Richard C. Dickison <randomkill@earthlink.net> (04.08.99)

Man, here is a hard artist to deal with, either Elton John was a musical genius or an over the top, self destructive, bald drama queen with a really good revolving back-up band and a self involved, woman hating, song writer and a wardrobe only Imelda Marcos could pull off.

<Johntheguitarman@aol.com> (11.02.2000)

Elton has become rather bland in the past...oh 20 years. He was once a great songwriter and performer, but today he seems rather washed up. To bad!

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (19.02.2000)

Nowadays, Elton writes ballad after ballad after ballad. And he writes great ballads, but you can't have a nutritious diet with only one type of food. He has just forgotten how to ROCK! Nowadays, his very few latter day upbeat tunes, such as "Pain" and "Made in England," are severely lacking in energy. But, in his late 70's heyday, he could do it all, and one had to admire his willingness to try anything at least once, even if he fell flat on his face. But, nonetheless, he hasn't totally cheesed out, as, for example, Phil Collins has, and his work will always be listenable. Just don't expect to do aerobics to it.

<SB52883@aol.com> (19.02.2000)

Your wacked out dude, get help! Elton John has more talent in his thumbnail then many bands ranked as 5's or 4's. The Moody Blues in front of EJ? Get real. I'm a Moody Blues fan but no way would they rank ahead of EJ. The man can fill arenas with a band or without a band. Talent drips from his piano playing finger tips. As a piano player myself, this man is still mesmerizes me with his keyboard talents!

Josh Fitzgerald <breezesf85@email.com> (23.03.2000)

This might sound really pathetic, but Elton John is definetly a genius. A little weird, but genius. He definetly does have talent dripping from his fingertips. It's really hard to believe that 30 years after his first hit, Elton John STILL manages to make more hits (not saying that a Disney movie is the greatest career move, but hey, if it worked for Elton, it'll work for anyone!). Yes, there was a lot of crap in the 80s, because the hits were really the only good songs, but he still has done a diversity of music. I mean look at Yes, they've been around for 30 years, but I highly doubt they'll keep up their old success. Same for The Moody Blues, and I can keep going and going, but I won't bother. The only thing that holds him back is like the gay and drug controversies, and of course, we can't forget the divas concert, but it's still amazing!

<Quarrymn@aol.com> (24.03.2000)

Dont get too excited, I did like elton's stuff from the seventies, a little anyway, but something about him just doesnt do it for me, maybe I have to be gay, I dont know!? But man, PHEW, does he stink now, just and I am more and more convinced that he is great but nothing to shout about, not even in the seventies...by the way to the person who wrote that Elton is a genius because he fills arenas and so forth...so do WWF wrestling events, and they certainly dont rule do they!

Bill Fortnum <fortnum@india.com> (31.05.2000)

I like his songs!

Richard Savill <dreklind@btinternet.com> (01.09.2000)

I agree! The last album I bought was Single Man! There was a real genius there. So what the hell happened? Well, Elton John went the showman route early on and broke away from his writing of proper works, thus artistry in the writing was lost. I consider him today as an artist who lost his paintbrush. He was once known as 'The Prince of Rock', but that title has long since died along with his music.

Chris Gonzales <cgonz@capital.net> (07.11.2000)

One of my very first albums was Tumbleweed Connection, and with that I became a disciple. Days ago I bought the CD and I am still convinced that it is near perfect, the only weakness perhaps 'Love Song' ( the only non-bernie lyric).

bdoglb <bdoglb@hotmail.com> (22.12.2000)

Elton John epitomizes the picture of a washed up, sunken 'rocker'. Apparently Elton is none too bright either; what man would "break the bank" buying hundreds if thousands of dollars buying flowers?

Didier Dumonteil <dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr> (28.02.2001)

His heyday was short-lived:1970/1975.During this time,he was really the prince of pop,because nobody else could take over the Beatles' throne.So Elton John Madman across the water goodbye yellow brick road and captain Fantastic are among his greatest achievements.There's precious little to say after....

MJW <msclguru@email.unc.edu> (02.03.2001)

Actually, George, I recalled you saying elsewhere on the site that (the Macca page, I think?) Led Zeppelin were the Beatles, commercially speaking, of the 70s, but that title really belongs to Elton John. He was actually by far the best-selling (and record-breakingest) artist of the decade, all told. And for awhile, he was damned near the artistic Beatles of the 70s...not the revolutionary, of course, but look what else that they had in common! Great pop songs, incredible arrangements, some of the most ambitious and cohesive album rock of his day, and, of course, the function of a truly dynamic songwriting duo. Of course, IMHO, that only applies up to Captain Fantastic, after which Elton got wrapped up in being on Mr. Blackwell's Best-Dressed list, and getting into Studio 54, and forgot that he made music.  Oh, well.  Nothing good lasts.

Palash Ghosh <palash7@hotmail.com> (06.03.2001)

Elton John, oh boy, he's a hard nut to crack! The prevailing wisdom on Sir Elton is that he was King (Queen?) of the pop music realm for the first half of the 1970's and has been riding on a crest of mediocrity ever since –- and I fully agree with this assessment. While I despise most everything about the man (his wardrobe, his vulgar excesses, his over-the-top swishiness, etc.), it cannot be denied that Elton is a major figure in pop music history and once had a great singing voice and could write some sensationally moving music.

Glenn Wiener <glennjwiener@hotmail.com> (30.07.2001)

One extremely talented musician. Between 1972 and 1976, there was no musician hotter. Seven straight albums rose to number 1 although Rock of the Westies just has not stood the test of time. None the less, Elton has been quite steady before and after the classic seventies period. Each of his records has a unique style. On occasional mild misstep here and there as Madman Across The Water grows a bit stale, Blue Moves somewhat overlong, and Reg Strikes Back suffers from too much emphasis on the synthesizer and Elton’s own drug addiction. However, Elton bounced back with two strong releases in The One and Made in England. An all time great.

Ryan Maffei <chaucer@ix.netcom.com> (10.03.2002)

From a listening standpoint, I enjoy Elton John's earliest work, but his later stuff is just too maudlin and cloying for my tastes. From a performance standpoint, I admire John's style, and can relate to him mainly because we're both pianists (that, I'd like to stress, is our only similarity). From a critical standpoint, I've found that the artistic course that John followed is very easy to trace.

Pedro Andino <pedroandino@msn.com> (17.12.2002)

to some girls he was the sexiest man alive HEY I DID NOT TELL YOU I'M GAY SO SHUT UP! ANYWHO i still think he was sooooooo awsome yet over the top my idiot high ja rule loving junkies hate him but i disagree ja and peepee diddy can fuck off! elton was the king of the 70s balladeer of the 80s man of the 90s

Steve Potocin <epoggi@cox.net> (18.12.2002)

The high point of Elton Johns career was his piano playing on the Hollies 'He ain't Heavy'. All kidding aside he had some decent chops, and a pleasant voice, but I'll never understand his massive appeal.

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (14.04.2004)

Elton John is a very successful pop artist who has consistently been on the charts since 1970. He started out as a folk-rock artist, recording his first album Empty Sky in 1969. However he first tasted success in 1970 with a more pop oriented album in Elton John which spawned his first hit, 'Your Song'. That year he also released an ode to 'The old west' Tumbleweed connection. He now had a mix of rock, country and folk. This is one of his best albums. Madman across the water continued that theme and Honky Chateau combined this theme with a more urban theme. Honky Chateau was also his first No.1 album. He followed it in 1973 with a pop album Don't shoot me ... where the country influences had almost been completely put ot rest. Goodbye yellow Brick road from the same year is a double album and is rumoured by many to be his best album. The latter part of it saw him really getting into rock and roll the way he ahd done on Don't shoot me.... Caribou was a more light pop album from 1974 later that year he released a greatest hits collection featuring his biggest hits up to that point. The next year he released Captain Fantastic and it was an autobiographical account of Elton and his lyricist from when they met up to Empty Sky. This is also rumoured to be his best. Later that year came a 'rock' album, rock of the westies and then he shifted from DJM records to Rocket records for 1976's Blue Moves, an unusual double album, loved by some, hated by others. From 1978's A single man upto today, he has been a mainstream pop artist. This more 'pop' direction has been criticised heavily by those who admired his country folk-rock era. But Elton remains a prominent pop artist who comes out with pop music that is unique, touching and very melodic. Notable albums from this era are The Fox a euro-flavoured album from '81, The light hearted Jump Up from '82 which Elton really throws himself into and featured his tribute to John Lennon as well as one of his most revered ballads, 'Blue Eyes'. Too low for zero from '83 is often considered one of his better albums and features a surreal sound created by keyboards on many tracks as well as two of his best songs 'I guess that's why they call it the blues' and 'I'm still standing', Breaking Hearts from '84 rocks, Sleeping with the past is his tribute to 'R&B' and 'Soul' while '92's The One was his first album after he shrugged off his alcohol and drug problems. It was very successful and was the first to reach the top ten in the United  States since 1976. Made in England from '95 is also noteworthy and around this time he began a link with Disney writing sountracks for them. The most succesfful is The Lion King featuring 'Can you feel the love tonight' In 2001 he released Songs from the West Coast which was seen by many to be a return to his earlier albums like Honky Chateau but others were more sceptical. He is releasing recording and releaing new material in his mid-late fifties.

