I had never listened to this album before, so I decided to give it a shot, and....In my opinion it's a very mixed bag. Sometimes the new sound works really well, other times, it fails completely. Simple Life 3/10 What the hell is this ? Plodding, amateurish writing, cheap late night bar karaoke sound. No thanks. The One 5/10 Pleasant enough. The cheap Casio synths and reverbed drums are still annoying though. Sweat it out 2/10 Elton John tries New Jack Swing, and fails horribly. The mixing is awful. Runaway Train 7/10 - All right ! Now we're talking. Not great, but very catchy. A good old-fashioned blues rock is always nice ! Whitewash Country 1/10 ARRRRGGGGGHHHH ! More tacky synths and mechanical drums and terrible writing to boot. Why, Elton, why ?! The North 9/10 - Great song !. Soulful singing and playing, and for once the drumming works well here. When A Woman Doesn't Want You 9/10 - Another very good track. Talk about a breath of fresh air !

Great review as always ! I'm sure there are worse albums, but this is a complete derivative piece of crap. A couple of guilty pleasures though ! Johnny B Goode 1/10 - Oooh boyyy. A plodding turd that fails both as a cover of this rock classic and as a disco track. Yipee. Warm Love in a Cold World 1/10 - Um, you sure this is an Elton John record ? Not a Gloria Gaynor knockoff record ? Born Bad 5/10 - Weak, but at least the groove is decent. Guilty pleasure no.1 Thunder in the Night 2/10 - I'm getting sick of these amateurish grooves, the drumming is lazy and the bass is barely audible. Spotlight 1/10 - Zzzzzzz.... Oh, sorry, it's still going on ? Uh, Pete, you do know there's more than one kind of groove in disco, right ? Street Boogie 5/10 - About the only song that has an okay-ish groove and an almost catchy chorus. Guilty pleasure no.2 Victim of Love 3/10 - Very bland, uninspired drumming and the mixing is utter crap. You can barely hear Elton sometimes ! Total score 18/70, so 2.6/10. Ouch. You sure didn't apply yourself much here, Elton.

Hello John. This is a No. 1 album in both the U.S. and U.K. I really think you short-changed this album from the beginning. Frankly, you must have been in a very poor mood when you reviewed this album sir. I have enjoyed all of your reviews but on this one I beg to differ. I don't mind the cover photo or the pink type. I would say this is one of his top 10 albums of all-time. As you point out, the Bitch is Back is a great song that is extremely catchy and the guitar work, vocals and sound quality is fantastic. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me is pretty good. I don't think it is as good as you seem to. Boring to me. Songs like Pinky, Ticking, Stinker and Grimsby are all above average. I think the production and sound on this album are first rate. This deserves a very good rating in my humble opinion.

Nice review ! Not sure I necessarily agree with all choices, though, personally. I think it's a very solid record. Dear John 8/10 - Very catchy, and Elton's vocal and piano riff are great Spiteful Child 6/10 - Not bad, but could have been fleshed out more Ball and Chain 5/10 - Pretty humorous, but the music and lyrics don't seem to fully gel Legal Boys 9/10 - Luscious arrangements, daring writing and vivid performance I Am Your Robot 3/10 - Could have been good, but doesn't really go anywhere and the ending part is WAY too long. Blue Eyes 10/10 - Great ballad, beautiful harmonies and rich arrangements. The vocal is superb Empty Garden 9/10 - Moving tune, great chorus and powerful playing Princess 8/10 - Simple but super catchy. Not a fan of the synth solo at the end, though, a guitar solo would have been much better. Where have all the good times gone ? 8/10 - Interesting attempt at post-disco. Passionate vocals, catchy and driving arrangements. All Quiet On The Western Front 10/10 - Superb. Powerful ballad, very emotional instrumental ad-lib at the end. Great drumming too ! Total score 76/100, so 7.6/10 for me. Despite a hit-or-miss first half, the album overall is very solid and enjoyable, great inspiration and nice variety of styles done effortlessly.

rock of the westies deserves the top ten man !

