Rock Of The Westies

[BiteUrLip]

This album is usually considered one of the weakest of the classic era. My opinion about it is mixed - a couple beyond brilliant songs, while there are a couple truly very weak songs.

"Medley: Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly" is one of them. The song is totally crazy! Same about "Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future)", but that one doesn't irritate that much and it is quite fun. Then we've got one of my big favorites, "Island Girl". It is Elton's best performing single if we don't count in CITW 1997. Love the arrangement on that one! "Grow Some Funk Of Your Own" has a high energy as a rocker and a little crazy outro. It's a great rocker but nowhere near SNAFF or TBIB. "I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford)" is the same in ballads category, except the gap between it and best ballads like YS and CITW is bigger. Lyrically, it's really weird, which reflects to the music too. "Street Kids" is a long rocker, still not getting close to SNAFF or TBIB. "Hard Luck Story" however is a song that used to be my favorite Elton song of all-time. It's really so much fun! Oo-wee-oo-wee-oo!   "Feed Me" is boring. And the last one is "Billy Bones And The White Bird", never really cared much about that song, and nowadays I just hate it. It's supposed to be fun like most of the tracks on the album, but for me it's just irritating.

Bonus tracks: I love "Don't Go Breaking My Heart". It's very lightweight pop song truly made for radio, and many dislike it because of that reason. I don't. Then we've got "Planes" and "Sugar On The Floor". The former is a very "nice" song, but a lot like that. The latter is very interesting musically, and lyrically much like many songs on ROTW - fun.

1. Medley: Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly **

2. Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future) ****

3. Island Girl *****++

4. Grow Some Funk Of Your Own *****

5. I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford) ****½

6. Street Kids *****

7. Hard Luck Story *****++

8. Feed Me ***½

9. Billy Bones And The White Bird *½

Bonus tracks:

10. Don't Go Breaking My Heart [With Kiki Dee] *****+

Alternate bonus tracks:

11. Planes *****

12. Sugar On The Floor *****+

[kissybissy]

I don't like this album. 2 stars. I hardly give 2 stars to an album, but this one I truly believe deserve this low rating.

[rocketman]

1. Medley: Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly 4.25

2. Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future) 4

3. Island Girl 4

4. Grow Some Funk Of Your Own 4.75

5. I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford) 4.75

6. Street Kids 4.75

7. Hard Luck Story 5

8. Feed Me 4.5

9. Billy Bones And The White Bird 4.5

Bonus tracks:

10. Don't Go Breaking My Heart [With Kiki Dee] 2

Alternate bonus tracks:

11. Planes 4.5

12. Sugar On The Floor 4

Eager to show off his new band, featuring James Newton Howard, Kenny Passarelli, Caleb Quaye, and Roger Pope, Elton John followed up on the success of Captain Fantastic with this album just four months later, in October 1975, and it too debuted at #1 in the US, making the (then) rare feat a two-time accomplishment for Elton.

Unlike Captain Fantastic, Westies was a straight-up rock record, and was a departure in substance and style from most of Elton's 1970's material and in fact from most of his catalog.

Ballads were almost non-existent on the original 9-song LP, with just one. Gone was the familiar piano-driven sound, replaced by a guitar-driven ensemble of rock songs. Unfortunately, largely gone too were the tremendous crescendos and melodic turns that often made Elton's music so engaging. Still, several of the songs were impressive in their own right, forging a harder-edged sound that makes the album fun if non-substantive.

The bonus material, with the surprisingly tuneful Planes and the more plaintive Sugar On The Floor, round out the album nicely, though both sound more at home on other albums rather than this rock record. As for Don't Go Breaking...well, let's just say that I'm glad it was never included on any album.

[latitude]

I kinda like the edginess of this album and real rock it has. It's so unique among his albums. Don't love all the songs, but as a whole it's pretty exciting. And I totally LOVE 'Planes'!! One of my very favorite songs. Gave the album a 4.

[nix]

Album rating: **
not horrible... but not far from being horrible

1. Medley: Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly *½
2. Dan Dare (Pilot Of The Future) ***
3. Island Girl ***
4. Grow Some Funk Of Your Own *
5. I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun Of Robert Ford) *½
6. Street Kids **½
7. Hard Luck Story **
8. Feed Me ***
9. Billy Bones And The White Bird ***



Bonus tracks:
10. Don't Go Breaking My Heart [With Kiki Dee] *****

Alternate bonus tracks:
11. Planes **½
12. Sugar On The Floor *½