Jean Marlow <wolram@optushome.com.au> (04.05.2004)

Elton John's output in the past 35 years or so contains some of the most enjoyable moments in my music collection, plus a few moments best forgotten. That in no way makes him unique; so many of the performers I love have had periods when their output is simply not up to scratch.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (22.02.2000)

Correction: Gus Dudgeon did not produce this album. Rather, the album was produced by DJM flunky Steve Brown. Whose inexperience shows -- the production is quite crude stereo, even by 1969 standards. The tunes are solid, though, but once in a while, the production does undermine a track - -such as on "Western Ford Gateway" (sorry, George). What's with that vocal fading in and out on the verses?

Ryan Maffei <chaucer@ix.netcom.com> (10.03.2002)

An iffy debut that finds Elton still in his developemental stage. There is some solid material, granted, but when it is good, it's nowhere near some of the great stuff he would come up with. It's all very trippy, too, which is annoying..."Empty Sky" is a good, driving blues performance, although a tad overlong, and yeah, it really does remind me of the Rolling Stones at their most overblown and meandering. (In this respect, the record is "naive", as Elton dubbed it--over the course of his next few records, he would be parodying the Stones). Anything else that's remotely solid ("Western Ford Gateway", "Gulliver") is rather sophomoric overall, and "Skyline Pigeon" is in a class of its own, being the only solo harpsichord rock ballad ever recorded. Oh well. Interestingly, the bonus tracks show John to be an incredible songwriter--"All Across the Havens", "It's Me That You Need", and "Lady Samantha" are better than everything else on the record combined. A 6, or a C+.

Pedro Andino <pedroandino@msn.com> (31.07.2003)

elton john and bernie taupin. two guys with the right combination. elton has the melody, while bernie has the lyrics and when you see that album cover, you might think it was john lennon. the title track is a zepplin-like rocker that must be heard. play you stupid dj! 'valhalla' is like a gospel tune while 'hynm 2000' does sound like the rolling stones. 'sails' rocks while 'the scaffold' tries to be like bob dylan. then came my favorite ballad, 'skylin pigeon'. ballads are like my specialty because my girlfriend loves the melody and the music. i have a guitar and i can play any ballad by any decade: 'skyline pigeon'. 60's. tears by rush. 70's. always with me always with you by joe satriani: 80's. mayonaise by smashing pumpkins: 90's. and finally it is a weird jazz-fusion kind of song. anyhow this album is a lost classic and despite no radio play it is a fan favorite.

BILL SLOCUM <slokes@optonline.net> (26.01.2004)

Empty Sky is an illuminating preview of Elton John and Bernie Taupin before they were stars, but otherwise fulfills the same function as the Beatles Live At Hamburg or Supertramp's Indelibly Stamped. Yes, there's the title track, which does have some powerfully rocky moments and some nice vocal stylizing, though it drags on too long and gets repetitive. Maybe I'm blocked, but "Skyline Pigeon" with its affected harpsichord does very little for my spirits either way, however much a breakthrough Elton regarded it. Too precious and twee for me.

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (21.04.2004)

This was Elton's first album. It's folk-rock but it also features a lot of excellent guitar work that is very rhythm and blues. Another thing about it is I couldn't accuse any song of being similar to another song on it. Except a couple of rockers. The first song, the title track, is a long but very good piece of rhythm and blues featuring harmonica and flute, 'Val Hala' is a bit Elizabethan-ish with it's harpsichord but it's also a folk song, it's great. 'Western Ford Gateway' is a cool psychedelic rocker with folk rhythm section. I love the intro to this one. Off the original album my least favourite song is 'Hymn 2000' and it's okay, a sort of folk song almost Cat Stevens-ish. It features a cool flute and chorus, about 'Submarine numbers'. I have to disagree with you George, 'Lady what's tomorrow' is a fine, touching ballad and is in fact my 3rd favourite off the remastered and original albums. It features a lot of piano and organ. Sails just rocks, and is very bluesy. ! Then 'Scaffold' is a way-out-there piece of psychedelic folk and it's relaxing but well done, liek the vocals too, very Dylanesque. Of-course 'Skyline Pigeon' is the best song, I really like the harpsichord and it does fit the theme of the song. It's a ballad. 'Gulliver' is the second best number, a fusion of folk and blues featuring some nice piano playing and a dramatic finale. 'Hay Chewed' just absolutely swings! 'Lady Samantha', the first of the extra tracks is a really good rock number that sounds like it is possible hti material. The intro really hits you. I'm not that fond of 'All across the havens' but it's a precursor to 'Honky Cat'. 'It's me that you need' is a typical pop-song of the time but is a very good song, my fifth favourite of the whole thing in-fact and does deliver some decent guitar playing. The intro to 'Just like strange rain' rocks and the song is quite a good piece of psycedelia. Overall, one of Elton's most daring, interesting and consistent albums.

George Fowler <gfowler@indiana.edu> (26.11.2005)

You remark that many Elton John fans aren't even aware of this album, thinking that his career started with the following eponymous album released in 1970. I was an Elton John fan during that period, and I know for a fact that Empty Sky was not released in the U.S. at that time. I bought an (overpriced) import copy of it in April 1971, and was very excited, since it was nothing even a fan like myself had even heard of. By coincidence, I then attended an Elton John concert a few days later in Cincinnati, Ohio (and even taped it! but the audience tape was so bad as to be almost unlistenable, though it was fun to hear him playing a well-known piano student's Mozart minuetto as part of the extended introduction to one song upon repeated listenings). During the concert he stated that Empty Sky would be released as part of a two-album set together with 11-17-70. That never happened, but it provides some additional confirmation that the record hadn't been released in the U.S. at that time.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (25.02.2000)

One thing that we do definitely agree on: the idiotic "No Shoestrings" should have been totally scrapped. Worse than anything on Empty Sky. The single worst track EJ recorded before Don't Shoot Me. Why they didn't leave "Bad Side" or "Grey Seal" on the original LP and relegate this one to B-side hell instead or the tape erase heads is beyond me.

Didier Dumonteil <dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr> (04.03.2001)

Not a great album,but a commendable debut (Empty sky can except for "skyline pidgeon" be overlooked)One perennial:"your song".After 1975,EJ  has not written such a gem.The delicate "greatest discovery" is a close second.

Ryan Maffei <chaucer@ix.netcom.com> (10.03.2002)

On the contrary, I'll have to agree with, of all people, Wilson and Alroy on this one. There's no filler at all (well, there's one song, the lethargic "First Episode at Hienton", but...), and the record shows amazing songwriting growth on Elton's part. Filled with well-crafted, fluid, enthralling rock'n'roll, it's probably one of the greatest albums of all time, and certainly Elton's best (although the polished singer-songwriter tour-de-force Tumbleweed Connection is a close second). I would attribute most of the album's appeal to Paul Buckmaster's stunning arrangements--"Sixty Years On", for example, thrills mainly because of the macabre symphonic parts, and "The King Must Die" reaches a flooring climax that ends up being the dramatic highlight of the album. But Elton's work shines through nicely as well--"Your Song" is an ideal, earnest love ballad, "Take Me to the Pilot" and "The Cage" are invigorating blues-rockers, and "Border Song", which barely has arrangements, is a lovely gospel-tinged gem. Even the less hailed tracks are admirable in my mind--"The Greatest Discovery" actually has some relatable, less-than-vague Taupin lyrics, and pleasant, almost moving instrumentation, and "No Shoe Strings on Louise" is a hilarious parody of the Stones' country-blues output. And of all people I'd like to see skewered by bespectacled singer-songwriters, the Stones would be my first choice. A high 9.

BILL SLOCUM <slokes@optonline.net> (24.01.2004)

Like Ryan Maffei above, I enjoy Elton's healthy Mick mannerisms in "No Shoe Strings On Louise" and others have said what I'd echo about "The Greatest Discovery" as well. When Taupin was banal, he deserves slags, but with "The Greatest Discovery" he puts up a very unique subject for a love song, one not revealed until the song's last stanza, and it's a great twist, augmented by Elton John's vocals and musical accompaniment.

Glenn Wiener <gjw0721@optonline.net> (15.02.2004)

This early Elton John almost approaches the greatness of the man's classic period. 'Your Song' is one beautiful piece of music and words. The string backing is very appropriate. Also there gospel/blues flavored 'Take Me To The Pilot' and spirited rocker 'Rock N Roll Madonna' are awesome tunes. Oh and I forgot about 'Border Song' which is a fine anti-prejudice song.

