CD Odyssey Disc 1828: Orville Peck

Hoping to hear about the new Ghost album? Well, outside of this teaser, you won’t be. I barely made it through one listen earlier this week. A terrible record from a band I otherwise love. At a recent visit to the record store I exclaimed that with their latest effort it felt like Ghost was deliberately making fun of its audience. To which a fellow Ghost fan behind me noted, “haven’t they always been doing that?”

“Yes”, I replied, “and I’ve generally enjoyed it, but this time they crossed the line.”

On to review an album I liked considerably more…

Disc 1828 is…Stampede

Artist: Orville Peck

Year of Release: 2024

What’s up with the Cover? Our titular masked cowboy, chillin’ with cool kids of various persuasions. I love Peck’s outfit, which gives me ideas for how I can repurpose my suits upon my retirement.

How I Came To Know It: Orville Peck doesn’t always work for me, but I’m sufficiently intrigued to give each of his releases a chance. Often, I move on. This time, I lingered.

How It Stacks Up: This is my only Orville Peck album (although I have been on the hunt for 2022’s “Bronco” for some time now). Until I find it, there’ll be no stacking up.

Ratings: 4 stars

Duet records tend to be a mixed bag. Some of the pairings can sound like two songs stitched together awkwardly and some just feel forced or – worse – a competition. On “Stampede” Orville Peck avoids all the common pitfalls and delivers one of the finer collaborations I’ve heard in a while.

Peck accomplishes this by making each duet a true partnership. He lets himself be immersed in the style of each collaborator, while bringing his unique sound into the mix. The result is like the design a talented barista puts on top of your latte; distinct and intricate, even as it blends into itself before your eyes.

The album’s opener is a great example. “Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other.” The song’s a duet with Willie Nelson, and despite his propensity for a more Vegas style urban cowboy delivery, Peck allows Nelson’s moseying style to take the lead. The song has a timeless sway, and a lot of heartfelt fun. Fun fact about this song for those who don’t have the benefit of liner notes – this is a cover of a 1981 single by singer/songwriter Ned Sublette. Kudos to Sublette for being so far ahead of his time to write a song about gay cowboys, but if you’ve heard the original it suffers from Sublette’s vocals which are just…OK.

Not so with Willie Nelson and Orville Peck in charge. I’m not a huge fan of Willie Nelson, but that quaver is unmistakable and as welcome here as a tall glass of lemonade on a hot day in the south. It pairs well with Peck’s rich baritone and natural showmanship. Both men command a stage with their vocals, but they do it with very different approaches. The blend is quite lovely.

A few songs later, Peck is up to similar (but different) tricks with Beck on “Death Valley High,” a song that would have been at home on Midnite Vultures except for all that Las Vegas back-country sound. This is western music yes, but it’s the kind encrusted in rhinestones. The Beck/Peck combo is also great. The two singers are again distinct, and the tradeoff between them is a delight. It is also a thoroughly groovy song that will have your head bobbing and (if driving) encourage lead in the foot.

If “Death Valley High” isn’t sufficiently groovy, fear not, because later on the record you’ll get the absolute treat of Peck pairing up with latter-day disco diva Kylie Minogue on “Midnight Ride”. This song has that Minogue-specific back beat that commands you to dance, and to do it right now. Peck channels his best Vegas Elvis vibe (which, FYI, is really good) and matches her energy groove for groove, hip shake for hip shake. Listen to this song at your peril, because it is a serious earworm.

That’s a sampling of the funkier side of the record, but there is also plenty to offer on the country side of the ledger. Peck’s collaboration with Margo Price on “You’re an Asshole, I Can’t Stand You, and I Want a Divorce” that channels “Fairytale of New York”, minus the holiday spirit.

On “Papa Was a Rodeo” Peck cuts up some serious old timey fun with Molly Tuttle. It is a bit weird where Peck says, “pick it, Molly” before her solo. Like Molly needed anyone’s permission or encouragement to be the world’s greatest living guitar player. Yeah, you heard me.

There are even songs on this record I normally dislike (Elton John’s “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting”, Glen Campbell’s “Rhinestone Cowboy”) that in the hands of Peck are lifted up to brilliance (“Rhinestone Cowboy”) or in the case of “Saturday Night…” at least made tolerable. For the latter, I think I noticed the lyrics for the first time ever, and it helped considerably. Thanks, Bernie Taupin.

This willingness to meet multiple styles halfway could easily make for a disjointed record, but through it all Peck is the stylistic centrepiece. He has a natural charisma that oozes out of every note he sings, and he stands tall as an equal partner with some of music’s greatest legends (also, with Midland, but even that works).

