Track Listing

1. Your Song
2. I Need You To Turn To
3. Take Me To The Pilot
4. No Shoe Strings On Louise
5. First Episode At Hienton
6. Sixty Years On
7. Border Song
8. The Greatest Discovery
9. The Cage
10. The King Must Die
11. Bad Side Of The Moon
12. Grey Seal
13. Rock And Roll Madonna

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5019 in Music
• Released on: 1995-05-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
• Dimensions: .23 pounds
• Running time: 50 minutes

CD Description
Elton John's second album was his first to be released in the U.S., and the difference between it and its predecessor, EMPTY SKY, is palpable and immediate. ELTON JOHN opens with "Your Song", a halting ballad that is one of the most movinglove songs in the modern pop canon. The album also marks John's fruitful association with Gus Dudgeon and arranger PaulBuckmaster (who'd previously collaborated on David Bowie's "Space Oddity"). The team came up with a spare orchestral sound that surrounds the singer and his piano with dashes of both classical and rock guitar, synthesizers, carefully arranged drums, and searing strings.
This wasn't all-out pop yet, but rather a striking and singular brand of folk-rock. "Take Me To The Pilot" shows flashes of John's rocking future("Bennie And The Jets" descended from it), "No Shoe StringsOn Louise" is Rolling Stonesy country-rock, and "Sixty Years On" is haunting and memorable. More typical for this session is "I Need You To Turn To", another love song that finds lyricist Bernie Taupin in an unusually direct mode, and features a beautiful harpsichord melody from John. ELTON JOHN cast the mold for the singer's future superstardom.

Customer Reviews

Elton's stunning second album confirms his potential
If his first album, the low-budget 'Empty Sky' hinted at Elton John's potential, his second ('the black album') well and truly confirmed it and is one of the most significant albums of the early 70s. Its distinctive character derives from the three features which would become Elton's trademark sound in his early albums - his unique vocal delivery, his expressive piano playing, and the use of heavy orchestration. The songs range from tender ballads with baroque influences, to bluesy rock numbers, and the slow but powerful songs for which he is perhaps best known. Only one ('Your song') was a hit record, but many others have become well-established classics of Elton's repertoire (notably 'Border song', 'Take me to the pilot', 'Sixty years on' and 'The king must die'). (Three additional early songs, not originally included on the album, also appear.) Paul Buckmaster's orchestral arrangements on this album might be criticised as being too grandiose and overbearing at times, but they are part of what gives the record its distinctive character and helped to establish Elton as a very individual new talent in his early days. After two further heavily orchestrated albums, his song arrangements became much more stripped-down and conventionally commercial, as can be heard on 'Goodbye yellow brick road', but the black album showcases Elton's raw talent before 'stardom' arrived. A landmark album - but if you like the style of this you should also obtain the subsequent 'Tumbleweed connection' and 'Madman across the water', which are also EJ classics.

Elton John
This was the second album of Elton John's and the one that put his name out there. This album has plenty to offer in the different types of songs that are available. 'Your Song' has gone down as a all time classic and is the perfect introduction to this album. 'First Espisode at Hienton' and 'Sixty Years On' are two mellow songs that you can feel emotion from.
3 bonus tracks are on offer on this album including 'grey seal' that can be found on the Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album, a early version of the song.
This was the introduction of Elton John into the music scene so for an Elton fan this is a must have but can easily entertain any music lover. Plenty to offer, money well spent.

Classy 2nd album
The 2nd album from Elton John is the one where he first made an impact on the music world. There are two standards on this album 'Your Song' and 'Border Song'. Both are great songs. Sadly Your Song has been overplayed a bit over the years, but listening to the original version of Border Song again recently I was struck by the simple production, and its great gospel feel.

'Sixty Years On' and 'Take Me To The Pilot' remain two of the songs that Elton still plays in concert to this day and any fan will know these. A couple of the remaining tracks are perhaps are not up to quite the same standard, but I like them all. The string arrangements by Paul Buckmaster set Elton's early albums apart from his more comercially successful albums and give this album a unique feel.

The 3 bonus tracks are well worth having. My favourite of these is 'Rock 'n' Roll Madonna'. A rare straight rock n roll track from Elton with an artificial live feel and Jerry Lee Lewis/Leon Russell influenced Piano solo. The remastered sound is good and the new sleeve notes give quite a lot of useful background information. This is well worth getting.