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (15.06.2004)

This is my favourite of his. Here is a young Elton taking a dive into completely unfashionable yet wonderful teritory. He's re-inventing classical music and in a big way. I mean he sings sensitive, personal lyrics over many of these songs which are gentle classical music ballads but it's not just typical classical music, it also does have rocking classical music. Amongst the ballads is variety, 'Your Song' has a folk leaning, 'I need you to turn to' is Elizabethan with some great harpsichord playing, 'First Episode at Hienton' is gentle, mysterious and plaintive, 'sixty years on' has raging string section, 'Border Song' has an obvious gospel leaning and 'The Greatest Discovery' is jubilant. 'The King must die' is sought of majestic but I don't seem to like it. Of-the rockers, 'Take me to the pilot' is just excellent and 'Cage' really grooves. Then we have 'No shoestrings on Louise', with a country leaning. Country or no country it's not my cup of tea! Nevermind I replace 'Shoestrings' and 'King must die' with another Classical music orietned rocker 'Bad Side of the Moon' which is a bonus track. It may seem a little too similar to 'Pilot' but just dig those drums at the start. Then there's the rock n roll number 'Rock N Roll Madonna', and I think it's a great end to the album. I still don't like 'Grey Seal'.

Glenn Wiener <GJW0721@aol.com> (10.08.2002)

Where to Now??? I say some commentary on this long awaited review. Good job George, consistent it is. Your choices for faves are pretty good. Truthfully I like 'Where To Now St. Peter'?! Love the wah wah guitar and Elton's singing. But like you said there is not a weak number in the lot and some awesome keyboards.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (23.09.2002)

Yes, another wonderful early album. What's amazing is how strikingly different it is from the previous album (not to mention the first!). Great melodies and evocative, highly narrative lyrics. The only thing that really resembles anything from the Elton John album is "Come Down in Time", Taupin's one foray into his earlier surrealism ("A cluster of night jars sang songs out of tune"?). But it's a cool song, and Buckmaster's string arrangements don't seem quite as overwhelming here.

BILL SLOCUM <slokes@optonline.net> (20.11.2003)

Elton's With The Beatles, a solid if hitless album that validates his artistic vision while demonstrating his breakthrough U.S. debut Elton John was no fluke. Just chock full of great songs and good ones, and an album that coheres to a theme of C&W-based longing and heartache.

Jean Marlow <wolram@optushome.com.au> (20.04.2004)

I read your reviews yesterday, which induced me to get out my favourite Elton John album, and the first one I ever purchased and play it again (and again). Mine is on vinyl and it still sounds great (though without any extra songs). I can understand why there were no singles released; it stands so much better as an album than as a collection of songs. That said, I could listen to "Come Down in Time" and "Talking Old Soldiers" endlessly. I think Taupin's "love gone wrong" lyrics are his best, but "Talking Old Soldiers" exemplifies the finest of his "non-love-songs" . The power of these words stand in contrast to some of the far better known, but less satisfying songs from the same era. Thirty something years after I first heard it, I am still glad I spent half a week's student grant on buying this album

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (15.06.2004)

This, along with anything he did from 1970-1973 [except maybe Don't Shoot Me] and Captain Fantastic are all possibly his best. I think you should get this and the Elton John album. This album is Elton John at his folky best. The previous album was Elton at his sensitive ballads best. Both albums have plenty of great rockers too. So together, they are my vote for 'his best'. I mean this album is absolutely wonderful, and the variety is astounding. Every song is so different from every other song. My favourites are the gospel rocker, 'Ballad of a well known gun' [that song ain't a ballad!], the acoustic guitar ballad 'Love Song' and my absolute favourites 'My fathers gun' and 'Country Comfort'. 'Gun' is his take on a big brass sound. Actually, the deep pitched oboe really invokes the mental image of a chugging riverboat engine. Great lyric too! 'Country Comfort' really captures the atmosphere of relaxing country life. I love every track, they're all great and I even love the bonus track, 'Old man's shoes'.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (25.02.2000)

Agreement here. Incredible performances. It was a little soon for EJ to put out a live recording, but the original radio broadcast was heavily bootlegged, so his hand was forced.

Ryan Maffei <chaucer@ix.netcom.com> (10.03.2002)

Actually, quite a powerful, underrated live album. Apparently, earlier pressings were dismissed because of poor sound quality, so the remastering has obviously helped greatly--this record could very well be a live television broadcast in its in-your-face quality. (Er, considering you have an adequate TV and stereo system; I do). The accomplished John jams nicely on the record, and the performances are so fiery and entertaining that the lack of more familiar material (considering the time it was recorded, of course) is completely forgivable. Bravo! An 8.

Bill Slocum <slokes@optonline.net> (10.02.2004)

Elton was in very good form here. I'm just not that wild about the songs he showcases, or maybe I just wish there were more of them. Good drumming and bass playing by Nigel Olsson and Dee Murray, and Elton makes a strong case for himself as his best keyboard accompanist (though I don't think he ever had any competition from Paul Buckminster or whoever played on Victim Of Love.)

Richard C. Dickison <rdick@mag.com> (13.12.99)

Ahhhhh, The Holy Grail of Elton John,

Glenn Wiener <Glenn.Wiener@Entex.com> (09.02.2000)

Your review is fairly on the money here. The first side is very strong but as you get through side 2, the arrangements sound fairly identical. I believe almost every song on this record has a string arrangement in the background. This is fine for strong songs like 'Tiny Dancer', 'Levon', 'Madman', and even 'Rotten Peaches'. However, it doesn't save the other weak songs on side 2. 'Goodbye' is a good tender ballad to close out theis record on a strong note. And 'Razor Face' has nice gospel tinged stylings to make it fairly interesting. A good recording but Elton has many better cannons in his arsenal with Honkey Chateau and Tumbleweed Connection being two of them.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (29.02.2000)

My favorite EJ album, and a favorite of a lot of fans, despite the fact that the man himself is not all that fond of it nowadays. Very dark, very powerful music. Buckmaster's arrangements are at their best -- they really add to the drama of the songs. And Bernie's lyrics are coming down to earth.

Didier Dumonteil <dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr> (04.03.2001)

A moderately successful record in 1971."tiny dancer,holiday inn,rotten peaches are the highlight,and "levon" the standout although I've never understood what B.Taupin meant in this latter song.The album is tuneful,but a bit monotonous.I think EJ should have compressed the best tumbleweed connection songs (Amoreena which S.Lumet used over the credits of "dog day afternoon",my father's gun,country comfort) into the best of the next album and we would have had  a really great one instead of two OK ones.And more various at that!

Palash Ghosh <palash7@hotmail.com> (06.03.2001)

Madman Across The Water is typical of even Elton John's finest albums -- a few good songs, interspersed with forgettable drivel. On this record, the good/bad ratio is distressingly low. It's too bad that Elton didn't have a songwriting partner (to take the load off) rather than having just a lyricist. The two best (and only two good) numbers here are 'Levon' and 'Tiny Dancer' -- but neither of these are true classics. I've listened to this record straight through probably about 40 or 50 times over the years, and no matter how hard I try, I can't recall a single thing about the other songs!

<SpaceClown@aol.com> (15.05.2001)

Well, I like it - more than Honkey Chateau anyway. Despite what some people might say though, I doubt the Madman Across The Water album gets enormous amounts of radio play, at least not these days. "Tiny Dancer," "Levon" and "Madman..." are the only cuts from this album I've EVER heard on the radio ... at least, on the local Philadelphia/central Jersey rock stations. I wouldn't know how it is elsewhere. Of these, only "Levon" is seriously overplayed around these parts.

Ryan Maffei <chaucer@ix.netcom.com> (10.03.2002)

The last stab at an earnest, lush singer-songwriter album from John, and a weak second side, filled with some unfortunately underdeveloped material, renders it somewhat disappointing overall. I like "Tiny Dancer", "Razor Face" and the even more moving "Levon", and Buckmaster's always-accomplished arrangements provide a solid, enticing overall sound for the entire record. The title track, meanwhile, is undoubtedly one of John's most intense, harrowing performances. But ridiculous stabs at folk, country, and gospel like "All the Nasties", the ridiculous "Indian Summer", "Rotten Peaches", and "Holiday Inn" leave this listener somewhat less-than-satisfied. And "Goodbye" really isn't all that great. A 7 from me--John had done much better with his last two albums.

Pedro Andino <pedroandino@msn.com> (17.12.2002)

SWEEET MOTHER OF MERCY THAT IS A GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRREEEEEATTTTTT ALBUM I LIVED IN TEXAS WITH MY WIFE JANET AND MY SISTER CLADUIA AND WE LIKED ELTON JOHN!!!!!!! ANYWHO HERE ARE THE TRACKS

Bill Slocum <slokes@optonline.net> (10.02.2004)

Throw a bucket of cold water on this guy!!! He had the music down, but it sounds like he's trying to compose "Les Miserables" or something here. I guess it just doesn't sound like he had anything that compelling to be worked up about.

