Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973) Album Score: 12

After the relatively forgettable Don’t Shoot Me I’m Only the Piano Player, Elton John delivers this huuuuuuuge double album filled to the brim with good melodies. It might not be Elton John’s best album, but it is probably his most popular, and it’s easy to see why: This is the album with “Candle in the Wind” on it! But also, this album basically represents the pinnacle of Elton John’s image. Just looking at the cover, you can see him wearing one of his glam suits with those platform shoes and goofy eyeglasses. He continues where he left off from the previous album and writes mostly commercial music with the mass populace in mind ... And, naturally, the thing worked like a beauty!

A lot of critics don’t care for this, instead preferring the good albums he made before he gained all this popularity like Tumbleweed Connection and Honky Chateau! Well, of course those albums are better because they have better songs and they show Elton John in a rawer, more raucous state. But this commercial incarnation is quite a treat, too. In fact, I don’t even want to call this “commercial” anymore. How many “commercial” albums can you think of would start off with something like “Funeral For a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding),” which could be argued as the most ambitious thing he’d ever attempted. It’s nothing less than an 11-minute multi-part epic. The way it’s structured, you can call it prog if you want to ... and it’s very good prog. The first half of it is instrumental, and the second half is catchy pop. It is an utter treat from beginning to end. The rest of these songs could be pieces of crap, and I'd still want to own the album just for that song.

But lucky, there are a plethora of good-to-great songs in here that makes this album worth its 17 tracks. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” is my second favorite track... As a three-minute, sentimental ballad, it’s much simpler, but that melody is just an incredibly endearing one. That’s the sort of song that I can listen to back-to-back a dozen times and never grow tired of it. There aren’t too many songs like that. “Bennie and the Jets,” a sort of mock-glam tune, was a popular hit, but I can’t say I like it a whole heck of a lot. That is to say, I think the melody is catchy, and I adore the way his simple piano riff progresses through the song to sound incredibly violent at the end. But the whole thing just doesn’t catch fire to me. And then there’s “Candle in the Wind,” a song that Elton resurrects whenever someone famous dies unexpectedly. It was originally written for the benefit of Marilyn Monroe who had been long dead at this point... Well, whatever. Elton John and Bernie Taupin can write whatever songs they want to.

Some of us would draw the line at “Dirty Little Girl” with lyrics that I’m sure anybody with a heart would find despicable. I didn’t even like it for its incredibly ugly instrumental presentation, and bland melody. If there was one song that doesn’t belong here, it would be that one. “All the Girls Love Alice” isn’t quite as bad, lyrically, but you have to wonder what Bernie Taupin was playing at ... it is about an angry girl shooting her classmates. Maybe it could have worked if it wasn’t presented in a supermarket tabloid sort of way, but it does seem too severe of a topic.

Too many songs and so little room! (There’s much more info in the track reviews.) “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting” is the only other hit song from the album that I haven’t mentioned. And it really is a fun glam number with a raucous beat and a catchy melody. I have a real soft spot for “The Ballad of Danny Bailey” that reminds me of a Wild West outlaw ballad even though it’s about a 1930s gangster. “Sweet Painted Lady” is one of those songs with sort of iffy lyrics (I really don’t think I want to hear such graphic words about a prostitute), but the song sounds so sentimental that it would bring a tear to the eyes no matter *what* it was about. “Grey Seal,” which Elton John wrote in the late 1960s, but it’s revamped in a more glammy way, and it sports one of his most rollicking vocal performances.

While this isn’t Elton John’s best album, it’s probably his most flashy and ambitious. There are a few weak spots and perhaps not enough great spots... but surely, this is one of the most essential albums that you need to get from this guy.

TRACKS

Funeral For a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding) A+

I probably think waaaaay too much of this sprawling 11-minute epic, but I really love this thing to pieces. It’s the grandest thing Elton John has ever done. There aren’t many more rock pieces that long that I can listen to completely transfixed on it the whole time. I’ve been listening to this album for almost eight years now, and I haven’t grown any less impressed with it. It’s Elton John’s attempt at progressive rock, and I think it’s safe to say that he put most of the bands that did that full-time to shame. It starts out with some wind sound effects, and then some awesome chords on a towering buzz synthesizer. A quieter, calm piano line begins to play... and it quickly escalates into a massive tornado. About half-way through it, Elton quits it with this instrumental nonsense and decides to just give us a really good pop melody with some rockin’ instrumentals. Isn’t this just the coolest song in the world?

Candle in the Wind A

Oh yes. This might just be Elton John’s most famous tune probably because he sings it whenever someone young and famous dies. But, here in this form, the song wasn’t dedicated to Diana. It was dedicated to Marilyn Monroe... who died 10 years before this song was written, but whatever. It’s a really good song. I’m sure you know it! ... Oh god, I’ve listened to this song waaaaaaay too much to really want to say much about it.

