Search - Elton John :: Blue Moves

Flawed, yet just perfect...

Andrew Geisel | Mammoth Lakes, CA | 09/11/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"One reviewer said this album was a flawed masterpiece and that perhaps is the best way to describe it.

As odd as it is to listen to, one can't help but be swept up in it. By the time Elton and the band settled in to record it in 1976, he and Bernie were feeling the pressure and the cracks in the facade were showing. They were tired, and Bernie's marriage was in big trouble, on its way to falling apart.

The song are near perfect reflections of this, at once moody, desperate, yet some also seeking release, solace, with Elton and the band drawing from an eclectic mix of musical styles in a way not seen perhaps since the range of expression found on the Beatles' so-called "White Album."

Even the record's biggest hit, "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word," is a bit of downer, albeit a very lovely one.

What's really strange about it is that it's not like anything he's done before or since. It lacks the slick polish and storytelling linearity of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and is miles away from the brooding singer-songwriter that made "Madman Across The Water," never mind the 80s and 90s pop singer icon he'd become a few years later, but it works...rather the audio equivalent of Picasso, Seurat or Munch...something Brian Wilson might have done at the time.

"Tonight," "One Horse Town," "Cage The Songbird, "Chameleon," "Idol," "Where's The Shoorah," "Bite Your Lip (Get Up And Dance)" - it's not hard to hear where the songs came from emotionally, but how they ended up in this collection is one of rock's great mysteries. Gus Dudgeon said he thought it would have made a great single album. Maybe he was right, but having it complete as it was originally intended is something to behold, as bizarre as it is.

Even Elton fans aren't entirely sure what to make of it, so who knows what less devoted listeners will think of it, but if you're willing to take a chance on Elton as less of pop star and he and Taupin as more existential artists, I think you'll find the album rewards you handsomely, with songs that will stick with you long after you pop it out of the CD player. Throw it on one Sunday morning and see if you don't catch a vibe from it. My guess is you will and, surprise, you might actually like it, though some of you may scratch your head for days wondering why.

Don't try to figure it out - we Elton fans can't even do that - just play it and enjoy.

"