{"id":39736,"date":"2006-04-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2006-04-26T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/made-in-england\/"},"modified":"2006-04-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2006-04-26T00:00:00","slug":"made-in-england","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/reviews\/made-in-england\/","title":{"rendered":"Made In England"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

At the Vault we run a mailing list for the writing
\nstaff, and when this month’s Elton John retrospective was
\nannounced, nobody was taking Made In England<\/i>.<\/p>\n

The most fun reviews are not the ones about good
\nalbums or (believe it or not) really bad albums that lend
\nthemselves to every socially acceptable derogative in the Web
\njournalist’s hypothetical handbook… the most fun reviews are from
\nalbums that give the writer a lot to say, whether good or bad.
\nTherefore, the worst albums to write about are, naturally, ones
\nthat are so boring you just don’t want to eke out word after
\ntortured word in front of the keyboard. It’s not that these albums
\nare necessarily bad; they’re just extremely self-explanatory.<\/p>\n

And that’s the problem with Made In
\nEngland<\/i>.<\/p>\n

England<\/i> was the follow-up to the massively
\nsuccessful The Lion King<\/i> soundtrack. It’s not bad. But in
\nthe beginning in the 90s a lot of heart went out in the music of
\nElton John; listen for the kitsch factor of “Candle in the Wind
\n’98” and you’ll hear how devoid of feeling and intimacy he got, at
\nleast on record. The Academy Award in Best Song may go to the
\nending credit versions of whatever tune is nominated, but “Can You
\nFeel the Love Tonight” (and “Circle of Life,” another of the three
\nsongs nominated that year) was more dramatic and intimate in the
\nmovie than Elton John’s clean, sterile take.<\/p>\n

The songs on England<\/i> are, well, nice. The
\nfirst single, “Believe,” is a terrific pop song that was given a
\nhefty amount of airtime by easy listening MOR stations at the time
\nit came out. “Made In England” is more of a rocker, but in the days
\nof grunge it was just a piece of easy listening fluff, and the line
\n“you can still say homo and everybody laughs” doesn’t do the
\nslightest to shock, if it ever did.<\/p>\n

The album is a hazy blur from then on, an impression
\nhelped by the fact that there are — rather inexplicably —
\nsoundtrack-like orchestral interludes between the songs; I suppose
\nthey’re there to create an epic sweep but it just sounds contrived,
\nespecially as the songs are so bland that the interludes are more
\nevocative of emotion (I especially like the one right after
\n“Belfast”).<\/p>\n

I like the songs, I really do. “Cold” actually
\narouses some emotion from Sir Elton’s voice, an interesting
\ncontradiction as he’s raging about being emotionally cold. And who
\nof marriageable age wouldn’t like “Please” except the most cynical
\nsingleton on the far side of Bridget Jones? The other songs,
\nhowever, while nice, are just not very memorable; too safe, too
\nclean, too… this man is no longer rock-and-roll, at least on
\nrecord.<\/p>\n

Whew. Can I stop writing this review now?<\/p>\n

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