972. Elton John / Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. 1973. 4/5

The album that is spoken about more often than any other in the Elton John catalogue is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It is considered a classic, one of those albums that everyone must listen to during their lifetime. Does this necessarily make it a great album? One that can and will be listened to time and time again? Or does it just have a quirkiness about it which makes it a ‘necessary’ listen to appreciate its place in time, and then move on to the next album?

The danger with double albums, as this release was on vinyl, is that they risk being too long, too drawn out, and overstaying their welcome. Having songs that become timeless within the mix can help with that, and that is certainly the case here.
You can imagine that those that have this on double vinyl have probably worn out the first side of the first album, because that is where the gold is situated. The opening instrumental stride of “Funeral For a Friend”, which is then tagged with the brilliant “Love Lies Bleeding” as an 11 minute opening track is still one of my favourite moments from Elton John’s career. The quiet, almost haunting beginnings of the track slowly builds, with the growing musical overlay and addition of instruments along the way, to the crescendo that then halts as it moves into “Love Lies Bleeding” itself is magnificent, and one Elton starts singing as well, bringing with it the emotions of the lyrics, it is one of those songs that I will still get goosebumps from whenever it is played. For me it is a triumph.
“Candle in the Wind” is often referred to as one of Elton’s greatest tracks. Yes, I like it. I’m not sure it would rank in my first ten or so songs of his though. In many ways it was cursed for me when he re-worded it for “Candle in the Wind 1997” for the tribute to Diana Spencer and was then overplayed for months everywhere. That might be unfair, but just the way I feel. What can’t be argued is that it is a part of this album’s allure. "Bennie and the Jets" changes up the attitude of the album for the third song running, with Elton’s hammering piano and halting vocals the main styling of the song. These two songs became big selling singles which increased their influence in the world of Elton John. The opener is still my favourite.
Side two opens with another mega-hit, the title track “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”, and still has the emotive impact and the change in vocal pitch that separates it from the run of the mill songs. Bernie Taupin’s lyrics here are as far as I am concerned the star attraction. It is still a song everyone can get on board with.
“This Song Has No Title” finds itself in no man’s land after this, the first song on the album that doesn’t come with its own reputation, and as a result it feels out of place. The following song “Grey Seal” is better, played at a better tempo and with more enthusiasm vocally as well. The reggae-influenced and less ordinary “Jamaica Jerk-Off” is followed by “I’ve Seen That Movie Too”, a song that sets itself with the John/Taupin template of easy listening vocals over the placating piano and synth. And it works wonderfully well. It’s the kind of song you listen to while sitting on the lounge relaxing rather than singing along to in a louder atmosphere, but it is still a good track.
The second album starts off in a similar vein with “Sweet Painted Lady”, once again with the tempo not getting out of second gear, just idling along gently like you would hear at a piano bar. You can’t help but like "The Ballad of Danny Bailey (1909–34)". Whether you take notice of the lyrics or note, this has a harder element on the piano and drums than in recent songs, and the jaunty aspect of Elton’s playing brings back that toe-tapping quality which is usually prevalent in his best songs. “Dirty Little Girl”, I think, sounds a bit too much like what came before it in “Benny and the Jets” – not precisely, but to me it always feel like it has the same formula, just with more guitar in holes. Still, this is followed by “All the Girls Love Alice” which is a ripper of a song, utilising all of the instruments to keep the song moving along perfectly in unison, once again picking up the pace and jive of the album, and Elton’s vocals telling the story in style. The only thing that halts this for me is the two parts where he stops to brood over the lyrics, but overall this is one of the better songs on the second album.
Elton channels the fifties on the second side of this second album, starting off with "Your Sister Can't Twist (But She Can Rock 'n Roll)", infusing the synth keyboard into a song that feels as though it should have Chuck Berry playing along with it in the first half, and then the Beach Boys in the second half. Somehow he manages to combine the two into the upbeat song it is.
"Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" is the undoubted highlight of the second album, building on the previous song by going into all out hard rock, with hard hitting drums, rock n roll piano, heavy licking guitar, thumping bass line and fantastic lyrics and vocals. This is still the song by Elton that produces the most blood-pumping moments, showcasing the fact that he can write the ballads and the pop, but he can also write these hard and rocking songs with just as much aplomb. One of the greats.
“Roy Rogers” moves back to the comfortable mid-tempo piano bar range that this band does so well, though through Elton’s crooning I often think that no matter how much I like this song despite its country and western leanings, what I wouldn’t give to have heard more of the direction of the previous song. “Social Disease” is slightly more enthusiastic while not getting too excited with itself, while “Harmony” finalises the deal in a rising expectation of a wave of emotion that may work better for others than it does for me.

For me, and probably for many people, this would have been an even better album had they done some cutting and pasting, or tried to cull some songs from the release. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and I wonder if Elton ever thinks about that. It would have been a task, and it would have changed the feel of the album, so given it is considered a classic it probably wouldn’t have worked. For me, the good (and great) far outweighs the less good, and it gives a varied selection of the writing techniques of both Elton as musician and Bernie Taupin as lyricist. In the end, I can only agree that everyone should listen to this album and experience it, for all of those reasons mentioned here. You may not agree with its status as ‘a great’. You may be like me, someone who appreciates the excellence within the music, while understanding that not all of it reaches that pinnacle.

Rating:  “You said sorry honey if I don’t change the pace, I can’t face another day”.   4/5.