One of the advantages of composing lyrics first: the composer can match tonal shifts in the verses.
Well the interesting thing about this song is how it goes counterintuitive to expectations, maybe even counter to what Bernie had in mind. The major key verse details the broken past, and the minor chorus is the triumphant part. The music undercuts the message to me, makes him seem desperate to convince himself, and I don't think there's anything in the lyrics that suggests desperation otherwise.
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 12 February 2014 14:42 (ten years ago) link
And part of the desperation comes from his super over-the-top vocal too, of course
― Vinnie, Wednesday, 12 February 2014 14:44 (ten years ago) link
One of the few survivor gestures that works because the artist embraces what made him a comer in the first place.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 February 2014 14:45 (ten years ago) link
again, this only got to #12 in the US?, like "Blue Eyes." I was certain this was top 10, at least.
― col, Wednesday, 12 February 2014 16:11 (ten years ago) link
he'll have plenty of top tens from this point on
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 February 2014 16:22 (ten years ago) link
One of only a handfew of albums I heard most often originally on 8 track cartridge
― Lee626, Wednesday, 12 February 2014 16:31 (ten years ago) link
yeah, that's the weird thing: some of the upcoming singles charted really high but don't seem as omnipresent as "I'm Still Standing" or even "Little Jeannie". It might simply be that I wasn't listening to pop radio as much in '85 or '88, though
― col, Wednesday, 12 February 2014 17:42 (ten years ago) link
"i'm still standing" was huge on mtv which billboard never factored into their charts so it probably was bigger than some other hits. i'd always viewed this as the big comeback but he'd actually started to manage that somewhat already and it makes sense - this isn't the song that gets you yr old job/old girl back, this is the song about the night on the town after you get yr old job/girl back. i know i'd heard elton songs before this (remember 'empty garden' esp) but this was the first one where i was aware of 'elton john' as phenomenon, i can remember my parents and their friends talking about it and his comeback (the costumes esp) alot at this time. i'm not sure if it bites a specific motown hook but it definitely seems of a piece w/ the other motown copping brit hits of the 80s - "wake me up before you go-go", "this charming man", "when smokey sings", etc.
― balls, Wednesday, 12 February 2014 20:26 (ten years ago) link
The album's biggest hit and Elton standard is a couple days away. In my mind I smush "I Guess..." and "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" together, and it makes sense: I thought "I Guess" peaked in '83 but actually it was Jan. '84 while "Sad Songs" peaked summer '84. He was cranking them out again like the old days.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 12 February 2014 22:23 (ten years ago) link
In my mind I smush "I Guess..." and "Sad Songs (Say So Much)" together - i do this too, it doesn't help that they're both vaguely meta w/o actually being either blues or a sad song
― balls, Wednesday, 12 February 2014 22:30 (ten years ago) link
"Too Low for Zero"
http://youtu.be/qYMdGUiuVA4
http://davidmcgough.com/photos/thumbs/1984-%20Elton%20John,%20Liza%20Minelli,%20NYC.jpg
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 13 February 2014 11:54 (ten years ago) link
in which Elton discovers New Pop, as Marcello might say. Lots of ILXors love this tune.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 13 February 2014 11:56 (ten years ago) link
If "Ball and Chain" was a tribute to Lindsey Buckingham, this is like EJ providing a template for B's '80s solo works and even Tango in the Night. An all-but-solo recording (all the synths are Elton, and he even allegedly programmed the drum machine), it ebbs and flows, never quite resolving, just content to exist as this glittering mesh of sound. As an occasional insomniac, I'll just say "Zero" captures the bleary feel of a 3 AM where sleep is an elusive promise and waking life exists as a blur. Just marvelous stuff.
― col, Thursday, 13 February 2014 15:38 (ten years ago) link
I'm late to this, but while I don't quite think it's marvelous it does work up a fairly strong head of steam: Elton, lost in a cloud of technology he's just mastered, distilling the self-pity of the last five albums into momentum and clusters of notes.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 14 February 2014 00:25 (ten years ago) link
"too low for zero" suggests elton is, at least for a moment, following a similar course to his contemporary robert palmer. would like to hear more like this.
