Post by BiteUrLip on Jan 18, 2018 9:23:22 GMT
After Goodbye Yellow Brick Road there was lots of pressure on Elton, could he record an equally good or even better studio album? The answer is, for most and for me too, that he didn't manage to do that.
Caribou certainly has brilliant single material and strong album tracks, but it has serious fillers too, unfortunately. Since the self titled album, there has been no songs below four stars on his albums (except on Friends) in my reviews. But now there are even four such songs!
The opener, "The Bitch Is Back" is not one of the failures. It's a long time favorite for me, it very catchy and got a classic guitar riff. And it has a saxophone solo, if I'm not wrong. "Pinky" is another winner, I'd call it Elton's most romantic love song. "Dixie Lily" is a track where the quality really starts to drop. It's a good song, somewhat fun, but nothing more. In "Solar Prestige A Gammon" the quality drops very low, and the song is complete nonsense. Alright, then the second side starts with "You're So Static". It's supposed to be fun, but that's definitely not fun to me. It irritates, although it doesn't completely fail thankfully. Same with "I've Seen The Saucers". The intro of the song is horrible, but the rest of the song is good. "Stinker" is where we fall to the bottom on this album. The song is totally ridiculous! But after that we've got two very strong songs. "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" was a number one hit, and another time it went to chart was with George Michael. It's a masterpiece full of nostalgia. And finally we've got "Ticking", which grows slowly without drums. It's got a brilliant, sad story which makes it what it is.
Then we've got four bonus tracks. "Pinball Wizard" is the first of them, and that was a cover made from The Who's classic hit. I like the version by The Who more, but Elton's version doesn't leave far behind. Elton brought the song further from songwriter's point of view. Then we've got two b-sides, of which I like "Sick City" more, it's catchy. "Cold Highway" is weird. And finally we've got "Step Into Christmas", which was a hit and still gets played around Christmas. It has lots of energy, which I like, although it kinda feels chaotic in the end.
1. The Bitch Is Back *****+
2. Pinky *****+
3. Grimsby *****
4. Dixie Lily ****½
5. Solar Prestige A Gammon **½
6. You're So Static ***½
7. I've Seen The Saucers ***½
8. Stinker **
9. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me *****+
10. Ticking *****+
Bonus tracks:
11. Pinball Wizard *****+
12. Sick City *****
13. Cold Highway ****
14. Step Into Christmas *****+
Caribou certainly has brilliant single material and strong album tracks, but it has serious fillers too, unfortunately. Since the self titled album, there has been no songs below four stars on his albums (except on Friends) in my reviews. But now there are even four such songs!
The opener, "The Bitch Is Back" is not one of the failures. It's a long time favorite for me, it very catchy and got a classic guitar riff. And it has a saxophone solo, if I'm not wrong. "Pinky" is another winner, I'd call it Elton's most romantic love song. "Dixie Lily" is a track where the quality really starts to drop. It's a good song, somewhat fun, but nothing more. In "Solar Prestige A Gammon" the quality drops very low, and the song is complete nonsense. Alright, then the second side starts with "You're So Static". It's supposed to be fun, but that's definitely not fun to me. It irritates, although it doesn't completely fail thankfully. Same with "I've Seen The Saucers". The intro of the song is horrible, but the rest of the song is good. "Stinker" is where we fall to the bottom on this album. The song is totally ridiculous! But after that we've got two very strong songs. "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" was a number one hit, and another time it went to chart was with George Michael. It's a masterpiece full of nostalgia. And finally we've got "Ticking", which grows slowly without drums. It's got a brilliant, sad story which makes it what it is.
Then we've got four bonus tracks. "Pinball Wizard" is the first of them, and that was a cover made from The Who's classic hit. I like the version by The Who more, but Elton's version doesn't leave far behind. Elton brought the song further from songwriter's point of view. Then we've got two b-sides, of which I like "Sick City" more, it's catchy. "Cold Highway" is weird. And finally we've got "Step Into Christmas", which was a hit and still gets played around Christmas. It has lots of energy, which I like, although it kinda feels chaotic in the end.
1. The Bitch Is Back *****+
2. Pinky *****+
3. Grimsby *****
4. Dixie Lily ****½
5. Solar Prestige A Gammon **½
6. You're So Static ***½
7. I've Seen The Saucers ***½
8. Stinker **
9. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me *****+
10. Ticking *****+
Bonus tracks:
11. Pinball Wizard *****+
12. Sick City *****
13. Cold Highway ****
14. Step Into Christmas *****+