While not every track is as bangin’ as “Midnight Ride” there is a balance of excellence overall. Also, it is a lot of fun, so if you don’t like fun, maybe avoid it. But seriously, that thing you have where you don’t like fun? You should get that checked out.

Best tracks: Cowboys Are Frequently Secretly Fond of Each Other, The Hurtin’ Kind, Other, Death Valley High, Papa Was a Rodeo, Midnight Ride, You’re an Asshole I Can’t Stand You (And I Want a Divorce), Rhinestone Cowboy

CD Odyssey Disc 1398: Elton John

I’m just back from watching a thrilling come-from-behind victory by my beloved Boston Bruins. Well, I watched all of it but the last 90 seconds, when Canadian broadcasting decided I’d much rather watch the Blues play the Canucks. No, I really wouldn’t. But the important thing is…we won in thrilling fashion.

Disc 1398 is…. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

Artist: Elton John

Year of Release: 1975

What’s up with the Cover? A lot. Our hero has apparently landed on the beach of some tropical island, populated with all manner of colourful beasts. There is also a town in a glass bowl, where suited figures haul around giant watches. This cover would make for an excellent Doodle Art.

How I Came To Know It: This is one of Sheila’s albums, which she bought a number of years ago while fleshing out our Elton John collection.

How It Stacks Up: We have seven Elton John albums, and this is the last one. I had saved last place for it, but after listening I moved it all the way to #5. As this is the last Elton John review, here’s the full recap:

1. Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 221)
2. Tumbleweed Connection: 4 stars (reviewed at Disc 900)
3. Madman Across the Water: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 232)
4. Caribou:  3 stars (reviewed at Disc 709)
5. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy: 3 stars (reviewed right here)
6. Honky Chateau: 3 stars (reviewed at Disc 1175)
7. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: 2 stars (reviewed at Disc 526)

Ratings: 3 stars

With the combination of that overblown title and crazy acid-trip album art you could safely bet “Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy” was going to feature a whole lot of excess. And you’d be right. This record feels like a combination of the best damn dance party you’ve ever attended, combined with the tension headache of that same party when it is still raging at five a.m.

As usual, Elton John has an exceptional talent for writing a melody. Every song skips its way through notes that trill with triumph and joy. You’re not sure if they belong in a rock opera, a stadium or just blasting out of a two-seater convertible, but you know you want to celebrate. Even the sad tunes have a mania in them that makes you throw your hands in the air and let out a whoop.

The production is as lush as Elton John gets, which is saying something. Little flourishes exist throughout every song, but everything is orchestrated in a complementary way, and things never get muddy.

There is a strong sense of soul and R&B that snakes through every song, and against that backdrop Elton plays matchmaker with a whole host of different musical ideas. The title track feels vaguely country, “Better Off Dead” feels like a Broadway number and “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” is pure romance, but every one of them has an undertone of funky rhythms that hold them together.

For the most part, I surprised myself by how much I enjoyed all this excess. At times Elton seems to be trying out musical concepts just to prove he can make them work, but since he tended to succeed it was hard to fault his hubris.

This is the nightclub at its best, with Elton dropping proto-disco dance sounds and making you feel like you’re an integral part of the scene. Even “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” has an element of “the slow dance” song about it, in addition to possessing one of pop music’s great hooks – maybe two of them.

So that’s the dance party, but remember I also mentioned that tension headache. The musical equivalent of that is reflected in songs that tend to be a bit too long. Elton is so good at constructing and resolving melodies that when he drags them out a bit because the band is in the groove, it feels superfluous. His cover of “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” (not on the original, but a single release thrown onto my CD re-issue) is a gratuitous six-plus minutes long. Four minutes in I liked it better than the original, but a minute later I was ready for it to be over.

The album has a few of these “ready for it to end moments” (and not just on the bonus tracks) where I felt things just needed to be slightly tighter. I was also drawn less to Bernie Taupin’s lyrics than usual, although this could have been partly due to all that lush music taking centre-stage.

It still won me over, however. “Captain Fantastic” turned out to be a solid record and – despite my preconceived notions going in – a worthy and notable entry in Elton John’s impressive body of work.

Best tracks: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Tower of Babel, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Better Off Dead, Philadelphia Freedom (technically a single, but on my reissue of the CD)

CD Odyssey Disc 1175: Elton John

I had an annoying day today dealing with the various dehumanizing ways we service people en masse in the 21^st century. It began with an hour and a half of waiting at the medical clinic, all so I could get 10 minutes with a doctor that told me…I have the flu. It ended with my bus not picking me up and me waiting another 40 minutes for the next one.