― fact checking cuz, Friday, 14 February 2014 02:12 (ten years ago) link
"Religion"
http://youtu.be/CIAYTU7QhAk
http://www.bobgruen.com/files/Rockers/Rockers_bw/R-206_Stones_KRichards,TTurner,DBowie1983_Gruen.jpg
I put this song on a CD-R a few years ago. EJ and Taupin are back to writing (semi-)coherent story-songs. The generous vocal doesn't condescend to its subject; I particularly love those bits when it jumps an octave ("somebody up there likes MEEEEEEE"). Phil Johnstone doesn't overplay the fills or solos. A near perfect album track. How John-Taupin couldn't keep cranking these things out is one of the mysteries of songwriting and chemistry.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 14 February 2014 11:55 (ten years ago) link
has a country artist ever done an LP of Elton compositions? It's overdue if not.
Another good one: it's nice to see Taupin actually managing to be witty. It's telling that while another big '83 comeback by a '70s Brit rock star was 3 singles and then some outrageous filler, Too Low for Zero has a real consistency all the way through, its quality-to-dud ratio up there with like ...Piano Player's.
― col, Friday, 14 February 2014 16:23 (ten years ago) link
"I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6KYAVn8ons
http://www.the80sman.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/elton_john_i_guess_thats_why_they_call_it_the_blues_1-e1330968332280.jpg
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 February 2014 12:28 (ten years ago) link
THE BIG ONE
My favorite EJ song. He's right: the melody is such that he can play it as fast or as slow as he wants, in any arrangement he wants. I love his controlled dread -- falling in love is dangerous. Dig where the stresses fall ("Just stare into SPACE/Picture my FAAACCE/In your HANDS").
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 February 2014 17:14 (ten years ago) link
your favorite, eh? I took a while: 11-yr-old me, though vaguely scandalized by the "rolling like thunder under the covers" line, resented it for taking up space on the chart from the Fixx and Duran Duran, but time schooled me. The melody's as sturdy as an iron bridge & his singing is amazing (as you said, those wonderful stresses!: another run's the way he drags out "cryy in the niiight if it heeelps" and then compresses "but more than ever" as a quick aside). Or the way he backs into establishing the key, not reaching "home" until he hits "forever" in the verse.
― col, Saturday, 15 February 2014 19:43 (ten years ago) link
as a kid "rolling like thunder under the covers" amazed me! Sex in an EJ song!
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 15 February 2014 19:44 (ten years ago) link
i'm suprised to find this having become my fave EJ song over the decades. Wonderfully un-oblique Bernie lyric, in striking contrast to his work from a decade earlier. "While i'm away, dust out the demons inside, and it won't be long/before you and me run, to the place in our hearts, where we hide". Just gorgeous. Like the melody, the easy, loping rhythm, the cleanly-produced mix of piano, guitar, drums, backing vocals, and Stevie's harmonica. A deserved classic.
― Lee626, Sunday, 16 February 2014 09:31 (ten years ago) link
"Crystal"
http://youtu.be/blgffkzRWIM
http://www.stickboydaily.com/images/2013/09/Elton-John-11.jpg
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 16 February 2014 13:19 (ten years ago) link
col! Another Buckingham-esque strummer! Imagine "Ball and Chain" and "Too Low for Zero" mating.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 February 2014 02:50 (ten years ago) link
i like this one it's got a vague Electroclash vibe. also sounds a bit like Phoenix.
― piscesx, Monday, 17 February 2014 05:52 (ten years ago) link
catching up on "Crystal"--yeah, this another thing where he's tributing Buckingham but also giving LB pointers on where to go next. good one (this whole album's ace so far)
― col, Monday, 17 February 2014 12:02 (ten years ago) link
now for Single #3:
"Kiss the Bride"
http://youtu.be/qbDAp0lKolc
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_HvCNHaaadrI/S7uJQFpXxoI/AAAAAAAAJlo/DRtIZMdLwYQ/s1600/eltonjohn16.jpg
― col, Monday, 17 February 2014 12:05 (ten years ago) link
this is crummier-sounding than I remember. Thud-thwacking drummer sounds like the 15-yr-old kid who practices in his garage in my neighborhood
― col, Monday, 17 February 2014 12:08 (ten years ago) link
Nah, say it: his worst single since "Chloe." The knockkneed rhythm, hamhanded transition from bridge to chorus -- it mirrors the shrill insistence on his heterosexuality. Fortunately, "Wrap Her Up" is worse, but we'll get to it soon.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 February 2014 12:20 (ten years ago) link
hamhanded transition from bridge to chorus
yeah,that's a dreadful bit. sounds like a man frantically blowing up an air mattress. & I do recall this thing being used over all the TV clips from EJ's ill-fated marriage.
