, more like, well, The Allman Brothers.
Elton and Bernie continue to be bad at song titles. This time we have the suicidal 'Someone's Final Song' and 'Theme From A Non-Existent TV Series'. Possibly sour grapes that they actually hadn't (yet, see above) managed to jump on the TV theme gravy train. Of course they shoot themselves in the foot with the title anyway, if it had been used it would have been an oxymoron. It fits the brief, clearly a cop/spy show. Lots of frantic piano conveying suspense and races against time.
He sounds weird on 'Idol', and by weird, I mean he does quite a good job on the vocal. Lounge-jazz-singer croon might be his forte. At one point I thought I was listening to his mate George Michael, who could hold a tune when he tried.
The closing 'Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance)' was the second, little remembered single. An energetic disco chugger in which Bernie came up with the title and then took the rest of the afternoon off.
Your Starter For...
Tonight
One Horse Town
Chameleon
Boogie Pilgrim
Cage the Songbird
Crazy Water
Shoulder Holster
Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word
Out of the Blue
Between Seventeen and Twenty
The Wide Eyed and Laughing
Someone's Final Song
Where's the Shoorah?
If There's a God in Heaven (What's He Waiting For?)
Idol
Theme From a Non-Existent TV Series
Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)
A SINGLE MAN
Released: 16th October 1978
Elton John
'Song For Guy' is an odd thing. I have a distinct memory of recording the top forty countdown on a cassette tape recorder when it was in the charts. It would have been on one of those flat things with the big buttons at one end, like a Star Trek original series tricorder. As 'Song for Guy' went on, I was wondering if it was ever going to start, it just seemed like one long introduction. Eventually he does start singing, sort of, but only in a distracted murmer. The 10 year old me was nonplussed, but over 40 years later I get it now. It's a very atomspheric song and unusual for Elton in that his translatlantic bark is pushed aside. That minimalist percussion is very pleasing too.
Before launching something as experimental as 'Song For Guy' as a single release he laid the way with 'Part Time Love' and he followed it with 'Return to Paradise'. Much more chart-friendly fare. 'Madness' is good fun too, a frenetic disco-tinged epic.
The massed choirs of Vicarage Road, Watford are drafted in for backing vocals on 'Big Dipper' and 'Georgia' and to be fair, you wouldn't necessarily know that it's a bunch of hairy-arsed footballers singing.
This is a Taupin-less album. I didn't even know such a thing existed. He's not involved in the following 'Victim of Love' either, after which I think Elt probably saw sense and got him back on board. But this is good stuff, not really adversely affected by his absence.
Got to admit I quite like Elton's style on the cover photo.
Shine on Through
Return to Paradise
I Don't Care
Big Dipper
It Ain't Gonna Be Easy
Part-Time Love
Georgia
Shooting Star
Madness
Reverie
Song for Guy
VICTIM OF LOVE
Released: 13th October 1979
Elton John
Didn't do very well and it's not hard to see why. No-one ever asked for an 8 minute, mid paced version of 'Johnny B Goode' with various improvisations along the way. I would instead point you to Johnny Winter's live version from 'Johnny Winter And' at a frenetic 3 minutes 22 seconds, or you could even try that fella Chuck Berry who gets it over with in 2:41 and achieves much more in the process.
In fact the whole thing feels over-engineered. He's got an electronic percussion section and his bass player is doing everything he can to get noticed.There is no gap between the songs, at least on the Spotify version, which is annoying and makes it sound like a rather limp 'disco party' record.'Thunder In The Night' bears a passing resemblance to it's rather better almost-namesake, Leo Sayer's 'Thunder In My Heart'.
Elton does seem to be off the pace with this, he's doggedly sticking with disco in the post-punk wastelands of 1979. However, in its favour, it's short and Bernie will be back for the next one, so maybe he'll knock things back into shape.
