Thinking about it,
Is interesting how come musicians are finally framed by the style they publish.
This public framing not allowing them to create successful music in a different style/stream
The beatles, YES, KC among others, were the few arriving to do so
"High Flying Bird" is one of my all-time favorite songs from any artist.
Elton was the first "serious" musical artist that I got into as an eleven year old and a gateway to everything else. Sadly Ive yet to see him live.
My list of my personal essential EJ songs:
Empty Sky
Sixty Years On
Burn Down the Mission
Love Song
Madman Across the Water
Bad Side of the Moon
Rocket Man
High Flying Bird
Daniel
Blues For Baby and Me
Have Mercy On the Criminal
Funeral/Love Lies Bleeding
Harmony
All the Young Girls Love Alice
Candle In The Wind
Grey Seal
Ticking
Don't Let the Sun...
Capt Fantastic
Meal Ticket
Then I started to lose interest.
There are tons of bands more inconsistent than Elton and very few can stack up to his run from Elton John up through Blues Moves. Thats 11 albums, most very good, some great. He has a ton of hits, and many album cuts that are top rate. Victim of Love is beyond the pale and there are a couple of albums with more then its share of filler. All of the other albums have something good to offer, but in the 80's he realized that half an albums of good work was enough. He rebounded slowly in the 90's and starting with Songs from the West Coast, he's on a huge winning streak. His last album, The Diving Board, is a grower. Short on hits with some of the best piano of his career. Taupins lyrics are excellent too. How you feel about his latter AC hits will have a lot of sway in how you rate his music. But don't just think that the songs on his greatest hits albums are all that Elton has to offer. Tonight, Idol, One Horse Town, The Ballad of Blind Tim, The Ballad of Danny Bailey, Stinker, Legal Boys, Better Off Dead and Ticking are a handful of songs that aren't on the radio but should be heard.
Last edited by Tangram; 02-06-2014 at 12:24 PM.
Took a listen to “Two Low For Zero” tonight for the first time in a while. I think this is by far Elton’s best 80’s era album and is generally very strong. It was a bit commercial with several hit singles (“I’m Still Standing”, “I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues”, and “Kiss The Bride”), but all of them were good songs. The album tracks are mostly strong too. The re-mastered edition that I have also has 3 excellent bonus tracks including the cool instrumental “Earn While You Learn” and one of my all time favorite Elton tracks “The Retreat”. This would be his last really good album for many years, but I like this one a lot.
Ooh, I remember Kiss The Bride. That one had a really cool chorus, as I recall.
What I remember about 'The Retreat', which I've not played much, is that it was recorded around the time of 'A Single Man' yet sounds like something from 'Tumbleweed Connection'. It's better than most of 'A Single Man' though, which suffers greatly from Bernie Taupin's non-involvement IMHO...it's still, I think, the only non-soundtrack/stage show album he's ever released which doesn't have a single lyric from Taupin. (The 'Thom Bell Sessions' was initially only released as a 12" vinyl EP...I don't have the CD of this anyhow)The flop single 'Ego' is another oddball one from that time, again a much more intriguing song than most from that late 70s period.
I'm personally fond of 'Breaking Hearts', which is a more guitar-driven album than 'Too Low For Zero' and slightly less 'reverby' and 80s-sounding. Although '...Zero' had better songs overall, 'Breaking Hearts' has some of his most underrated songs...'Burning Buildings' is a real gem, I think. 'Ice On Fire' is back to being patchy and is one of his weaker albums- full of 80s production tropes and so-lightweight-it's-barely-there material ('Wrap Her Up' is quite something!). I think 'Nikita' is a brilliantly realised track though, with that ethereal instrumental section in the middle.
A few other obscurer ones I rate highly...'I've Seen That Movie Too', 'My Father's Gun', 'Sartorial Eloquence', 'Just Like Belgium', 'Elton's Song', 'Legal Boys'...It's the 90s albums like 'The One' I can't warm to, that 'Adult Contemporary' production style will never appeal to me.
Last edited by JJ88; 01-31-2014 at 05:38 AM.
Joe Flacco
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!
Come on, admit it. Everyone here knows every word to Goodby Yellowbrick Road.