Thank you, that was awesome, I just bought "Tumbleweed" on cd from a charity fair and it has blown my mind , then I watched your review and you rated it #1 , mind is blown twice !!

Thanks for the great review. Just listening to this album for the first time ever. I'm a lifelong Elton fan. And great to discover this album for the first time. I really like Empty Sky and Sails. This is great.

Madman is my favorite and one of the best albums ever from anyone.

I think this record is criminally underrated. Elton was actually playing with experimental key changes and song structure that sounded really interesting and unique. Then from the 2000’s onward he settled into a bland, country/southern style that was so predictable in where it was headed. I hate songs like Turn the Lights Out, Mexican Vacation and Take this Dirty Water… 😗

Hold the line- six points for the Victim of Love title track- and only one point for Tower of Babel? Are you out of your mind?

A bit harsh on Tower Of Babel?! I personally love songs that surprise me in the direction they go in. It’s sad to see how safe EJ plays it today in his songwriting…

thanks for this review series - was brought here after the discovery of the Victim of Love and Leather Jackets horrors!! For a talented guy Elton has a very, very mixed back catalogue for sure - as for this record I actually own it on cassette and loved Please in particular, I get why there were two singles before it but this could have been a major hit if sent in to bat first. Maybe change the running order on the singles as I find Made in England a bit irritating, particularly the 'Yeah!' bit in the middle. Believe's a bit better than you say but a bit overrated by anyone calling it a classic - is it me or does it sound more like a Sting solo track than something of his. I'd say 5/10. Looking forward to the Big Picture album review next, an album that reminds me of a supermarket's own brand ready meal. Not gonna hurt you but nothing memorable either...

Western Ford Gateway is a very good early song. Sadly you are an old fart who seems to think you know better. You don't seem like an Elton fan at all. Always giving low marks. What an annoying old man with too much spare time!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite love song is"Its me that you need "from the Album Empty Sky ❤Thanks for your video🎉🎉Andy

What an old British fart!

Who cares about your opinion?

It's Levon, not Leave On. LOL!

If this old fart could write music and lyrics on a level with Bernie Taupin and Elton John he would have a right to pass judgement. He seems to be putting almost all the songs down. What a pompous old fart with a plain accent and a sense of importance that is totally inexplicable.

What a boring old British fart who looks like a retired accountant with obviously poor taste.

This idiot obviously missed out on the theme of I Never Knew Her Name being almost identitcal to the theme of Kiss the Bride. For an Elton fan he seems very critical of almost every song Elton ever released and his criticisms are long and dull.

What an idiot. He played the wrong track when referring to Healing Hands!

Your pompous tone and your plain accent make your viedos quite an ordeal.

What a moron! Giving Empty Garden a 4!

You're taking yourself way too seriously. You're obviously an old English fart with too much spare time. If you had any other talents you wouldn't be boring us to death with your worthless opinions.

I also agree tumbleweed connection is bernie and Elton's best album. The G.O.A.T

All his albums up to Captain Fantastic are different and wonderful. I do love T.C.❤

Nice job! I love the first 5 80s albums and not too much of anything past 1990 except Songs from the West Coast and Wonderful Crazy Night. 1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 2. Don't Shoot Me 3. Captain Fantastic 4. Breaking Hearts 5. Jump Up 6. Rock of the Westies 7. The Fox 8. 21 at 33 9. Too Low for Zero 10. Honky Chateau Honorable Mention: Reg strikes Back, Songs from the West Coast,

One of my favorite albums . I bought it in 1975 . Unfortunately I lost the album in a flood . I don’t believe there was any notes with the album . I totally agree that the song Seasons is way too short . Our high school class did a collage of class pictures to the music of Friends and Seasons at graduation. The whole auditorium was silent . Some of us were in tears . It was a moving moment and I only wish it could be relived .

Good list and analysis. I personally would rank "Made In England" and "Honky Chateau"a bit higher.

You nailed it with your #1. The only Elton album I never get tired of hearing, especially Come Down In Time, Amoreena, and Where To Now St Peter

I love Durban Deep!! Not many songs about the Southern Hemisphere out there...

