Elton John - A Single Man (1978) Album Score: 9

After releasing Blue Moves Elton John realized that his songwriting hadn't been quite up-to-snuff, so he took a two year break in hopes to rebuild that priceless inspiration that had driven him for so many years. He even parted with his longtime lyricist, Bernie Taupin, and began collaborating with a feller named Gary Osbourne hoping that he would be the source of new inspiration. But I'm afraid that all of these moves were in vain. A Single Man is as desperately mediocre as Blue Moves if not more so. In fact, A Single Man is a bit worse, because it doesn't contain a solitary moment that can measure up to the best of Blue Moves. An utterly bland album, A Single Man is.

At the same time, it's pretty mildly likable throughout. It opens with “Shine on Through,” a piano ballad that starts out rather dully, but it picks up some steam in the last half when the woodwind arrangements and the drums pick up. Plus, it has Elton John himself going for it; no matter what, he's always going to be a charming singer who everybody loves. There's no arguing with that. “Return to Paradise” is another rather mediocre ballad, but this one has a bit of a Latin flare to it which comes off fine. The feathery piano texture Elton comes out with is neat, but it loses some points with that generic Spanish guitar and horn solo.

“I Don't Care” is such a good dance song and my vote for the best song of the album. But it only managed to win a B+, so you can tell that it's still lacking. Elton John has done plenty of dance songs like this before. They are so indistinguishable that this could have appeared on Rock of the Westies or Blue Moves and I would have been none-the-wiser. But at least has a convincing enough of a beat to keep my toes tapping and the melody is fun. ...And at least that song isn't disco. “Madness” sounds uncomfortably like the theme song for Flashdance. That's not something I was hoping Elton John would stoop to! But in all honesty, “Madness” is a pretty fun song, particularly in its spirited chorus, and turns out to be one of the major highlights. Worse is “Part-Time Love” with a hook that can be classified as 'dumb,' and a rhythm that doesn't inspire me to do anything. Bluh!

“Big Dipper” was a nice attempt to emulate the same sort of Brit-interpreted ragtime vibe that The Kinks once captured in Muswell Hillbillies. While Elton's take on it was likable, it still lacked the same sort of freshness that made Ray Davies' work such a runaway success. I hate to reiterate the point, but everything on A Single Man is plagued with an ugly sort of staleness. That isn't more evident anywhere than it is in “Georgia,” a pretty lame attempt at writing a country-western anthem 'immortalizing' a homeland that Elton John probably only visited on one of his tours. It's a pointless ode with the most uninvolved vocal performance that I remember him doing.

While it's a nice song, “It Ain't Gonna Be Easy” had no business being eight minutes long. Sure, it had enough stamina to last four minutes, which is more than I can say about a lot of songs, but I can't understand what possessed him to drag that out so long. At least it has a convincing rhythm section, and one of Elton's more serious quasi-bluesy vocal performances. Those minimal electric guitar noodles throughout are nice and reminiscent of Mark Knopfer, who was starting out around this time. I can't say I get particularly sick of listening to it, but I think this time might have been better spent. There's also that seven-minute closer “A Song For Guy,” which is another incredibly overtaxed song. I have to sit through about five minutes of it thinking that it's an introduction... I'm wait very patiently for him to sing something! Five minutes into it, I realize that this 'introduction' is all that he had. (He does eventually start to sing, but it seemed more like an afterthought, as he only sings the same general theme that we had been hearing.) That was quite a disappointment, because there was some potentially good material in here..... but I suppose Elton John was just too tired of being Elton John that he hadn't the stamina to flesh these out like he used to. Shame.

There is one song in the bonus tracks that completely blows away anything from the regular studio album. It's called “Ego,” a rather unusual and terribly fun song that starts out a little like a tango, and turns out to be quite a fun, more regular dance song. Really inspired uses of sound-effects make it even more distinctive (namely, there's that train whistle and a submarine sonar noise). There's some really brilliant chord deviations in here that sound suited for a Broadway musical, which come a little unexpected, but I'm delighted whenever they come up. A cool middle section is more of a ballad. It's not a terribly good ballad, but he finds a wavy synthesizer to keep the texture alive. It's not a masterpiece by any means, but it comes the closest as anything here to recapturing the same ole Elton John greatness. It's as though he woke up from his coma briefly. There are four other bonus tracks. I like the country-ish “Flintstone Boy,” but the others aren't much to speak of. Hm.

TRACKS

Shine on Through B-

Elton John had taken a two-year break between the last album and this one, but it seems as though the break hadn't served him as well as he hoped it would. This is a ballad, and it's Elton John singing it, but it's very bland and uninspired. It starts out with some simple piano chords before he comes in with a vocal melody without many hooks in it. Luckily, things get better about halfway through when a nice string and woodwind arrangement comes in with a drum beat. But I remember the good old days when Elton John ballads were so infectious that I couldn't stop myself from humming along with them. This song doesn't inspire me to do anything more than listen politely.

Return to Paradise B

Hey, this is better. Just like most of his '80s career, Elton John was always at least good for one decent tune or two in an album. The Latin feel of it is so stiffly played-out and muzakish, however, that it is nothing more than a gimmick I suppose he employed just to do something different. Nonetheless, Elton comes up with quite a nice, feathery piano texture, and the melody is likable and mildly hooky. Not too shabby.

I Don't Care B+

Even better this time! In fact, this pop-rock song with a dance beat is very nearly excellent (it almost squeezed an A- out of me. Almost). It has a very good beat going, and Elton's exuberant vocal performance gives us all hope that he might not be as badly ready to hang up the towel as we all feared after hearing the deadly mediocre Blue Moves. The song also has a good use of a rhythmic string section, which adds to the rhythm, and some well-placed female backup singers. The downside of it is that it comes off as awfully sterile....... but I suppose you could say that about most of his rockers on his classic albums.