That experience will garner BC Transit a less than kind review from me, but first a less than kind review of the kind you were expecting.

Disc 1175 is… Honky Chateau

Artist: Elton John

Year of Release: 1972

What’s up with the Cover? It’s a Giant Head Cover! This is early in his career and as you can see Elton cannot yet afford large sunglasses for his Giant Head. Those would come later.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila got me into Elton John and bought most of these studio albums when they were remastered and re-released on CD. I filled in the collection here and there and I’m not sure where “Honky Chateau” fits into those two possibilities.

How It Stacks Up:  We have seven Elton John studio albums and I saved slot #3 for “Honky Chateau”. However, this record let me down and I must drop it down to #5 – moving both “Madman Across the Water” and “Caribou” up one. It still beats out the bloated and overrated “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” but it’s close.

Ratings: 3 stars but only barely

Sometimes I wish Elton John would just lay off the boogie woogie and stick to ballads. On “Honky Chateau” I wished it early and often.

The record starts with “Honky Cat” which if our copy of “Greatest Hits” is to be believed was a hit. Why, I have no idea, with its horn section that sounds like a fart and a bunch of frantic bells and piano trills that are clever enough but don’t make me want to tap my feet, except maybe in agitation.

This is one of two songs that Elton attempts to use the word ‘cat’ in a cool way. The other is “Hercules” near the end of Side Two. Sadly in neither case is an actual cat involved, it is just Elton trying to be hip to the new slang. I don’t think he manages it in either case.

Even on slow songs like “Mellow” Elton warbles around so much that I had a hard time following the melody, and I wasn’t sure I wanted to. By the time “I Think I’m Going to Kill Myself” came on at Track 3 it was starting to sound like good advice.

I just don’t dig Elton John when he’s trying to be groovy or boogie woogie or whatever he is trying to be on these songs. On “Amy” he says of the titular character “you’re far out, you’re fab and insane.” Sadly Elton is not these things, and his efforts to infuse these songs with an urban strut fail.

Instead, the songs seem to dart around frantically, without much purpose or plot, until they eventually wear themselves out and stop. It reminded me of the mentally ill woman who waited with me at the bus stop today, randomly swearing and giving various objects the finger. I was listening to Elton so missed her epithets, but I like to think she was also unhappy with the transit system. But I digress…

For all that frustration, when “Rocket Man” comes on I almost forgive it all. “Rocket Man” is just one of those perfect songs. Elton writes a gorgeous melody and then relaxes into the song’s flow. The guitar and piano play off one another beautifully, the backup singers ‘ooh’ with sublime inspiration and as Elton’s Rocket Man is “burning up his fuse out here alone” (for the record, that’s what he’s doing) he is also tapping into something universal. The loneliness of existence is beautiful, precious and not really alone at all; we’re all slowly swaying within the same feelings of isolation. Great stuff.

I also really love “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters,” which is another song in taking solace in isolation, although here that isolation exists within the multitude; surrounded by the sights and sounds of New York City. If you’re looking for a place where you can be friends with no one and everyone at once, New York City is it. The song ends with Elton thanking the Lord for the people he has found. You’re not sure if he means all those strangers or a few close friends and really, in the moment it doesn’t matter.

I’m sure for lots of people this record is a classic.  It was certainly successful – the first of six straight #1 records for Elton. But this blog isn’t about critical acclaim or commercial success. It’s about how I feel about a record and apart from a couple of classics lifting it up “Honky Chateau” left me behind. Like the #11 bus earlier.

Yeah, I’m not over that.

Best tracks: Rocket Man, Salvation, Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters

CD Odyssey Disc 900: Elton John

Yeehaw! My 900^th review! Hard to believe I’ve come so far – and in only seven short years!

I’ll do a recap of the last 100 shortly, but for now let’s let Disc 900 have its moment.

Disc 900 is….Tumbleweed Connection

Artist: Elton John

Year of Release: 1970

What’s up with the Cover? If England were the old west, I suppose this would be it. Someone needs to move that listless hippie along, though. What’s that? That hippie is the star, you say? Welcome to 1970.

How I Came To Know It: Sheila had a run on a bunch of reissued Elton John CDs a few years ago, and this was one of them.

How It Stacks Up:  We have seven studio albums. Because of a recent purchase a lot of those albums got bumped down a spot, but “Tumbleweed Connection” holds its own at #2 in my heart.

Ratings: 4 stars

If you are expecting Elton John to do country because of this album’s name you’ll be disappointed. “Tumbleweed Connection” is better described as “Elton thinks about country music, while still doing Elton”.