Johnny B. Goode
Warm Love in a Cold World
Born Bad
Thunder in the Night
Spotlight
Street Boogie
Victim of Love
21 AT 33
Released: 13th May 1980
Elton John
It's his 21st release and he's now 33 years old. Don't count back, there aren't 20 albums before this above, he's included compilations, live albums and soundtracks, so it's a bit of a cheat. It does feel like I might have listened to 21 by now though. In fact this is the 14th studio release. You'll have noticed I'm taking the opportunity offered by the album title to go on about his record release statistics, but I guess I have to say something about the songs too. Trouble is, it all feels like marking time and the title itself is smug - "look how far I've got"
'Little Jeannie' is the musical daughter of 'Daniel'. Two Rooms At The End Of The World is presumably about the songwriting partnership. There was a 'Two Rooms' tribute album released in 1991 that gave birth to a Kate Bush hit single of 'Rocketman', which I kicked myself for not knowing while doing the Radio 2 Popmaster quiz during my coffee break the other morning.
Alarmingly, he sounds like he's singing "White power, white lady" on 'White Lady, White Powder', and there is not a mistake by me there, weirdly the title really is reversed throughout the lyric. 'Dear God' is about as literal as a prayer in song form could get, I recommend XTC's song of the same name for a slightly more challenging take.
By the way Genesis fans, notice any similarities between the artwork and that of Abacab? Well I think it's somewhat similar, although you could argue that they are just both very much of their time. Genesis would lose any court battle, Abacab was 1981. I doubt anyone would bother. Neither are very inspiring.
Chasing the Crown
Little Jeannie
Sartorial Eloquence
Two Rooms at the End of the World
White Lady White Powder
Dear God
Never Gonna Fall in Love Again
Take Me Back
Give Me the Love
THE FOX
Released 20th May 1981
Elton John
By now Elton has so much output to his name that he seems to be reaching for themes to explore in the songs, but he starts conventionally enough with a typical piano chug in 'Breaking Down Barriers' and then a slower pop-blues of 'Heart In The Right Place'. But then we get 'Just Like Belgium', which starts like an account of a weekend break in Bruges but soon calls on some less savoury reminiscences of bar brawls and brothels. It's all a little bewildering, but an engaging enough song nevertheless.
He seems to be getting political with 'Fascist Faces' but the lyrics are so oblique it's hard to get the message. "When you're turtle-esque, I'm a hare's breadth", sounds like it might be clever, but I fear it's just a load of old gobbledigook.
Then, he sticks a kind of classical/love song suite in the middle - 'Carla/Etude - Fanfare - Chloe'. It's pleasant enough, but it strengthens the impression that he simply has no vision at all for the album as a whole. He continues as the king of the unimaginative title with 'Elton's Song', a tale of unrequited love and the final, title track strains metaphors to breaking point.
His output had better perk up soon, he's been tough going so far, but mainly due to the lack of cohesion that this album typifies.
Breaking Down Barriers
Heart in the Right Place
Just Like Belgium
Nobody Wins
Fascist Faces
Carla/Etude
Fanfare
Chloe
Heels of the Wind
Elton's Song
The Fox
JUMP UP!
Released 9th April 1982
Elton John
Ah me. This is a long slog. I started Elton before the first 2020 lockdown and when that arrived I thought I'd probably be able to find enough time to crack on with the run-through of his studio output and get it done before the whole coronavirus thing was over. I still probably will, it's dragged on much longer that I originally anticipated (maybe 6 weeks, I thought at the beginning), but I've managed to find lots of other stuff that I'd rather do than listen to Elton's output. He's just so
samey
and yet at the same time completely unfocussed. There's little coherence to any of the albums. I'm not asking for a Wakeman-style musical reworking of the Arabian Nights or whatever, just something to latch on to.
It's a standard opening with 'Dear John', a fast piano-rock where Elt hollers the vocal, then about as Eltonish a song as you could hope for in 'Spiteful Child'. I'll say this for him, his piano playing style is recognizable but having Pete Townshend play guitar on 'Ball And Chain' seems something of a waste, it really could be anyone.