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (05.04.2004)

What happened? the first three albums were excellent and then came this. The lyrics are the most annoying stab at significane, Bernie trying to raise his name with the use of Biblical sounding lyrics. 'Razor Face' has always come across to me as a mocking of Jesus' second coming, considering Jesus didn't shave. 'Has anybody here seen Razor Face, I heard he's back looking for a place to lay down, Must be getting on, Needs a man who's young to walk him round ... You're a song on the lips of an aging star ... Razor Face, oh amazing grace, Protects you like a glove, And I'll never learn the reason why, I love your Razor Face.' Or maybe I just misinterperate it because every second word in teh song before it is 'Levon'. And then the music is nothing new. It's the same old stuff that we have already been served. Okay 'Holiday Inn' is new, a sought of soft rock sing-a-long with excellent mandolin, his first union with Davey johnstone. But 'Levon' is another 'Old Man's shoes' or 'talking old soldiers' or 'sixty years on' only the song is lifeless and dull until the chorus, 'Razor Face' doesn't take us anywhere 'Ballad of a well known gun' did and until the electric guitar comes in what a boring song it is. 'Indian Sunset' is just another 'King Must Die', 'Rotten peaches' is another 'Country comfort' and 'All the nasties' is another 'Border song' Though I like 'All the Nasties' a lot more than I like 'Border song'. The backing singers are classically trained and the fadeout is amazing, love those drums. It sought of signifies an unending suffering. They did the same thing on 'All quiet on the western front' from '82 though that was an instrumental fadeout. The message was conveyed through the synthesised fanfare. Anyway back to Madman, the title track was re-recorded from the Tumbleweed Connection sessions. That says a lot. The production is excellent. Okay 'Tiny dancer' is a sougth of ballad version of 'Holiday Inn', but it's still a great song. Actually the arrangements are prettymuch the same from song to song. I mean every song on Tumbleweed Connection, even with two bonus tracks, is unique and fresh compared to the other songs on the album. Or even compare the strings on this album to the strings on Elton John. The strings on 'First episode at Hienton' are soft and gentle and the strings on 'sixty years on' are rough, thumping and grating. Yet the string on this album are basically the same on every song, except the title track, where they are very good, I think 'Beatle-esque'. Anyway they rock on that track. I like the brass on 'Indian Sunset' but aside from that, what else is there to say. A few excellent song, a couple of great ones, and a bunch of lifeless and boring ones. Elton and Bernie had seen America for their own eyes by now and perhaps it lost the same magic and mystique it held for them when they recorded Tumbleweed Connection. Maybe I'm wrong...

Ben Greenstein <bgreenstein@nctimes.net> (04.08.99)

No! Sorry, George - I know we don't always agree, but this time you're just wrong! This is not that good a record - in fact, the only really good songs on the whole thing are "Honky Cat", "Rocket Man," and "Mona Lisas," all of which are truly incredible in every sense of the word. But the rest of these (the slight exception being the catchy "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself") are just mindless, boring "piano rockers" that don't actually rock! I really prefer Yellow Brick Road - it's packed with great, classic songs and melodies, and it somehow manages to have far less filler than the 3/4 present here - and it's a double album! This gets a very low score, for me.

Richard C. Dickison <randomkill@earthlink.net> (11.08.99)

No, your wrong Ben, you are so wrong to discuss Andy (Big reduction in the price of beer) Partridge in the same sentence with David (We could be heros just for one day) Bowie and Elton (He was born a pauper-to-a-pawn on a christmas day) John.

Rich Bunnell <cbunnell@ix.netcom.com> (23.08.99)

I'm really not too familiar with Elton John's lyrics, and I like Bowie's lyrics too (spaced out and odd as they are sometimes) but really, Richard (yeesh, it feels weird addressing someone with the same name as you) downgrading Andy Partridge based on the most direct and obvious lyrics he ever penned?!? The man himself has even stated, in many, MANY interviews, that "Dear God" is one of the least favorite of his songs for that simple reason. Elsewhere, Partridge was an excellent lyricist-- check out "This World Over"-- and if you hate those lyrics it's because you biased yourself against them in advance because I praised them. Sorry to go off-topic, but though I can't say that Partridge surpasses Mr. Dwight or Mr. Jones lyric-wise (I don't have a definitive understanding of either artist's work) he at least matches them, no matter what. David Cassidy, pfft. Give me a break. As for the Elton John album in question (since it's a bit selfish to spend webspace talking about an unrelated artist), I know "Honky Cat" and "Rocket Man" since they get radio airplay, and they're both decent songs-- a lot better than some of Elton's other radio hits, at least in my opinion.

Ben Greenstein <bgreenstein@nctimes.net> (23.08.99)

Hold it! Don't be so quick to judge Andy Partridge's lyrics, sir, if you haven't heard any songs other than "Dear God." Andy himself isn't very proud of that one! Have you heard "Another Sattelite"? How about "I Bought Myself A Liarbird"? "Rook"? "Wrapped In Grey"? They' all have great lyrics. Which brings me to my second point...

Glenn Wiener <Glenn.Wiener@Entex.com> (25.08.99)

Whereas this is not my favorite, it is very good. The songs just flow probably due to the varying styles ranging from the jazzy 'Honkey Cat' to the beautiful ballad 'Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters' to all out rockers 'Hercules' and 'Amy'. Its hard to pick a bad song in the lot so I won't.

Richard C. Dickison <randomkill@earthlink.net> (27.08.99)

"It's getting late, have you seen my mates?" (C'mon - he wasn't even british!)

Rich Bunnell <cbunnell@ix.netcom.com> (18.09.99)

Actually, I believe Ben was referring to Bernie Taupin, not Elton himself, since Bernie wrote "It's getting late, have you seen my mates?" as lyrics, or "poetry," before the music was written to them. Granted, it sounds more natural with Elton, a British man, singing them, and I'm pretty sure that's basically what the lyrics were meant for, not as poetry at all.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (29.02.2000)

Elton starts really going pop here. Actually, I think "Honky Cat" and "Rocket Man"are the weakest tracks here. Everything else has superior lyrics and music. I do miss the drama of his earlier studio records."Salvation" is the closest, which is why it's my favorite. (I have sort of a soft spot for gospel-type tunes.) And Bernie hasn't yet gotten obnoxious and offensive.

<Jabtot@aol.com> (18.03.2000)

George hit one right on the head with this review.Most U.S. Elton fans are very partial to the HC album.One of the first efforts to get mainstream airplay in the states.One of the true highlights is "Mellow", a song that gets me singing each time it is played.The album has a great feel to it,and it is one of EJs best.

<TDL133@aol.com> (24.03.2000)

uh, last time i checked bernie was just as english as elton.He has since become a u.s. citizen but he was born and raised in the u.k. i dont know what is ment by the statement "he isnt even english".

Didier Dumonteil <dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr> (04.03.2001)

I totally agree with M.Greenstein.The only breakthrough here,so to speak,is Paul Buckmaster's orchestra 's absence.And I miss him and his turgid but efficient arrangements.

Palash Ghosh <palash7@hotmail.com> (06.03.2001)

I agree that Honky Chateau is the peak of Elton John's career -- but, once again, despite the presence of some truly classic numbers, there's too many throwaways 'Honky Cat' is a wonderful tune, Elton's decision to play an 'Oriental-sounding' piano was inspired and gives the song the perfect bouncy mood. 'Rocket Man' is a beautiful grand sweeping number with magnificent and tasteful synthesizers. 'Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters' is another favorite of mine -- the lyrics are gloriously vague and strangely sad.

Ryan Maffei <chaucer@ix.netcom.com> (27.12.2001)

If you must know, "Hercules" is actually about a rhino. But it's still an idiotic, forgettable little ditty, so I don't care. There's so much on Honky Chateau that pales in comparison to Elton's earlier, more artistically accomplished work. With Paul Buckmaster, the best tracks on the middling Madman Across the Water (the whole first side and "Goodbye") sounded even grander in their excellence, while little can compare to the Beatle-esque artistry on Elton John or the landmark singer-songwriter ruminations on Tumbleweed Connection, the latter of which probably even surpasses Sweet Baby James when it comes to craft. But Chateau seems to be the album where Elton lost his grip on innovation and craft, and where he became a complete sellout. His pop inclinations then descended to new lows on Piano Player, Caribou, roughly a fourth of Yellow Brick Road and Rock of the Westies, never to be resuscitated in time for the impending breakdown years of 1977-1999.

Bill Slocum <slokes@optonline.net> (07.02.2004)

Great call on this one, George. It's hard to argue whether this, Tumbleweed Connection, or Capt. Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy was Elton's best, but this represents a truer slice of Elton's power-pop persona than the other two.

