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Post by dougs on Feb 5, 2021 3:26:32 GMT
WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT, Elton & Bernie's most recent studio album was released 5 years ago today - February 5, 2016:
After 5 years of listening, how has your opinion changed about the album? Has time allowed you to enjoy it more? Less? Or, are your feelings about the album about the same 5 years on?
Your favourite songs? Have they changed? Some albums age well and stand the test of time while others don't.
Doug
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Post by dougs on Feb 6, 2021 5:47:02 GMT
WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT - 5 years on...
When I bought the album, listened to it, and rated it back in 2016 I gave every song a score about 7.0 to 7.5 indicating that I found the record consistent, not necessarily super great nor poor either. I found the vocals much improved from EJ's previous studio album THE DIVING BOARD in 2013 which, I felt, were plagued by mostly unclear vocals. Having Elton's band back on a studio release for the first time since 2006's THE CAPTAIN AND THE KID left me curious. I felt that what Elton & Bernie created with WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT was a straight forward accessible safe collection of pop tunes which I felt were decent. I didn't think any particular songs were classics but none were bottom-feeders either. It is a nice record.
5 years on; there are a couple of songs that I like more than I did in 2016. They are "Open Chord" and "In The Name of You" and "Claw Hammer." There are a few, as well, that I am more likely to skip. I don't listen to "Blue Wonderful" or "Tambourine" as often. I like "Guilty Pleasure" but feel that the mix doesn't feature Davey's guitars as much as it could. Too many songs have similar rhythms. There was a time when I would look forward to hearing standout bass parts, drum parts, and so on. Still, the performances are solid; they are a very tight band, especially live. The focus here, however, seems a little more on time keeping and lacks those great parts that we had come to expect.
Overall, I would personally like to see EJ step outside the box more often; WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT was a safe 10-song (excluding bonus tracks) set of pop music. WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT is also an album that will slip away only to get lost in the mass of EJ's career-long catalogue. Forgotten. Since EJ's studio albums are unlikely to ever become monster sellers again, it would be nice to see him approach an album project unchained. An album like BLUE MOVES did this to some degree in 1976; many musical genres, varied band configurations on the songs, wide use of different instruments, etc. There were instrumentals, progressive rock, classical structures, funk, jazz, etc. There were 1 1/2 minute songs and 8 minute songs and everything in between. It was unpredictable and has stood the test of time. BLUE MOVES made me stand up and take notice. WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT pleasantly slides by. Still, a nice record...
I'd still rate the album in 2021, as a whole, between 7.0 and 7.5, although I'd rate 3 songs higher than before and about 3 songs lower, not by much, than I did in 2016. I listen to a lot of music in several formats daily including two vinyl LPs per day and rarely does WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT get chosen.
Doug
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Post by rocketman on Feb 9, 2021 0:46:28 GMT
Five years already...my feelings about Wonderful Crazy Night were stronger initially than they are now. The album largely gets bypassed. I stream music now, and hardly listen to discs, but either way, I don't often listen to this album all the way through.
The individual songs largely have remained right where I ranked them early on, or after several spins. A Good Heart is still my favorite song on the album and I think its one of the better ballads to come down the pike from Elton in a while, just about up to the level of his better ballads/love songs of the past four decades.
The album rocks more than most of Elton's recent albums, and the rockers are good, but not really notable. The opener still reminds me of This Town in overall character musically (though much different lyrically). Looking Up is fairly good but nowhere near to Elton's better rock songs. Guilty Pleasure and England And America are passable, but neither does a whole lot for me.
In The Name Of You reminds me, musically, of something Elton could have done in the 70's. Clawhammer is solid but not great. Open Cord still sounds a lot like Too Many Tears from Peachtree Road, but it's better and has a really nice chorus. Free And Easy, one of the other bonus tracks, is quite a nice surprise lyrically and musically.
This is T Bone's best production effort of the three albums he's produced for Elton. Whereas The Union is thick and almost muddled in sound, this album has a nice sheen to it and comes closer to some of the better-sounding albums in Elton's catalog. The band, as Doug said, is a good one, and the performances are tight, though not spectacular. Notable for me is Nigel's work, because he plays with youthful vigor, and his kit sounds crisp and open while he lays down a heavy backbeat.
So overall, this album probably garners about 4 stars - good, competent, but not outstanding. A couple of strong highlights, but nothing truly remarkable. Elton could well have just not done it, and we probably wouldn't be much worse off.
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Post by dougs on Feb 10, 2021 10:02:40 GMT
rocketman:
Great review of WONDERFUL CRAZY NIGHT.
You are probably right; "A Good Heart" is an impressive and strong song. In another era it might have been a hit or at least a solid album track.
Doug
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Post by BiteUrLip on Feb 12, 2021 21:53:51 GMT
My opinion on the album has stayed pretty much the same. I just favor "The Open Chord" now more than "A Good Heart", which was previously my number one. "Claw Hammer" has started to bore me in it's chorus. I would award the album 4½ stars.
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Post by Commodore Orpington on Feb 13, 2021 3:43:56 GMT
I think I listened three times. It was a chore. It's the only album of his that I just plain don't like. This thread reminded me that I guess it's been going on 8 years since a real album. I wonder if Bernie's new lyrics will go to waste.
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Post by newloneranger on Feb 13, 2021 7:21:41 GMT
I always liked this album , not his best but all the songs are all good. My favorites are probably A Good Heart and An Open Chord. A close 2nd would be I've Got Two Wings. I do like Guilty Pleasure now more than I did when it was released. In The Name Of You and Claw hammer are still cool to hear. I guess Tambourine would be my least favorite. 4 1/2 stars
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