GYBR is such a bloated album that I rarely ever get to "Harmony" all the way at the end, and I'd honestly forgotten how good it is.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 21:58 (ten years ago) link
I never bothered looking into how much liberty Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson were given with arrangements, but they're one of my favorite rhythm sections of that era (circa GYBY) and a big part of the reason why I keep coming back to songs like "Danny Bailey" or "Elderberry Wine."
― sup (billstevejim), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:00 (ten years ago) link
XP I actually don't think it's that bloated.
― sup (billstevejim), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:01 (ten years ago) link
yeah I kinda dig it even though there's a few dud songs on it
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:02 (ten years ago) link
It has lots of good songs. I just wish they weren't all in one place.
I've never been a fan of double/triple albums, though. Maybe I'm adhd.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:05 (ten years ago) link
when I finally got it a few years ago it felt a lot shorter by the time I skipped "Candle in the Wind," "Jamaica Jerk Off," and "This Song Has No Title."
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:05 (ten years ago) link
jamaica jerk off is a DEFINITE skip. such a stupid song.
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:06 (ten years ago) link
"Your Sister Can't Twist" is the major dud IMO.
― sup (billstevejim), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:08 (ten years ago) link
I'd like it were it not for the title
― Ismael Klata, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:08 (ten years ago) link
I guess "Jamaica" is kinda corny-sounding in an "Obladi Oblada" kinda way. I enjoyed it as a little kid, before I knew what "jerk off" meant.
― sup (billstevejim), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:11 (ten years ago) link
spicy sauce
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:18 (ten years ago) link
This Song Has No Title is one of my GYBR favorites, btw. It's brief, cleverly melodic and just fun. idg the dislike.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:19 (ten years ago) link
Yeah I always dug it.
― sup (billstevejim), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 22:20 (ten years ago) link
Too much to discuss in this last batch (not touching Shakey's posts)...generally my reaction with this poll is less ''too low!'' and more ''oh awesome, I can't believe that placed!'' Danny Bailey and Alice beating all these other songs sort of surprises me though; maybe they get a boost from being on one of the most familiar albums? I like 'em both, just wouldn't have seen 'em as top 24 material. Different strokes.
So much great detail, sonically, in some of these, esp. ''Captain Fantastic.'' They banged these things out fast but they didn't skimp on making the recording sound as good as possible. I could say a lot more about that song... obviously it's the perfect kickoff for the album's narrative and an introduction to our protagonists, but it also works, musically and lyrically, to really fuse together these two sides of EJ/BT's output: it's just as much the brown-dirt/tumbleweed Americana stuff as the post-psychedelic comic book fantasy glam stuff. Really comes together for the chorus - there's really excitement when Elton finally gets to crash these guys together, the promise that our next issue will feature amazing thrills, an underdog's comeback, the completion of an epic journey, and YOU will be there!
― Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 23:15 (ten years ago) link
Voted for "This Song Has Not Title." Didn't vote for "Jamaica Jerk-Off" but I always find myself enjoying it when I listen to the album in sequence.
There are definitely parts where GYBR drags, but I always though that sticking the whole glammy rock batch of songs ("Your Sister Can't Twist," "Saturday Night..." etc) so late in the album gives it a necessary jolt that keeps it from really dragging. It is a rather impeccably sequenced album.
― the vineyards where the grapes of corporate rock are stored (cryptosicko), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 23:18 (ten years ago) link
I voted for "Alice" and yeah maybe it's because GBYBR is the only EJ album that's ever stuck with me as more than the sum of its parts. I like how Elton's voice is a bit further back in the mix than the shakers and the riffing, makes him sound a bit more spidery, and that's reinforced on the chorus. Elton doesn't usually play the creep in his songs but I like him that way.
― Euler, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 23:24 (ten years ago) link
"I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" is joining "Club At The End Of The Street" as one of those songs i must not have heard in 20 years that is sounding really good to me now, totally forgot it existed. could instantly picture video when it came on the Spotify playlist.
― some dude, Wednesday, 21 August 2013 23:54 (ten years ago) link
a pal who lurks on ILM said: "It looks like the beginning of 'A Different World.'"
