I'll again plug Captain and the Kid.

In particular, Postcards From Richard Nixon

i have to say i have a soft spot for This Train Dont Stop There Anymore.

George wrote:


It simply must be Leather Jackets.

You know you're in trouble when the best track on your album is a slow, smoochy duet with Cliff Richard.

I'll be another to stick up for it - good, solid, in your face pop tune. (As was 'I'm Still Standing', to a lesser extent.)

By then, however, it was small potatoes from a man with a previously impressive yield.

The nadir? Hard to say, as there's so much I've not heard in recent years. It probably wouldn't 'do' to nominate the rewrite of 'Candle in the Wind', so perhaps that re-make of 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart' with RuPaul.

I agree with Made in England as probably the worst song. Any EJ song with a chorus prefaced by "Woa woh oh oh oh" is on a sticky wicket. Although no-one's mentioned the theme from Lion King yet; "from the day we arrive on the planet..."

In The Latter Years the odd song stands out; I don't mind The One and I Want Love, ponderous as they are. I personally found Captain and the Kid frustrating; I think he was trying too hard to create an homage, to milk the nostalgia angle and revisit Captain Fantastic, and it just doesn't quite ring true. Admittedly along with Songs From the West Coast it's a return to some sort of quality.

One thing that really bothers me is the way he has seemed to clip his words off in the later stuff. This may be all in my head but it's almost as though he's in a bit of a hurry, or doesn't really relish the sound of the words. An example is the chorus of I'm Still Standing, which sounds to me like "I'm still static".

My, that post contains a lot of italics.

Why does it matter to anyone that his early stuff is brilliant and his later stuff is not very good? Lots of artists are like that.

To have made even a couple of great albums is an achievement, the later dross doesn't diminish them, and having them in your collection doesn't mean you're signing up to the EJ fanclub.

Elton was on the Jonathon Ross Rad2 show a few years back discussing Scissor Sisters and any possible EJ influence on them.
JR: "Cmon Elt you must admit they sound like you?". EJ: "Yeah, back when I was good".

He also was on a British TV chatshow a couple of years back (Parky?). He was challenged to write a song "on the spot" to a set of lyrics the crowd had made up only minutes before. He sat down and churned out an "identikit Elton John" song in seconds......which I think is half of his problem.

He obviously knows his later work pales in comparison but still seems content to knock out the "painting by numbers EJ stuff".

The only album of his Ive got left is "Songs From The West Coast" which is a lot better than any of the post 70s output Ive heard.

And I'm sure they receive the same treatment on OTF. What's your point?

Jah Womble wrote:

Point was made in my next para.

To have made even a couple of great albums is an achievement, the later dross doesn't diminish them, and having them in your collection doesn't mean you're signing up to the EJ fanclub.

People are writing as though his Lion King means you shouldn't have any EJ records or praise him, and as though he's a let down or failure.

Edit: a few posts earlier in the thread were like that, rather.

George wrote:


Surely it was the remake of 'Candle In The Wind'? A good song destroyed in the name of money mass hysteria er, sentimentality.

Love Lies Bleeding and I've Seen That Movie Too from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road are both excellent.

In Elton's defence, it is nigh on impossible to continue to write and perform songs of this quality given the time he's been round. Fleeting moments of brilliance are at least better than a lifetime of mediocrity.

I agree that his output declined quality wise with Blue Moves/Rock of The Westies, but I do have a soft spot for the Thom Bell Sessions E.P. and a little played single from 1980 album 21 at 33 called Sartorial Eloquence (which I believe was a hit in the U.S. but was retitled "Don't You Wanna Play This Game No More"

Quite a thread. Never have i read such a powerful and compelling argument that Punk was absolutely necessary.

I put on 'Don't Shoot Me...' from time to time, which I like in small doses.

I think that Skyline Pigeon is the best song he ever did, but that's late '60s innit?

It was on the Empty Sky album and also re-recorded as a b-side for Daniel. Good song.