― col, Monday, 17 February 2014 12:24 (ten years ago) link
sounds like a man frantically trying to get a woman to blow him
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 17 February 2014 12:34 (ten years ago) link
double pack singles didn't last long did they? they were part of that 80s multi-format crap to blag into the charts i'm guessing.
― piscesx, Monday, 17 February 2014 13:09 (ten years ago) link
"Whipping Boy"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZsnnNRTb6Fg
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_RL4UuEhnH1Y/R5mJinTR9QI/AAAAAAAAAc0/Qbfa6ENcqkw/s1600-h/Elton%2BJohn%2B%26%2BRenate.jpg
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 18 February 2014 12:53 (ten years ago) link
http://www4.pictures.gi.zimbio.com/Renate+Blauel+Singer+Elton+John+Turns+60+PAmZhoPfG6Rx.jpg
fucking hell that outfit
Crap drumming from "Kiss the Bride" gets an extension. Just second-rate stuff, from the sub-T. Rex guitar hooks to EJ's hoarse-sounding vocal to a Taupin lyric that seems written on an airport lounge napkin. EJ tries to salvage the song with a manic-sounding bridge. Worried Too Low's going into a nosedive it won't recover from.
― col, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 15:00 (ten years ago) link
The guitars recycle "I'm Still Standing," the melody "Crocodile Rock."
He recorded no perfect albums (maybe Honky Chateau?), so I don't mind rocking filler
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 18 February 2014 15:03 (ten years ago) link
iirc Marcello made a good argument that if you axe the songs between "Grey Seal" & "Your Sister Can't Dance" on Goodbye Yellow Brick Rd, you've got a pretty flawless album
― col, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 15:10 (ten years ago) link
that's a lot of nixing to get to your flawless album.
also, wait, is he nixing "all the girls love alice"???
― fact checking cuz, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 17:56 (ten years ago) link
yeah, guess so! (i wouldn't agree: "Seen this Movie Too" is also a keeper for me. But "jamaica jerk off" is so rancid a song that it derails the LP's flow and it takes a while to get back into it
― col, Tuesday, 18 February 2014 18:13 (ten years ago) link
"Saint"
http://youtu.be/3ngLTUHp-XE
http://i1.ytimg.com/vi/L05ZBxN9frA/0.jpg
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 19 February 2014 12:13 (ten years ago) link
the opening synths brought up Fox "suite" memories, so when it up-shifted to a thudding power-ballad chorus, I wasn't sure if it was an improvement. Feels like there's a better song in here somewhere---it's diffuse & overlong
― col, Wednesday, 19 February 2014 14:27 (ten years ago) link
now see this is my pick for TLFZ's worst.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 19 February 2014 14:33 (ten years ago) link
"One More Arrow"
http://youtu.be/EOWUXppac2I
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/cms/binary/5813216.jpg?size=620x400s
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 20 February 2014 12:03 (ten years ago) link
a weepie (and arguably a gay song to counter the desperately-hetero "Kiss the Bride"), w/ EJ singing in a falsetto that's almost out of his vocal range.
Don't think Too Low quite recovered from the body blow that was "Kiss the Bride"---2nd side is a bit flabby---but the run of "Cold as Christmas" to "Crystal" would make a hell of an EP. Curious to see if Elton continues the streak with the next one (but there's like 22 B-sides to get through first)
― col, Thursday, 20 February 2014 14:03 (ten years ago) link
on "One More Arrow" he's trying to remember something he's forgotten, which could only have come after "Kiss the Bride."
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 20 February 2014 14:41 (ten years ago) link
Zero B-side binge:
"I Guess Why they Call it the Blues" B-side:
"Choc Ice Goes Mental": http://youtu.be/V_88MyTrw_o
US single had "the Retreat," which we covered already, right?
"I'm Still Standing" B-side:
"Earn While You Learn": http://youtu.be/bP87fmu8_o0
"Kiss the Bride" b-side:
"Dreamboat": http://youtu.be/aqs4qfBJC6I
― col, Friday, 21 February 2014 14:23 (ten years ago) link
the reason there's no notorious Elton bootlegs or "lost songs" is that he seems to have put out everything he made in the studio at some point. "Dreamboat" hails from A Single Man
― col, Friday, 21 February 2014 14:24 (ten years ago) link
"Earn While You Learn," which is not bad, is an Elton maxim that Taupin never followed.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 21 February 2014 14:33 (ten years ago) link
Insane -- I can't find a studio version of "Restless"! Yet fans have uploaded 620 live versions; he performed it a lot during this period, I guess.
― Bryan Fairy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 22 February 2014 12:45 (ten years ago) link