Bennie and the Jets A-

Elton John goes for the whole glam image here without any remorse. Oh, and I almost forgot that he would put on those huge glasses for performances of songs like this. I’m still not sure what some fans see so much in this particular song. I figured I’ve been missing something! At any rate, I hardly think it’s better than the two tracks preceding it and the track that follows. It starts out very sluggish, but it soon gains quite a bit of momentum. Notably, you can hear Elton’s piano grow from rather tedious to pounding so hard that you’d think he’d break it. Cool vocal performance, too.

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road A+

I do love this song. It’s another one of my favorite Elton John ballads with some of the most beautiful lines of melody that he has ever sung. This is the sort of song that I can just listen to back-to-back a dozen times straight and feel as captivated as always. Really, this is a beautiful song. Just lovely.

This Song Has No Title A-

Yes it does! It’s called ... er ... Hey this isn’t a bad song! I remember listening to this album in my car, and this would always be the point where I’d wonder if I should turn the album off or not. To be honest, I usually did. The four previous songs were always my favorites, and this fifth song is just a folky piano piece. But I shouldn’t have turned off the album. This is another good song with some strong hooks and he plays some captivating textures with his piano.

Grey Seal A

Thanks to the inclusion of bonus tracks on Elton’s back catalogue, we now know that he actually wrote this back in the ‘60s. But it’s a very catchy song with an excellent, rock ‘n’ roll instrumentation. Naturally, this version is a lot more polished and glammy than the one I heard on the bonus tracks, and it still manages to come off as more energetic. He goes off on this crazy funk jam at the end... which is fun, too.

Jamaica Jerk-Off A-

Amazingly, Elton John goofs off on ska music and is actually very entertaining at it. Sometimes cutesy tropical songs bug the crap out of me, but this one puts a smile on my face instead. His melody has catchy verses and a memorable chorus. His cutesy vocal styling here might come off as stilted, but it’s just Elton having some fun. (I don’t know what the deal was with all those voices in the background... I’ll admit that *those* get annoying.)

I’ve Seen That Movie Too B+

This one’s a tad on the plodding side, but I actually used to hate it more than I do now. The six-minute length probably could have been trimmed, but at the same time, Elton gives it an amazing, soulful push toward its conclusion. Bringing in those bombastic strings in the middle also proved to be an excellent idea. Though the rather undue song length is mostly the reason for the non-A score.

Sweet Painted Lady A

Wow, he really had a knack of melodies by this point. Here’s an incredibly pleasant ballad with a catchy melody and some nice accordion in the background. It’s so nice that I start to wish the lyrics weren’t about an old prostitute. But anyway, it creates a really sweet mood.

The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909-34) A

Here is Elton’s attempt at writing something of a Wild West outlaw ballad except it’s about a gangster. (It reminds me of that Cat Ballou ballad that they keep on singing through the film.) It made a really good, ultra-dramatic tune, and once again, there’s absolutely no beating these melodies. He makes it look too easy...

Dirty Little Girl C+

He loses me with this one. The overall flow of this song is very clunky, and the instrumentation is ugly. I don’t like the melody at all... (but it does have a few weak hooks in it). It’s not nearly as good as most of these songs. Elton John gives a snarling vocal performance that you can barely hear over the mix. The lyrics are really nasty, too...

All the Girls Love Alice B+

I like that really driving rhythm, and John gives more of his usual, spirited vocal performances. What I don’t care for about this song is those sudden stops he does to deliver these rather uninspired mini-ballad sections. ...Eh.

Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock ‘n’ Roll) A-

This was designed to be a goof on ‘50s boogie Part of the joke is that John plays it about 50 percent faster than it’s supposed to be ... and I think he inadvertently hit on the new wave sound the kids would start doing about four years later. Oh well. This is just a silly song and hardly to be taken seriously. Give him credit for keeping up with the pace delivering some incredibly boisterous vocals, and even more credit for making it so toe-tapping.

Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting A

Apart from the three big hits at the beginning of the album, this was something of a hit, too. And you can immediately tell why. It is a rollicking, and one of his most infectious and danceable songs! Elton John gives one of his more spirited vocal performances.

Roy Rogers B+

This is a nice tribute to that famous fast food guy... Or rather, the cowboy from the TV. He gives it a country-western flavor, which makes sense for the theme. The melody is OK, but hardly anything inspired of memorable, and the plodding pace of the song is a bit of a problem. That said, this is a pretty good song. OK, what’s next?

Social Disease A-

Bring on them hillbilly banjos! This seems like he was trying to revisit that old idea that brought him that great “Honky Cat” song, but of course he doesn’t come close to recapturing that song’s utter glory. Oh well... But what he does do here is give us a catchy song with some more of that good old spirit.

Harmony A-

Not quite as memorable as his other ballads, but this remains an Elton John ballad all the same. So, you can expect a very catchy melody, a soaring vocal performance and heavily reliable instrumental performances. It also makes a very nice ending to the album... Perhaps it could have stood to have more character, but it remains a nice, conclusion to this huge album.