That impressive feat of a double album that doesn't really sag under its own weight. I wouldn't say that it is wall-to-wall brilliance, but there aren't really any songs that I feel the need to skip.
Elton had previously explored country, blues, pop, rock, honky-tonk, and music hall... with this album he seems to merge it all into a new genre "Elton John" that takes those elements along with a little funk and rhythm and blues into a fairly cohesive sound. Some of my favourites of his are on here, including the magnificent title track, 'Sweet painted lady' and 'Roy Rogers'.
Elton was originally set to record at a studio in Jamaica, but the facilities was not quite up to snuff. As a result, Elton was holed up for a long time in hotels with time on his hands and with pages and pages of Bernie Taupin lyrics. Elton wound up writing enough music for this double album (this situation also inspiring the track "Jamaica Jerk-Off").
I always think of this one as a missed opportunity - there's an all time great single album in here. Some of Taupin's lyrics are incredibly dated, and often sexist. If you took the first six songs, 'Denny Bailey', 'Saturday Night's...' and 'Harmony' it would be an amazing single.
ReplyDeleteI generally find that with most double albums, outside of one or two treasured exceptions (The Wall, Melon Collie and the Infinite Sadness). Most good double albums are actually really good single albums with change. That said, I don't find this one to sag under its own extravagance like some do.
DeleteMaybe it depends on how much you like the artist - I'm not actually a big fan of The Wall, partly because it relegates the rest of the band to the background. In terms of the 1970s, Mellon Collie is basically a triple album - I think it's 120 minutes, right?
DeleteSomething like that. 14 songs per disc, and I think the vinyl release is stretched out over 4 LPs, though I suspect 3 would have been fine and they're just trying to maintain the "Twilight to Starlight" and "Dawn to Dusk" 'halves' of the album.
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