Tim Rice is called in for lyric writing duties on 'Legal Boys' and you can at least credit him with writing a song with clear meaning, in this case the old truth that only the lawyers win in a relationship breakup. Taupin didn't break much sweat on the next track, 'I Am Your Robot' a pretty repetitive approximation of what any kid would chant if you stuck a cardboard box on their head. It's noticeable with Taupin that he either goes with straight down the middle repeated phrases or impenetrable metaphor, there's hardly any middle ground.
Big Hit on here is 'Blue Eyes', which I guess is aiming for a smoky jazz vibe. It has the merit of being rather different than the rest but ends up feeling rather dull. Nice to hear Elton singing within a range he can cope with though.
There's a Lennon tribute in 'Empty Garden(Hey, Hey Johnny)', which comes across a little like Candle In The Wind II. This is a hefty-metaphor effort from Bernie where Lennon's death is somehow represented by a neglected herbaceous border.
He finishes with World War I song, 'All Quiet On The Western Front', which is fine but I think reinforces my opening compaints. What's it doing tacked on to the end of an album with no real context?
Dear John
Spiteful Child
Ball & Chain
Legal Boys
I Am Your Robot
Blue Eyes
Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)
Princess
Where Have All the Good Times Gone?
All Quiet on the Western Front
TOO LOW FOR ZERO
Released 30th May 1983
Elton John
Time to give further consideration to the fabled 'return to form'. By many measures you could pinpoint this as Elton's entry into the category, but if we're being honest, he'd been maintaining his form for at least a decade before this with consistent if dreary efforts with a hit rate of one or two touches of brilliance per album. This one has some of the best material of his career including the title track, 'I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues', 'Kiss The Bride' and the all-conquering 'I'm Still Standing', so it's perhaps a step up to a new level of performance, a bit like Leicester winning the Premier League.
Elton has a big problem with his best known up-tempo song in his latter years. He never could really sing and the strain of belting out 'I'm Still Standing' nowadays makes you anxious for his ability to get to the end of the song. 'Kiss The Bride' and 'Whipping Boy' are retreads of the same style of song but the latter seems one catchy repetitive pop effort too far.
'Cold As Christmas' might qualify as the oddest Christmas song ever, since it is actually about being miserable in July. It probably doesn't qualify as a Christmas song at all, which is why we have to endure 'Step Into Christmas' every year instead, but the sentiment is simply but effectively communicated by the smart simile of the title. Same with 'I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues'. The combination of melody and the lyrics of "Laughing like children; Living like lovers; Rolling like thunder; Under the covers" is something of a masterpiece of songwriting within a single rhyming couplet.
There's a flavour of a hybrid of Billy Joel's 'Movin' Out' and 'Maniac' from Flashdance by Michael Sembello in 'Crystal'. There's a point where you really expect Elton to break from the synthy beat into the "heart attack ack ack" bit, but alas it never gets that interesting.
The art is poor although you might credit him with inventing emojis?
Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year)
I'm Still Standing
Too Low for Zero
Religion
I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
Crystal
Kiss the Bride
Whipping Boy
Saint
One More Arrow
BREAKING HEARTS
Released: 18th June 1984
Elton John
I'm starting every album on this post with a whinge about how uninspiring Elton is and I wish I'd never started. There's still a long way to go, but I'm over halfway, this is number 18 out of 30. The catch-up plan is to not spand too much time on each one and give impressions on one or two listens.
That means I inevitably focus on the well-known hits, which on this are 'Passengers' and 'Sad Songs (Say So Much)'. I think 'Passengers' is one of his most arresting songs. That kind of hurdy-gurdy rhythm and the chanted nature of the lyric is quite un-Elton-like. It was never openly an anti-apartheid song, but it seemed to capture something about segregation and is apparently based on a South African source.
