Let’s face it, we all have off days. Musicians are no exception.
\nThe only problem with that is their off days usually result in poor
\nmusic. Case in point;
\nCaribou<\/i>.<\/p>\n
In 1974, Elton John was riding high. His previous three albums
\nhad reached number one in the States. The latter of those three,
\nGoodbye Yellow Brick Road<\/i>, was the most successful album of
\n1973, spawning 4 top ten singles. Everything he touched turned to
\ngold. This was the scene during which Elton retreated to the
\nCaribou Ranch to begin the recording of his next album.<\/p>\n
I like to be able to describe albums in one word. Simplistic
\nyes, but it’s effective and it means I don’t have type as much.
\nCaribou<\/i> is an “uninspired” album. This is not surprising,
\nseeing as how the band only had five days available, but it is
\ndisappointing. On previous albums, Elton had maintained a certain
\nstandard of excellence. This is not the scenario on
\nCaribou<\/i>. The album was hastily done, and mostly assembled in
\npost-production. Gus Dudgeon would win the Grammy for the Producer
\nof the Year for
\nCaribou<\/i> and it is easy to understand why. “Don’t Let the Sun
\nGo Down On Me” greatly benefits from the backing vocals placed in
\nafter the song was finished. Less successful are the horns placed
\nthroughout the various songs, as in “You’re So Static.” However, I
\ngive Dudgeon a pass on that seeing as he was trying to do something
\ndifferent with the Elton sound.
\nCaribou<\/i> would not have been unlistenable without his work,
\nbut it would certainly have been a huge step down for Elton
\nJohn.<\/p>\n
There are all sorts of reasons why
\nCaribou<\/i> is lackluster, but there is one simple explanation.
\nThe songs just aren’t that good. Oh sure, there are some shining
\nmoments. “The Bitch is Back,” “Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me,”
\nand “Ticking” are three very good songs, and I’ll come back to them
\nlater. However, those three make up less than a third of the total
\nsong count, and even the presence of those classics can’t save
\nCaribou<\/i>. Ever heard of ” Pinky,” or “Grimsby,” or “I’ve Seen
\nThe Saucers?” Here, think about it for a few
\nminutes\u2026\u2026No? I thought so. Those three songs are from<\/p>\n
Caribou<\/i>, each one as sloppy and clich\u00e9d as the other.
\nOne song on the album, “Solar Prestige A Gammon” consists of made
\nup words, supposedly written in homage of The Beatles’ “Sun King.”
\nIt’s a good thing Elton was such a popular artist at the time;
\nsongs like these would have destroyed the careers of many other
\nartists.<\/p>\n
When it comes to discussing the lyrics of an Elton John song,
\nBernie Taupin’s name always will come up, seeing as he has written
\nthe great majority of Elton’s lyrics over the years. When Taupin is
\ngood, he is very good. “Rocket Man,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Mona Lisas And
\nMad Hatters” — these are songs that have stood the test of time.
\nHowever, on the downside, Taupin has written some god-awful lyrics.
\n“Grimsby” is a song written in honor of the English city. “Pinky”
\nis pure sap, with man and his wife sitting in bed on a cold
\nmorning, enjoying a picturesque breakfast moment. There is even a
\nsong titled “Stinker” which is quite ironic. I’ll leave why that is
\nfor you, the reader, to figure out.<\/p>\n
Despite all this, the album is not without a few gems. Those
\nsongs are the three previously mentioned, “Bitch\u2026” “Don’t
\nLet The Sun\u2026.” and “Ticking.” The latter is a powerful tale
\nof a young student driven to murder. The lyrics bring images of
\nColumbine to mind, giving the song an emotional impact decades
\nafter it’s recording. This is one my personal favorite Elton tunes
\nfor two reasons. One, I enjoy the darker tone not seen often in
\nElton’s work, and two, the recording. Too often Elton’s song are
\ngarnished with orchestral arrangements, or other unnecessary
\ninstrumentation. On “Ticking”, we get to just hear Elton and his
\npiano. This is easily one of Elton’s most powerful songs. “Bitch”
\nis the sequel of sorts to “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting.”
\nThere is some blistering guitar work from Davey Johnstone, and at
\nthe end, there’s even a sax solo and some interjections from the
\nTower of Power horn section. Finally, “Don’t Let The Sun\u2026”
\nis poignant ballad, featuring some very good Taupin imagery. The
\nhooks in the chorus bring you in, and the song doesn’t let go.<\/p>\n
There was one and one only factor as to
\nCaribou<\/i>‘s success. In 1974, Elton was one of the biggest, if
\nnot the biggest, rock stars in America and Britain. If there was a
\ntime to come out with a lousy album, this was the right time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":26740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[5678],"rating":[5614],"class_list":["post-38003","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-elton-john","rating-rating-c-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38003","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38003"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/38003\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38003"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38003"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=38003"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=38003"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}