Elton John General Discussion And Random Thoughts Thread

Why is Madman so under the radar?

I like the fact that it is, but it seems to be his best album

 

My guess would be "The Bridge" and "Blues Never Fade Away" and maybe "Captain & The Kid" would round out the "Captain Fantastic" segment of the show.

 

Davey has said there will be a new setlist with lots of rarities for next year. Whether or not this type of show happens or not at least that much is confirmed.

 

his post-surgery voice has been getting progressively more ragged, garbled and shouty the last 10-ish years.. he refuses to warm up (or rehearse, if you ask Davey) before he goes on and so the first few numbers of his concerts these days are ordinarily total gargle-fests.

still, his voice stopped being truly gorgeous, for me, somewhere around 1984/85.. despite some great vocal performances in the years since, I felt it started to go downhill after the gargantuan tour that saw him doing all that falsetto stuff like One More Arrow (why would you tackle a number like that before 70,000 people at the top of your lungs? it's hardly stadium fodder!)..

..and by '86 the likes of One Horse Town belted out over a raucous brass section coupled with insane levels of substance abuse totally wrecked his voice for evermore..

he was lucky (and we were lucky) he ever sang again, though the voice was never the same after the op.

I cringe now when he says his voice is better than ever..

Still, love him, "Reg"-ardless

 

It's right up there with GBYBR and CFATBDC. It's one of those albums that requires listening from beginning to end-no cherry picking. I actually don't listen to it that frequently because I could easily get burned out on it.

 

It's on the same level as Yellow Brick but gets none of the attention

My daughter was shocked when I told her Razor Face was not a hit

Cameron Crowe did bring attention to Tiny Dancer in Almost Famous

 

Elton always plays "Tiny Dancer" and "Levon" and has played "Madman Across The Water" and "Holiday Inn" a lot in recent years. And "Indian Sunset" with Ray Cooper is always played in Las Vegas. So, Elton knows it is a great album. It is my personal favorite, too.

 

He said he was singing better than ever again last year when he was plugging The Diving Board. I remember thinking, 'but Elton, I thought you weren't on drugs anymore!'.

BTW, it'll soon be a year since TDB was released. Shall we have a little 'do' to celebrate?!

 

Madman's so great and revered by Universal that they shelved the planned Deluxe Edition.. prize-winning berks.

I wish Elton had ditched them years ago and gone with a label that knew how to handle his back catalogue (look at Macca's incredible Super Dooper Deluxe releases.. they make any of Elton's reissues look pathetic).

 

"gurgling like an old board diver,
screaming like a little kid.."

I'd rather have an anniversary burning of TDB..

"burn burn burn,
burn it down!"

I'll probably end up going to a CF 40th show if it goes ahead.. I know, I'm a big old hypocrite.. and Universal will probably flog a 40th set of CF with nothing new in it, that I'll also buy.. I know, I know..

 

Do you remember what was going to be part of the Deluxe Edition? I would guess a concert since there are not many outtakes or B-sides from that session.

 

I'm not buying anymore CF's. The deluxe edition in 2005 was the last one. As you know, I briefly considered the SACD, but ultimately couldn't be arsed. I think you're right that the next chance for an Elton 'celebration' will be a 40th of CF next year.

It's like record companies think, 'ooh, Elton John. GYBR. CFATBDC. (Maybe) Too Low For Zero... Did he do anything else?!'

 

My God, has it been ten years since I saw him on the 30th Anniversary tour for Captain Fantastic?!?!? Well, nine.. Anyway, it was one of the best concerts I have ever seen.

 

Yes, time flies! I went to Atlanta that tour and he did the "Peachtree Road" set and then later the "Captain Fantastic" set as an unannounced surprise. I think the whole show was 34 songs in 3:20.

 

Same in Boston. And I still heard folks whining on the way out that "it started off too slow." Sheesh..

 

It could have been worse. You could have been sitting next to a group of forum members whining the whole show "his voice is shot".

 

demo's for almost all the album tracks and alternate takes was what I was told.

 

I saw him last November in Boston as well, and he was Fantastic (pun intended). Yup, the voice ain't the same, but I like the addition of the backing vocalists. All the songs had a different feel as a result, and it was a nice change-up from the usual.

 

the CF SACDs 'only' worth it for the surround (the stereo sounds like utter sh!te).. apparently the old SACD is going to get re-released in surround on HFPA Blu-ray Audio at some point so might be worth hanging out for that?

2Lo? I love it but I don't think its one the labels fussed about releasing again anytime soon. We're supposed to be getting a Pnau Part 2, for which multi's for 2Lo were pulled but we'll see..

There's a slim chance we'll see flat transfers of some of the "Classic Albums" (EJ > Blue Moves) on SHM-SACD at some point.. but I can't see his 80's stuff getting rehashed again until he kicks the bucket.

 

They seemed to have stalled with the SHM-SACDs, don't they? GYBR and EJ came out around the same time and I thought, 'OK, now do Don't Shoot Me and Honky Chateau!', but they haven't as yet.

Can't Slow Down is still the only HFPA title I own! There hasn't been anything else to tempt me. I hope you're wrong about the 80s albums as I love many of them. Alas, I don't think you are. For some reason they're mostly overlooked. Here, Too Low For Zero was a huge album, but in America it barely made the top 20, so it's unlikely to get the worldwide fanfare something like GYBR would get.

 

They certainly have! I can't understand why they'd give the self-titled album the flat transfer SHM-SACD treatment (GYBR makes perfect sense) and not then logically go onto Tumbleweed and Madman at least, it can't have been a sales decision.. EJ wouldn't naturally be more popular than TC or MATW imho.

Isn't the Lionel Richie HFPA superb!? Still, there's quite a few great Blu-ray Audio's come along since (Who/Tommy, Beck/Sea Change, Who/Quadrophenia, Bob Marley/Legend, Lori Liebermann/Bricks Against The Glass, Mando Diao/Aelita, Tom Petty/Hypnotic Eye, Gentle Giant/The Power & The Glory)..

2Lo's relative commercial failure in the States was pretty much the final nail for Elton and Geffen's relationship.. as the Davey/Dee/Nigel reunion had been David Geffen's brainchild and when it didn't translate into U.S. sales 2Lo was a stick to beat him with.. despite it being a success in the UK and producing Elton's biggest hits in years that have proven to be as enduring as just about any of his 70's numbers.. but what do the fans know eh!?

 

I went back and listened to the Live in Australia album the other day. I hadn't listened to it in probably 20 years. When I first heard it--when it came out--my thoughts were three: What a good setlist; the orchestra sounds terrific; Elton's voice has gotten quite limited, and he's having to drop keys and just arrange out a lot of the higher notes that gave these songs some of their character. Too bad.

Now, when I listen to the CD, all of that's still true, but I also think that, sadly, he sounds WAY WAY better on that CD than he does now. I WISH he could sing like he can on the Australia album.

 

Funny, I too played LIVE IN AUSTRALIA just yesterday ... still such a great album. I wish they'd release the old VHS video of the concert on DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

 

I don't remember TOO LOW FOR ZERO being a commercial failure ...

 

I said "relative commercial failure".. expectations were extremely high.. Geffen and co had talked it up like the second coming (even more so than the labels with every new EJ album that's come along..) and when it didn't hit number 1 Reggie anecdotally had one of his little moments..