A fantastic album that showed the potential of Elton and Bernie, and the greatness to come. It's a raw, all-over-the-place album, and that's why I like it. There's a surprising amount of contrast, between the tender tracks and the flat-out rockers. Something that would a hallmark of Elton's music to come. My favorite track is Skyline Piegon.
My instinct is to listen to this within the context of everything else that was happening in the summer of 1969, including the release of Nick Drake's debut LP, which was also only available as an import in the U.S. throughout the first half of the 1970s. Right from the start, this was a guy who wore his influences on his sleeve. In 1967 and 1968, Traffic, Procol Harum and The Moody Blues Phase II had all released their first couple of albums, and their effect is all over this one. A combination of straight ahead rock 'n roll and psychedelic poetry. The title cut is fairly typical of the period, and goes on for way too long. He would've been wise to have lopped off half of it and filled up the space with "Just Like Strange Rain," (which Elton has described in interviews, as being a musical amalgamation of about four different songs off of Traffic's first two albums). I have always viewed "Val-Halah" "The Scaffold" and "All Across The Havens" as being Bernie's "Norse Mythology" trilogy. They are all at a similar tempo, have similar themes, and would not have sounded out of place on any Procol Harum album. Meter-wise, "Western Ford Gateway" is essentially "Lady Samantha Part 2." It's a catchy tune that probably would've sat comfortably on either of The Band's first two albums, although I have no idea what the lyrics are about. Frankly, the song's title sounds like the name of a car dealership. "Sails" has always reminded me a little of The Doors' MOONLIGHT DRIVE which has a similar staccato stop-start rhythm. A good rocker. Both "Hymn 2000" and "Lady What's Tomorrow" appear to be early stabs at the newly emerging ecology movement. In both cases, the arrangements and the performances are much better than the obscure lyrics probably deserved. "Gulliver" is a nifty folk-waltz that may or may not have been musically influenced by Bob Dylan's "Gates Of Eden." For me, this will always be the best "Skyline Pigeon." It's the only one that doesn't sound like any of the others, which all sound like they were heavily influenced by The Bee Gees' then recent hit, WORDS. I like the way it starts out with his vocal way off to one side, then centers it when the organ enters. For those of you who have never heard Roger Cooke's or Guy Darrell's earlier versions, click HERE and HERE.
Maybe it's the fact that they were both released in the same year, but ever since I got Bowie's second album I've noticed a striking similarity in how the albums stand in their respective careers. Two artists with oodles of talent who haven't quite harnessed it yet. It may just be that Gus Dudgeon and Paul Buckmaster worked on Space Oddity and later worked with Elton. I'm not sure but I feel there's a connection.
I was born in the 1980s. I've never even owned, never mind played, an 8-track cart. Nor have I ever collected them. But I am aware that gas stations (in the US at least, where I lived for several years) sold (and still sell, in some locations) suspicious-looking copies of popular albums on CD. I didn't know that this practice went back to the 1970s and 8-tracks, however.
Yes! When the organ comes in it does sorta chill it out...love that part! It's worth the wait to me. Good stuff!
from reading all these commens I think we can all agree. 1. no matter which version you prefer skyline pigeon is a great song 2. there are enough great/good tracks to make this lp a worthwhile purchase looking around the net I found this podcast which plays the rare mono version of the lp Download - Episode 31 - Empty Sky at 50 | Podbean
Opinions on the different sleeves/artwork? I’ve always preferred the original DJM sleeve to the MCA sleeve.
I'd like the MCA more if it was the original, but after the Caribou cover anything else was preferable.
I've always liked the Eric Van Lustbader essay that appeared in the 1975 sleeve. I know Lustbader more as a novelist, and as the guy that also wrote the essay that appears in the To Be Continued (1990) booklet. But, according to the blurb in the TBC book, Lustbader had originally been a music journalist and specifically "the first music journalist in America to write about Elton John. In 1970, after listening to an import copy of Empty Sky, he predicted in Cash Box that Elton John would be a superstar." Does anyone have a copy of that review from Cash Box? It would be interesting to read. (Lustbader's website adds: "As a consequence he, Elton and Elton’s lyricist Bernie Taupin became friends. Writing for Cash Box Magazine, he [Lustbader] also predicted the successes of such bands as Santana, Roxy Music, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, David Bowie, and The Who, among others." He sounds like a rock and roll Nostradamus!) Another thing: My Canadian MCA copy has a unipak sleeve (well, a unipak style; the term "Unipak" doesn't appear but the design is the same). I assume the American copies did too, as the Canadian sleeves for this title were printed in the US for the Canadian market. Was MCA's Empty Sky the only EJ album issued with this type of sleeve design, or were there others? I cannot think of any, not of EJ's major releases anyway. [Edit: Did a search in Discogs using the keywords "Elton John" and "unipak" and several Elton titles on MCA turned up. Several were Canadian copies but a few of them US: a few UNI Records copies of Tumbleweed but mostly black rainbow represses of Elton John, Tumbleweed, and Madman. All were described as having a "Unipak gatefold sleeve".]
