Songs From The West Coast

[BiteUrLip]

This album is famous because of the "line in the sand", Elton's departure from a commercial but synthetic pop sound into non-commercial modern band sound.

From the very first song, "The Emperor's New Clothes", it promises a lot and doesn't let you down. And this song even wasn't a hit! The second track sounds even better, and is one of my favorites here - "Dark Diamond". "Look Ma, No Hands" is somewhat a stranger here, the quality drops but not too much. "American Triangle" however is a sad song, but it's great! The fifth track, "Original Sin", has a reputation of being the best song from here. It's one of the bests here but not the best to me. "Birds", which comes next, is an interesting number but I don't like the drum sounds there. "I Want Love", the lead single, isn't one of the bests to me and that's quite surprise. Then comes "The Wasteland", the weakest track on the album. It reminds me of "Stinker", and in a bad way. Then we have "Ballad Of A Boy In The Red Shoes", another brilliant song from the album.  The next song, "Love Her Like Me", is liked less by the masses. I don't dislike it, and I actually love the electric solo guitar in there. "Mansfield" is a sleeper, took long to appreciate it. And the final track, "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore", is a relaxed tune, one of the faves.

Bonus tracks - I think they're good, even the remixes don't totally suck. The first three are great songs, and make it worth buying the deluxe edition.

1. The Emperor's New Clothes *****+
2. Dark Diamond *****+
3. Look Ma, No Hands *****
4. American Triangle *****+
5. Original Sin *****+
6. Birds *****
7. I Want Love *****
8. The Wasteland ****
9. Ballad Of A Boy In The Red Shoes *****+
10. Love Her Like Me *****
11. Mansfield *****
12. This Train Don't Stop There Anymore *****+

A brilliant album, what else should I say?

Bonus tracks:

13. Your Song [With Alessandro Safina] *****+
14. Teardrops [With Lulu] *****
15. The North Star *****
16. Original Sin [Junior Earth's Mix] ****
17. Your Song [With Alessandro Safina][Almighty Mix] **

[Commodore Orpington]

What about Joan of Ark, and God Never Came Here?

Amazing, classic level album. The only ones I like a bit less are I Want Love and This Train. Mansfield is a perfectly great ending, fortunately.

[BiteUrLip]

Apr 10, 2018 7:44:36 GMT Commodore Orpington said:

What about Joan of Ark, and God Never Came Here?

They weren't bonus tracks. The ones that I rated were from the deluxe edition.

[Commodore Orpington]

I wish they wouldn't play with us like that, and make a complete version of all new studio songs from each album session.

[dougs]

SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST:

Elton and company went the distance to make this one as good as possible.  Multiple guitarists (Davey Johnstone & Rusty Anderson and others) were used.  Multiple drummers (Matt Chamberlain and the return of Nigel Olsson) were used.  The latter was significant because this was the first time that Nigel had appeared as a drummer on an EJ studio album since 1984's BREAKING HEARTS.  Paul Bushnell was used as the bassist.  Patrick Leonard, who produced ROAD TO EL DORADO, was brought back in to produce and to play some keyboards as well.  Guest musicians were brought in;  Stevie Wonder played harmonica and clavinet on "Dark Diamond."  Rufus Wainwright provided harmony vocals on "American Triangle" and Billy Preston provided guest organ parts.  Legendary arranger Paul Buckmaster was also brought back to work his magic.  The album was inspired by a new Ryan Adams album called HEARTBREAKER.  Elton loved the rawness and energy of the record and wanted SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST to have the same feel.  To partly accomplish this, the album was recorded on analogue and not the typical digitial domain which dominated.  The stage was set for what was being hailed as "a return to form."

