As
many of you already know, UME/Rocket recently released five more Elton
John titles in remastered form. These discs covered the gap left
between
"A Single Man" and "Ice On Fire" (with the exception of "Too Low For
Zero").
Originally, SIX albums were to be released, but for some reason yet to
be revealed, "Leather Jackets" was left off and remains the only full
album
in the Elton John catalogue not remastered to date. Being a frequent
contributer
to the Row, I thought it would be fun (not to mention challenging) to
go
in chronological order and lead off with no less than "Victim of Love"!
The butt of many jokes, especially among Elton fans, it has the dubious
distinction of being widely considered the worst Elton John record
ever.
Taking that into consideration, and that Universal/Rocket decided it
was
worth remastering and re-releasing, I plan to look at the record
objectively
and check the "VOL" jokebook at the door, as it were. That having been
said, here we go! First off, of late you have to admit there's a
certain
attraction to seeing the words "Elton John" and "remastered" on a new
CD.
It portends that even though you may have heard the material before,
it's
probably better now than you remember it and has some neat little
goodies
tucked away inside the packaging. No less is true of "Victim of Love".
Originally released in October, 1979, John Tobler accurately points out
in his liner notes (that do have one or two errors which should have
been
caught) that "Victim of Love" is arguably Elton's least accessible
record.
It also didn't see the commercial success of any of his albums released
before or since. Tobler speculates a bit in his notes about "Victim..."
being brought about possibly by Elton reacting badly to the clash
between
his release of "Blue Moves" and it's slight decline in sales compared
to
what he was used to and the arrival of the Punk Rock movement. I
personally
think it was due to Elton's semi-retirement of the time and his wanting
to stay relevant in a music business that was seeing stars like Donna
Summer,
the Bee Gees and the Village People all over the singles charts that
had
ruled for so many years. Elton was no stranger to the "Disco" scene,
hanging
out frequently at clubs such as Studio 54 during their late seventies
and
early eighties heydays. His friendship with Pete Bellotte, who
co-produced
no less than Donna Summer and her string of smash hits and would also
be
the brains behind "Victim of Love", goes back to the 60's and when
Bellotte
approached Elton with the concept of doing a co"-oriented project, I'm
sure Elton thought it might be at least a good experiment. According to
Tobler, the only restrictions EJ put on the project were that he
wouldn't
write or play on any of the songs. Bellotte apparently conceded,
co-writing
with his various composing partners six of the seven tracks, the only
exception
being the cover version of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B. Goode". While piano
can be heard fairly prominently on several of the tracks, it clearly
isn't
Elton's playing style and if he did put down any piano, he isn't
credited
on the musician's list. On the other hand, many famous musicians ARE
credited
on the record, quite a few of whom played with Elton John on other
occasions.
Notable names include Keith Forsey on drums, who would go on to produce
hits for Billy Idol only a few years later... veteran percussionist
Paulino
Da Costa... backing vocals from Stephanie Spruill, Maxine and Julia
Waters
who would appear on various other Elton sessions... Michael McDonald
and
Patrick Simmons from the Doobie Brothers, Toto guitarist Steve Lukather
lays down lead tracks on two tracks... and sax ace Lenny Pickett, whose
work on Caribou" should be well remembered by Elton afficianados. The
seven
original tracks on the disc feature the standard "thump-thump" disco
kick
drum featured highly placed in all the mixes. (Note: No bonus tracks
are
included and if any were recorded, no mention of them is made in the
liner
notes) All the songs are chained together by slight tempo changes in
the
kick drum, except "Born Bad", which originally faded and closed out
Side
1. This is more or less "grafted" onto the into to "Thunder in the
Night"
and the edit works fairly well all things considered. Now, let me state
for the record that I wasn't a huge fan of the album when I first
picked
it up and gave it a spin. However, in a conversation with Tom Travers
who
picked up his copies about the same time mine were on the way, he
indicated
the sound alone on the remastered record really deserved some
attention.
He was quite correct! The sound, digitally remastered from the original
masters by Gary Moore at Universal Mastering in London, has turned
"Victim
of Love" from a "toss off" to a "toe-tapper"! The tracks really pop and
with Moore's giving more stereo spread and clarity to the overall
mixes,
what we would dismiss as a humdrum disco era "mistake" actually defies
you to NOT get up and dance! Maybe it's the sound quality, but for some
reason the remastered record plays now as being more "fun" than
"frivoulous".
Frankly, it's pretty good party music! For my money, if you're looking
for a disc to bop along with in traffic, put this one in the player and
see if you don't find yourself actually enjoying the ride! Taking into
account that "Victim of Love", much like "The Thom Bell Sessions",
isn't
a true Elton project, time and Gary Moore's touchups have actually
caused
me to rethink its reputation in relation to the rest of the EJ
catalogue.
It's a disco album and Pete Bellotte and his writers don't write
anything
close to a John/Taupin tune (or Barry Gibb for that matter), but as a
disco
album, the record does have some catchy tunes. Only "Warm Love In A
Cold
World" strikes me as being something of a clinker, with the weakest set
of lyrics on the disc. Highlights include "Born Bad", "Street Boogie"
and
"Victim of Love", all with very inventive musical hooks that stick with
you and make the tracks ultimately listenable and certainly danceable,
if one were so inclined! The spirited cover of "Johnny B. Goode" opens
the album with a lot more kick than I remembered and features a
blistering
sax solo by Lenny Pickett. The entire record is played, with few
synthesizers
and almost no sequencing, by some talented musicians who lay down some
really funky grooves to some just-right arrangements and overdubs,
overseen
by Bellotte, featuring his trademark producing technique he refined on
many disco era hits of the day. Where does Elton fit into this whole
picture?
Well, one standout on all the songs is the familiar and solid vocal
work
by our man Elton, who puts down his best British/soul-singer amalgam to
perfectly sell the lyrics across the whole album. Elton seems to have
enjoyed
playing with his vocals on this disc and sounds like he's having fun
with
the songs, varying his approach to fit each number in ways we typically
don't find on his own works. Made to be a sort-of "song cycle", what
does
appear lacking is a smash hit single, but that could be because we just
don't emember there being one from the album. Elton and disco were
never
really synonymous and in its day "Victim of Love" probably served to
confuse
his audience more than grab them. The lyrics and original album artwork
are faithfully reproduced here and all one can thin that might be
missing
is the blue/pink on the CD's silk screen label, but this is found on
the
pages of the booklet, so technically it's there. There's even pictures
of the cover for the sheet music book and the sleeves for the singles
"Johnny
B. Goode" and "Victim of Love"! Tobler concludes his notes by stating
that
Elton occasionally proves he's human and is capable of miscalculation.
Is "Victim of Love" a miscalculation? At the time, one could certainly
agree that it probably was. Twenty or so years later, however, "Victim
of Love" serves as a historical marker for a period in time that saw
Elton
experimenting with his career a bit while finding the path he would
eventually
take that would lead him to his status as a legend. Not taken too
seriously,
it also serves as a record that's also a lot fun and right at home at
parties!
Try saying that about "Elton John". Just kidding! I'm not trying to
compare
one to the other but in all seriousness, I would suggest that if you're
a true-blue EJ fan you pick up "Victim of Love", free your mind and let
the CD do the talking. You might be surprised at what you hear, but
more
importantly what it has to say.
Andy
Geiser - 22nd Row 2003
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