Published on Mar 11, 1997
Reviewing music is not always the picnic some people may imagine
it to be. When you’re not into a particular artist, it sometimes is
difficult to get motivated to listen to a work of theirs you’ve
never heard before.
I, for example, have never been a fan of Elton John’s, though
I’ve admired some of his work. And as a lark, I had picked up a
battered copy of his 1971 album
Madman Across The Water as an afterthought during my last
trip to the used record store – hey, you can only sustain a diet of
Pat Benatar and Steely Dan for so long before you need a little
something to cleanse the palate. But damned if I could work up the
gumption to listen to the tape.
Into this picture steps a reader who gave his name only as
“Waiter” – too much to hope that Toni Kukoc from the Bulls is our
mystery writer? – asking if a review of an early work of Elton John
is in the works. Well, at least I had my reason to listen to the
tape.
Madman Across The Water contins two of John’s earliest hits,
“Tiny Dancer” and “Levon,” not quite his most peppy among his hits,
but decent enough songs nonetheless – though I can’t listen to
“Tiny Dancer” anymore without having flashbacks to an episode of
“WKRP In Cincinnati”, with a Russian soon-to-be-defector quoting
the line to Loni Anderson. Sometimes I shudder at the contributions
we’re making to Western Civilization. But I digress.
Indeed, there is zero “rock” influence on
Madman Across The Water, though it would not be fair to
classify John as light pop either. This may be one of the earliest
examples of “adult-contemporary” music that I can think of. John is
able to turn some of the corniest ideas into songs that, for the
most part, succeed despite themselves. Who else could get away with
singing a track named “Rotten Peaches” – sounding suspiciously like
an early version of “Philadelphia Freedom” at times?
Perhaps the most intriguing cut on the whole album is the title
track – to the best of my knowledge, John has never said who he was
reffering to as the “Madman,” and maybe it’s better this way. The
track starts off slowly, building to a powerful crescendo before
quieting down again. But just when you think it’s time for the tape
to switch sides, John turns the volume up again and hammers the
message home to the listener. While it may not be a top-40 hit for
John, it may be one of his most powerful moments of his career.
But not every moment of
Madman Across The Water is able to carry this momentum.
“Holiday Inn” is a tad hokey, while “Razor Face” just fails to get
off the ground. The most moving portion of the album is its last
song, “Goodbye,” which was way too short for my tastes – that one
could have gone on for the whole second side of the album.
So what have I learned from this little exercise? Well…
actually, nothing. What the hell, reviewing music isn’t a morality
play. But I did renew a healthy respect for John (if not a real
respect for his early works) with
Madman Across The Water. Proof it pays to check reader mail
from time to time.