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (27.04.2004)

I think you are the first person who picked up on one of this albums'  weak points. Was Brigette Bardot really going to save Elton's life? It seems is an album is 'pop' music it is judged against every criteria and all it's weak points are emphasised and it's high points are over-looked. For a folk-rock album, it's highs are emphasised and it's lows are overlooked. Sometimes I wonder how much all these country stories mean to Elton? They mean a lot to Bernie but what about Elton? I mean he'd already put out two albums about rural-ness. People forever talk of Victim of love featuring vocals that aren't passionate, so what about 'Amy'? I mean seriously Elton sounds as though he coudln't care less. The songs is about a boy who I presume is quite young, 'Amy, I may not be nineteen, I may still be in romper boots and jeans...' The year this was released Elton was going to turn twenty-five. There's a line about ' My Dad told me Amy's your name, he sais he'd break my neck if I played your game'. Elton's Dad had walked out on him. The key to me is since Bernie is writing the lyrics rather than Elton, for Elton to deliver a passionate vocal the lyric has to be something Elton cares about. But this album has many high points. I think it's strength lies in 'Funk'. This album is steeped in funk. But it also features that country folk-rock sound of Tumbleweed and it fuses these two elements together to create a bunch of cool rocking folk songs. It's a lot mroe fun than Madman across the water but is this album all that much fun? I think it isn't his most light-hearted and fun album but it is very enjoyable. The various instruments also give it some variety since many of these songs seem to be very similar in style. 'Honky Cat' is a fun song with, yes that is the word, 'amusing' brass instruments. His Honky-Tonk piano is first class throughout the recording. Hercules has to be my fav, okay the lyric is a reworking of 'Amy' but the backing vocalists are great and the songs rolls with a fun atmosphere. 'I think I'm gonna kill myself' is a cynical, contemptuous look at teenage suicide while 'Mellow', 'Salvation', 'Slave' and 'Mona Lisas and Mad hatters' are typical country folk-rock of the time. I find that last oen a bit boring and neither 'Mellow' or 'Salvation' set me on fire but they're decent, actually 'Mellow' is a great song, helped along by the passion in Elton's voice and an unusual mellotron. 'Slave' is an excellent song, it has such a fantastic melody and yes the guitars are excellent too. 'Rocket man' is a big hit. It's a good political statement in that I find the lyrics interesting, if not a tad too schmaltzy for this subject. My rating: 8/10

Jean Marlow <wolram@optushome.com.au> (30.04.2004)

I really like this album, although I still think Tumbleweed is my favourite EJ album. And Captain Fantastic is probably next. But this one comes in at number three (or maybe four since Songs From the West Coast has been in my car player for the past little while). But anyway, it's right up there.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (29.02.2000)

Elton's throwaway pop album, as he once described it. But sometimes pop is OK.

Didier Dumonteil <dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr> (04.03.2001)

This album is generally dismissed but it was through it that Elton began his genuine pop reign.It's more various than the recent efforts and it heralds EJ's finest achievement (IMHO),GBYBR.We have ballads (Daniel and the underrated high flying bird),country(texan love song),rock(teacher I need you,edelberry wine),pompous symphonic pop(have mercy...),early sixties teenage stuff(crocodile rock ,a remake of speedy Gonzales)....In short ,EJ develops the white album syndrome.

Ryan Maffei <chaucer@ix.netcom.com> (29.12.2001)

Actually, I think "Texan Love Song" is as uproarious and clever a throwaway as "Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself", but maybe that's just because I actually know people just like that, living in Texas near me. But you have to give credit to someone who can write a successful pop song with "Goddamnit, you're all gonna die" as the chorus.

Bill Slocum <slokes@optonline.net> (10.02.2004)

I agree with Ryan Maffei on "Texas Love Song," which sounds to me more ironic than anything else, though not without a sense of pathos for the narrator's poor benighted take on life. Really, it's one of the few Elton songs where Bernie Taupin's lyrics really command center stage. He's the one with the real country vibe, and this time around, I think he wanted to acknowledge the redneck aspect of that culture. Like Elton wanted to take a shot at the "faeries" ruining pop culture circa 1973.

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (03.06.2004)

I don't know what critics have against Cheese. It's not as though Cheese is chainsaw samples [well not all of it anway]. I like 'Daniel' a lot because Elton is singing about another man for once and it sounds sincere [not like 'Amy'], though the lyric is some political message, about going to the war [or avoiding it rather[. Some of my favourites would have to be 'Midnigth creeper', 'Elderberry Wine', 'Crocodile rock' and 'Teacher I need you' since they're a lot of fun and are definitely rock n roll, but my all favourite is 'Blues for baby and me'. It's like something from Madman across the water only much better. It has a wonderful melody and great instrumentation. I love the story too! So I love side One. IMO side two is weaker. 'Have mercy on the criminal' is a strong song but just goes on too long for me, I very rarely admire long songs thoguh 'Tonight' is an exception. 'Texan love' wouldn't be what I'd call excellent but it's melodic and has some great guitar playing. 'High-flying bird' is anti-cheese actually, the girl-friend killed herself because she though her boyfriend meant her harm. Anyway I find it partially boring. I love 'Teenage Idol' though, very clever song. The production was thoughful, like when he was singing about being a teenage Idol the backing vocals have some pulsing effect to try and conjure up the image of a neon light. It's in stark contrast to the down-beat feeling of the verses. Again clever. If I had the remastered CD version instead of an old vinyl I'd probably find a couple of tracks to replace 'High flying bird' and 'Criminal' so I could have a near-perfect 10-song album. Anywa i'd still give it 9/10, cause it's a lot of fun and the melodies are very strong.

Richard C. Dickison <randomkill@earthlink.net> (11.08.99)

First let me fully agree that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road would be a pure unadulterated all time best if he had gotten rid of the second part of this album.

Glenn Wiener <Glenn.Wiener@Entex.com> (25.08.99)

A very worthy double set. These two records are equivalent to each other. As a matter of fact there are only one or two weak songs, 'Dirty Little Girl' is a bit too repetitive in spots but overall this work once again blends Elton's diverse style magnificently.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (29.02.2000)

Yes, he certainly runs the gamut. A lot of people remarked at the time that it would have made a great single LP release. But there would be a lot of debate on which tracks to get rid of. As for me, I would definitely exclude three of Taupin's ongoing portraits of repulsively slimy human beings, "Dirty Little Girl," "Social Disease" and "Sweet Painted Lady." Not only are the lyrics obnoxious, but so are the melodies. Substitute those 3 nonalbum B-sides instead. "Roy Rogers" is just as boring as its subject, and "I've Seen that Movie Too" sounds like a lounge lizard number. And I was never really crazy about the title track or "Bennie" -- they are kind of ordinary.

Steven J. Smith <mmp@cruzers.com> (17.10.2000)

Well...I was sort of starting to take you seriously, then you come up with "Benny and The Jets" as your pick for best song on GYBR???

Didier Dumonteil <dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr> (01.03.2001)

For me Elton's best and the best Elton to begin with!A godsend:it was  double,it's one CD.Thanks Elton!

Palash Ghosh <palash7@hotmail.com> (06.03.2001)

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road probably represents the peak of Elton John's commercial career, but, artistically, the product is already beginning to slip. I think he made a double album because his popularity at this point was so great that the public demanded it. But, since Elton couldn't even come up with enough good material to fill a single album, a double album was WAY beyond his reach. This album, from its very name and cover, was the first time that Elton openly admitted his homosexuality (as well as his hatred of women, as you pointed out). But I don't understand why his 'coming out' had to be such a public event!

Ryan Maffei <chaucer@ix.netcom.com> (10.03.2002)

Elton's greatest, most ambitious folly, although considering the delightful platter of great songs made up by the best moments of Honky Chateau and Don't Shoot Me, I'm authentically surprised that there are so many mediocre, and even banal, songs here. Those records showed John moving into a more slight, commercial mode, away from the earnest, well-crafted singer-songwriter role he undertook with his best two records (Elton John and Tumbleweed) and Madman. But Goodbye is where the, er, glam hits the fans, and the image and glitz totally takes over the "artist"'s music. That said, Goodbye is certainly 'good', with plenty of absolutely excellent songs to go around. It's just the comparative amount of crap that irks me. There's also a complete lack of cohesion...anyway, "Love Lies Bleeding" remains the best track, an enthralling prog-rock instrumental pastiche that leads to a driving, thoroughly entertaining pop performance. Of the other highlights, "Candle in the Wind" is one of John's most moving ballads, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is some brilliant, exceptionally-written social commentary, "Harmony" is a lovely, winsome closer, "Sweet Painted Lady" has a great hook, and "Bennie and the Jets" is a frivolous classic. "Grey Seal" is also a great piece of music--why it isn't more recognized today must be a mystery whose secret lies in the incomprehensible lyrics. But "Dirty Little Girl" has a completely forgettable chorus, "This Song Has No Title" is really quite meaningless in the end, "Roy Rogers" is cloying pseudo-country (and extremely annoying), and "Your Sister Can't Twist" and "Jamaica Jerk Off" are absolutely TERRIBLE songs, stupid, irritating, worthless. Oh, well. All I haven't mentioned is passable enough to have this record amount to an 8, but this was a point where John was really hanging by a thread.

Colin Brown-Hart <brownhart@sprint.ca> (27.07.2003)

My favourite on the album is "Yellow Brick Road". At one point it's silly and at another point it's very serious. I agree with your rating.

BILL SLOCUM <slokes@optonline.net> (10.12.2003)

Perversely, it took a double album to convince critics Elton was a singles artist. Hard to argue from the evidence here. His songs, as you say, are hit and miss. I guess the best thing you can say here is that people disagree on which is which. I would say "Grey Seal" and "Sweet Painted Lady" are better than you paint them (what's wrong with anti-prostitution lyrics anyway?) while "Social Disease" and "Your Sister Can't Twist" come off lamer to me.