'Sad Songs' is very self-referential, essentially saying 'Hey, I'm the spokesman for your hard times'. Elton is not the first person I'd turn to to put words and music to my pain.
The rest sounds like, well, Elton. 'Who Wears These Shoes?' could easily be Hall and Oates, except they would have sung it better. 'Breaking Hearts (Ain't What It Used To Be)' shows he was probably developing a hankering to get into musicals.
Elton has not yet addressed his thinning hairline at this point in the game so his only option is a hat on the cover photo (see how desperate for content I'm getting here?)
Restless
Slow Down Georgie (She's Poison)
Who Wears These Shoes?
Breaking Hearts (Ain't What It Used to Be)
Li'l 'Frigerator
Passengers
In Neon
Burning Buildings
Did He Shoot Her?
Sad Songs (Say So Much)
ICE ON FIRE
Released: 4th November 1985
Elton John
Someone is going to have to remind me, where we we on our collective journey of understanding Elton's sexual preferences in 1985? I only ask because the most significant thing I remember about anything off this record is that everybody kept pointing out that Nikita was a man's name, so was this some kind of coded message from Elton? Well, as ever, he didn't even write the lyrics in the first place, so the song probably says nothing about him at all, and he was one year into his marriage to the very female Renata, but maybe there was some nose-tapping gpoing on.
'Nikita' is a nice song though and it doesn't challenge Elton's vocal skills too much, which is a good thing. I reckon it could do with some extra echoed backing vocals i.e. "Oh Nikita you will never know (never know, never know); Anything about my home ('bout my home, 'bout my home)". I like to supply them when I hear it anyway.
The other notable entry here is 'Wrap Her Up', a collaboration with George Michael. A whole load of famous women's names are dropped at the end, which provide a sometimes jarring mix of classic Hollywood women and those whose fame was relatively fleeting in the mid-eighties. So we get Samantha Fox, Priscilla Presley, Nastassja Kinski and Princes Caroline of Monaco, listed alongside Marlene Dietrich, Marilyn Monroe, Doris Day and Katharine Hepburn. Kiki Dee and Corrie veteran tart-with-a-heart Elsie Tanner are elevated to the pantheon as well.
There's an odd bonus track on the 1999 reissue, 'The Man Who Never Died' which seems to be an attempt to recapture Song for Guy. Lots of piano with clicky, sparse percussion before Elton finally gets going with some vague singing towards the end. It's fine, but just rather pointless.
This Town
Cry to Heaven
Soul Glove
Nikita
Too Young
Wrap Her Up
Satellite
Tell Me What the Papers Say
Candy by the Pound
Shoot Down the Moon
LEATHER JACKETS
Released: 15th October 1986
Elton John
Not a lot of love out there for this, but to me it's no better or worse than anything else he was chucking out in the eighties, meaning that it is indeed quite poor. There's nothing on here which would ring a bell with anyone but the most dedicated Eltonophile. The most notable thing about it is a duet with Cliff Richard called 'Slow Rivers', but even this coming together of the giants of British blanditry doesn't raise much of a ripple on the internet.
Elton blames cocaine for the general low standard. It's fairly contemporary with Ice On Fire, but producer Gus Dudgeon slung his hook after this, possibly through exasperation.
The one almost recognizable single is 'Heartache All Over The World', which was the lead release, but probably because it is so Elton-by-numbers (which is saying something) that you end up feeling sure you must have heard it before.
Everything else ranges from the dull and pedestrian ('Memory of Love') to the downright offensive and bewildering ('Angeline') although for the latter, Bernie's lyric must shoulder the blame.
Leather Jackets
Hoop of Fire
Don't Trust That Woman
Go It Alone
Gypsy Heart
Slow Rivers
Heartache All Over the World
Angeline
Memory of Love
Paris
I Fall Apart
REG STRIKES BACK
Released: 24th June 1988
Elton John
The title suggests some kind of comeback/return to basics, and that probably is the intention, but it's no mould-breaker. He'd had throat surgery which supposedly changed his voice in a way that amounted to an improvement in his eyes (at least according to the account I read). I disagree. His voice sounds as awfully strangled as ever.