Hymn 2000::. I love this song but Bernie and Elton have disowned it long ago. In 1977 Bernie was on an American TV show (possibly Mike Douglas show) claiming it was his worst published song! The line about "the cat from next door found later at four" is the source of the Haitian cooking rumour from September 2024... -refer to DJT debate 10 September 2024-

My favorite song on here is either crystal or kiss the bride both lovely songs

I think for me the best track on the album is all quiet on the western front the lyric hits me like a train and the music is pretty good have no idea why it was the worst selling single in phonograms history

I am an Elton John fan for 35 years (since I first listened to I don't wanna go on with you like that). I think this album is the one of a couple of EJ albums that I never felt like listening.

This under appreciated album has been underrated, especially by the fans. My only gripe with it is, that I can’t hear the piano. There was a video posted here on KZbin, some years ago, which isolated the piano track and it was outstanding Now my memory tells me that it didn’t reach number one, but like the album before it, ENTERED number one here in the ‘States. Great review.

I like this album a lot. Sounds nothing like victim of Love I think it's the sister album to jump up or shall I say it jump up is the sister album to this one. Although I like jump up better. I don't mind this album at all but victim of love? Forget about it.

I won't even buy this album I had it once and I didn't like it. I think he followed on through with what queen did with hot space. The only thing with hot space is they had one big hit on it with under pressure.

Yeah I think a single man is a really good follow-up to Blue moves

Oh wow Captain fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy is probably one of my favorite Elton John albums. At least in my top four.

I couldn't agree more with your review. As for me, it was the first Elton album that totally disappointed me. Especially following CFATBDC which was one of the most beautifully composed and produced albums in his catalog. ROTW feels chaotic and thrown together to me. It's a mess. Elton himself has described it as his first "cocaine album" . And hearing it again after he said that made total sense.

Elderberry WIne I think is about a 7. Very good and catchy melody and piano. Vocal is solid and all in all probably one of the best songs on this allbum.

Street kids, feed me, and yes, "bullet" made Rock of the Westies" top 10...easy. All albums until 1978ish top 10... all others, not purchased.

Stated up front that i am a long time Elton music aficionado, I do love this album/disc. While it did not meet the extremely high standards set by most of his earlier albums, this set of songs is still exceptional. This set of songs came out of the so called "blue" period that Elton was in at this time. He was burned out and came out as bi-sexual a few years earlier. But as with any music genius, he still could bring a good melody. I am particularly fond of the blues and "New Orleans Jazz" songs (ie. Big Dipper, It Aint Gonna Be Easy) and the gospel influenced melodies. The lyrics are not at the level of the previous Bernie words (these tunes were not penned by Bernie), however the songs still have some weight to them. The slower haunting melodies are still classic Elton. Overall this is an enjoyable listen of course,,, In my Opinion. John, thanks for your review. You were alittle harder on it than I was but some great insight.

Elton performed “Where to now St. Peter” in his 1977 Wembley concert. I really loved seeing him perform this song live. It was shown on the BBC and the concert is on KZbin.

The top 6 from the early 70s are hard to argue with. I thought you had Too Low For Zero and Jump Up a bit low on your list. And i love the Friends Soundtrack, it seems to combine the best of the EJ album and Tumbleweed.. which ranks pretty high !

Dee and Nigel appeared on randy edelmansvfairwell Fairbanks album from around this time .

Don't get me wrong, i do like EJ, i was happy to hear they were going to reissue the lps in 2017, of which i purchased them over a period of time . I've got most of the RSD releases as well, my interest spans the early lps upto and including single man .After this period, the mood and music changed imo. I'll put elton on when critical listening isn't required for a more indepth listening experience. My go records are early YES and early GENESIS spanning the same 69 to 78 period in time they seem to offer me a more aw inspiring experience. No offence is intended to anyone here as we all appreciate elton and bernie in our own individual ways.😊.

Some of my favorite Elton John recordings are not on albums they are: "into the Old man;s shoes", Grey Seal (original version), "It's Me That You Need" and "Bad Side of the Moon".

I’m 70 yr old white guy. Never had any interest in Elton John. Lame.