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (20.05.2004)

Now, here is an interesting album. If you go on to Amazon.com, review it but don't have verbal orgasms over it you'll pretty quickly get negative feedback. The same goes for anything from Elton John in 1970 through to this one, Captain Fantastic from 1975 and Songs from the west coast in 2001. It's his most 'obvious' album, perhaps that's why it is so popular. If there is a rocker on here it rocks really hard, with some of the hardest distortion that was around at the time. It is an album that screams for praise, almost with arrogance, like the little drawing of him on the back inside a star.

David Dickson <ddickson@rice.edu> (26.06.2004)

Bah. You people are all drunk, high, or. . . golly, I don't even know what to say here. I figured, after listening to this album, that I would find at least half the people out there calling it "classic", "masterpiece", "way cool", or something to that effect. Instead I hear 90% of people saying, "Well, it's got some good songs, but it doesn't hold together very well," or "Eliminate a third, and you've got something at least half as good as Honky Chateau," or "Blast that misogynist moron Taupin." Uh?? Say what?? You people must all have different ears than me. By far, this is the best album of the early '70's I've ever listened to, with the sole exception of Dark Side of the Moon. Sure, it's got some wannabe reggae, some Hollywoodish ballads, and some hurtful lyrics, but you know what? Every song is catchy. And the production is unbelievable for 1973. Seriously, it sounds like it was recorded seven years later than it was. Not to mention the fact that at least a third of the seventeen songs on here are radio classics. Anyway, I've said all I feel like saying. GBYBR is a classic for the ages. Beats The White Album, Exile on Main Street, Quadrophenia, Physical Graffiti, and Blonde on Blonde to hell, in my opinion. Seriously.

Glenn Wiener <GJW0721@aol.com> (10.08.2002)

Critics may hate it, you may tolerate, but I just like it a whole lot. 'The Bitch Is Back' used to be my favorite song when I was little. Now as my tastes have matured its just of my all time faves by old Reg. Truthfully 'Grimsby', 'Pinky', and 'Solar Prestige A Gammon' have beautiful tones. 'Ticking' is filled with emotion. A little long possibly but pretty moving.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (21.09.2002)

Recorded quickly to meet his contract, this album is pretty much a throwaway. "You're So Static" and "Stinker" are Taupin's 70's nadir in writing about sleazebags, so I can hardly listen to them. And "Don't Let the Sun.." has always sounded overblown and tackily produced to me. But he does exhibit a lot of his sense of humor ("Bitch", "Grismby", the intentionally nonsensical "Solar"), so it's more fun in other places. "Cold Highway" and "Sick City" could have definitely replaced "Static" and "Stinker" and improve the album a lot. Still, not real high on the quality list for EJ.

Bill Slocum <slokes@optonline.net> (04.04.2004)

The conventional wisdom on Elton John's 1974 studio album Caribou is that it contains two classic hits, "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" and "The Bitch Is Back," but is otherwise just a collection of filler and misfires, somewhat understandably released given the singer's tight schedule and the fact he had released the two-disc epic Goodbye Yellow Brick Road just months before.

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (03.06.2004)

I have the exact opposite opinion of everyone on each individual song but in the end I have a similar opinion of the album over-all. 'Don't let the sun go down on me' is so whiney and self-pitying. And I don't particularly liek the melody at all. It compliments the whiney effect and belongs on his horrific Road to Eldorado sound-track on which every song is about being depressed for no reason. 'The Bitch is back' is oh, so repetitive. Hey! as much as i don't like reading you rubbish fav's of mine like all his 80's albums, I love being able to be so open and honest about some of his over-rated 70's garbage like the every-song-is-exactly-the-same Madman across the water garbage. Anyway the only other songs I'm not too fond of are 'I've seen the saucers' and 'ticking', the last being overly long but clever. Other than that I love this record. Again, I should get the bonus tracks. It's like that with his 70's records. I like about 6 or 7 of them and sometimes the bonus tracks make that 9 or 10. Like his second album, I don't like 'Shoestrings' or 'king must die' but I love the other 8 songs on the original album. I love the two bonus tracks 'Bad side of the moon' and 'rock n roll Madonna' and that makes 10 perfect songs. Here, I love track 2-6 and 8. 'Stinker' is my favourite, it's just charming and fun, and bluesy. It's also funky. 'Dixy Lily' is a really cool country song, 'Solar prestige' is interesting and amusing experimentation, 'You're so static' is very funky and rocks. The horns add zest. 'Pinky' is a very beautiful ballad. I find it endearing. So If I had three four more songs ...

Richard C. Dickison <randomkill@earthlink.net> (12.08.99)

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy is one of Elton John's most interesting albums. Yes it's philosophical but there really is something very wrong here. Notice how there are no SHOW songs on this album. It's almost totally autobiographical, it's all about the show and what he sees in it, there was no way for Elton to not relate these songs to himself and boy this is a bum ride.

Glenn Wiener <Glenn.Wiener@Entex.com> (25.08.99)

A good concept album with many well written songs. This record takes a little getting used to as there are many complexities to all of the songs. However, after several listens, this ranks as one of Elton's stronger releases.

Greg Brunswick <gbrunsw@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu> (19.02.2000)

I think this is the best written, composed, produced, and sung album in the Elton John catalog--ranking with the best albums of the rock era. It starts with a tale about two characters, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, and ends with optimism about a future that has resolved its past. Lyrically, the album is full of evocative imagery and cutting commentary. Most of all, the album is about friendship and emphasizes its importance in life's journeys. Musically, the album is rather slow but the title track and "Gotta Get A Meal Ticket" rock effortlessly. "Better Off Dead" is a fun romp with profound sentiments. And the masterpiece "Curtains" ends an album the way a cohesive album should end--with bells and a heavenly chant to signal the end of an era but possibly the start of another.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (29.02.2000)

This was THE album in June of '75, and definitely the best overall EJ album released after Madman. It's actually about Elton and Bernie's early songwriting days. And, by the way, Taupin is straight. Although unlucky in love -- he's on his second marriage.

<TDL133@aol.com> (01.04.2000)

well, i guess richard just didnt get this one at all. It IS TOTALLY AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL!! It chronicals Elton and Bernies lives from the time they met TO the recording of EMPTY SKY.It dos'nt go past 1969. This is before he even had any kind of image to deal with! ("Just someone his mother might know").I think he needs to take another listen!

Didier Dumonteil <dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr> (04.03.2001)

A fine album,the last one,IMHO,that deserves to be remembered.Following caribou -an album absent here but which features the intense "ticking"-,it succeeds magnificently.The ballads have more emotional power than usual. "Someone saved my life tonight" is a true story and is EJ's real suicide attempt.At the end, the album phase from"We all fall in love sometimes"into "curtains " with no dicernible pause,à la Sgt Pepper's and abbey road.The effect achieves a baroque grandeur,and the 2 songs are first -rate ,at that.There are few weak tracks,and EJ can be proud of this.

Ryan Maffei <chaucer@ix.netcom.com> (15.03.2002)

My formally written review of Elton's brilliant Capt. Fantastic (ahem, ahem): "Piano-banging superstar Elton John, coming off of the glitzy, half-assed Caribou, decided to return to his singer-songwriter roots with Bernie Taupin for his final masterpiece, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. The set's lyrics showed Taupin at his most straightforward, confessional, and open, which immediately elevated Captain Fantastic in light of the frivolous, opaque meandering of the last album and Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player. Even better, John was driven by the record's thematic importance to him to write some of his most fluid, well-crafted music ever, as evidenced by such entrancing pop tunes as "Tower of Babel" and "Someone Saved My Life Tonight". The result is a thoroughly engaging and highly cerebral brew that became Elton's biggest seller yet and best album ever next to the creative high of the Elton John LP. John later questioned why Captain Fantastic was such a commercial success, considering its autobiographical and intently personal undertones; what he didn't recognize was that those earnest, realistic themes were what made Captain Fantasic such a strong album in the first place." A

Bill Slocum <slokes@optonline.net> (04.04.2004)

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy is not only arguably Elton's best album, and certainly its most thematically consistent and satisfying from beginning to end, but it benefits more than any other CD reissue from the inclusion of three songs off singles released around the same time. You pay ample due to the two Lennon-authored tracks, George, but "Philadelphia Freedom" is better than a Big Mac, one of Elton's most satisfying boogie-soul workouts and maybe his most amazing vocal performance ever. It's amazing how he dives between falsetto and gruff tenor with seeming ease.