There's a sequel song, Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part 2) as a follow up to the song on Honky Chateau, but as a pair, they are no Space Oddity/Ashes To Ashes.
I looked down the tracklist and thought, well, I don't know any of these, but most people would recognize 'I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That', even if the title is a total clunkfest. It's one his better efforts too, arresting and catchy. Also, 'Heavy Traffic' is quite a lot of fun. 'Goodbye Marlon Brando' seems to be Elton and Bernie's commentary on mid-eighties pop culture and they at least proved to have a knd of foresight in the line "Goodbye to Rocky Five, Six, Seven and Eight" which have since come to pass (if you count Creed I and Creed II).
The song lyrics website I use lists out no less than 5 songs with the title 'Poor Cow'. I knew the Tanita Tikaram one, but Elton's is one of those where Bernie doesn't quite walk the right side of acceptability when writing about women. See also 'Angeline' from the prevuious album, or even 'Japanese Hands' on this one.
The cover photo is clearly an allusion to the fresh start this is supposed to mark. All the old costumes have been hauled from the closet (possibly another allusion there too). I can't be bothered to do the research but I reckon the worst excesses of stagewear were never revisited following this album. He did love a straw boater.
Town of Plenty
A Word in Spanish
Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)
I Don't Wanna Go On with You Like That
Japanese Hands
Goodbye Marlon Brando
The Camera Never Lies
Heavy Traffic
Poor Cow
Since God Invented Girls
SLEEPING WITH THE PAST
Released: 29th August 1989
Elton John
I
do wonder about Wikipedia sometimes. Its opening paragraph on this tells us that it is "
his best-selling album in Denmark (where it was recorded)". Fascinating no doubt, but is the Danish market one he was keen to crack and is the implication that his success there is due to him booking some studio time in Copenhagen? (For purposes of veracity, I must add that it was actually the city of Randers, Denmark's sixthlargest city - thanks Wikipedia, you've redeemed yourself almost immediately). More surprising, and something I only really discovered today while watching an old Top Of The Pops from June 1990, was that 'Sacrifice' was his first UK number one single, but that was actually only after a re-release as a double-A with Healing Hands. On the show, Elton confirms that the proceeds from the song are going to AIDS charities, although less-cool-than-she'd-like-to-think presenter Jakki Brambles has to winkle that information out of him in the post song interview.
This does have some memorable singles on it, but Elton and Bernie are masters of the forgettable title, so 'Club At The End Of The Street' wasn't really saying anything to me until I heard it and the refrain "me and you, rendezvous; at the club at the end of the street" brought it all back. I like the song, and 'Healing Hands' too. 'Sacrifice' is ruined really by Elton suggesting that it's about giving up sugar for lent "It's no saccharifice, no saccharifice at all" is all I hear.
'Stone's Throw From Hurtin'' is a surprise, a sort of sparse country rock song which even got covered by Wynonna Judd. Elton sings it like Alvin Stardust. 'Blue Avenue' is pleasant too, a much more subtle sound than I've come to associate with him after 21 albums. But he's back to barking and growling for the closing 'Dancing In The End Zone'.
Durban Deep
Healing Hands
Whispers
Club at the End of the Street
Sleeping with the Past
Stone's Throw from Hurtin'
Sacrifice
I Never Knew Her Name
Amazes Me
Blue Avenue
THE ONE
Released: 22nd June 1992
Elton John
Another month, another Elton John album. I'm going at the pace of a shelled mollusc. It's like a metaphor for all of the coronavirus lockdown, seemingly never ending and really quite monotonous. Even the wikipedia entry is scant on this one and the guest artists only amount to Gilmour and Clapton, the latter not even seizing a plectrum and just doing some vocals.
