I started Elton John in early July of 2020. If you're interesting in getting into Elton John, I recommend listening to everything from Elton John to Rock of the Westies except Friends (a soundtrack) and Madman Across the Water. Although my grades perhaps appear as though I’m somewhat enthusiastic about Elton, I really like a lot of his individual songs and think in general his albums’ track lists could be more consistent.
Elton John (1970): B
Tumbleweed Connection (1970): B
Friends (1971): C
17-11-70 (1971): C+
Madman Across the Water (1971): C-
Honky Chateau (1972): A-
Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player (1973): B
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973): B+
Caribou (1974): B
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (1975): B+
Rock of the Westies (1975): A-
Here and There (1976): B-
Blue Moves (1976): C
A Single Man (1978): C
Victim of Love (1979): C
21 at 33 (1980): C+
The Fox (1981): C+
Jump Up! (1982): B-
Too Low for Zero (1983): C
Empty Sky (1969):
If there's anything here to get excited about, it's Taupin's lyrics. While his lyrics don't make "Empty Sky" 8 min shorter or "Hymn 2000" any more bearable to get through, they'll certainly come in handy down the road. On to the music, this certainly sounds like a debut--who else would put recorders on half their songs anyway? The musicians on the album are pretty mediocre, the production ain't great, and to be honest, this doesn't even hint at what's to come. But hey, Dylan's debut is just as bland, most of this album is listenable, and "Gulliver/Hay Chewed" sounds like it's going to build to something exciting even though it doesn't! C
Elton John (1970):
Unlike Empty Sky's melodies, all the melodies here are undeniable. This, paired with Taupin's growing lyrical ability, make "Your Song," "The Greatest Discovery," and "The Cage" strong cuts. However, I take issue with how often strings are utilized on the songs, particularly because too many of these songs succumb to the cover of grandeur with their addition. Only "I Need You to Turn to,” whose strings add a slightness to the song that the others so desperately need, escapes this entirely. B
Tumbleweed Connection (1970):
Especially because he's an Englishman, the country/roots rock is surprisingly well executed. "Country Comfort" is quite catchy, "Where to Now St. Peter?," about a dying soldier, is one of Taupin's best lyrics, and the slightness of "Love Song" makes it a lovely acoustic number. While John's songs clearly had the melody and lyrics down before, here the execution is on a new level. The lyrics are slightly less interesting to follow than on Elton John, but only major problem with this album is that it didn't include "Madman Across the Water" with Mick Ronson on guitar. B
Friends (1971):
The title track "Friends" is easily the best song here and "Seasons" is worth a listen from fans. For a soundtrack, it's not terrible, but as an album it's not super interesting or engaging. Although I will not be returning to this album at all, I'd consider it superior to Empty Sky. C
17-11-70 (1971):
John definitely brings energy to these songs: "Sixty Years On" caught my attention here more than its studio counterpart did and "Take Me to the Pilot" is great. Based on all flamboyant costumes he wore at live shows, I suspect that he will bring more energy to his shows later. Those will (very likely) be the ones you'll want to listen to. C+
Madman Across the Water (1971):
Commenting on their second place finisher for the fan-polled list of the best Elton John LPs, Rolling Stone notes that "Elton and Bernie don't get enough credit for writing truly weird songs," which is a truly weird thing to say about your second place finisher. I think what our good friend Andy Green, with a bit more courage and honesty, was trying to say was "Elton and Bernie get much too much credit for writing utter shit on an album that merely placed second on this list because it includes 'Tiny Dancer.'" Generally the melodies could have made for a decent album, but all the songs--"Tiny Dancer" included--are stretched to lengths that break them. They're also all swathed with Buckmaster's strings. Unlike Elton John, grandeur is not what they succumb to. C-
Honky Chateau (1972):
The rock backing fits Elton’s songs well and I hope it stays. The funky “Honky Cat” would have been unmemorable with a string arrangement, but here the brass instruments help it stand out as one of the best songs. "Rocketman" is something like Elton’s best song yet and Taupin’s lyrics throughout the album highlight his strengths as a writer. Most impressive about this album though is that John is able to turn the tongue-in-cheek "I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself," about a bratty teenager, and "Slave," about slavery, into undeniably great songs. A-
Although Don't Shoot Me contains the rock backing and song diversification that made Honky Château Elton's best album so far, nothing here is nearly as commanding as "Honky Cat" or "Rocketman" or even "Slave." "Daniel" is a strong cut and "Teacher I Need You," about a schoolboy's crush, has some fun lyrics. And perhaps the band just compliments them better, but the strings are Buckmaster's best contributions to Elton's songs yet, "Have Mercy on the Criminal" being especially strong. B
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973):
"Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding," "Candle in the Wind," and "Bennie and the Jets" make up what is likely the best 20 consecutive minutes on any Elton album yet and he continues this momentum onto side 2 with "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." While the album rarely has dull tracks, there is a noticeable drop in quality of songs on side 3. Side 4, while much better, does little to gain back the lost momentum. The first half is an A- and the second half is a strong B. Let's take the average. B+
Caribou (1974):
Starting off well with "The Bitch is Back" and "Pinky,” the album quickly takes a wrong direction after that. Taupin's nonsensical lyrics on "Solar Prestige a Gamma" may in fact be too nonsensical, because while the Beatles's "Sun King" (which this song was inspired by) makes me sing along, the use of "molesting" makes me queasy. The horns are overused on "Your So Static" and "Stinker" is named well. Fortunately, the album comes back around on "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" and "Ticking" but even both of these are a small step down from John's best output. But the album does has perhaps my favorite Elton John song, “Dixie Lily,” the second best song about a boat ever (CCR anyone?). B
I find the high sales for this album surprising--besides Empty Sky, this album might be his least catchy batch of songs. Besides "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy" and "Someone Saved My Life," none of these songs are likely to offer the instant gratification that pop stars like Elton are expected to brew up for their fans. In fact, many of these don't start sounding good until the third listen. Slightness and understatement here is key--it does feel strange to say this with such a overstimulating cover--and Elton throws in a "Bitter Fingers" or "(Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket" to counteract this occasionally. Not bad. B+
Rock of the Westies (1975):
Something about John's intentionally rowdy vocal delivery on many of these songs is at first easy to be turned off by but there's something impossible to deny about this band's raunchy hard rock. But Elton sounds great, perfectly matching both this band’s untamed energy and soft groovy side. The guitar work is incredible and there's a memorable lick or riff on nearly every song with a particularly strong performance on "Street Kids." In fact, the guitar is so impressive on this album I was sure Elton had hired two new guitarists. What a surprise that it's Elton's regular guitarist Davey Johnstone and his old friend Caleb Quaye, who played on John's earliest albums. Bernie Taupin also brings more to the table than he usually does with one of strongest batch of songs yet: “I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)” compares an outlaw’s murder to Taupin’s failing marriage, there’s “gasoline burning in [the] eyes” of the protagonist on “Street Kids,” and I have no idea what the lyrics of “Feed Me” are about, but they're good. A-
Here and There (1976):
Elton delivers both energy and quality arrangements to make quite a strong live album. Of course, Elton doesn't have the luxury of adding strings to any of these songs, so many of his early songs have their best versions here like "Skyline Pigeon." B-
Blue Moves (1976):
Stick with this album beyond three listens or so and you'll start to be able to differentiate between the crap and decent tracks. But that's a lot to ask and even if the best of this was compiled into single LP, it would only be a B-. C
A Single Man (1978):
It would be easy to say this album is a disappointment because our beloved Bernie Taupin has been replaced with new lyricist Gary Osbourne, but Osbourne didn't hire Buckmaster to come and ruin a few decent songs. Osbourne didn't add the unbearable percussion to "Song for Guy" either and, anyway, I didn't read Taupin's lyrics for Blue Moves before giving it a C and I'm certainly not reading these. C
Victim of Love (1979):
This disco covers album is only 35 minutes long, which I certainly appreciate. The first track "Johnny B. Good" is terribly bloated and John's vocals are distasteful. Some of the songs are catchy at best and I disliked this album less and less with re-listens, but this is still far from Elton's best work. I would listen to this over Blues Moves and A Single Man, but I have a feeling my answer would change if I weren't first introduced to many of these songs here. C
21 at 33 (1980):
Elton always sounds best when the music is rock first and this is certainly rock-orientated. Melodies, which he always was praised for, are mostly forgettable here. The only thing that really cuts it is "Take Me Back," which reminds me, I should return to his earlier stuff. C+
The Fox (1981):
These songs have the strongest melodies from an Elton release since Rock of the Westies. However, good melodies don't always guarantee a good album from Elton: execution is always the question. For the most part, the execution isn't bad, and some songs, "Breaking Down Barriers" and "Heels of the Wind" for example, are good, but a whole lot of it is neither worth mentioning nor worth panning. C+
Jump Up! (1982):
Though this doesn't compare to much of his best work, the melodies are generally strong (and memorable!) and this band is the best he's assembled since Rock of the Westies. "Spiteful Child" might be my favorite Elton deep cut. B-
Too Low for Zero (1983):
Ever since I first listened to Blues Moves, I knew this would be the last Elton John album I'd review--I'd hoped that'd give him a chance to go out on a high note. Instead, I'm left with production so thin and terrible it nullifies the decent melodies. Even "I'm Still Standing" is underwhelming. C