The older I get, the better I was.
From the Gary Osborne period, I think The Fox was his strongest, though apart from Victim of Love (obviously), none of them are wholly bad. I never got why "Blue Eyes" was such a big hit, I thought it was pretty indicative of the general malaise and lack of inspiration during this period. "Empty Garden" deserves its accolades, though.
Some of the collaborations on 21 at 33 are interesting. It's a shame the Thom Bell sessions never panned out as a full-length album, as I thought "Mama Can't Buy You Love" was one of his strongest singles from this era.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
'Blue Eyes' is the sort of song I think suits a singer like Tony Bennett quite well. I like it, but I have to say it pales next to 'Empty Garden'. The Gary Osborne lyrics are a little prosaic compared to Bernie Taupin's. I actually prefer the songs he wrote with Tom Robinson and Tim Rice in this period. The Thom Bell EP is unusual in that all three songs are written by Thom Bell, none by Elton. 'Are You Ready For Love' became a Number 1 hit over here about ten years ago.
I've mercifully avoided 'Victim Of Love' and the later 'Leather Jackets' altogether.
Elton was highly consistent in the 1970s. Like progressive bands like ELP and Genesis, for instance, music became more "iffy" past that expiration date. I was lucky enough to see Elton in 1980 when he was touring with his classic line-up. He's a music God. I have to pick up one of two strong recent releases.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
Thanks Jerjo but the gang here couldn't carry a tune if they all had buckets.
The older I get, the better I was.
Too Low For Zero is a strong album. Could have done without a track or to. Besides the hits on it, 'Cold as Christmas' is a hidden gem. Breaking Hearts is one of those half to three quarters real good albums with some filler. Never knew why a song like 'Burning Bridges' or 'Did He Shoot Her' didn't catch on. Same with 'Restless'.
If you can get past The One's production, Elton plays some excellent piano on several tracks. EJ said it was the first album made in a long time that he could remember because he was sober and clean for it. Also an album with both Clapton and Gilmour guesting for a track each makes it special.
Taking a listen to “Reg Strikes Back” tonight. This album was the first tour that I saw him on. The album is not great, but it has grown on me over the years. The hit single “I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That” is not one of his better ones, (although the bonus track version with just Elton and his piano is better), but there are some good tracks on this one. “Town Of Plenty”, “Goodbye Marlon Brando”, “Heavy Traffic” and “Poor Cow” are all catchy.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
'Reg Strikes Back'...it gives the impression of being this big 'comeback album' but it seems to me that it's one of his more forgotten albums now. I find it too overproduced but whenever I listen to it, I like most of the songs on it- nothing 'classic' but solid work nevertheless. 'I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That' was huge in the US, I don't know that it made much impact here. 'Sacrifice' from the follow-up album was his big commercial comeback in the pop charts here, in the US I don't think it's so well known. (Same happened with The Bee Gees in reverse in the exact same time period- 'You Win Again' big comeback hit in the UK and Europe, not in the US...the following album's title track 'One' big in the US, not so much here.)
RE; 'The One'. I remember liking the title track and, was it called 'The Last Song'? I really didn't like that track with the R&B/rap rhythms 'Sweat It Out' but just when I had that down as a turkey I remember there was some really good piano playing at the end. The rest I can't really remember beyond the overall sound, as I said.
Yes, I think you are correct. "Sacrafice" got some airplay here, but it was not nearly as big a hit as "I don't wanna go on with you like that". I remember the big deal about "Reg" was it was when Elton kind of broke with his past tradition of wearing flamboyant costumes and silly glasses. He theme was that he was breaking with his past and moving on to a new chapter of his life (or something like that). The album does seem to have been forgotten for the most part as I rarely ever see it mentioned anywhere. I always thought the song "Poor Cow" might have made a good single, because every time I listen to the album that song sticks in my head for days for some reason.
sick jokes alert: during princess diana’s funeral young prince harry turns to his father and says “dad, why are so many people here today?” prince charles replies “oh, son, it's always like that when elton john performs.”
There's a 4 CD & DVD box set due of GYBR which includes filmed concert from that era!
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