How did SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST chart and sell?  Generally, it charted well.  It didn't end up charting #1 in any country but it came close;  #2 in the UK and Norway, #3 in Italy, #7 in Australia and Switzerland, #9 in Canada and a disappointing #15 in the USA.  It managed to go 2X platinum in the UK but only gold in the USA.  Three singles ("I Want Love" and "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" and "Original Sin") were released to promote the album.  Striking videos were produced for "I Want Love" and "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" using famous faces but neither song had major success.  "I Want Love" did reach #9 in the UK, a surprising #7 in Canada, but only #110 (!) on the USA Billboard chart (#6 on the AC chart).  "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" only went #24 in the UK and had limited success on the USA chart appearing only in the AC chart at #10.  "Original Sin" had minimal success in the UK peaking at #39.  SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST marked the first time in 31 years that Elton didn't manage to get a single into the USA Top 40.  The remarkable streak of Elton's had come to and end.  Times had changed.  Elton was played less and less on hit radio and FM rock stations had long since dropped his new music.  Elton still managed decent AC radio play in North America.

SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST, aside from three good singles had several good album tracks.  This was always the nature of the early Elton classic albums;  strong album tracks.  "American Triangle" is a haunting and powerful tribute to a young American named Matthew Shepard who was murdered because he was gay.  Elton made it a tradition to go back to Laramie Wyoming (where Matthew was murdered) to play concerts and donate proceeds promoting acceptance / tolerance.  Another track, "Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes" is a remarkable song about a young performer with AIDS who dies at a time when governments were ignoring those with HIV / AIDS.  Davey adds mandolin to this one and Paul Buckmaster's strings are perfect.  A very good song.  "Birds" with Matt Chamberlain's drums sounds raw and fresh and is a truly unique and solid song.  "The Wasteland" is a bluesy number which isn't particularly unique or special except for Elton fans.  Rarely has Elton written such a straightforward blues-influenced song.  This one translated well live in concert.  The album has numerous other fan favourites.  "Mansfield" is excellent live where the strings were replaced by a very strong extended guitar outro by Davey Johnstone.

Despite the relative strength and the high quality of songwriting and the mostly very good album reviews, SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST didn't have chart staying power except for a few places. It was considered a disappointing album in terms of sales which unfortunately means a lot to EJ.  He should be proud of this one.  Subsequent releases would see EJ's chart positions and sales drop way off.  SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST would be the most successful album of the decade - by far!  

Doug

[rocketman]

1. The Emperor's New Clothes 4
2. Dark Diamond 4.25
3. Look Ma, No Hands 4.75
4. American Triangle 4.75
5. Original Sin 4.75
6. Birds 4.75
7. I Want Love 3.75
8. The Wasteland 4.5
9. Ballad Of A Boy In The Red Shoes 4.25
10. Love Her Like Me 4.5
11. Mansfield 4.75
12. This Train Don't Stop There Anymore 4.5

As already mentioned, this album was a pre-determined change in direction for Elton and Bernie, who agreed that they would no longer write songs in the interest of chart success and appeal as singles. Nonetheless, three singles were released from the album, which was a mostly successful attempt (in terms of quality if not sales) to return to the early Elton John sound.

The song quality is amazingly consistent. Only I Want Love falls a bit short of the consistently good-to-excellent batch of songs on this record. And I do say 'batch of songs' because this album seems very eclectic and not thematic at all, despite the album title.

The production is solid, with Patrick Leonard back on board after El Dorado. Had Elton kept Leonard on board a little longer, I think the subsequent albums Peachtree Road and The Captain And The Kid would both have benefitted, especially so the former.

The old band was back too, at least somewhat, with Davey and Nigel playing together for the first time on a studio release since 1984. But Nigel shares duties with Matt Chamberlain, and indeed, their kits sound quite different. Paul Bushnell plays solidly if unspectacularly on bass. The album does manage a more organic sound than many of Elton's post-1970's albums.

[dougs]

rocketman:

Good comments!

I, too, wish that Patrick Leonard was kept as producer. I thought that he did an excellent job during his short time as Elton's producer.

I always "want" to like "I Want Love" but I just can't get into it.  I appreciate it but don't ever play it.  Having a variety of musicians I think enriched the sound; "Birds" is an example of that.  The album had a peculiar running order, I thought.  Just like MADE IN ENGLAND did.

Doug

[rocketman]

Overall, one thing that I couldn't bring myself to do was to rate any of these songs as a five-star song. But that in itself doesn't really diminish the album because I did rate every song but one, I Want Love, at four stars or higher, and some were very close to garnering the five-star rating that I consider pretty rarefied air.