I prefer the MCA 1975 cover, not because I don't like the original cover...I do. The '75 cover is the only one I knew existed when I first bought it on cassette in the the 90's, before the 1995/96 reissues came out on CD.
I have no idea if the term applies to any specific design of CD enclosure. I know the term only as it applies to the design of LP sleeves.
In the mid 70s there seemed to be quite a few 8 tracks of dubious origin. I had an 8 track of Wings’ Red Rose Speedway that was very barebones in presentation, i.e. no artwork, etc. It was NOT on Apple Records. I can’t remember where they were sold, probably the usual suspects like service stations, independent stores….
I did what you did and did a search on Elton and digipaks. The Elton John LP entry shows how the album is inserted. In honesty the only LP I ever saw like that was Tommy James and the Shondells best of. As far as CDs the concept makes even more sense if your not using jewel cases or a plastic holder to secure the CD. So yes, the Beatles 2009s are using the unipak concept even if they don't call it that. AFA Elton goes the only CD where the discs aren't secured is Live from Moscow. That opens from the outside.
Yes, thank you. Crawdad also filled me in. I once saw an 8-track copy of Victim of Love whose origin seemed mysterious; it had artwork but it was not anything like the "official" artwork. It showed a cartoon illustration of people in bellbottoms dancing. It was actually kind of funny, and I assumed it was not an official copy. But it never occurred to me that it might be from anywhere in North America.
Hope this thread is going good for everyone and you all enjoy it...I am! I like all the stories, insight, opinions and appreciation for Elton's music, good or bad. Just FYI, since the next two albums to be discussed each have deluxe editions, the deluxe edition material will go ahead and be included. Same with Captain Fantastic and GYBR, instead of waiting until those deluxe editions were released. Some material, like the Classic Years' bonus tracks and Jewel Box (b-sides) made up a whole album released later, I just wanted to wait until we got to that album. But, some like the deluxe editions and exceptions, like A Single Man reissue bonus tracks, where that is those tracks only appearance on an album...we'll include. Shew...hope that makes since. Of course, you can discuss anything, anytime...just hope you come back to where we are. Thought this way would be easier to keep track. Thank you all!
It seems an earlier thread created an interesting list of 1960s and 1970s LPs that were issued in unipak sleeves: unipak album cover design. anyone know the history? As far as CDs go, I suppose the design of certain CD enclosures could be called "unipaks", assuming they locate the opening for the disc inside the gatefold (i.e., in the "gutter") rather than outside. It's been a while since I've played my 2009 Beatles CDs (I still prefer the 1987 issues); but, what you describe seems familiar. In any event, I remember being astonished when I bought those 2009 discs that they weren't digipacks. That would've been much better for the discs. I'm glad that the unipak LP sleeves didn't last long past the mid-1970s, anyway. It wasn't a very user-friendly design. And, when I was a kid with small, "little kid" hands, it was an even bigger pain trying to extract the vinyl disc from my mother's MCA copy of Empty Sky. Probably just another reason I felt little motivation to play it.
So, when we begin discussing Elton John next week, we're to save any commentary we might have on the album's three non-LP tracks until we reach 1992's Rare Masters (or 1974's Lady Samantha, if that's the plan)? Okay, that's fine. I'll try my best. But those tracks are outtakes from that album's sessions and have appeared on nearly every CD issue of Elton John for the past 25 years. They now seem (to me at least) almost as much a part of that album as any original album track. I'd even say that a couple seem to encapsulate the "spirit" of the Elton John album better than even some of the original album tracks. But I see the point in waiting for later; it'll help direct discussion and keep it focused, etc. The 2019 SHM-CD series came in similar paper sleeves. But those were constructed much better than Live from Moscow, and the discs (all of which came housed in clear, poly inners) remain secured in their sleeves pretty well. Also, each "mini-LP" paper sleeve is itself enclosed in a clear plastic outer sleeve. To reduce wear on all the packaging, I've taken all my SHM-CD discs out of the paper sleeves and placed them in slim-style jewel cases.
Yes, for any recent releases the Japan SHM-CDs are the way to go. I have spent plenty on them. I don't have that one, though. There is an old 2 CD bootleg from the 90s "A Single Man In Moscow" that looks and sounds good and it has the whole concert so that is my go to.
You talk about any track, any time. I just thought by the time we got to Rare Masters, there may not be much to discuss...Lol