Whatever you call it, it appeals to me. Most Elton John albums have at least one or two songs that sound like they belong on the Muppet Show (and some even ended up there). I like Elton better when he sounds earnest and soulful. Due to the experimentation with some of country music’s forms, “Tumbleweed Connection” has a toned down quality, while still maintaining Elton’s signature warbling voice and trilling piano.

A good example of this is the opening track, “Ballad of a Well-known Gun.” The song still has that boogie woogie swing that is so indicative of many of the Elton John songs that annoy me (“Honky Cat” and “Bennie and the Jets” come to mind). However, the song is restrained enough that you could hear it playing in some old western saloon. The lyrics, about a man trying to escape his violent past as a gunfighter, also helps ground the song in a narrative about something other than a bunch of yeehaw.

Most Elton John albums from his heyday have a signature track, and on “Tumbleweed Connection” it is “My Father’s Gun,” one of a number of songs on the record about a character’s relationship with his father. The album is a concept album, and this song informs just how our character became known as a gunfighter through soldiering in the U.S. Civil War. It is a song full of oath-taking and imagined glory, made tragic because as listeners we know that the narrator’s chosen side (the Confederacy) is destined for defeat. Elton is faithful to the viewpoint of his character, who sees himself fighting for love of family and freedom.

The most country-flavoured song is the appropriately named “Country Comfort” which is pretty solid, but here Elton is too good at mimicking the style, and as a result it is missing the interesting twist he puts on many of the other songs.

“Burn Down the Mission” is innocence lost as the poor storm the local mission to get what little food is available. The song is triumphant in tone, quickly shifting the frenetic in the bridge as the music captures the restless energy of a mob that spills out of control, before slowing again as it returns to the regret of crimes done, and the debt that must be paid.

“Burn Down the Mission” is driven by Elton’s masterful piano playing, but the record benefits from a lot of great musicians. This includes some pretty sweet guitar from Caleb Quaye, who manages to match up with Elton’s piano style but insert a bit southern-flavoured rock ‘n’ roll like you might hear on a Little Feat record.

The album ends with another song about a father (Elton explores serious daddy issues on this record), “Into the Old Man’s Shoes.” Here the character turns his back on the responsibilities left by his dead father, leaving town to what sounds like a dissolute pursuit of fortune, with the judgment of those he leaves behind weighing on his shoulders:

“And all they say is you ain't half the man he used to be

He had strength and he worked his life to feed his family

So if that's the way it has to be, I'll say goodbye to you

I'm not the guy, or so it seems to fill my old man's shoes”

The weight of family on “Tumbleweed Connection” is like a Greek tragedy. No matter whether our characters embrace their duty, or flee from it the resulting narrative leaves us empty and uncertain.

As great a fit as “Into the Old Man’s Shoes” is, it was not part of the original album, but is a bonus track on my remastered edition. It is followed by a bloated nine minute version of “Madman Across the Water” proving that bonus tracks are almost always a mixed blessing.

“Tumbleweed Connection” is probably the best Elton John album that you don’t own (unless you only own a greatest hits package in which case, God help you). This record didn’t chart as well as many other Elton John records of this era, but it is every bit their equal nonetheless. If anything, I like it better than most.

Best tracks:  Ballad of a Well-known Gun, My Father’s Gun, Burn Down the Mission, Into the Old Man’s Shoes

CD Odyssey Disc 709: Elton John

I have a whole lot on the go tonight (a lot for us ‘no kids’ types, anyway).

I started work early, stayed late and then took a power nap. Now I am writing this review before I finish watching a taping of the Bruins/Canucks hockey game (It is 1-1 after the first. Go Bruins!).

Later my friend is coming over to do a little gaming and then it is a late dinner, a little TV with Sheila and early to bed to do it all over again on Wednesday. Whew!

Disc 709 is…. Caribou

Artist: Elton John

Year of Release: 1974

What’s up with the Cover? This looks like one of those mall photo booths, where they put you up against a fake backdrop and encourage you to pose with a bunch of goofy props. Hey, Elton, just because they provide all those ridiculous clothes and accessories doesn’t mean you have to use them.

What’s that? Those are your regular clothes? Well, alright then…

How I Came To Know It: Just me drilling through the Elton John collection, since Sheila caught my up on him a few years back. This was my most recent purchase, and I’ve probably only had it a year at most.

How It Stacks Up:  We now have seven Elton John albums (as promised when I reviewed “Yellow Brick Road” I have added both “Honky Chateau” and this album to the collection. I would put “Caribou” 4^th, just edging out “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” which has slipped since I reviewed it back at Disc 526.

