Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Album Of The Day #10: GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD - Elton John

Title: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Artist: Elton John
Label: MCA/DJM
Year: 1973
Songs: Funeral For A Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)/Candle In The Wind/Bennie And The Jets/Goodbye Yellow Brick Road/This Song Has No Title/Grey Seal/Jamaica Jerk-Off/I've Seen That Movie Too/Sweet Painted Lady/The Ballad Of Danny Bailey (1909-34)/Dirty Little Girl/All The Girls Love Alice/Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'N Roll)/Saturday Night's All Right For Fighting/Roy Rodgers/Social Disease/Harmony
Written by: Elton John and Bernie Taupin
Produced by: Gus Dudgeon
Thoughts: I'm not an Elton John fan at all, in fact the albums I have (Madman Across The Water, Honky Chateau, this one and a couple of his early nineties ones), I have because I had no say in getting them. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is a really good album, one with a ton of hits (four to be exact) and a lot of fun album tracks. Still, the problem is that there's too many of them. Another issue I have is that the way Taupin writes, it doesn't give Elton much to sing. It seems that every song only has three verses and a chorus for Elton to use to fill up at least five minutes of music. ("I've Seen That Movie Too," which ends the first half, is a great example.) My favorite songs are "Danny Bailey", "Social Disease", "This Song Has No Title" and "Grey Seal", along with the hits (particularly "Bennie And The Jets"). I guess the verdict is that, even though this is billed in many lists as one of the greatest albums of all time, I think this is one that you could live without.
Rating: 7.5/10

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