Goodbye Yellow Brick Road [Remastered] - Elton John > Reviews > Elton's best album

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Thought-provoking
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money	Excellent

Advantages:	Quality of music & lyrics, artwork on cover
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Every major music artist or band produce an album in their career that stands head & shoulders above all their other work. In most cases it is released during the peak of the career, usually a multi million seller & in some cases they go on to write material which is just as a good.

Of courses deciding which album is an artists' best is at best a very subjective matter, however to me classic examples of this is the Beatles album 'Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band', 40 years after it was released it is often regarding as the band's best work. It still sounds as fresh & exciting today as it did in 1967. Another example is Pink Floyd's 'Dark side of the moon', a massive selling album, so creative & a true masterpiece.
For Stevie Wonder it was his 1976 release 'Songs in the key of life' & Michael Jackson's 'Thriller' is another example. One of my favourite albums is Elton John's 'Goodbye Yellowbrick Road' & it falls into this category. Five years into his career, he & Bernie Taupin wrote this double album & I often consider it to be their very best work.
I know he has written many good albums since (and some dire ones) but this is the one that stands head & shoulders above all others.

Elton cannot write lyrics & Bernie Taupin cannot write music, but together they have created some of the world's finest songs in the past 40 years. Goodbye Yellowbrick Road is a double album featuring 18 songs all produced by the late Gus Dudgeon. It features Elton's band members at the time, Nigel Olsen on drums, the late Dee Murray on bass guitar & Davey Johnston on lead guitar. Del Newman was called in to do the orchestral arrangements & David Hentschel featured on the ARP synthesizer. There was also appearances from Ray Cooper on percussion & Kiki Dee on vocals. The album was meant to have been recorded in Jamaica but after arriving, many problems & difficulties occurred & they left the island at the last minute. It was eventually recorded in France at the Strawberry studios outside Paris.

FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND / LOVE LIES BLEEDING
The album starts off with the classic instrumental 'Funeral for a friend' & blends into 'Love lies bleeding'. It's over 10 minutes long & is still played by Elton live on stage at most of his concerts. Put on your headphones & listen to this track in the dark. It starts off with the haunting sound of church bells & the noise of the wind. You can just pictures the scene, a dimly lit graveyard & only you present, the synthesizer starts off & leads into Elton playing gently on the keyboards, its one of these songs that slowly builds up into a climax, slows back down again & before you know it, you're listening to the fast & furious 'Love lies bleeding', which finishes on a high.

CANDLE IN THE WIND
The next track on the album is the classic 'Candle in the wind', at the time it was released as a single but only peaked at number 14 in the charts. Later in the 1980s a live version was released & did a little better but in 1997 after Lady Diana's death, her dedicated version became the worlds best selling single of all time. What a legacy!
The song is about the late Marilyn Monroe & feature Bernie's classic lyrics;

Goodbye Norma Jean
Though I never knew you at all
You had the grace to hold yourself
While those around you crawled
They crawled out of the woodwork
And they whispered into your brain
They set you on the treadmill
And they made you change your name

And it seems to me you lived your life
Like a candle in the wind
Never knowing who to cling to
When the rain set in
And I would have liked to have known you
But I was just a kid
Your candle burned out long before
Your legend ever did

Loneliness was tough
The toughest role you ever played
Hollywood created a superstar
And pain was the price you paid
Even when you died
Oh the press still hounded you
All the papers had to say
Was that Marilyn was found in the nude

Goodbye Norma Jean
From the young man in the 22nd row
Who sees you as something as more than sexual
More than just our Marilyn Monroe

BENNIE & THE JETS
Next up is the foot stomping 'Bennie & the jets', this was released as a single in the USA instead of 'Candle in the wind' & made Elton the very first white artist to reach number one on the R&B charts. It's a classic & still enjoyed today when he plays it at concerts.

GOODBYE YELLOWBRICK ROAD
Next, is the title track & another top ten seller for Elton, this ballad has wonderful harmonies & is sung well by Elton. I have never heard him sing this song live since his throat operation & often wonder if he can still hit the chords required to make this song sound like the original.