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (07.06.2004)

I am in a good mood, I just got an email from my girlfriend, I just finished an assignment and I have just been prepared for a life of reading absolute bullshit. Well, the day had to come sometime. You said that 'Philadelphia Freedom' [a non-album single] and 'Tell me when the whistle blows' both have sweeping string arrangements. 'Oh no! Boys and girls, is our hero losing his creative edge?, catch us next time for another gripping eposiode of 'denigrating Elton John' Well, Elton doesn't write the string arrangements, Paul Buckmaster does, and Elton isn't even the one who decides if the songs have string arrangements or not.  That's the co-ordinator who was Steve Brown. Now Buckmaster might have had a fancy for sweeping arrangements at the time, he migth have adored them, he may even have had dreams about them but even if he couldn't stand them and had to use the sweeping arrangement twice because of lack of cretivity, that's nothing to do with Elton, that's Buckmasters problem. As for the same bell sound being used in 'Curtains' and 'Lucy in the sky with diamonds', Elton may have had a fancy for such a sound or he may have realised that it fits the atmosphere of both songs perfectly and decided he had to use it twice. HEY! now we're denigrating a guy for using the same synth sound twice? Get ya Communist politics outta here! ;-)

Jeff <historynut@bright.net> (16.10.2005)

By George, George! I agree with your comments on EJ's Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975) across the board! I, too, see this album as the break from Elton being an "Oh my God, I'm a superstar!" to purposely becoming a "pop" icon. 1975 was the pinnicle of GREAT Elton John/Taupin collaborations.

Richard C. Dickison <rdick@mag.com> (25.01.2000)

Yep, not a damn classic in sight, He was really trying to distance himself from his persona. Read the last album as, I've had enough, now what does he want to do? Problem is, I did'nt buy this style anymore than anyone else did. Sure it had promise, I mean it's Elton for chirst sakes. But no, he was not enjoying this anymore. I really believe he wanted respect, and believed he was not getting any for his showmanship. Now, why did he not just go back to something more simple as in his early days? Maybe that was seen as too risky, and that's really the point, no more risks for Elton. Nope, He had done the hard work and he was'nt going to put himself out anymore. Well, from now on out, it's a goner, but this was a short sweet bow for ther rest of these guys. Bye Bye Quaye.

Glenn Wiener <Glenn.Wiener@Entex.com> (09.02.2000)

Its interesting that back in 1975 this recording debuted at #1 on the US Charts. I ended up buying it a record convention for a dollar or two. Now would you be able to do that with a top quality Beatle Release? Very doubtful. The point is that this album just does not hold up well over time. Truthfully 'Island Girl' is probably one of my least favorite Elton John singles. The attempt at trying to add regaae/calypso stylings to his music just does not work too well. Although many of the other songs rock along quite nicely, they just don't bring anything unusualy to the table. Yes, the 'Bullet In The Gun' song is an unusual title. However, it just isn't as touching as prior ballads('Your Song', 'Candle In The Wind', to name two others). The idea is to look for this one cheap. Its not as essential as many other Elton John releases before or after.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (29.02.2000)

This was recorded a year after Captain Fantastic. However, that one was held back for about six months, so the stylistic change of Westies, which was released six months later, appeared a lot more drastic at the time.

Didier Dumonteil <dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr> (03.03.2001)

Elton John told us so.He wanted to  free himself from DJM records,so,five months after captain fantastic,IMHO,his last valuable creation,he decided to release an half-baked record hastily.That was the beginning of the end of his artistic adventures:only the three last tracks are of some interest:"island girl" is commercial stuff but pleasant,"grow some funk of your own " rocks and "I feel like a bullet" remains a fine ballad.Instant karma:4 or 5 months after,-the young people won't believe it nowadays-DJM released another  album,the poorly produced live here and there which the artist deemed "appalling"!

Bill Slocum <slokes@optonline.net> (06.04.2004)

Nice call on this album, not Elton's greatest work, but not a candidate for the trash heap by any means. It has some very good songs on it, that are quite different than Elton's usual fare to that time. While Captain Fantastic and its predecessors were out-and-out melodic pop, this is something fresh, call it "bubblegum soul," not straight-out R&B but very groove-oriented, distracting stuff like the "Yell Help" medley, "Dan Dare," "Hard Luck Story," and "Feed Me."

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (04.06.2004)

I'm not too fond of his late 70's material. They get 3/5 [6/10] from me. With the exception of Blue Moves, they don't sound like they come from a professional, they sound as though they come from some mediocre pop [or rock] artist. This album was supposed to be silly fun. It don't find it much fun at all. Because it's a rock album critics brand it 'far-out' and 'non-commercial' while Blue Moves, being a plaintive ballad album, is panned as a 'sell-out'. Truth is the album is possibly his most generic, it features every generic, half-assed rock riff you could think of, all shoved in under Elton howling like an idiot. Any more proof? In America, This album had three songs reach the Billboard and that's from nine songs. On Blue Moves, only two songs were singles from eighteen and only one did well. Actually Blue Moves is the only late-70's album of Elton's that really deserves credit. Songs like 'Tonight', 'Idol' and 'Wide-eyed and laughing' at least sound as though they come from a professional and I dobut any of them would have made the charts [Anway who cares if someones a singles artist?].

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (21.09.2002)

The reissue is a great bargain. Plus Dudgeon's remix puts everything in perspective. The reworkings of "Bad Side of the Moon" and "Love Song" are the peaks for me -- really powerful and inspired. The latter got a lot of airplay at the time --they really missed the boat by not releasing it as a single. On the other hand, I could really do without "Crocodile Rock", the hideous "You're So Static" and his overindulgences on "Honky Cat" and "Rocket Man". (He still performs it live this way, much to my annoyance). Still, EJ dumped his original band after this tour, so it's great th her them in their prime.

Bill Slocum <slokes@optonline.net> (14.04.2004)

Wow, what a difference a CD reissue makes! Probably only Live At Leeds exceeds Here And There in its high quality/generosity ratio. Like that record, with has a "Tommy" and non-"Tommy" disc, there's a sharp distinction between Disc 1 (May 1974 in London) and Disc 2 (November 1974 in New York), and the difference tells you a lot about Elton and his music.

Richard C. Dickison <randomkill@earthlink.net> (27.08.99)

George, I got one word for this album. SOUNDTRACK.

Greg Brunswick <gbrunsw@mailhost.tcs.tulane.edu> (17.02.2000)

Its funny. Elton John is ripped for anything other than utter brilliance while artists like The Beatles, Bob Dylan, and the Rolling Stones are praised for their nonsensical filler. Blue Moves is an album that rarely gets boring because it is NOT predictable and, in fact, has more memorable melodies than critics would like to believe. The lyrics are thought-provoking and quite emotional. And, George--buy the 2-CD version! You're missing one of the best songs of Elton John's career..."Cage The Songbird".

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (29.02.2000)

There's a good reason for the downbeat tone of the album. Taupin's first marriage was breaking up. A lot of the songs deal directly with that ("Sorry," "Tonight," "Shoorah," "Chameleon," "Between 17 and 20"). And his depression around it permeates even of the lyrics that don't, except for "Bite Your Lip" and "Boogie Pilgrim," the latter of which sounds totally insincere.

<TDL133@aol.com> (01.04.2000)

Elton and Bernie set out to make a "non-commercial" LP when they did this one.The seven previous albums had gone to #1(some making thier debut at the top of the charts).They knew that type of success couldnt last forever so they actually set out to do something lame.This one was lame! My least favorite EJ LP.The french liked it for some reason.His career took off in that country with this release. go figure! "sorry seems to be the hardest word" and "Tonight" are the only two cuts that i ever listen to from this LP.

Didier Dumonteil <dbdumonteil@wanadoo.fr> (03.03.2001)

The watershed (or the height of land) neatly dovetails with the previous effort.Now Elton is over the hill,and pretty soon far away at that.This couldn't even make a  proper single album.To think that he intended a triple first!!!

Glenn Wiener <GJW0721@aol.com> (29.06.2003)

This recording is just way too long. Many of the songs just plod along with a decent arrangement but weak melodies. The opening 'Your Starter For' is quite delightful with fine marimba touches. Tonight is just a stunning ballad with a gorgeous orchestral background. Not a wasted moment on this track. After that its miss and hit as the mediocre outweighs the good or better still decent. 'Crazy Water', 'Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word', and 'Seventeen and Twenty' are other reasonable songs. The rest just drag and drag without a purpose. I've listened to this CD at least three maybe four times and its truly a drag. Inoffensive no but not particularly captivating either.

BILL SLOCUM <slokes@optonline.net> (14.11.2003)

Blue Moves doesn't have a lot going for it to begin with, but Elton and his buddies stacked the deck against themselves with their sequencing, particularly by starting with "Tonight." A torpid, meandering, pointless song about wanting to shut up and go to bed, it lasts longer than "Hey Jude" and is maddeningly pompous in its orchestration. Put anywhere on the album, it would represent a challenge, but stuck up front it really drags a willing listener into catatonia before the rest of the album has a chance.