Rating: 3 stars

Chronologically, I consider “Caribou” Elton John’s last record worth owning, but I still consider it part of his golden age. It is a bit of a mess in places like “Yellow Brick Road” but the fact that Elton wisely keeps his excess down to a single album helps considerably on that front.

The album starts with a bang with “The Bitch is Back” which feels like Elton getting in touch with his not-so-nice self. Here is the Elton of Excess, doing what he wants when he wants, and not caring about the consequences. Hearing “The Bitch is Back” I was not at all surprised to learn that a year later Elton would have a drug overdose. The song feels like a cry for help. An overblown, rude, obnoxious cry for help, but a cry for help nonetheless.

After this the album descends a bit into mediocrity. “Pinky” and “Grimsby” are both meandering affairs that are held up by Elton’s considerable talent on piano. On “Pinky” he layers a rich emotional texture into the song, and on “Grimsby” he delivers a frenetic energy that helps offset the song’s clunky rock guitar. Despite this, both songs felt to me like they were missing the genius of other songs from earlier in his career.

I could say the same about the countrified “Dixie Lily” but I won’t because I have a soft spot for Elton when he gets all honky tonky. He is better at it than most actual country singers, and his ragtime piano made the whole song feel like it was written in 1874 rather than one hundred years later.

Then John is back being weird with the deliberately obtuse “Solar Prestige A Gammon” and the directionless “I’ve Seen the Saucers.” The latter tries to throw minor chords in to create an aura of strangeness, but instead it just pokes a big hole in the melody. Both songs are examples of how you can lose your way when experimenting as often as you make new discoveries.

I love the slow build of “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me” which I recall was one of the first Elton John songs I admitted liking. (Growing up in a heavy metal culture meant you had to automatically dislike Elton John to be cool. How sad and foolish we can be when we’re young).

The song that came out of nowhere to surprise me was “Ticking” – a song abut a supposedly good kid losing his mind; stabbing a waiter and murdering 14 people in a bar before being tragically killed by police. Er…spoiler alert.

The piano in “Ticking” is sublime, racing forward to the song’s inevitable end, tripping over itself as it lurches into despair and madness. Despite being almost eight minutes long, but I never feel like it drags.  The music perfectly captures what it feels like to run downhill, gaining speed until you eventually lose control.

My version of “Caribou” is an extended re-issue, so instead of ending with “Ticking” we get four bonus tracks. That’s a bit disappointing, because “Ticking” would be such a great ending, but the bonus tracks are actually pretty interesting. You get “Pinball Wizard” (the movie version), a couple of B-sides and…”Step Into Christmas.” OK, I take it back – they should have stopped with “Ticking.”

Best tracks: The Bitch is Back, Dixie Lily, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me, Ticking

CD Odyssey Disc 526: Elton John

Happy Canada Day!  I’ve just returned with drinks with a friend.  Downtown is slowly filling with inebriated (or soon to be inebriated) people wearing red and white.  Despite my considerable love for my country, I decided to come home and write this review.  I’m sure I’ll get to hear them all go by on their walk home later on.

Disc 526 is…. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Artist: Elton John

Year of Release: 1973

What’s up with the Cover?  A gigantic Elton John steps into a painting of the Yellow Brick Road.  I think this is a reference to Elton John being so huge at this stage of his career that his life had taken on an unreal quality, and in the process he has lost some of his own humanity.  He has stepped wholly into fantasy.  However, if he’s going to walk any distance on that road he might want to consider more comfortable shoes.

How I Came To Know It:  Sheila is the Elton John fan, and we own quite a few of his early albums.  This one is hers as well, and we’ve probably had it the longest.  Along the way she has won me over to his genius.

How It Stacks Up:  We now have five of Elton John’s studio albums, all from his early career.  We’re still missing “Honky Chateau” and “Caribou” both of which I suspect are better than this one.  However, I must stack it up against current competition and on that basis I’ll put it third.  I originally put “Madman Across the Water” (reviewed back at Disc 232) at that spot, but having now had a chance to consider them both, I prefer ‘Madman.”

Rating:  3 stars

My last review of Nick Cave’s “Abattoir Blues/The Lyre of Orpheus” shows that not every double album is excessive.  Most are however, and despite all the fame surrounding “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” and all of Elton John’s self-evident genius, in the end this was a bloated and overwrought record.

The hype is considerable for this record.  It was number one in multiple countries, including Canada.  It went multi-platinum and had four hits, two of which (“Bennie and the Jets” and “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”) made it to number one.  So clearly there was something good about this record, right?  Well, no – commercial success doesn’t guarantee good music (remember Nickelback) – but in this case there are plenty of positives.

