Songs from the West Coast - 7323

Amazon.com The appearance of "Rocket Man"-era cohorts Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone as backing vocalists touches this CD with one of the trademark sounds of Elton John's 1969-75 LPs. John has acknowledged those records--his most typically singer-songwriterish--occasionally, if mostly to revisit audience favorites in concert (1987's Live in Australia, a late-'90s VH1 show). But on Songs from the West Coast, his admiration of Ryan Adams and Rufus Wainwright (a guest here) inspires him to recall the stripped-down, lyric-driven sensibility of his early days. The tone of the words Bernie Taupin feeds this notorious diva is elegiac, rooted in a wearier version of the romanticism that fueled oldies as diverse as "Your Song," "Love Lies Bleeding," and "Burn Down the Mission." West Coast sidesteps bombast with a couple of exceptions; only "The Wasteland," with its invocation of Robert Johnson, is enough to provoke a dismayed "oy." The standout track is "I Want Love," a Lennonesque rumination that's their most impressive writing, separately or together, in more than a decade. --Rickey Wright Product description Elton John - Songs From the West Coast - CD Review "....John can still sleep with the past and make it sound fresh and vital." -- Maimi Herald, September 28, 2001, 4 STARS "....the album they've been waiting for since the glory days of the early '70s." -- Chicago Sun-Times, September 30, 2001, 4 STARS "...its spirit and ambition have finally come back home." -- Rollingstone, October 11, 2001, 4 STARS "...welcome slice of vintage Elton... work akin to early `70s favorites such as Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across the Water" -- Oakland Press, September 30, 2001, 3 1/2 STARS "Elton John is back to what he does best." -- Atlanta Journal & Constitution, October 2, 2001
ASIN: B00005NZDW
VSKU: GGV.B00005NZDW.LN
Condition: Like New
Binding: Audio CD