It's been well documented that 1986 was by no means a very good year for Elton John; he released arguably his worst album, "Leather Jackets," and his personal life was in a downward spiral due to cocaine addiction. The most serious blow, however, came towards the end of the year, when Elton discovered he had nodules on his vocal cords that could have potentially silenced his singing voice.
Elton received this news on the eve of his most ambitious touring expedition to date: 27 shows with the 88 piece Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. In a mix of determination and stubbornness, Elton decided to go through with the tour despite the havoc it could wreck upon his voice, not wanting to disappoint fans or sacrifice a unique opportunity to present his songs in this setting (he had not performed with an orchestra since the 1970s, and never one as large as the MSO).
Despite those obstacles, the tour was a massive success artistically, commercially and personally. Elton persevered through a serious health crisis to give some of the most inspired performances of his career, and the MSO complimented the song selection beautifully. Elton revived some seriously deep cuts from the early 1970s, where the sweeping arrangements of Paul Buckmaster gave Elton's first several records an original, powerful sound. When it came to release a live album from these shows, Elton was wise to not only focus solely on the orchestral section of the show, but to leave his vocals completely untouched even after he had recovered from throat surgery.
Though not the prettiest or most technically sound incarnation of his voice, I absolutely love Elton's singing on this album. What he lacks in aesthetic value he makes up with gutsy, 'from the heart' conviction that adds an additional layer of depth to each song. Almost every track is sung from the perspective of a narrator who's at the end of his rope: the soldier facing mortality in "Sixty Years On," the anguished lover of "Tonight" and "Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word," and the demented title character of "Madman Across the Water" all spring to life thanks to Elton's fractured voice. He throws himself into the finales of "Candle in the Wind," "Your Song" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me," as he knew there was a chance he might never sing these signature favourites again.
The approach doesn't work every song; "Tiny Dancer" loses much of its tenderness due to Elton's sandpaper sound, and "Take Me to the Pilot" is pretty grating as it's probably the least dynamic song here and Elton is just screaming the vocals in a garbled tone with *** diction. Overall, though, the determination with which Elton powers through each song is admirable, and he definitely makes the best out of a rather trying situation.
Musically, the album is very well produced: the orchestra sounds incredibly crisp and powerful throughout, and Elton's piano playing blends in beautifully. The massive 14 piece band he was touring with at the time is gracious enough to let the orchestra do the heavy lifting, providing subtle but effective accompaniment and filling space when needed. The best example of their chemistry is probably "Burn Down the Mission," with the band and the orchestra coming together to give the 'burn it down' coda its fiercest presentation ever.
"Live in Australia" captures Elton at a pivotal moment in his career, and the ambitious nature of the performance can arguably seen as the first step in his eventual artistic comeback that fully bloomed by the early 1990s'. It showed that Elton could still surprise his critics and audiences, and it also served as a refreshing reminder after "Leather Jackets" about the quality he was capable of. While it would be hard to justify the presence of a live album in the pantheon of Elton's best work, "Live in Australia" holds a singular place as one of his most adventurous efforts.
