The slap bass and cowbell and backing vocals suggest energy.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 29 December 2013 15:53 (ten years ago) link
holy christ. This is "Victim of Love"-level terrible.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn)
Eagles "Victim of Love," of course
well, "Born Bad" isn't found anywhere. Listened to it on Spotify: it's decent. Generic disco beat, popped bass, a hoarse-sounding Elton singing a vocal he probably cut after a heavy lunch, a "bad to the bone" lyric that its performer can't really sell.
― col, Monday, 30 December 2013 19:03 (ten years ago) link
oh, and guitar solo that sounds like it was lifted off an Aldo Nova record
― col, Monday, 30 December 2013 19:04 (ten years ago) link
21 at 33, I can see you from the opposite shore.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 December 2013 19:16 (ten years ago) link
Nah you gotta week at least til we get there. Don't forget the two France Gall duets.
― Jeff W, Monday, 30 December 2013 19:42 (ten years ago) link
"Born Bad" is on grooveshark: http://grooveshark.com/#!/s/Born+Bad/3Qj5p1?src=5
I'm so behind on these.
― Maintenance Engineer of Foolhardiness (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 30 December 2013 20:34 (ten years ago) link
aren't you lucky
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 30 December 2013 20:39 (ten years ago) link
"Thunder in the Night"
http://youtu.be/C_3gMWOqszI
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 31 December 2013 14:57 (ten years ago) link
I'll say this: if Hercules & Love Affair created the first minute in 2008 no one would blink.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 31 December 2013 14:58 (ten years ago) link
http://www.yarden-uriel.com/elton66.jpg
Oh, why did he have to start singing? was pretty great until then. "My woman says she ain't my woman!" The choruses on this record really are subpar: this like the sort of disco you'd hear in a nightclub scene in "Falcon Crest."
― col, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 15:34 (ten years ago) link
Those clavinets work.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 31 December 2013 16:13 (ten years ago) link
i'm way behind on this thread, but checking in to say this starts out sounding exactly how i would expect, and want, disco era elton to sound. but yeah that chorus is completely underwhelming. would it be asking too much to want early-'70s elton to flash forward for a minute and finish late-'70s elton's song?
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 17:46 (ten years ago) link
as it turns out, Elton didn't write (or play) a note on this record. Blame due to the stellar composing team of Pete Bellotte, Stefan Wisnet, Gunther Moll and a few others
― col, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 18:13 (ten years ago) link
described in a bio as "German disco songsmiths." Other details: EJ flew to Munich and cut all his vocals for Victim in a single day, in about eight hours.
― col, Tuesday, 31 December 2013 18:16 (ten years ago) link
"Spotlight"
http://youtu.be/JTfGrExMw94
http://binaryapi.ap.org/7e3897b3eb2742d0a785f6c5415d0328/512x.jpg
― col, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 13:34 (ten years ago) link
Same formula as "thunder in the night": the first minute sounds like something that would get a Best New Music on P'fork, then Elton stumbles in.
― col, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 13:37 (ten years ago) link
cavecairo701 year ago Caribou is a masterpiece compared to this album!!
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 1 January 2014 13:41 (ten years ago) link
i'd bet EJ hasn't listened to this record since it was made, if he even listened to it then
― col, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 13:45 (ten years ago) link
didn't he go to Russia around this time? i recall that being a big deal. there was a TV special.
― piscesx, Wednesday, 1 January 2014 15:02 (ten years ago) link
"Street Boogie"
http://youtu.be/xHZdk0jtpd0
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/xHZdk0jtpd0/hqdefault.jpg
― col, Thursday, 2 January 2014 12:40 (ten years ago) link
"Street boogie got a hold on me" eh
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 2 January 2014 13:04 (ten years ago) link
Chicago's "Street Player" is 100x better than this
― col, Thursday, 2 January 2014 14:34 (ten years ago) link
man, we're dying on the vine here. let's finish off this mess of an album:
"Victim of Love"
http://youtu.be/PkkhoCpvLZU
http://eil.com/images/main/Elton+John+-+Victim+Of+Love+-+7%22+RECORD-171661.jpg
― col, Saturday, 4 January 2014 14:18 (ten years ago) link
The single!
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 January 2014 14:21 (ten years ago) link
he sounds like Gary Numan singing over a France Joli track.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 January 2014 14:22 (ten years ago) link
What a weird, anonymous way to do a disco cash-in album. You feel that if EJ could've outsourced his vocals to some German soundalike, he would've.
― col, Saturday, 4 January 2014 14:43 (ten years ago) link
This farrago confirms my theory about "dated" as a pejorative: a track's dated if it uses the most obvious, recognizable patterns and sounds of the day without alteration (Donna Summer hasn't dated one jot).
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 4 January 2014 14:53 (ten years ago) link
B-side "Strangers" not available, so here we go into 21 at 33!