The opening 'Single Life' grinds along dully and the most recognizable thing is second song, first single and title track 'The One', which sounds like every other slow song he's done before or since. Somewhere between 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me' and 'Circle Of Life'.
Clapton's contribution is to 'Runaway Train' and it at least adds some character. I reckon he must insist on having that slight echo put on all his vocal performances. Otherwise it is consistently dull dull dull and he and Bernie continue to tend toward the crass in their song titles with 'When A Woman Doesn't Want You', 'Understanding Women' and 1998 reissue bonus track 'Fat Boys and 'Ugly Girls'. Whether the lyrical content lives up to the dubious promise of the title I could not tell you, I didn't listen that closely.
Artwork suggests a certain nouveau riche vulgarity, a bit like Posh and Becks on their wedding thrones.
Simple Life
The One
Sweat It Out
Runaway Train
Whitewash County
The North
When a Woman Doesn't Want You
Emily
On Dark Street
Understanding Women
The Last Song
MADE IN ENGLAND
Released: 17th March 1995
Elton John
Do you remember the single 'Believe' from this album. You probably would if you heard it, but it's yet another identikit Elton song, and this is now the pattern. Elton churns out lots of very much the same whenever he feels the need to give us a new piece of product. At least now, he seems at least to be settled in knowing who he is, and the seemingly autobiographical title track is a standout. I say seemingly because the perennial problem with his songs is still there. He didn;t write the words. But anyway there's a bit of punch in it with the "If you're made in England, you're built to last; You can still say 'homo' and everybody laughs". It's about the most direct commentary on anything that you'll ever hear from their canon.
However, there's something a bit more interesting going on with the song 'Belfast', the understated meandering of the song and touch of folkiness reminded me of Jethro Tull and Elton sounds like Ian Anderson occasionally. He also goes Beatlish on 'Latitude', the string arrangements are reminiscent of 'You've Got To Hide Your Love Away' and 'Man' appears to be his take on 'When A Man Loves a Woman'.
This is a step up from recent albums, and I would put it down to him not trying quite so hard, and incorporating some interesting musical choices, which elevates the standard of the songs. His 'haircut' on the cover is also tempting of comment. He's gone for a moptop, but let's just say it's good to see that all that nasty translant business is behind him.
Believe
Made in England
House
Cold
Pain
Belfast
Latitude
Please
Man
Lies
Blessed
THE BIG PICTURE
Released: 22nd September 1997
Elton John
Another album and another collection of largely droney ballads. The only thing outstanding is 'Something About The Way You Look Tonight' which does have something different to offer within the droney ballad genre. Interestingly (these things are relative) it wasn't the lead single, which was 'Live Like Horses. He had managed to get Pavarotti on board for that one, which might explain the decision. Elton now needed a gimmick to give his singles a push, however the big guy doesn't feature on this album version.
This is reputedly Taupin's least favourite album, Elt gives the honour to Leather Jackets. By the time they made both those albums they seem to have run out of new ideas completely. Elton is not a great one for good album artwork either. Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic are the high water mark. The modernist portrait on this has an Elton-as-living-dead feel to it. Maybe that's the intention.
Long Way from Happiness
Live Like Horses
The End Will Come
If the River Can Bend
Love's Got a Lot to Answer For
Something About the Way You Look Tonight
The Big Picture
Recover Your Soul
January
I Can't Steer My Heart Clear of You
Wicked Dreams
SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST
Released: 1st October 2001
Elton John
There comes a point in every major artist's career where a return to form must be discussed. Elton never really had much form in my view, but I'm quite desperate to give him some credit and so I'm going to grant him a level of return to form status for this one. It's nicely produced and has some decent songs on it.
I do have a question about Dark Diamond. It features Stevie Wonder on harmonica. He does that quite a lot as a guest appearance and undoubtedly, once you know it's him you can recognize it as such, but it's quite a niche speciality for such a creative man. Why does he bother himself with it?
