Product Description

To follow up an album that pretty much couldn't be followed--the flashy and brilliant GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD--Elton John hid away in the Caribou Ranch studio outside Denver, Colorado and recorded a certified pop mish-mash. CARIBOU contains bits of arena-rock corn ("Stinker") alongside period-poppieces that could have passed for showtunes ("Dixie Lily"),complete goofs ("Solar Prestige A Gammon") and the usual magical ballads. It's easy to overlook CARIBOU when reviewing John's '70s catalogue, but to do so is to miss a couple of his greatest singles. "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", which features a chorus of two Beach Boys and Toni Tenille, is agospelly ballad completely worthy of those contributions, and the strutting "The Bitch Is Back" is rock arrogance of the highest order--it became Tina Turner's signature concert opener.
CARIBOU also contains some compelling filler. Among the lesser-known tracks are the lovely ballad "Pinky", which seems to be about some sort of secret liaison, "I've SeenThe Saucers", an odd little number about UFOs that happens to feature one of John's most committed vocal performances, and "Ticking", an epic ballad about a mass-murderer.

Track Listing

1. The Bitch Is Back
2. Pinky
3. Grimsby
4. Dixie Lily
5. Solar Prestige A Gammon
6. Your So Static
7. I've Seen The Saucers
8. Stinker
9. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
10. Ticking
11. Pinball Wizard
12. Sick City
13. Cold Highway
14. Step Into Christmas

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #43070 in Music
• Released on: 1995-05-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Running time: 64 minutes

Customer Reviews

An album with much to commend it
Although Caribou suffered to some extent from being the follow-up to Goodbye yellow brick road (how could he follow that?), it's long been an album that I liked and this re-issue strengthens it with the addition of four bonus tracks, two of which were originally released as the A-sides of singles.

Bernie Taupin has admitted that he sometimes writes lyrics that don't necessarily make sense but otherwise sound good, so if you occasionally don't understand them, perhaps you're not meant to. Somnetimes the lyrics read as if they ought to make sense and it's just a case of figuring out what they mean. Whatever, Elton almost invariably manages to set great music to Bernie's lyrics, whether they make sense or not, and so it proves with this album and its bonus tracks.

Altogether, there are four of Elton's classics here beginning with The bitch is back. It was never one of my favorite Elton songs partly because I've never quite understood the lyrics, but the music is great and Dusty Springfield is one of the four backing singers, so it's a great track with which to open the album. To my ears, the outstanding track here is Don't let the sun go down on me, a song in which both the lyrics and the music are brilliant. Here, Toni Tennille and two members of the Beach BNoys were among the four backing singers. Pinball wizard (originally by the Who) was featured in the rock opera Tommy and was originally offered to Rod Stewart (perhaps in part because he had a history bof hits with cover versions) but Rod turned down the chance and eventually the chance came Elton's way. Unlike Rod, Elton rarely records cover versions (if you exclude those that he recorded before he became famous) but he made a superb job of Pinball wizard. The fourth Elton classic here is his Christmas song, Step into Christmas. Generally, I prefer Christmas songs to be kept separate from other music but I don't mind this one being added here, especially as they made it the final track. It is therefore easy to stop the CD early to avoid hearing it at the wrong time of year. Of course, anybody who is interested in Christmas music can find the song easily on a Christmas compilation.

Apart from those four famous songs, there are ten other songs here. Of these, Solar prestige a gammon contains lyrics that definitely do not make sense; I think Bernie may have written them deliberately to see what response the critics would give. There are much better songs here, most notably Grimsby (which paints a rosier picture of the town than you're likely to find elsewhere outside of a tourist guide) and Dixie Lady (a country-flavored song about a riverboat). Indeed, there are plenty of good songs on this album.

While this is not regarded by most people as one of Elton's essential original albums, it remains one of my favorites. Those four bonus tracks furher enhance it.

Number One on both sides of the atlantic - not for nothing!
From what seemed to have made 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' Elton's Best album to date, 'Caribou' Certainly had what it takes, the album, when released in 1974, was a absolute Monster, selling over one million copies in the UK alone. The tracks are as follows:

The Bitch Is Back - A classic Rocker that could have been by the rolling stones, with a catchy chorus

Track two is called 'Pinky'. A beautiful love track with a clarinet in the background, the song is a winner, but is not very famous.

The follow up is 'Grimsby', an out-of-the-blue rock track about the town in the north of England, with recognisable backing vocals

'Dixie Lily' is a country/rock style track with a banjo played by the legendary Davey Johnstone.

'Solar Prestige A Gammon' is a somewhat Latin-influenced track with lyrics that make absolutely no sense atall, and cannot be translated into proper english

Youre So Static reminds me of 'Midnight Creeper' from the 'Don't Shoot Me' album, it is a track about New York City

I've Seen The Saucers is self explanitory, really.

Stinker is Elton at his Rock 'n' Roll Best, with good guitar riffs and a brass section

The standout track is 'Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me'. Not my favourite of his songs, but everyone else likes it. Again, it has a brass section.

The Finale of thee original album is an underestimated track tat tells a story. 'Ticking' is the only solo track on the album, and is a seven minute plus track.

The Who's 'Pinball Wizard' is the first of the bonus tracks, which has had bits added on, but is better than the original, any Who fans out there.

Sick City, is a rocker (if somewhat dirty, in my opinion), which was the b side to 'Don't Let The Sun...'.

'Cold Highway' is another rocker, which whas probably so to match the style of it's A side: 'The Bitch Is Back'

Thi closing track is the ever popular 'Step Into Christmas', the rocky phil-spectorish track which makes you feel the snow falling, but you've all probably heard it

Cari', Cariboooou, Cari', Cariboooou
Magnificent!
Yet another gem from the man himself: Elton John. Caribou was the first album to be recorded in Caribou Ranch, Colorado hence the title. The albums only hit and very fitting opening number, 'The Bitch is Back' is one of Eltons greatest hits. The sublime 'Pinky' is a song of true emotion as is 'I have seen the saucers' a delightful and intelligently written mid-tempo ballad with unusual sounds used to create t a sense of another world. The rest of the tracks on this album are notable in their right but by far the albums best track is the curious 'Solar Prestige a Gammon' a song which i have on constant loop. The nonsense lyrics give a depth of feeling beyond that which can be expressed in words and the humourous tale of the birth of the song, as told in the album sleeve, makes you love this song even more.