Chasing the Crown
http://youtu.be/KdLgZVSq0Fg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/66/Elton_John_in_1980s.jpg
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 5 January 2014 13:00 (ten years ago) link
I swear, hearing those power chords was like walking out of a smoky bar into sunlight and air.
yeah, it's nice to hear the "Elderberry Wine"/"Bitch is Back" Elton return after that dismal exile in Munich. Guitar and backing vocals are garish, Taupin's lyric is Bernie trying to do "Sympathy for the Devil" on a budget, but this is the most awake EJ's sounded since the Ford Administration.
― col, Sunday, 5 January 2014 16:41 (ten years ago) link
Our first big hit!!
"Little Jeannie"
http://youtu.be/Wlz6mTyiMZc
http://cdn.pianosheetmusiconline.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Little-Jeannie-Elton-John.jpg
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 6 January 2014 13:11 (ten years ago) link
I gotta say: its success mystifies me. The electric piano part, the chorus horns – ick.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 6 January 2014 13:12 (ten years ago) link
I have some fondness for this one solely out of nostalgia: it embodies the kitschy "adult pop" world ca. '79-'81, the Christopher Cross/Player/ "Music Box Dancer"/"Stumblin' In" etc world that I heard on the radio and was my first concept of pop music. agree it's icky but you can't deny the hooks, either.
I also can't ever hear it without recalling how the kids on my school bus renamed it "Little Weenie," a title that made the rest of the song ludicrous ("I want you to be my acrobat!")
― col, Monday, 6 January 2014 16:18 (ten years ago) link
Apparently it was a hit the old fashioned way: it got on the radio and people kept requesting it and buying copies (it's certified gold back when gold meant shipping a million).
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 6 January 2014 16:19 (ten years ago) link
this, of course, becomes Elton's survival formula for the rest of this survey: however crap the album, crank one hit off it and you're good for another year (exceptions include The Fox, natch)
― col, Monday, 6 January 2014 18:22 (ten years ago) link
"Sartorial Eloquence"
http://youtu.be/LB1rim3VXo0
http://www.ioffer.com/img3/item/141/940/781/elton-john-live-in-central-park-+bonus-footage-1980-dvd-46c8.jpg
― col, Tuesday, 7 January 2014 14:05 (ten years ago) link
lyrics by Tom Robinson!
― col, Tuesday, 7 January 2014 14:06 (ten years ago) link
The second single.
A crowded arrangement: high synth, rhythm guitar strums, backing vocals, piano, all on the chorus.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 January 2014 14:19 (ten years ago) link
Only clicking on this thread sporadically to see if you've got to Passengers yet. One of the worst singles of the 80s.
― Deafening silence (DL), Tuesday, 7 January 2014 14:21 (ten years ago) link
and a top five in England. How odd.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 7 January 2014 14:23 (ten years ago) link
When I was 10. It's one of the few songs I distinctly remember hating at that age. Looking at the lyrics now, it seems to be a protest song but about what I'm not exactly clear.
― Deafening silence (DL), Tuesday, 7 January 2014 14:24 (ten years ago) link
apparently cracked the US top 40 too, but I don't recall hearing it
― col, Tuesday, 7 January 2014 14:39 (ten years ago) link
Figured I'd jump in to remind ya'll this one ("Sartorial Eloquence") features among the many voices on the chorus ilm's favorite douchecanoe harmony duo...
DON: After years of being fans, it was an honor to actually take part in a session with our friend Elton during one of his lowest periods, both personally and creatively. I honestly feel our Eagle harmony magic elevated his song right where it was needed most.
GLENN: Speaking of being elevated, I think between us Don & I lost a whole pack of cough drops in the, er, echo chambers that night.
DON: Well, yeah.
― Maintenance Engineer of Foolhardiness (C. Grisso/McCain), Wednesday, 8 January 2014 03:26 (ten years ago) link
Congrats. You've mastered the Henley sincerity.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 January 2014 03:30 (ten years ago) link
"Two Rooms at the End of the World"
http://youtu.be/bzTKdafOnAo
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 January 2014 13:30 (ten years ago) link
was this album some kind of make-work program for underemployed session musicians? There's like 50 people on this track, including a prominent cowbeller.
abt 3 minutes in, I realized "2 Rooms" was just going to be the same tune-lite verse-refrain repeated over and over again, and resigned myself to it, and suddenly it became a Chicago record for a bit.
― col, Wednesday, 8 January 2014 14:44 (ten years ago) link
That's the problem with the album (so far): not bad melodies smothered by desperate arrangements.
― the objections to Drake from non-REAL HIPHOP people (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 8 January 2014 14:50 (ten years ago) link
ode to a muse:
"White Lady White Powder"
studio version not on YT (it's on Grooveshark/Spotify) but here's the live version from Central Park '80:
http://youtu.be/7BbismoORP0
http://eil.com/images/main/Elton%2BJohn%2B-%2BWhite%2BLady%2BWhite%2BPowder%2B-%2B7%2522%2BRECORD-498449.jpg
― col, Thursday, 9 January 2014 13:01 (ten years ago) link