“Candle in the Wind” wasn’t a huge hit until it was remade in tribute to Lady Diana, but the original song approaches perfection.  A treatise on fame and the terrible price it extracts on the soul, this was a topic Elton John was grappling with himself at this time.  I’ve never been a Marilyn Monroe fan.  In fact every time I see “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes” it’s Jane Russell that I can’t take my eyes off; Monroe is an afterthought at best.  Still, when I listen to this song I not only feel sad for Marilyn, I think about all those that get lost in the maelstrom of excessive public attention.

Similarly themed is the excellent title track, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.”  A song about rejecting fame’s empty trappings, written even as Elton John was being drawn deeper into them, this song is equal parts anthem and dirge.

These are the album’s two standouts.  There are other solid tracks, but – if you’ll pardon the expression – none hold a candle to these two.

What they all share in common is some brilliant piano playing and songs constructed by someone who truly understands how to manipulate chord progressions into well crafted songs.  The mix of piano and guitar in equal measure keep the record solidly half way between pop and rock, which is right where Elton wants it.

So the genius that this album is always labeled with is present, but I think the case has been severely overstated over the years.

For one thing, this album is simply too long.  It is a double album, but at seventeen songs I could easily cut a good third of them and double how good it is in the process.  Reggae rip-offs like “Jamaican Jerk Off” are just silly and made me pine for the day when I was reviewing great contemporary reggae music like that found on “The Harder They Come” (reviewed at Disc 371) which was released the same year.

Similarly, the album’s harder rock moments also feel like they are trying too hard.  “Bennie and the Jets” and “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” are OK songs, but I think they get way more street cred than they deserve.  They both seem very dated and again, compare poorly against other rock and roll being release at the same time.

The worst offender is the opening track, “Funeral For a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding).”  This would be a good five and half minute song – one of my favourites on the album in fact – except that it is eleven minutes long with an extra five and half added on as a musical intro that has very little to do with the song it eventually turns into.  This song never fails to enrage me, and since it starts the album off, it has me in a bad mood from the moment I begin.

I expect that Elton John was so huge at this point in his career he was able to tell his production people to get stuffed when they tried to rein him in.  Or maybe he was just surrounded by sycophants and toadies that catered to his every whim.  Either way, someone needed to say no, and to get this record under control.

The lyrics on the album have an edginess to them that I like.  “Dirty Little Girl” is a good example, as Elton John (through his muse, lyricist Bernie Taupin) calls for someone to “grab that bitch by the ears/Rub her down scrub her back/And turn her inside out” or on “All The Girls Love Alice” which is a song about a local lesbian girl that seduces all the neighbourhood housewives when their husbands are away and is later found dead in the Subway, perhaps the victim of their inevitable jealousy.

Overall though, “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” is just a bit too overblown for its own good.  It is a record desperately in need of an editor, and history has chosen to whitewash its problems to service Elton John’s legend, rather than admit that this is merely a good record, with a great public relations machine promoting it.

Is it worth a listen?  Absolutely, but you’re much better off getting “Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player” (also from 1973) for a fix of Elton John in his glory days.

Best tracks:  Candle in the Wind, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, This Song Has No Title, Sweet Painted Lady, Dirty Little Girl, Social Disease

CD Odyssey Disc 373: Elton John

I've had a crazy day at work, but that didn't stop me from setting five mundane non-work tasks to accomplish. My inspiration was from a song on the Streets' album, "A Grand Don't Come For Free" (reviewed back at Disc 87). That guy had to: 1) return a DVD 2) get some cash out of the ATM 3) call his Mom to cancel coming over for tea and 4) deposit some savings.

My five tasks were 1) pick up my Mom's ring at the jeweller's 2) buy a lottery ticket 3) pick up some T-shirts I ordered at the post office 4) go to the gym and workout and 5) do my blog entry.

I'm proud to say that I've accomplished the first four, and as you read this I'm working on the fifth. Huzzah!

Disc 373 is...Greatest Hits

Artist: Elton John

Year of Release: 1974

What’s Up With The Cover?: It is Elton John doing his usual "I'm goofy yet fabulous" look. I admire Elton for pushing the style envelope, but to me it has always seemed more goofy than fabulous.

How I Came To Know It: Everyone knows Elton John, but this disc belongs to Sheila, who has since been buying his classic early albums instead (more on that in a minute).

How It Stacks Up: 'best ofs' don't stack up, as long readers of A Creative Maelstrom will know. They have an unfair advantage.

Rating: 'best ofs' also don't get a rating. Yeah, they have songs, but 'best ofs' aren't real records.