The main reason I have more time for this than much of the rest is 'I Want Love', and that's because it has a pretty good video. A one-shot piece featuring Robert Downey Jr lip-synching the words as he wanders around a Californian mansion. It's an engaging performance and Downey was on hid professional uppers at the time. It's just possible that the Marvel Cinematic Universe might have been quite different if it wasn't for Elton employing him when no-one else was.
Intriguing too is 'Mansfield', mainly on the basis of what a song about a town which sits in a kind of middle-England limbo. I'm guessing that Bernie has some kind of connection. It's not a million miles from his Sleaford hometown and has a similar profile as a town. Or it could be about one of around 50 Mansfields scattered across the US.
There's some extra stuff on the Expanded Edition, as you would rightly expect. A version of 'Your Song' with Alessandro Saffina providing some operatic gravitas and a choir giving it some swell. and a cover of Womack and Womack's 'Teardrops' with shouty sixties scottish chanteuse Lulu.
Also, more good news! We've entered the current century.
The Emperor's New Clothes
Dark Diamond
Look Ma, No Hands
American Triangle
Original Sin
Birds
I Want Love
The Wasteland
Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes
Love Her Like Me
Mansfield
This Train Don't Stop There Anymore
PEACHTREE ROAD
Released: 9th November 2004
Elton John
Cover art first. My contacts on the ground in Atlanta tell me that there is no point on Peachtree Road that resembles that cover photo. That's because it isn't, it's just a picture that Elton chose from the ones the commissioned photographer took around Georgia.
As usual, the artwork is more interesting than the content. In fact, maybe that's the key! Don't bother with anything that has boring artwork and you have the Essential Elton John. Wish someone had told me that last April.
This coincides with his work on Billy Elliot The Musical, and while I'm not going to include the cast recording of that in this post, some songs from it were included on the 2005 Re-release. These include 'Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher', for which lyricist Lee Hall provides lots of bite in the words. Makes you wonder whether Elton was completely comfortable with celebrating that she was 'one day closer to your death', especially as she was still alive at the time. Elton has never been out-and-out political as far as I can see. However, it is a clever mix of typical Christmas song tropes and bitter anti-Thatch sentiment and obviously would have worked well in the stage show.
Weight of the World
Porch Swing in Tupelo
Answer in the Sky
Turn the Lights Out When You Leave
My Elusive Drug
They Call Her the Cat
Freaks in Love
All That I'm Allowed
I Stop and I Breathe
Too Many Tears
It's Getting Dark in Here
I Can't Keep This from You
Reissue bonus tracks
The Letter
Merry Christmas Maggie Thatcher
Electricity
THE CAPTAIN AND THE KID
Released: 18th September 2006
Elton John
It's a promising title and not a bad cover, so my observations in the previous post for Peachtree Road would suggest that this one might be worth the effort. Well, I am kind of right. I think this is a cut above an awful lot of what has gone before. It's got a nice clean production - which Elton needs to iron out the shortcomings of his voice and is distinctly piano led.
'Just Like Noah's Ark' provides some kind of call back to the last Elton song I remember enjoying ' The Club At The End Of The Street' with "me and you, two by two" echoing "me and you, rendezvous". I'll give Bernie the benefit of the doubt that it really is an echo and not just lazy songwriting. There's a mention of tiny dancers too.
'Tinderbox' is good and I liked the honky-tonk piano of 'And The House Fell Down' after it too. He does rely on some old styles in places, you'd swear he was starting 'Candle In The Wind' when he strikes up 'Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way (NYC)' and there's something of 'Your Song' in the intro to 'The Bridge' too. The gentle country of 'I Must Have Left It On The Wind' and the title track feels different in a good way too.