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (27.04.2004)

Yeah, Elton is being a bit derivative on this album. Somehow I don't really care. I don't think 'Crazy Water' takes anything from a previous hit at all, it's an ususual disco number. How many disco songs at the time where about missing whalers? And by the way this was only the secodn album that Elton touched the disco genre. I love the backing vocalists too. It's a high energy song. I've got an answer to Bernie's question on 'If there's is a God in Heaven' and that would be 'If God is in Heaven what does he have to do with Earth?'. Oh and NO crazy experimentation? That is why I like this album. Because there is plenty of that. Between Seventeen and twenty fuses Jamaican, Groove and an almost 1950's pop sound into one. Well, the verse is Jamaican groove, then the chorus is 50's rock and roll and then he breaks this laid-back song into an emotional ballad 'Seemed no use for yoooo oo oo for you to stay'. I love that spine-tingling falsetto he uses. 'The Wide-eyed and Laughing', what a song! folk song featuring Rototoms, a swirling synthesiser, sitars and Crosby and Stills on backing vocals. It also has a very unusual melody. I don't know why the lyrics about a couple fighting are used as some sought of way of saying Elton was sick of his msuic career. I think that's a load of ***. Tonight, I just want to go to sleep but you want to carry grudges ... It's about a fighting couple and yes the marriage between Bernie and Maxine was breaking down at this time. Other highligths are 'Theme from ...' unusual, 'Cage the songbird', 'Sorry seems' .. [too similar to 'We all fall in love sometimes' to call it excellent] and 'Shoulder Holster', a good wind down tune. It does have it low points, 'Boogie Pilgrim' is an extrapolation of the fadeout of 'Chameleon', and Elton sounsd like he doesn't give a ***. 'One Horse Town' isn't a favourite of mine, 'Out of the Blue' is FAR too long and repetitive and I suppose 'Shoorah' is decent but not oustanding. Not one of his best but enough good songs for a great single LP.

Bill Slocum <slokes@optonline.net> (01.08.2004)

I said what I said before on Blue Moves and stand by nearly all of it, but I have to add "Crazy Water" is now working on me as a killer fast cut. Everything else is torpid and boring, as I wrote before, but dammit, "Crazy Water" is fun!

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (29.02.2000)

I really dislike most of the album. And a major reason for this is Osborne's stupid lyrics. Simplistic, just one step above nursery rhymes. Unfortunately, most of the time, Elton came up with trite music to match. "Madness" sounds like something a tacky piano player would play to accompany a Buster Keaton silent movie or a Dudley Do-Right cartoon. "Return to Paradise" contains banal "tropical" music cliches, "Big Dipper" sounds like a cheap burlesque number, "Georgia" hokey fake gospel."

<JtsToBrzil@aol.com> (11.07.2000)

I'd like to make a correction: the one line repeated over and over in "Song For Guy" is actually "life isn't everything" which is considerably different than "life is a delicate thing", yet if it's true that the Russian CDs don't carry any liner notes (i.e. lyrics), then I understand the mix-up. Coincidentally, it's the one song that's credited entirely to Elton John himself, so I pat him on the back for writing lyrics as well as the music, even if it's only three words. (It says that Elton actually wrote it for some guy whose name was Guy, and who died in a motorcycle accident, yet I can't remember what his purpose he served in Elton's life).

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (21.05.2004)

You know I actually agree with you on this one quite a bit. Just one thing, who said 'Ballad' is a bad word. 'Shine on through', 'Return to paradise', 'Shooting star' and 'Georgia' are all very different from each-other even if they al have a slow pace. But of those four songs, the only one I would call excellent is 'Return to Paradise' and what a vocal he does on it. It's soguth of a cross between Early 60's Elvis and Beach Boys, then near the end he does a baeutiful falsetto solo. It's probably my favourite off this record. Of the rest of the songs on the album, I just love the last three, it is sought of Elton's 'Death suite'. I find 'Reverie' one of his msot under-rated songs. It's sougth of liek the spector comign to get you. The ghostliness of this song is enhaned by the the song lacks 'body'. Since Elton neither starts nor ends on the songs chord note [e.g. if it were in the Key of C, almost all songs start and end of C but this sogn doesn't] the song doesn't b! egin or end, it's just there all of a sudden and then all of a sudden it's gone, and bang into the emotion-filled intro of 'Song For Guy'. 'Life isn't everything' that pretty well sums it up. But 'Madness' is also an excellent song in my ears, excellent passages of classical music, some good electric guitar and of-course a lyric that really drives the dark end of this otherwise limp album. Oh by the way 'Song for Guy' sought of loses it's meaning without 'reverie'. WIth 'Reverie' it's unmistakably about death. But The first two-thirds of this album is rather light-hearted pop. I am the frist person to stress that isn't a bad thing but Theses songs, aside form R.T.P. are either 6,5,4 out of ten meaning decent, mediocre and not good respectively. When I first listen to this album in a long time I love it but after a few listens even 'I don't care' and 'Big Dipper' are rather a task to sit through. I'm thinking 'I could be listening to The Fox now...' Them and 'Shine on through' are the b! est of them. Part-time love, Georgia, Shooting star and It ain't gonna be easy are just boring songs over time. I don't credit them passable. 'Georgia' has the best shot, wouldn't be out-of-place on Tumbleweed connection 'That's another album I could be listening to now' and it does capture the same simple pleasures of 'Country Comfort'. It ain't gonna be easy also had a chance but the lack of any interesting solo work drags in into the dirt. Tim Renwick can hardly play guitar. I got excited about it the second time I heard it, it reminded me of that ZZ Top song I need you tonight. But I need you tonight has excellent guitar playing that keeps you hooked. This Renwick fellow, whoever he is makes what could have been a wrenching ballad into a boring, long one. They had to get Davey Johnstone in to play guitar on the commercial hit. Ray Cooper and Paul Buckmaster are even less inspiring. I like Elton's vocal solo at the end, definitely R&B, but to have to wait six mintues for it is a bit too long for me. Shooting star is experimental but forgettable. A few excellent numbers, a few decent ones and some really boring ones. I'd actually call 'Georgia' decent.

mrivera2844 <mrivera2844@email.msn.com> (30.06.2004)

i do have a flair for buying lost classics but i concider a single man to be a lost classic

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (01.08.2002)

This and Metal Machine Music in the same week? George, maybe you should see someone concerning this masochistic streak you might have. :))

Nick Santangelo <nick@swcarpenters.org> (02.10.2002)

The title track is laughably bad, long a running joke among my musician friends. The line about the 'steely knives' never ceases to elicit groans and derision- just terrible. However, Walsh is positively ripping on 'Victim of Love.' A real killer track- makes you wonder if they didn't get some other band in for that one.

Alex Zaitsev <zaitsev@perm.ru> (22.10.2003)

Hi, George!

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (06.04.2004)

I have always found the reaction to this album to be over-the-top. All o ver the internet are people begging for it to be recalled, I even heard one person call for all copies of it to be rounded up and destroyed? Perhaps the albums biggest fault is it's classification of 'Disco'. I would call it 'pop'. Disco is a no-holds-barred music form full of expressions of emotion and freedom. This album is very conservative. Just compare it to the fleeting drama of something like 'Crazy Water' or 'Bite your lip'. Perhaps it is 'Euro-Disco'. But I can't find why it is SO bad.You can hear the gospel and rock n roll influences all over the album. I would rate it 3/5 but 'Spotlight' is my third favourite Elton song from the seventies. While Elton has gone for a more 'trying to sing it well' approach, 'Spotlight' and 'Street Boogie' Elton uses his trademark falsetto and he sounds like he's really enjoying himself. The worst song is the first one, it's just too long, but it's ok, actually! I really like the guitar tone.

Jerry Shickler <alf_schumway@hotmail.com> (14.05.2001)

I think this album is better than anything he's done since Cpt. Fantastic.

Bob Josef <Trfesok@aol.com> (01.10.2002)

Yes, definitely the best since Captain Fantastic. Bernie even designed the title track specifically as a sequel, but I'm hard pressed to figure out the connection. And is there such as word as "turtlesque"?

Brendan S. McCalmont <tnahpellee@yahoo.com.au> (14.04.2004)

I actually can't think of any bad songs on this one. Yes, This is the best since Captain Fantastic. I love Blue Moves but it's not as consistent. Basically, The Fox does more in ten songs than Blue Moves does in 18. It kicks off with a glam rocker that reminds me of something 'Foreigner' might have done. It also has a gospel feel. Elton's vocals are qutie passionate. 'Hearts in the right place' is a cool blues-rock tune. It's actually a very good lyric by Gary Osborne about Journalists. If I had criticism it would be the two songs 'go on too long' at the end but If i raelly like a song I don't want it to end so... Just like Belguim is sought of Billy Joel-ish, a very nice piece about 'Belguim' complete with sax and a French girl. 'Nobody winds' is a typical euro-dance song of the time and is a cover version, again passionate vocals. 'Fascist faces' is Bernie Taupin expressing a political view through blues-rock. It's also got a gospel edge. Then there's 'Carla Etude' which is a great instrumental. People rave about 'Funeral for a friend' but my favourite instrumental is 'Carla Etude' teamed with the new age 'Fanfare'. It's classical music. Quite a daring move by Elton. 'Chloe' is my least favourite song from the alubm. Elton's trying to sing like James Taylor and I'm not sure how much it works. But I still like it. 'Heels of the wind' has a repetitve piano riff but it's my favourite song off the album. It's very much like a gospel rocker from the mid-60's. Then the album closes with a heart-felt ballad 'Elton's song' about his crush on another man and a great soft-country and western ballad with wailing harmonica, the title track and cryptic lyrics form Taupin. On the whole, a consistet album that doesn't really have low points.