A new Elton John album
is just as much fun to review as it is to listen to, principally
because
it's completely different from what has gone before. The immediate
benefits
of having Nigel and Dee as the rhythmic section on every cut are just
staggering
because this is really the first time they've had a chance on record to
show how inventive they are. They are a pair of musicians who are
constantly
improving, searching for better ways to communicate with each other. As
for Davey Johnstone, his versatility on all stringed instruments is
just
what the band needed. Both his immediate intuitive grasp of the
John/Taupin
music, and his commitment to it, marks a terrific upward surge in
creativity
for the band; his musicianship has inspired them all.
Sheer
power reigns on "Salvation"
and "Hercules," but on different levels. The former is very intense
lyrically,
and so Elton's vocals and the band's performance are suffused with an
almost
quasi-religious fervor: "A chance to put the devil down/Without the
fear
of hell/Salvation spreads the gospel 'round/And frees you from
yourself."
On "Hercules" we hear the band flat out, hitting superb peaks behind
Elton's
vocals and Bernie's most amusing lyrics. "I Think I'm Gonna Kill
Myself"
is a tour de force for both Elton and Bernie. The lyrics are about a
kid
who decides to commit suicide but also wants to hang around to see what
people say about him: "I'd like to see what the papers say/On the state
of teenage blues." It encapsulates, within its five verses and two
choruses,
a whole generation's feelings. "Susie (Dramas)"'s power shows how fully
integrated the band has become in so short a time; now fully capable of
that funky rock they've been searching for. But more, "Susie" shows how
far Elton, himself, has developed as a writer. The melodies of the
majority
of songs being written today can easily be reproduced by instruments --
horns for instance. What Elton has learned to do is construct his
melodies
specifically for the peculiar phrasings of the human voice. It's a
difficult
thing to do and requires a great deal of sophistication. Honky Chateau,
as a whole, presents us with deeper ramifications than mere track
analyses
can encompass. It displays the band as an organic whole -- "Slave," for
instance, revolves around Dee's bass and Davey's superlative
double-timed
banjo. It displays some of Bernie's most thoughtful lyrics -- "Rocket
Man"
is as complex a blending of sci-fi with our own frightening present
("And
all this science/I don't understand/It's just my job/Five days a week/A
Rocket Man") as was Clarke/Kubrick's 2001. "Mellow" is one of the most
unusual love songs ever written, with an erotic, wonderfully wistful
pulse
running through it. It displays, lastly, Elton's growing ability to
work
with his voice; do different things with it. His vocal on "Kill Myself"
is light, mischievously arrogant, and deliciously self-mocking; on
"Susie,"
his voice is thick and vibrant -- terrifically virile -- which is in
sharp
contrast to "Rocket Man," where he's infinitely sad -- almost detached.
All this represents a continuing development in the major artists
writing,
playing and singing on Honky Chateau. And for that, we should be most
grateful.
Eric Van Lustbader, Words
& Music, 1972
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