Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is a double-record which belies John’s present-day image as an adult contemporary God. In fact, it is very much a reflection of John’s famous personality- passionate, provocative, animated and excessive. It is also truly a reflection of the decadent musical culture of the time. Melancholic melodies mix comfortably with drug references.
Combined with all this is John’s talent for writing catchy pop songs. A good example is the famous ‘Benny and the Jets’. The eerie introduction- with its staccato piano and superimposed crowd noise- blends nicely into a suitably mysterious set of lyrics: “Hey kids, shake it loose together/The spotlight’s hitting something that’s been known to change the weather/We’ll kill the fatted calf tonight/So stick around.”
As impressive is the deceptively acerbic title track. A sugary melody and a fantastic title should not disguise the actual tone of the song. “When are you going to come down?/When are you going to land?” John begins before lamenting, “I’m not a present for your friends to open/This boy’s too young to be singing the blues.”
It is this cynical and world-weary tone that pervades the album, and not that of an idealistic adventurer that John is perhaps better known for these days. Sometimes it can seem a bit contrived and cringeworthy- ‘Candle in the Wind’, John’s ode for Marilyn Monroe, being a good example of this. But more often than not, with tracks like ‘This Song Has No Title’ and ‘All the Girls Love Alice’, John gets it exactly right.
For all this praise one should not forget that there are a few weaker moments. The end of both sides A and B are considerably weaker than the preceding songs. ‘Jamaica Jerk Off’ best epitomizes this. Its faux Caribbean sound is just embarrassing to listen to.
As good as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is, it probably would have been better if it had occupied just one record instead of two. At eighteen tracks long, a few could easily have been discarded, thereby improving the overall quality. Still, there is more than enough quality here to illustrate just why Elton John was such an influential performer way back when this album was composed.
RATING: 7.5/10
For a less generous review, click here.
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