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 21 August 2013 23:55 (ten years ago) link
Yeah, I thought the same thing last week when I caught the video while making my ballot.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 22 August 2013 00:26 (ten years ago) link
Elton probably had those Dwayne Wayne glasses a decade earlier
― some dude, Thursday, 22 August 2013 01:03 (ten years ago) link
when Elton worked with Kanye for "All Of The Lights" he was like 'oh, those shutter shades were cute...i had my eyewear R&D department design the original prototypes for those in '83, but i changed my mind and the whole project got shelved'
― some dude, Thursday, 22 August 2013 01:09 (ten years ago) link
when Elton worked with Kanye for "All Of The Lights"
woah, did not realize this. Real shame he couldn't conjure up young glammy fame-magnet showman Elton, they'd make a great pair actually.
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 22 August 2013 01:12 (ten years ago) link
he played piano on it and was one of the dozen guest vocalists, although i've never been able to pick his incredibly distinctive voice out of that cluttered mix.
Fall Out Boy wielded their recent Elton cameo far more effectively.
― some dude, Thursday, 22 August 2013 01:43 (ten years ago) link
Can't wait to see "Stan" make the countdown. We really should have done a separate "duets" bracket...
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 22 August 2013 02:15 (ten years ago) link
When I was sorta kinda defending "Jamaica Jerk Off" earlier I think I got it confused with "Grey Seal."
― sup (billstevejim), Thursday, 22 August 2013 06:02 (ten years ago) link
lool
― set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Thursday, 22 August 2013 06:43 (ten years ago) link
"Jamaica Jerk Off" is a terrible song even when you know the events behind it (summary: EJ & co went to Jamaica to record, had a bad time, and left).
― slamming on the dubstep brakes (snoball), Thursday, 22 August 2013 07:18 (ten years ago) link
From GYBR I skip Jamaica Jerk Off, Candle In The Wind, Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting and Your Sister Can Twist which leaves me with a pretty perfect thirteen track album.
I was just looking through my itunes to see which songs I had on there and noticed I actually never even imported Jamaica Jerk Off, the other three songs I had just unchecked. I obviously never wanted to risk hearing that song again, I'd erase it from the CD if I could.
― Kitchen Person, Thursday, 22 August 2013 08:51 (ten years ago) link
haha, man, "Stan"...I didn't realize until looking at Elton's stuff on Spotify that that live version from the Grammys with Elton was released as a bonus track on Em's greatest hits record. he just sounds so goddamn awkward singing that chorus, ugh. still kinda does cool stuff playing piano over the song, though.
― some dude, Thursday, 22 August 2013 09:34 (ten years ago) link
I think it would have been better to have Elton rewrite the melody from Em's words, a la Peer Gynt.. on the other hand we might've just gotten '03 Candle N Wind.
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 22 August 2013 10:05 (ten years ago) link
Goodbye Marshall MThough I neverKnew you at all,Could've had the grace to sign a capFor my brother in the cold
Modeled on your lyricsAnd they whispered in my brainI liked that shit you did with RawkusI get a rush from sudden pain
And it seems to me,I'll end my lifeBy driving off a bridgeNever knowing how to mail thisWhen my tape's at endAnd I would have liked to know youBut you were just too goodTo call or write a stalking fanYour biggest one was Stan
― Doctor Casino, Thursday, 22 August 2013 10:07 (ten years ago) link
Classic Onion:
LOS ANGELES–With the nation still buzzing over his Feb. 21 Grammy Awards duet with Elton John, Eminem released a single Tuesday inspired by the performance. Among the song's lyrics: "I was at the Grammys and Elton John gave me a hug / So I got out my pliers and ripped his little faggot dick off with a tug / Shoved it down the throats of Britney, then Christina A. / Probably gave both of the bitches AIDS." John praised the song as "brave" and "coming from a very pure place."
― the vineyards where the grapes of corporate rock are stored (cryptosicko), Thursday, 22 August 2013 11:27 (ten years ago) link
The top 20 is here! The top 20 is here!!!