Thanks Doug, and once again, thank you for your comprehensive review, very informative! I did not realize that the album was recorded using analog equipment, among other interesting information.

[latitude]

This one was a little difficult for me. I really like the album, and it's solid, but for me it's not utterly great. It has a few songs I like best, but nothing that blows me away. Do love the close up vocals. I gave it 4 stars.

[dougs]

Latitude:

I feel much the same as you.  SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST is good but certainly not a classic.  Using a variety of musicians paid off in some ways;  "Birds" is a product of using non-band members.  A song unlike other EJ songs.  The running order of the songs is a bit peculiar to me.  I have always been a huge fan of "Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes" both lyrically and musically and Nigel's touch on the drums and backing vocals was a welcomed return.  Paul Buckmaster's touch was also perfect here.  "Original Sin" is a beautiful song too.  The singles "I Want Love" and "This Train Don't Stop There Are Anymore" are good but I never want to listen to them.  They drain my energy.  Other than the bluesy "Wasteland" Elton was entering a decade where he would no longer truly would rock out.  He would try here and there but he appeared no longer interested.

Doug

[latitude]

'...Red Shoes' is a favorite of mine on the album. Along with 'Mansfield' and 'Dark Diamond'. I'm not sure why that album doesn't blow my mind, but it just doesn't. It's good though. BTW, thanks for all the info, Doug. Really interesting.

[rocketman]

Apr 14, 2018 13:45:11 GMT latitude said:

'...Red Shoes' is a favorite of mine on the album. Along with 'Mansfield' and 'Dark Diamond'. I'm not sure why that album doesn't blow my mind, but it just doesn't. It's good though. BTW, thanks for all the info, Doug. Really interesting.

Latitude, it seems as though we feel similarly about the album. There's just something about it overall that prevents it from being 'great' for me too. For an album to be considered great, it must obviously have great songs and also some very good to excellent songs, and SFTWC just doesn't have those one or two or more transcendent songs that will push an album over the top for me.

But again I will emphasize, again in agreement with your assessment, that it is indeed a good album, and I think that Elton and Bernie for the most part succeeded in doing what they had set out to do and create an album that was good and yet didn't pander to the idea of charting a bunch of singles.

[latitude]

Apr 25, 2018 22:55:26 GMT rocketman said:

Apr 14, 2018 13:45:11 GMT latitude said:

'...Red Shoes' is a favorite of mine on the album. Along with 'Mansfield' and 'Dark Diamond'. I'm not sure why that album doesn't blow my mind, but it just doesn't. It's good though. BTW, thanks for all the info, Doug. Really interesting.

Latitude, it seems as though we feel similarly about the album. There's just something about it overall that prevents it from being 'great' for me too. For an album to be considered great, it must obviously have great songs and also some very good to excellent songs, and SFTWC just doesn't have those one or two or more transcendent songs that will push an album over the top for me.

But again I will emphasize, again in agreement with your assessment, that it is indeed a good album, and I think that Elton and Bernie for the most part succeeded in doing what they had set out to do and create an album that was good and yet didn't pander to the idea of charting a bunch of singles.

I do connect with the album better then I do with the MIE album, overall anyway. But, strangely enough, the MIE album does have a song that blows me away, which of course is 'Latitude'. To me that song is better then any of the songs on SFTWC, and yet I like the SFTWC album better generally.

[kissybissy]

5 stars. The vocals is what stands out the most about this album. Love the songs also, but the vocals is what always comes to my mind when I think about this album.

[nix]

Album rating: ****

1. The Emperor's New Clothes ****
2. Dark Diamond ****
3. Look Ma, No Hands ****
4. American Triangle ****
5. Original Sin *****
6. Birds *****
7. I Want Love ****1/2
8. The Wasteland ****
9. Ballad Of A Boy In The Red Shoes ****
10. Love Her Like Me ****
11. Mansfield ***1/2
12. This Train Don't Stop There Anymore ****1/2

Bonus tracks:

The North Star ****1/2
God Never Came There *****
Did Anybody Sleep with Joan of Arc ****1/2