Postcards from Richard Nixon
Just Like Noah's Ark
Wouldn't Have You Any Other Way (NYC)
Tinderbox
And the House Fell Down
Blues Never Fade Away
The Bridge
I Must Have Lost It on the Wind
Old '67
The Captain and the Kid
THE DIVING BOARD
Released: 13th September 2013
Elton John
We're up to 2013 and Elton's voice has now reached the point of self-parody. But the songs are generally good, if predictable. There's a Randy Newman feel to Ocean's Away (but then maybe he's just ripping off 'Sail Away'), and Rand himself has an, umm, unique voice of his own anyway.
There are some instrumental interludes scattered through, 'Dream #1. #2 and #3'. They do add a nice touch of continuity as lead-ins to 'My Quicksand', 'The New Fever Waltz' and 'The Diving Board' respectively and adds to the general feeling of a more minimal, piano led album. That final, title track sees Elton adopting a languid lounge-style delivery, which is about the only thing he can pull off convincingly these days.
There's one more to go. I'm not sick of Elton, but I am tired of him, and a bit angry that he's been getting away with this for all these years. What is it about him that has allowed him to just keep going without seeming to be troubled by a single original musical thought? Who are his 'fans'? Does he even have any, or is his entire career built on the goodwill of the media and his showbiz chums? He clearly has bags of talent but it seems to have been squandered. He's not complaining though is he? He seems to be doing OK.
Oceans Away
Oscar Wilde Gets Out
A Town Called Jubilee
The Ballad of Blind Tom
Dream #1
My Quicksand
Can't Stay Alone Tonight
Voyeur
Home Again
Take This Dirty Water
Dream #2
The New Fever Waltz
Mexican Vacation (Kids in the Candlelight)
Dream #3
The Diving Board
WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT
Released: 5th February 2016
Elton John
I wrote the first album review on this post, for Empty Sky on 5th May 2020. At time of writing now it is 23rd May 2021, so I has taken over a year to trudge through the 30 albums in Elton's discography. The reasons are all documented in my thoughts on the previous albums so I won't repeat myself here, but I want to finish on a high of sorts, so I'll attempt to do this track by track in an attempt to drive home my point that Elton hasn't had an original musical thought in about 40 years.
1. Wonderful Crazy Night. Some kind of reminiscence on a WCN. Plenty of rolling jazz piano. He's good at it after all. The voice is acceptable because he's not straining beyond the stave.
2. In The Name Of You. Quite interesting arrangement on this one, much lusher than usual and with a good guitar backing. A bit of a slow grind though and in the end it gets repetitive.
3. Claw Hammer. A song based on a rather lame metaphor. He and Bernie have form here.
4. Blue Wonderful. This one is quite interesting. It's kind of light and romantic, which may be Elton's storngest suit.
5. I've Got 2 Wings. Hummed intro accompanied by an accordian. That bit at least reminds me of 'This Is The Day' by The The. It's trying to be a kind of travelling folk song.
6. A Good Heart. Not a cover of Feargal Sharkey's 1985 hit. Alarmingly like Hotel California at the outset. No-one wants Elton trying to be The Eagles, but it soon settles into maudlin inanity.
7. Looking Up. Reverbing blues riff along the lines of Norman Greenbaum's Spirit In the Sky. Then turns into a tame version of Boz Scaggs 'Lido Shuffle'
8. Guilty Pleasure. A rock and roll romp. All good but he's done about a million similar.
9. Tambourine. See Blue Wonderful, and with more lame metaphor.
10. The Open Chord. A song about songwriting. Well, he should know what he's on about.
And that's it. I'm going to excuse myself from the deluxe edition bonus tracks of 'Free And Easy' and 'England And America'. I've suffered enough.
It's fair to say that there is a settled and happy feel to this album as a whole, which is good, because we all deserve happiness in our later years. The cover reflects this too, but he's coming perilously close to Jazz Hands.
Wonderful Crazy Night
In the Name of You
Claw Hammer
Blue Wonderful
I've Got 2 Wings
A Good Heart
Looking Up
Guilty Pleasure
Tambourine
The Open Chord