Songs From the West Coast

by

Elton John

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Wow. Who would have thought that Elton, at this late date, still had this in him. As a long time fan, I've been dismayed with his 90's (and most of his '80's) output, and had pretty much given up hope.

But here's Songs From The West Coast and suddenly, Elton sounds vital again. The album opens on a stunning note: "The Emperor's New Clothes" starts off with a great piano intro and then Elton's voice kicks in; the chorus finds '70's stalwarts Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsen joining in on backing vocals with cymbal brushes from drummer Olsen, and you find yourself wondering what decade it is. Only the deeper register of Elton's voice gives it away. But Elton sounds fine on this album, with his most soulful and nuanced singing in years. And Lyricist Bernie Taupin gives him plenty of quality stuff to wrap his pipes around. There are plenty of standout tracks: "Original Sin" is one of the most beautiful ballads he's ever written. The country-ish "Birds" harkens back to the Tumbleweed days and sounds like it was recorded on somebody's back porch. "The Wasteland" is a gospel blues that invokes delta bluesman Robert Johnson and rocks convincingly. "I Want Love", the first single, is Lennonesque. "The Ballad Of The Boy In The Red Shoes" sounds like something from the Madman sessions. "This Train Don't stop There Anymore", the wistful album closer, would feel right at home on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Producer Patrick Leonard also does a fine job, finding a nice balance between modern recording and the backwards-looking quality of this music. The shlock of most of his '90's recordings is gone.

Songs From The West Coast goes a long ways towards restoring a reputation damaged by too many Disney projects and not enough attention to his music. On Songs From The West Coast, Elton John has rediscovered himself.

It's about time.

What can I say? In this time of Nsync, Britney Spears, and Korn, it's nice to have someone with as much talent as Elton, still gracing us with new material. Who cares, if tasteless radio stations might overlook it, I'm sure Elton was prepared for that anyway, considering "I Want Love" was not even released as a single, here in the states. Where to start..at first listen, I was slightly disappointed..I had been hearing all the hype about how this was a return to "Madman Across The Water", or "Honky Chateu", and I'm sorry, but I just do not see this album in that light. Yes, this is a pretty good album, and maybe, I'm a little biased, because I am very fond of the classic years. I do know that this is a huge step above "The Big Picture", and possibly even "Made In England". With the exception of a couple songs, what we have is an improvement over their most recent styles, with some of the best elements of the past, occasionally being mixed in. My favorites are "Original Sin", "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore", "Mansfield", and "Love Her Like Me". "Original Sin" is a seductive song about being completely drawn into a romance. I really think if this album actually has a single, this would be a good choice, it is definitely the best here, very haunting, especially during the second verse. "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" and "Mansfield" score more points, while containing some awkward lyrics, "Mansfield" still is pleasant, and sounds somewhat like it could be from an earlier album. "Love Her Like Me", musically, reminds me a bit of "Pain" from "Made In England", and sounds a little close to filler as well, but is still a track I find myself playing pretty often. Now for the rest of the album. "Wasteland" is one that took a little while to grow on me, but it has. I think it's fun, and also a bit angry. My only wish is that the piano would have been toned down, just slightly.."The Ballad Of The Boy In Red Shoes" is a moving song, it might have the most powerful music here, but, for some reason, I just can't seem to really get into it. "I Want Love", a song that is slightly reminiscent of the Beatles, and the most popular at this point, seems a little bland to me, but still isn't a bad listen. "The Emperor's New Clothes", a song about the glory of early adulthood, is slightly reminiscent of an earlier style, but I cringe every time Elton sings "every inch of us growing like pinocchio's nose".."American Triangle" is some very touching songwriting, but even "Candle In The Wind"(as Taupin has pointed out, on many, many occasions)could be about someone other than Marilyn Monroe, this song is about Matthew Shepard, and as much as I feel for what happpened to Matthew, I just can't see listening to this one more than once or twice. "Birds" probably comes the closest to having an early Elton sound, but it still isn't as catchy as anything from that time period. "Dark Diamond", some decent lyrics, but the music is pretty forgettable. Like I have already stated, this is a good album, and in some ways, it does possess some similarities to the early days, but it lacks a lot of the bouncy, simply fun material. A good album for the present, with more hints of the past than before, but don't expect to be transported back to the early '70s.