Elton John by Elton John | List Price: $11.98
Discount Price: $5.41
|
Binding: Audio CD
Release Date: 1996-02-20
Can It Really Be 36 Years? [Posted on 2006-12-01]
I consider "Elton John" to "Captain Fantastic" a single chapter of Elton John's body of work. Obviously it is the chapter of his body of work where he was at his peak.
When you compare this album to his most recent works, it is really hard to believe it is the same person. However, even comparing it to the aforementioned "Captain Fantastic," a span of roughly 6 years, the differences between the two albums are astounding.
The standouts here are, of course "Your Song," the first Elton song the majority of the country heard, "Border Song," and "Take Me To The Pilot." There are other great songs here too that never got airplay.
The remastered version has solid bonus tracks, including an early version of "Grey Seal," which would be "officially" released on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
My favorite [Posted on 2006-12-18]
I remember listening to this album with my friends when it first came out. We were amazed at how wonderfully different this music was. We'd never heard music like this before. It was a truly new, fresh ground-breaking sound. This album is still my favorite.
Classy 2nd Album [Posted on 2007-04-24]
The 2nd album from Elton John is the one where he first made an impact on the music world. There are two standards on this album 'Your Song' and 'Border Song'. Both are great songs. Sadly Your Song has been overplayed a bit over the years, but listening to the original version of Border Song again recently I was struck by the simple production, and its great gospel feel.
'Sixty Years On' and 'Take Me To The Pilot' remain two of the songs that Elton still plays in concert to this day and any fan will know these. A couple of the remaining tracks are perhaps are not up to quite the same standard, but I like them all. The string arrangements by Paul Buckmaster set Elton's early albums apart from his more comercially successful albums and give this album a unique feel.
The 3 bonus tracks are well worth having. My favourite of these is 'Rock 'n' Roll Madonna'. A rare straight rock n roll track from Elton with an artificial live feel and Jerry Lee Lewis/Leon Russell influenced Piano solo. The remastered sound is good and the new sleeve notes give quite a lot of useful background information. This is well worth getting.
(3.5 stars) Elton breaks through [Posted on 2007-11-22]
Uneven as all get-out, but at times this is unbelievably good. The beautiful, melodic love song "Your Song" was the first and arguably best of John's big hits: the strength of the melody and John's emotional performance help it rise above moronic lyrics like "If I was a sculptor/But, then again, no" - a lyric that makes some of my worst moments look like "The Raven". It's all about that melody, you know? Interestingly, "Your Song" was a b-side: its flip, the manic, lyrically incoherent unbridled rocker "Take Me to the Pilot" is another personal favorite, even though I've got no clue what the hell Bernie's talking about. Several other songs pack a punch too, most of them energetic: the gospel shouter "Border Song (Holy Moses)", which got the royal treatment from Aretha Franklin and became the highlight of her sterling Young, Gifted and Black album; "The Cage", a solid song about alienation; the threatening "King Must Die"; and the low-key "I Need You to Turn to". Paul Buckmaster's orchestration dominates as usual, and while it never gets out of hand on the best tunes, it's responsible for screwing up the worst ones ("Sixty Years On"; "The Greatest Discovery"; "Last Episode at Hienton", the first of many sexist Taupin songs). Speaking of sexism, there's a dollop of it on the awful country parody "No Shoestrings on Louise", which is arguably the worst Elton John song not found on Victim of Love. This is a pretty good album, but it can't stand in the same room as the next one.
Incomparable [Posted on 2008-02-26]
How can I be the first to review Elton Johns first album? After 37 years what more can be said about his classic YOUR SONG? It epitomizes the intricate melodies and tender lyrics that were the cornerstone of his career.
While the rest of the album never climbed the charts as the lead song, they are still pleasant additions.
Click here for more details and discount information...
|
){kind=link}