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:12 (ten years ago) link
20. "Honky Cat" (1972) [254 points, 13 votes]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly07GWoK9aY
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:13 (ten years ago) link
tune
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:16 (ten years ago) link
The one song I skip on HC!
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:16 (ten years ago) link
What makes "Honky Cat" so funky? Is it a backbeat? I don't know musicology.
― wombspace (abanana), Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:20 (ten years ago) link
It's got a slowed down almost Dixieland Jazz tempo, which in and of itself isn't particularly funky, but Elton's playing and vocals have a little added swing.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:32 (ten years ago) link
19. "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" w/ Kiki Dee (1976) [261 points, 12 votes]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQmRgFzg0jI
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:36 (ten years ago) link
^^ prefer Muppets version
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:39 (ten years ago) link
Muppets make most things better.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:44 (ten years ago) link
This and "Philadelphia Freedom" would be the first songs I'd look at if I were trying to understand Elton's mid-'70s megastar moment. I voted for both, but right at the bottom of my ballot. They're both songs I'd probably dislike 99 times out of 100. For reasons I'd have to think about, by him at that moment, they both work.
― clemenza, Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:45 (ten years ago) link
He seems to be having a lot more fun than her in that video. He practically yanks her over to the mic at the 40-second mark.
― clemenza, Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:47 (ten years ago) link
haha true
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:48 (ten years ago) link
The video was one take & unscripted, not surprising it's a bit rough (my no.2 btw)
― Ismael Klata, Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:49 (ten years ago) link
18. "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" (1976) [261 points, 12 votes, 1 first place vote]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3nScN89Klo
My own #1.
― Ⓓⓡ. (Johnny Fever), Thursday, 22 August 2013 15:58 (ten years ago) link
I can imagine Shakes arguing that it's bathetic but I disagree. His vocal is just right and breaks at the right moment.
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 22 August 2013 16:03 (ten years ago) link
btw one of the few songs for which Elton wrote lyrics:
This was featured in the 1977 film Slap Shot. Elton began writing this song in 1975 in Los Angeles. Normally Bernie Taupin wrote the lyrics first then Elton added the music, but in this instance Elton wrote the melody and most of the words as well, with Bernie finishing them off. As Elton explained, "I was sitting there and out it came, 'What have I got to do to make you love me.'"
Taupin added in a Music Connection interview: "I don't think he was intending on writing a song, but we were sitting around an apartment in Los Angeles, and he was playing around on the piano and he came up with this melody line, and I said, 'Hey, that's really nice.' For some reason this lyrical line, 'Sorry seems to be the hardest word' ran through my head, and it fit perfectly with what he was playing. So I said, 'Don't do anything more to that, let me go write something,' so I wrote it out in a few minutes and we had the song.
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 22 August 2013 16:04 (ten years ago) link
"Honky Cat"re: questions about the rhythm, this is clearly a New Orleans funk thing, borrowed from the Allen Toussaint/Prof Longhair/Dr, John school of piano-playing. fuck him for including that stupid faux chinese melody at the beginning and ending. this is another song where the weird mythologized Americana just reads cheap and wrong to me, like these guys are just playing dress-up but do not actually have any grasp of American psychology or history or anything. There's no nuance or shades of detail in the character, it's just a cardboard cutout. Musically Elton's piano here is a top notch imitation and his vocal is okay I guess.
"Don't Go Breaking My Heart"This is the one Eltno tune my wife really likes and it's pretty good as disco/Philly soul pop fluff. hook is great and it bops along nicely, lots of cool little details in the vocal and string arrangements playing off each other. finding that I definitely prefer Elton in throwaway pop mode (still expecting my favorite 80s cut of his to show up) than in serious balladry mode, which has seriously made much of my listening in this thread feel interminable.
― what's up ugly girls? (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 22 August 2013 16:08 (ten years ago) link
I have trouble thinking "Don't Go Breaking..." is a John-Taupin song even though they're hiding behind pseudonyms. It sounds like an outlier, which isn't quite true either if you think "Philadelphia Freedom."
― first I think it's time I kick a little verse! (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 22 August 2013 16:11 (ten years ago) link