Elton John - Breaking Hearts (1984) Album Score: 10

Good ole Elton John!! This is where Elton concentrates mostly on upbeat and sometimes furious pop-rock. He sounds so damned eager and excited about it that he's completely convincing from start to finish. Nothing could have been a better starter than "Restless." If I may be so bold, that's one of Elton's best rocker tracks... The instrumentation is so crispy and snappy (especially that crystal-clear bass line). And he sings it with such furious conviction that I wished I could have joined him on stage --- and take part in all the unrestrained fun. It's no surprise that my second favorite track of the album is a similarly minded furious rocker, "Li'l 'Frigerator." And then there's the absolutely soaring pop-rocker "Did He Shoot Her?" with a melody that rivals his classic songs. That's really saying something, since this guy ruled the early '70s as far as slick melodies are concerned.

Normally, Elton's best work on an album is his ballads of the soaring variety. Of course these are still here and I like them, but they're considerably weaker than those three 'biggies' I mentioned. "Breaking Hearts" is just Elton singing with a piano (and a real one ... not an electric one or some nonsense like that). It's convincing and Elton gives a touching performance, but it's ... um ... not that capturing. "Pretty Buildings" is the best ballad of them all, however, with a melody that's quite special!

Perhaps the most interesting song is "Passengers" in which Elton John explores some reggae influence. It wasn't bad, but in no ways better than his straight songs. Not that I don't appreciate diversity, but --- that was getting pretty close to the album's weak spot. Considering what preceded it, "Sad Songs" is sort of a wimpy conclusion... A charming though uninspired pop-rocker with pretty generic instrumentation.

But when it's all said and done, there is not one bad track on here. This isn't quite as great as Elton's ultimate return-to-form, Too Low For Zero, but it certainly proves that he wasn't ready to sink back into mediocrity yet. I love it that Elton's deciding to really rock out here. This is one finger-snappin' album! Apparently the reason for this is Elton decided to reunite with the rock combo he worked with in the '70s. Hey, if they can rock out so convincingly, then let them stay!!

TRACKS

Restless 10/10

Yay! Bring on the good old upbeat pop-rocker Elton John! Here is a hugely convincing and enjoyable track. You could call this a pub-rock song (since that sort of thing was popular when this album was released), but it's not fundamentally different from John's peak years. Of course, that's great news, because this melody is absolutely tops. The instrumentation seems just perfect! The synthesizers are wisely kept to just background texture stuff, and the electric guitar sound is thrust to the center of attention. That crispy bass guitar is delicious!! And last but not least about this fantastic song is Elton's furious vocal performance. One of his best vocals in years. Beautiful.

Slow Down Georgie (She's Poison) 8/10

A lesser and a tad more '80s. But that's OK. It's still Elton John, and that's good enough for me. The track begins (inadvisably!) as a ballad with a merely passable melody. Then it suddenly turns into a pop rocker. It's rather fun although the hooks are simpler and the instrumentation seems a little less appealing. It's still fun though...

Who Wears These Shoes? 7/10

This is a perfectly happy and upbeat number. Elton's as confident as ever and that contributes to a lot of the fun (and partly the reason why this is so more enjoyable than The Fox and 21 at 33). However, he's being pretty generic and inconsequential here. The melody just doesn't stick! The instrumentation, which does sound perfectly crisp, is fairly generic.

Breaking Hearts (Ain't What it Used to Be) 8.5/10

It seems funny that it took Elton this long to finally get to a real ballad. This is his sweet old song. The funny thing about it is that he's playing a real piano. It's like he's completely forgetting that it's 1984!!! (Oh wait, that's a good thing... No synthesizers!! Yay!!!) The melody is quite nice even though it comes off a bit too strongly as an average Broadway musical solo. That's OK I guess. It has a sweet flow, and a few nice hooks.

Lil' 'Frigerator 9.5/10

Not a moment too soon, he returns to the furious rockers. It's rather generic, but it's safely several notches above stale. The melody is quite catchy, and I love the instrumentation. Again, Elton's vocal performance really triumphs... He's so confident, and he can really rock when he wants to. A great saxophone solo chimes in along with an electric guitar the middle ---- Sweet!!

Passengers 8/10

A bit of an interesting turn is a Reggae-inspired song although not so wonderful. The repetitive loops get on my nerves eventually, but at least the merit of John's melodies (which gets pretty dang awesome in the chorus) makes this quite tolerable. This could be the most dated of the album (since he uses quite '80s means for this reggae song), but it's not overly so. Nice that Elton's genuinely trying to be timeless...

In Neon 8/10

Here's another ballad, and this one sounds more like him than "Breaking Hearts." Though the melody isn't as catchy... Still, this is hard to not like. Elton delivers his vocals with conviction, and the instrumentation is quite solid. Those soulful 'oohs' might have been given a second thought, though...

Burning Buildings 9/10

This is certainly one of the prettier ballads of the album. It begins with some very sweet piano, and then it quickly builds up into one of his signature upbeat and thunderous methods. Great hooks throughout this track!

Did He Shoot Her? 9.5/10

Just as you'd think that Elton did all he could for one album, he brings up what is easily one of the album's more memorable tracks. The melodic hooks are absolutely deadly and can stand side-by-side with the best of his '70s songs. The rock 'n' roll instrumentation is absolutely solid --- they even bring in a little bit of sitar in here! Quite nice. It's always fun when Elton rocks out.

Sad Songs (Say So Much) 7.5/10

He choses this decent though fairly generic country-rock song to end the ceremonies with. The melody is fine, but the instrumentation seems too much like a Casio keyboard demo, and nobody bothers to do anything awesome in terms of soloing or noodling. It's a good tune, I guess --- and much happier and upbeat than the song title might suggest. The lyrics express happiness for the existence of sad songs. "Um, thanks, Bernie." That's probably what Elton said ---