Post by BiteUrLip on Jan 21, 2018 16:42:31 GMT
The first album of the transition years.
This is one of my least favorite Elton albums. There are a few songs that fail to impress and do damage to the total score.
The album opens with "Shine On Through". That's a great song and I think it works better here, especially because the drums get in in the bridge. Lyrically, there's not much anything interesting, like on many other songs here. "Return To Paradise" is slightly corny, but not too much. Then we have "I Don't Care", which is a nice soft rocker - one of the many to come. "Big Dipper" is many fans' least favorite song, and I can understand why - the lyrics are crazy, and the song's got an arrangement that can irritate a lot. For me, the song is not a disaster, although it's definitely one of the less great songs of the album. The next song, "It Ain't Gonna Be Easy" sounds great, but goes on too long. "Part-Time Love" is one song that Elton dislikes, and again I can understand why - the track has lots of trying to sound serious, but the melody doesn't allow it to really shine. It's still a great song though. But next comes my favorite track of the album - "Georgia"! I love that song, it's great crowd vocals in the chorus (was that made by Watford?). But then comes another low point - "Shooting Star" is just a weirdo in a bad way, and I haven't learned to like the song. Things get much worse with "Madness" though, and that's a disaster! It goes on somewhat tolerably, but really starts to irritate a lot in the 2nd half. That's why I gave it the lowest score here. And "Reverie" is a useless intro to the final track, "Song For Guy", which is a wonderful instrumental. It just doesn't reach very high levels anywhere in the song, and it doesn't grow towards the end, it's basically just the same thing going on.
To the bonus tracks: First we've got "Ego". That was an expensive single attempt that miserably failed. It's easy to understand why, because the song irritates straight in the throw-a-way piano intro already. The song is unusual, but in a bad way, to me. "Flinstone Boy", the B-side, is much better to me, although it doesn't get higher points than four stars. "I Cry At Night" is interesting, but not great to my ears. "Strangers" though is a real winner, love the mood and the melody and the lyrics!
1. Shine On Through *****
2. Return To Paradise ****½
3. I Don't Care *****
4. Big Dipper ****
5. It Ain't Gonna Be Easy *****
6. Part-Time Love *****
7. Georgia *****+
8. Shooting Star ***
9. Madness *½
10. Reverie ***½
11. Song For Guy *****
Bonus tracks:
12. Ego **
13. Flinstone Boy ****
14. I Cry At Night ***½
15. Lovesick ****½
16. Strangers *****+
This is one of my least favorite Elton albums. There are a few songs that fail to impress and do damage to the total score.
The album opens with "Shine On Through". That's a great song and I think it works better here, especially because the drums get in in the bridge. Lyrically, there's not much anything interesting, like on many other songs here. "Return To Paradise" is slightly corny, but not too much. Then we have "I Don't Care", which is a nice soft rocker - one of the many to come. "Big Dipper" is many fans' least favorite song, and I can understand why - the lyrics are crazy, and the song's got an arrangement that can irritate a lot. For me, the song is not a disaster, although it's definitely one of the less great songs of the album. The next song, "It Ain't Gonna Be Easy" sounds great, but goes on too long. "Part-Time Love" is one song that Elton dislikes, and again I can understand why - the track has lots of trying to sound serious, but the melody doesn't allow it to really shine. It's still a great song though. But next comes my favorite track of the album - "Georgia"! I love that song, it's great crowd vocals in the chorus (was that made by Watford?). But then comes another low point - "Shooting Star" is just a weirdo in a bad way, and I haven't learned to like the song. Things get much worse with "Madness" though, and that's a disaster! It goes on somewhat tolerably, but really starts to irritate a lot in the 2nd half. That's why I gave it the lowest score here. And "Reverie" is a useless intro to the final track, "Song For Guy", which is a wonderful instrumental. It just doesn't reach very high levels anywhere in the song, and it doesn't grow towards the end, it's basically just the same thing going on.
To the bonus tracks: First we've got "Ego". That was an expensive single attempt that miserably failed. It's easy to understand why, because the song irritates straight in the throw-a-way piano intro already. The song is unusual, but in a bad way, to me. "Flinstone Boy", the B-side, is much better to me, although it doesn't get higher points than four stars. "I Cry At Night" is interesting, but not great to my ears. "Strangers" though is a real winner, love the mood and the melody and the lyrics!
1. Shine On Through *****
2. Return To Paradise ****½
3. I Don't Care *****
4. Big Dipper ****
5. It Ain't Gonna Be Easy *****
6. Part-Time Love *****
7. Georgia *****+
8. Shooting Star ***
9. Madness *½
10. Reverie ***½
11. Song For Guy *****
Bonus tracks:
12. Ego **
13. Flinstone Boy ****
14. I Cry At Night ***½
15. Lovesick ****½
16. Strangers *****+