This is the kind of album that got into seriously collecting vinyl records in the late 90s and early 2000s. I wanted to go back and hear albums by artists that I only knew from their radio hits. I wanted to hear their deeper cuts and buying vinyl records was the cheapest way to do that. Elton John was one of those artists who I wanted to get into his full catalog. Growing up in the 80s I wasn't that big of an Elton John fan. I wasn't a big fan of his music in the 80s. (I've sense changed my opinion). But in high school I had an art teacher that loved to play an Elton John greatest hits cassette and I did start to gain an appreciation for his work from the 70s. So when I started collecting records Elton John was one of the first artists I was on the hunt for. Elton's early records are all pretty great. I've already mentioned my love of his first album. This is also a pretty great record. Even if you hate every song on this album except for "Tiny Dancer" the album would still be great because that song is a musical narcotic. That song gets into your blood and by the end you have to be singing along. I believe we all saw this effect in the movie Almost Famous.
"Levon" is another great song was one that I knew from the radio. It wasn't a staple, but it did get played here and there. Oddly enough I looked up the track listing on that Greatest Hits album my teacher played all the time and neither "Tiny Dancer" nor "Levon" were on that album. That is just crazy t me. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greatest_Hits_(Elton_John_album)
The rest of the album is basically deep cuts and I imagine new to anyone who has never heard this album before. There are a few things I like about all of these songs. The first thing is the production. I was listening to this album in the car Monday night and I had the stereo up really loud and in that environment I could really appreciate how well sound designed the album was. It all sounded so good. Every instrument is really captured well. Nothing is muddy. The second thing and related to the first is that the musicians and the arrangements are all great. The last thing is the songwriting itself. Elton John and Bernie Taupin are up there with Lennon and McCartney in my book in terms of great writing partnerships. Bernie really was great at spinning a tale and evoking imagery and emotions.
As I am writing the track "Madman Across The Water" is playing and I have it up really loud. This is a great example of everything I mentioned above. The song goes through all these modes. It gets big and then small, and then dramatically builds again to this mammoth song. And it has all these great textures. The production is playing with the mix and things rise and fall, push forward and recede. It is quite a song.
"Indian Sunset" is another epic story song with a complex arrangement and makes full use of studio wizardry. It isn't a simple straightforward pop song. It moves and evolves and changes with the narrative. I think it is also a nice example of Elton's great piano playing. I think I often forget how great a pianist Elton was. When I saw "Rocket Man", that film brought that to the forefront for me. By the way if anyone hasn't seen that movie, I highly recommend it.
This is something I saw today.
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