THIS SONG HAS NO TITLE
'This song has no title' is next, this is no filler track but a very cleverly written piece of music; it features Elton on his own with a Farfisa organ, electric piano, Mellotrum & piano.

GREY SEAL
'Grey seal' is up next & a song written by Elton & Bernie when they were struggling to get noticed in the late 1960s. Originally it had a slow beat to it, but this version is faster & much more up beat. It's a great song & even better live.

JAMAICAN JERK OFF
This is an unusual track from Elton, it has a reggae theme through it & it's called 'Jamaican jerk off', it's quite a catchy little song that is rarely played on radio.

I'VE SEEN THAT MOVIE TOO
'I've seen that movie too' could have been a single, its certainly good enough, a balled featuring great guitar work, good vocals & Del's orchestral arrangements.

SWEET PAINTED LADY
As you can imagine 'Sweet painted lady' is a song about prostitutes, a slow ballad with a straight to the point lyrics. It's a lovely song which I have only heard being played on the radio once in all those years.

THE BALLAD OF DANNY BAILEY
My favourite track is 'The ballad of Danny Bailey', a song about a 1930s gangster, it starts off with Elton on piano & builds up into a great foot stomping chorus with great backing vocals & ends with Del' orchestral arrangements & Elton thumping at the piano. Fantastic!!

DIRTY LITTLE GIRL
'Dirty little girl follows up next, not much to say about this slow plodding song.

ALL THE YOUNG GIRLS LOVE ALICE
The next track is one often played at the concerts, 'All the young girls love Alice' is a song about a lesbian which ends in tragic circumstances. It's a strong song with much synthesizer work.

YOUR SISTER CAN'T TWIST BUT SHE CAN ROCK & ROLL
That song is followed by 'Your sister can't twist (but she can rock n roll)'. A fast & furious number featuring Elton on piano & Farfisa organ. The lyrics are great, so is the song, which is frantic & fun.

SATURDAY NIGHTS ALL RIGHT FOR FIGHTING
It suddenly stops, before you get your breath back the opening bars to 'Saturday nights alright for fighting' start. The classic song which is always a favourite on stage was released prior the album. The song is self explanatory & features great lyrics;

It's getting late have you seen my mates
Ma tell me when the boys get here
It's seven o'clock and I want to rock
Want to get a belly full of beer

My old man's drunker than a barrel full of monkeys
And my old lady she don't care
My sister looks cute in her braces and boots
A handful of grease in her hair

Don't give us none of your aggravation
We had it with your discipline
Saturday night's alright for fighting
Get a little action in

Get about as oiled as a diesel train
Gonna set this dance alight
`Cause Saturday night's the night I like
Saturday night's alright alright alright

Well they're packed pretty tight in here tonight
I'm looking for a dolly who'll see me right
I may use a little muscle to get what I need
I may sink a little drink and shout out "She's with me!"

A couple of the sound that I really like
Are the sounds of a switchblade and a motorbike
I'm a juvenile product of the working class
Whose best friend floats in the bottom of a glass

ROT RODGERS
Bernie's lyrics appear to be influenced by the American wild west, this song 'Roy Rodgers' is about his boyhood hero, the song has a country feel to it but is carried off well by Elton.

SOCIAL DISEASE
'Social disease' starts off quiet & then comes roaring it, the song features Davey on guitar & banjo along with Leroy Gomex on saxophone.

HARMONY
The best has been saved until last & this song does have a long lasting effect, 'Harmony' does feature great harmonies & lyrics & is very special way to end this classic album. Years after the album came out, a radio station in America asked the audience to pick out their favourite Elton John track. Despite having a list of favourites such as Rocket man, Your song, Daniel etc, they chose 'Harmony'. Listen to it & you'll se why.

Years after the album came out; a journalist noted that every track on this album is a 'downer', a negative, when you start to read the lyrics I have to say that I agree. Negative or not it certainly leaves the listener with a positive effect & is one of those albums that you just can't stop listening to.
If you have only listened to Elton in recent years via greatest hits albums, take the plunge & get this album & see why he has the respect in the music business that he deserves. It really is a masterpiece, no filler tracks or glorified 'B' sides, only 18 classic tracks.