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Say Goodbye to the Yellow Brick road and travel back to the main Elton John page NOW! Goodbye, Yellow Brick Toad
Overall Album Score: 9.3 out of 10 Well! After that relative debacle-of-an-album, Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player, Elton John gets out his magic hat of melodies and pulls out a new buttload's of doozies on an entire double album. (Fortunately, for our pocketbooks, they combined the double album onto one CD.) Given that I haven't given a fair listen to Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy yet, I'm definitely going to call Goodbye Yellow Brick Road the most impressive album of the whole Elton John discography. Now ... I remember being completely bored through some of Elton's other albums including Elton John and Tumbleweed Connection. The thought of having to listen to a double album by this guy completely makes me shudder! However, Elton John doesn't get boring here at all in this album. Although, when I first bought this album, I thought that it was pretty boring. The main reason for that is because I was obsessed with three of the first four songs on this album to really want to pay attention to anything else. Now that I'm approaching these albums in critic-fashion, I learned to appreciate the strength of the rest of these songs. It even helped me identify the gem "Saturday's Alright For Fighting," which I had initially overlooked! It's a Glam masterstroke! However, nothing can beat the sheer glory of that epic 11-minute masterpiece, "Funeral For a Friend," that opens up the song. NOTHING. Not even Coca-Cola! Not even cold beer! Not even PCP! (Well... maybe PCP.) Although the most uberly-famous song in this album is "Candle in the Wind." You could like that song the best in this album, but let me assure you that you are wasting your time. "Funeral For a Friend" shall reign above this album and Elton John for all eternity. And the queen of this kingdom is definitely "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road." Moist definitely. That song is totally rad. Overall Album Score: 9.3 out of 10 (This isn't Elton John's best album ... that honor should go to Honky Chateau. However, this should be considered Elton's most impressive album! There aren't too many artists out there who can make a double-album that's so enjoyable throughout, and being completely devoid of monotony.) Average Song Score: 9.3 (Hey! This album has some real great songs in here! Ultimately, there is merely one track that doesn't make it in my opinion, which is "I've Seen that Movie Too." There are at least five surefire, ultimate classics for Elton John in here, however, that totally even it out.) Album Tilt: 9.0 (It did take me a long time to finally get into this album, and it is pretty darn lengthy. Nevertheless, it has some great songs in it!) Artist Rating: 9.5 (Elton John tried almost anything and everything in this album and succeeded 98 percent of the time. He even tried some genres that I normally dislike such as reggae-rock and country-rock.) Track Reviews Funeral For a Friend 10plus/10 Smack me on the head and call me Nancy, but isn't this the guy's shining moment? The more I think of it, it is. This is an utterly sprawling 11+ minute masterpiece that not only holds my interest throughout, but it has me screaming for more when it's over! (...Well ... we get "Candle in the Wind" then, so it's okay, I suppose.) Nevertheless, this track is tops with me. If you really want to compare Elton John with David Bowie, don't look at "Rocket Man" and "The Space Oddity." Look at "Funeral For a Friend" and "Station to Station!" They both start pretty much the same (Elton starts this track with wind, and David starts his off with train noises) and they're both pretty infectious and make me want to boogie. (You might also want to take into account, however, that this is essentially three songs, whereas David pretty much kept the same theme throughout his whole thing.) Yet, David's song, while it was one of his own shining moments, really pales compared to this one. As far as Elton John's melody writing goes, I don't think it's ever been quite this high. In my strange opinion, the best track of this album doesn't go to "Candle in the Wind" or "Bennie and the Jets." No! It goes to "Funeral For a Friend" ... the most impressive song in the Elton John discography. Candle in the Wind 10/10 Probably, this is Elton John's most famous song ... and for good reason! It is not uncommon knowledge that Elton originally meant this song to be a tribute to the 10-years-dead Marilyn Monroe. (Why on earth did he do a tribute to Marilyn Monroe anyway?) Nevertheless, this song had since been incorporated to include every dead famous person. It's a touching, nearly tear-inducing ballad. (I remember hearing Elton sing this one at Di's funeral, and it was quite moving.) Bennie and the Jets 9/10 Honestly, I don't see what the big deal is with this song! When I first bought this album, I didn't like it at all. I like it now, but I don't see why this Glam number is any better than the songs that surround it. My original complaint about it was that I thought the songwriting here was too primitive (and I'm still not much of a fan of all this clapping ... if you want to hear a real Glam song that has clapping in it, check out Gary Glitter's old stuff). In fact, I still think that much of the songwriting here is primitive. The basis of what Elton plays on the piano sounds like something any old person could come up with. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 10plus/10 Beautiful! Elton John is still on top of his form with his utterly gorgeous melody talents! This has got to be the most beautiful song of Elton John's career! I can't fathom of a more beautiful melody than this. I've been listening to this album for almost two years now, and I still haven't gotten over this one. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L. This Song Has No Title 8.5/10 I always think this song is stupid. (And that title just makes me think that Elton John was attempting to be clever, when I personally know he was just being cheeky.) When you compare it with "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," this song really does look pale, but it does have a pretty good tune. Grey Seal 9/10 This song does sound quite bold. The melody is really good here as well, and even though the instrumentals are sometimes too 70s, I enjoy this one quite a lot. But it does seem that he handled his hooks better before on this album. Oh well! Me no complaino mucho! Jamaica Jerk-Off 9/10 I really don't like cheesy tropical music. The reason for this is a long story. However, Elton John does the right thing here and calls this song "Jamaica Jerk-Off," which automatically redeems it. And this tune doesn't exactly make me want to vomit, anyway, thank goodness. Elton John's hooks are great. (Elton John's little background conversation, whenever we hear something, is really funny!) I've Seen That Movie Too 7.5/10 ...Yaaaaaaaawn. While this song still has some nice hooks in it, it just seems really boring to me. It would have helped if he would have sliced this 6-minute track in half. Oh well ... this album's glory days are apparently over. Sigh! It's still going pretty strong, however. Sweet Painted Lady 9.5/10 Man! Elton John cranks up that songwriting machine at full force! This is almost a French-pop sounding song, but you can never mistake it for a song that's 100 percent Elton John. Now, while this isn't one of those sinfully addicting pop songs that would merit a full 10. Nevertheless, this melody is memorable! The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34) 9.5/10 Very good!! The melody here, again, is tops Elton John, and this dramatic (yet somewhat upbeat) tribute to an outlaw. (Was there a real Danny Bailey?) The song sounds menacing and nostalgic at the same time ... the song is entirely enjoyable. Dirty Little Girl 8/10 Well the good news is that Sir Elton and all of his session players performed this song very well. The bad news is that for the first time on this album, really, there are very few hooks. The melody isn't anything special. But I can feel the energy! If there was no energy, this track would have gotten a much lower score than this. (Crap! These lyrics really sound MEAN and even raunchy! I guess if you're going to make a good mean, raunchy n' dirty song you can't have a good melody to accompany it.) I never thought songs like this were in Elton John's personality! ... I guess he was trying anything and everything on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. All the Girls Love Alice 8.5/10 Yay! We're back to that good ole Elton John that I remember him for! Good 'n poppy. (Okay ... I don't want to misrepresent this song. This is actually a very sad song about the shooting of a little girl.) Nevertheless, the melody is there fully intact. Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock and Roll) 9/10 Well! Elton John is revisiting the exact same thing that made "Crocodile Rock" such an utter delight. Unfortunately, however, it's not quite as good. "Crocodile Rock" seemed to have a more innovative melody. This one is seemingly more typical 50s rock. Nevertheless, this is a perfectly enjoyable and danceable little tune! (Those of us who found "Dirty Little Girl" and "All the Girls Love Alice" a little bit too much to bear might find this irrelevant song a relief.) Saturday's Alright For Fighting 10/10 As far as Elton John creating a Glam classic, I like this track a lot more than I like "Bennie and the Jets." The song is perfectly in-tuned with that trashy but fun style that is characteristic of Glam-rock. And the melody here is so wonderful that ya can't help but fall in love with this one. Roy Rogers 9/10 Man ... after that reggae-pop-rock "Jamaica Jerk-Off," which I should have hated because I generally don't like reggae-pop-rock, and now there's this country-western "Roy Rogers!" I normally despise country-western, but Elton completely goes against the grain and comes out with a country-western song that I can enjoy. I'm going to attribute this, again, to Elton's flawless melodies. The song also is about as nostalgic and touching as "Candle in the Wind" is. Social Disease 9.5/10 This is a funny little song. (Songs that are entitled "Social Disease" always intrigue me!) This is a blue grass inspired song (that is rather reminiscent of "Honky Cat") that has an EXCELLENT melody. Harmony 9.5/10 Elton John end this album with a nice little dramatic number that has a GREAT melody to it. Oh! Only if every rock star could be like Elton John on this album! The song has a very nice chorus kind of like "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" had. Hello, Mister Reader! Do you have anything to say about dees album? Leave your comments here. slb23@shaw.ca (Simon B.) received August 2, 2004 I think that GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD is one of the best
double albums of the 70's. It was Elton's best selling album to date,
thanks to a couple of massive hit singles (and probably the overall high
quality of the album, too).
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All reviews are copyrighted by Michael Lawrence. He's a sooooooong from the sixtieeeeeeeeeeeeeees.