I've never been a big fan of greatest hits packages, despite the fact that this is my 24th review of one. They give only a fleeting impression of an artist, and that impression is almost always skewed toward their hits. In the cases of popular music, if you buy a bunch of 'best of' albums, you'd probably be just as well served listening to the radio.

Of course, if you only have a fleeting interest in the artist, then a fleeting impression is all you need. Of the 'best ofs' that I've already reviewed, Boney M, Grim Reaper and Kool and the Gang would all fit into this category.

However, a few years ago Sheila started to buy the remastered CDs of Elton John's early albums. I was never much of an Elton John fan. My experience with him was principally his goofy eighties songs and videos, and I viewed this use of my dwindling CD real estate with skepticism.

That skepticism was ill-founded. Elton John had some amazing records, particularly from 1969-1974, which is the period this Greatest Hits package covers. So now I'm going to talk about that package, correct? Sort of.

The Greatest Hits album survives on our shelf only because of the eleven songs, we're still missing five on our other albums, including the classics "Your Song" and "Rocket Man," the latter of which may be my favourite Elton John song of all time.

Six of the songs on this record can be found on two albums we already own, "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." These are amazing albums (I already reviewed the first one back at Disc 221) and you would be better off just getting them instead. You'll then find a whole host of other great songs that weren't deemed worthy of a greatest hits package, including "Blues For My Baby and Me," "High Flying Bird" and "This Song Has No Title."

In fact, the other two Elton John albums we have, "Madman Across The Water" and "Tumbleweed Connection," aren't even represented on this Greatest Hits album, which is equally ridiculous. No "Tiny Dancer," no "Indian Sunset" no "My Father's Gun" no "Talking Old Soldiers," and no "Burn Down the Mission."

That's the problem with compilation records; they leave far more out than they put in. This particular Greatest Hits record is from Elton John's greatest creative period, so it is full of good music, but it somehow manages to catch a few duds anyway. I could live without "Honky Cat" and "Crocodile Rock" quite happily, for example. Yeah, I just called "Crocodile Rock" a dud - but hey, it's my blog. Let's move on.

Buying Elton John's "Greatest Hits" means you may never buy the classic albums that it skims over, and that's a pity. Later you might be tempted to get his second or third volume of hits, which are from inferior periods in his career, when you could just be mining the gold from his great studio albums. If you're just a casual Elton John fan, then this may serve you well, but before you choose that road, try at least one of his studio records from 1970-1974 and let him convince you otherwise.

Best tracks: Um...no. I'll save that for when I review Elton John's many and excellent albums. That said, this album won't be going anywhere until classics like Rocket Man and Your Song are safely recorded on another record.

CD Odyssey Disc 232: Elton John

Today, Sheila cleaned up the computer room and it looks great! Consequently I'm typing this review with a serene mind that comes when you declutter a room. It's like a warm bath for my gulliver!

Disc 232 is...Madman Across the Water
Artist: Elton John

Year of Release: 1971

What’s Up With The Cover?: Sometimes simple is better, and this is one of those times. I think this cover is not only self-explanatory, it is positively informative. I even like the colour palate.

How I Came To Know It: Apart from the big AM radio hit, "Tiny Dancer" I didn't know this record. This is another of Sheila's buys when she did a bit of a run on Elton John.

How It Stacks Up: We have four Elton John studio albums, all bought around the same time. I would say that "Madman Across The Water" opened its heart to me first, for which I'm thankful, but as time has gone on it has slipped slightly. I'll put it third.

Rating: 3 stars.

This early Elton John stuff keeps surprising me pleasantly. I often associated Elton John with the stuff he was doing in the eighties (like "I'm Still Standing" and "Sad Songs"). It was a negative association.

By contrast, these early albums are very good. Very folksy pop, that are artfully produced. I very much enjoyed the artful use of string sections - particularly on the timeless hit, "Tiny Dancer" which I used to mock, but I now have to admit into my guilty pleasures list.

Other standouts include "Indian Sunset" and "Holiday Inn" both side two treasures.

"Indian Sunset" is yet another song showing the British fascination for the colonization of North America. When Sheila and I visited there in 1996, I was amazed how often TV would feature some show about First Nations. My very non-researched impression is that North Americans find wild west tales most interesting, whereas British singers prefer early colonial stuff (other examples of this off the top of my head: Iron Maiden's "Run To The Hills", Queen's "White Man" and Mark Knopfler's "Sailing To Philadelphia").

"Indian Sunset" is in this tradition, as a warrior refuses to succumb to the advancing European colonists. It is a beautifully tragic tale. It begins with Elton John singing a capella and it slowly adds instruments, taking its time to arrive at its terrible conclusion as our hero acknowledges the inevitable:

"Now there seems no reason why I should carry on,
In this land that once was my land, I can't find a home.
It's lonely and it's quiet and the horse soldiers are coming
And I think it's time I strung my bow and ceased my senseless running."

