Review Summary: I've strayed from the cottages and found myself here.
Part II: In Which A Star Is Born
Evidently well-aware of his own limitations as a producer following the release of
Empty Sky, Steve Brown made an excellent decision when approached with a new set of Elton John/Bernie Taupin songs that were ready for recording. Brown called upon the services of Gus Dudgeon, an experienced sound engineer and producer who was, at the time, most highly regarded for his work on David Bowie's recent hit single "Space Oddity". Dudgeon, in turn, called upon the services of his collaborator on that song, string arranger Paul Buckmaster, and together this duo would serve as a guiding force behind Elton's eponymous sophomore release and numerous other albums of his to come. Recorded over the span of a month (live with orchestra, as opposed to the orchestra being overdubbed later),
Elton John would become the album that broke the young artist into the mainstream, in large part thanks to the smashing success of lead single "Your Song", a track that is considered one of his finest accomplishments to this day.
To call the difference in production quality between
Empty Sky and
Elton John "noticeable" is a terrific understatement. Admittedly, some of this may be due to Elton's straying away from psychedelic compositions (psychedelia not really being a genre known for its pristine production), but Dudgeon's skills at making every instrument and vocal fit nicely in the soundscape are very apparent from the beginning. Nowhere is this more apparent than in the intro of "I Need You to Turn To", which harkens back to the sound of
Empty Sky by opening with a hard-panned harpsichord and a vocal. But where Steve Brown faltered by hard-panning both the harpsichord and vocal on the debut ("Skyline Pigeon" in particular suffers from this), Dudgeon succeeds by only hard-panning the harpsichord, allowing the vocal to enter in the center and then having an acoustic guitar enter in the right channel shortly afterwards to balance the mix. It's a subtle difference, but it's one that makes the song all the more satisfying of a listen.
Buckmaster's strings are a more obvious addition to the fray, but what is particularly refreshing about them is that they do not have to carry the burden of turning mediocre compositions into great ones. Nay, the compositions are surprisingly strong to begin with, a substantial upgrade from the predominantly weaker fare on
Empty Sky. Moving away from psychedelia has allowed Taupin's lyrics to focus on more grounded, tangible subject matter. The range of emotions displayed is quite wide-ranging -- "Your Song" represents the quaint innocence of love and "The Greatest Discovery" discusses the joy of a child meeting his newborn baby brother, while "Border Song" touches on issues of race and "Sixty Years On" utilizes war imagery to describe the feeling of someone being discarded by society as they grow older. On tracks like these, Buckmaster's string arrangements serve as enhancers rather than focal points; they amplify the emotions that are already there rather than attempt to invigorate emotion where there is none.
Even when Taupin's lyrics delve too far into the realms of ambiguity, Elton's growth as a composer and as a musician makes up for them in droves. "The King Must Die" is a ride through dense literary metaphors galore, but for as little sense as the lyrics make on paper, Elton
sells them by giving a performance of ever-increasing intensity, screaming out the titular lyrics in a manner that makes you
believe that the stakes are high even if you haven't a clue as to what the hell he's talking about. More than any other song on the album (even the beloved hit "Your Song"), this track represents the rapid evolution of Elton as a songwriter and as a vocalist. Special mention must also be given to the widening range of styles he explores on this album, ranging from the heavenly piano balladry of "First Episode at Hienton" to the gospel of "Border Song" to the untamed G R O O V E that runs rampant on "The Cage".
Popular opinion would have you believe that
Elton John is the album where Elton starts selling out by writing sappy pop fare, with detractors pointing to "Your Song" as the proverbial Exhibit A. Considering that this album is one of his most stylistically diverse and that Elton was hired as the lead singer of King Crimson around the time of this album's release (Robert Fripp nixed the deal apparently after hearing Elton's debut album and not caring for it, outgoing member Greg Lake sang instead), it's almost ludicrous to criticize this as the work of a man with limited artistic ambition. Whereas with
Empty Sky the ambition lacked clear focus, on
Elton John the young artist has the right people around him to help channel and implement said ambition, and the results show. This is not usually regarded as one of Elton John's definitive greatest albums, but considering the leap in quality from the debut to here, as well as how genuine and energetic everything sounds, it might be time to start considering it as such.