Big Dipper B

This is a cutesy ragtime tune. It's a fairly generic one, too (especially when that New-Orleans-style instrumentation comes in for the second half). It might have been something similar to The Kinks' Muswell Hillbillies, but it's lacking that certain breath of fresh air. Nonetheless, it's still a fun song to hear—and the only reason it's fun is simply because Elton John would have made this so fun if he wasn't such a likable guy in general. If you don't think so, then you'll probably get no joy out of this whatsoever.

It Ain't Gonna Be Easy B-

This is one of those sorts of songs that's pretty good, but it has no business being as insanely long as it is. It makes a perfectly nice four-minute song, but he decided to drag it out for eight minutes. That said, it's like listening to a perfectly decent four-minute song twice, so I suppose I can't fault him too badly for that (although I still felt the need to drag the song score down from a potential B+ or A-). This is a more heavy hitting mid-tempo rock song that's a little edgier than most of these tracks. The rhythm section packs quite a punch, and I love Elton's exuberant vocal performance. The electric guitar is even pretty good, giving us a few cosmic moments that are rather reminiscent of Mark Knopfer's trademark style. Not shabby. It was just too long.

Part-Time Love C

This goes one notch beyond “cutesy” and becomes “cheesy.” That's something that I was metaphorically gritting my teeth over...... Cheesiness is something he could have easily slipped into in the past, but he used to avoid like a skillfully trained ninja. But he lost his edge, and the cheese is starting to seep through the cracks. What a terribly disappointing song! It sounds a bit like a disco. Elton's vocals are as plain as it could get and so is that incredibly simple hook. The hook is repeated so much that the song seems a bit overextended even though it's just more than three minutes long.

Georgia C

It sounds like he was referring to the US state, but considering this was the first Elton John album released in the USSR, this could be a sinister remark to the country. (Chalk up one mark for capitalism!) ...Well, this is a rather boring song. He was going for some sentimental ode to somebody else's homeland, but you can sorta tell that he himself didn't give a crap about it. The country-western inspired melody is hopelessly bland, and I don't get an ounce of feeling out of that vocal performance. A whole choir comes into sing the chorus... Well, that's such a generic idea that it just accents this song's already fakey feel. Bluh.

Shooting Star B-

This song starts out very nicely. That twinkly acoustic guitar, thoughtful electric piano, and sliding bass combined with a vastly interesting chord progression piques my interest more than almost anything in this entire album. But halfway through it when he still keeps that same morose tune and brings in a saxophone solo reminiscent of elevator music, it starts to get cheesy in a pretty bad way. And I wish he would change that tone a little bit. On the plus side, he rightfully doesn't find any reason to extend this past three minutes.

Madness B+

This is another one of his blatant attempts at coming out with a disco hit, but it seems pretty vacant. Nonetheless, it's not such a bad song. The melody is solid enough to catch fire, and that thunderous instrumentation is driving enough to make me tap my feet. Elton John has a nice voice, of course, though he's sounding uncomfortably close to that “Flashdance” singer. Extra points come in with that pounding and unusual instrumental interlude in the middle. That's just funny!

Reverie C

Ew. No! I don't know what he was doing here. It's a one-minute instrumental consisting of random piano chords while a high-pitched synthesizer whistles over it. Dumb. Boring.

Song For Guy C+

This is another one of those perfectly nice songs that's plagued by a waaaaaaaay too long running time. In fact, this is an instrumental, but it sounds like an elaborate introduction to something that I'm waiting very patiently for Elton John to start singing something. When he does, all he sings is the same old theme that had been playing the whole time. What's the matter with Guy, is he mute? Now, this loop that Elton ends up playing is quite nice, but its repetitive nature ends up getting the better of me. And there's no way it should have been nearly seven minutes. There are some potentially priceless moments in here, but unfortunately they were only halfbaked.

BONUS TRACKS:

Ego A-

Now, what the hell is the point of writing songs like this and not even putting them on the albums? This is such a relentlessly cool song that it completely blows away the songs on the bulk of the album! It's a very catchy and unusual song that begins as a sort of tango, with some inspired instrumentation (notably a train whistle and a, get this, submarine sonar beep). It's intermittently danceable and bizarre. Even that sudden ending was pretty cool. Whoah.

Flinstone Boy B

I'm not going to complain too much that this wasn't included on the real album, but Elton sounds much more engaged here than the did anywhere there... This song has a rougher sort of country-western edge to it with Elton sounding memorably like a world-weary cowboy. The melody is simple, but it's quite good. Good song!

I Cry At Night C-

This time, I'll go so far to say that I'm happy he didn't include this on the album. It's just a rambly folkish song that sounds like a watered-down John Denver. If Elton John is sounding like a watered-down version of John Denver, it might be finally time to run for the hills.

Lovesick C+

Not the worst thing I could think of, and at least it keeps a lighthearted, bouncy pace. But this thing is hopelessly bland. It's just forgettable pap with Elton John singing a cheesy toss-off melody. The instrumentation is so polished that it's utterly sterile. I've heard worse, of course, but that doesn't mean I don't find listening to this vastly disappointing from this once-great man.

Strangers C

I wish I had nicer things to say about this ballad that's done in his usual style. But it's as boring as most of the ballads that appeared on the regular album. Nothing about the melody is distinctive whatsoever, and the instrumentation is BLAND. I wonder why he doesn't bother trying to do anything interesting with the instrument that he's a master over. Bluhhhhhhh. Oh well. At least this isn't horrendous. Just mediocre. OK. Goodbye.