At the other end of the narrative spectrum, "Holiday Inn" tells of the incredible boredom that an artist experiences on tour, where the majority of your time is spent sitting around hotel rooms waiting for the show to start, or for a plane to arrive. Taking an experience of loafing around a hotel room and making it interesting is a skill. Then again, when Sheila and I were in Miami recently, we both got sick and spent a pretty entertaining evening loafing about in ours, watching bad US TV and ill-advisedly drinking beers despite being under the weather. But I digress...

Back to the record, which while it has some gems, also delivers some coal. In particular the songs "Razor Face" and "Peaches" have some of the most obtuse and pointless lyrics in music - even after you get what they're about. In an earlier review I had blamed the lack of Bernie Taupin for these atrocities to language, but to my chagrin, the liner notes confirm Taupin was involved. Et tu, Bernie?

In conclusion, despite a couple misses, this is a solid album. I probably wouldn't have bought it on my own, but I like it being in the collection.

Best tracks: Tiny Dancer, Indian Sunset, Holiday Inn, All The Nasties

CD Odyssey Disc 221: Elton John

Sometimes the Odyssey can be jarring to the ear. I never know what to expect, so I can't be prepared for whatever style of music is coming up. Right when I've got my ear tuned to hard rock, I'll get disco, or pop, or something else.

That was the case with this record, which sounded very alien for the first six songs or so, but by the time I'd finished a second listen was not only making sense, but surprising me with how good it sounded.

Disc 221 is...Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player

Artist: Elton John

Year of Release: 1973

What’s Up With The Cover?: A staged shot to make the album seem like it is actually a movie playing at the local cinema. I think this is one of those covers that benefits from being larger on the original vinyl. In this size, it doesn't impress.

How I Came To Know It: While I know the hits off this record, I've never been an Elton John fan. A few years back Sheila got into his early records pretty heavily and she bought this one - so I know it through her.

How It Stacks Up: We have four Elton John albums - all from early in his career (nothing past 1973), and one Greatest Hits album. Of the four studio albums, I would say "Don't Shoot Me..." is the best, or at least tied for the best.

Rating: 4 stars.

I didn't expect much from this record when I rolled it, and after sitting through three listens of Boney M, I wasn't feeling very adventurous. For this reason, it turned out to be a pleasant surprise.

"Don't Shoot Me..." was the first of five straight #1 albums for Elton John - it was released in January 1973 - the same year as the much more famous "Goodbye, Yellow Brick Road". I think it stands as strong as that album, and moreover it benefits from not being so padded with extra songs, the original release having only ten tracks. Our version is the remastered version where once again some soulless record exec has added four bonus tracks I could mostly live without. Counting those tracks, I'd drop the rating for the record to three stars, but I've decided to give Elton a pass on this, and just focus on the ten original songs.

Listening to this album, I was struck with how talented Elton John is at composing a song. Some of these songs are a little too dressed up (I think I heard a gratuitous sitar more than once) but it is never to the point of ruining the production.

Standouts for me include "Daniel", a sorrowful song of parting that was rightfully a hit, and "Blues For My Baby and Me", which is one track where some additional production (in this case some well-placed violins) beautifully augment a very well constructed song telling the story of a young couple striking out on their own, against the wishes of their parents.

As usual, Bernie Taupin's lyrics perfectly match Elton John's music - if you've heard the songs with Elton John writing the lyrics ("Razor Face" and "Peaches" come to mind) you'll know how important Taupin is to his success.

My favourite song on this record is a great example - "Texan Love Song". It is a satirical take on a Texan redneck upset with hippie types coming to town and dating the local girls. It is hardly a love song - more a hate song if anything:

"How dare you sit there and drink all our beer
Oh it's made for us workers who sweat spit and swear
The minds of our daughters are poisoned by you
With your communistic politics and them negro blues

Well I'm gonna quit talking and take action now
Run all of you fairies clean out of this town
Oh I'm dog tired of watching you mess up our lives
Spending the summertime naturally high"

This song has a stripped-down western feel which suits it perfectly, and it is Taupin doing what I think he does best; building great characters, and then letting them reveal themselves in their own words. It isn't "From The Inside" level stuff, but it is good.

I'll never be a big Elton John fan, but I can't deny this is a strong album, and it has improved my outlook on the records still to come.

Best tracks: Daniel, Blues For My Baby and Me, Texan Love Song, High Flying Bird