Track Listing

1. Long Way From Happiness - Bob Birch, Carol Kenyon, Charlie Morgan, Chris Thomas, Davey Johnstone, Elton John, Guy Babylon, John Jorgensen
2. Live Like Horses - Adam Harris, Alex Baron, Alison Kelly, Andrew Parker, Bill Benham, Bob Birch, Boguslav Kostecki, Brian Hawkins, Charlie Morgan, Chris Laurence, Chris Thomas, Chris Van Kampen, Christopher Baron, Ciaran McGullagh, Daren Geraghty, Davey Johnstone, David Daniels, David Nolan, Eddie Roberts, Elton John, Frank Lloyd, Gary Francis, Gavyn Wright, Gillian Findley, Guy Babylon, Helen Parker, Howard Ball, Hugh Seenan, Jackie Shave, Jim McLeod, John Jorgensen, John Pigneguy, John Underwood, John Weston, Jon Ewans Jones, Jonathan Bradbury, Jonathan Strange, Jonathan Williams, Julia White, Kate Pringle, Katie Wilkinson, Kit Weston, Liam O'Kane, Luciano Pavarotti, Maciej Rakowski, Micheal Renton, Mike De Saulles, Nicholas Phillips, Nicola Jenkins, Paul Cullington, Paul Kegg, Paul Willey, Peter Oxer, Philip De Groote, Philip Dukes, Robin McGee, Stephen Trapp, Steve Geraghty, Tony Pleeth, Vaughan Armon, Wilfred Gibson
3. The End Will Come - Bob Birch, Charlie Morgan, Chris Thomas, Davey Johnstone, Elton John, Guy Babylon, John Jorgensen
4. If The River Can Bend - Adeola Awoyemi, Andrea Clarke, Andy Boyd, Angela Blake, Ann Joyette, Bob Birch, Charlie Morgan, Chris Thomas, Christopher Gordon, Davey Johnstone, Deanne Brown, Debra Brown, Donald Malcolm, Donald Morrison, Elton John, Gary Bardoulli, Gary Williams, Guy Babylon, Hewitt Grant, Jacky Roberts, Jasnett Lindo, John Jorgensen, Lloyd Garrett, Marcia Thompson, Micheal Gordon, Naomi Segal, Sandra Charlery, Sandra Escoffrey, Sean Mitchell, Sharon Roberts, Synthia Charlery
5. Love's Got A Lot To Answer For - Bob Birch, Charlie Morgan, Chris Thomas, Davey Johnstone, Elton John, Guy Babylon, John Jorgensen
6. Something About The Way You Look Tonight - Alison Kelly, Andrew Parker, Bill Benham, Bob Birch, Boguslav Kostecki, Brian Hawkins, Carol Kenyon, Charlie Morgan, Chris Laurence, Chris Thomas, Chris Van Kampen, Davey Johnstone, David Daniels, David Nolan, Eddie Roberts, Elton John, Frank Lloyd, Gavyn Wright, Gillian Findley, Guy Babylon, Howard Ball, Hugh Seenan, Jackie Rawe, Jackie Shave, Jim McLeod, John Jorgensen, John Pigneguy, Jon Ewans Jones, Jonathan Bradbury, Jonathan Strange, Jonathan Williams, Katie Wilkinson, Maciej Rakowski, Mike De Saulles, Paul Carrock, Paul Cullington, Paul Kegg, Paul Willey, Peter Oxer, Philip De Groote, Philip Dukes, Robin McGee, Tony Pleeth, Vaughan Armon, Wilfred Gibson
7. The Big Picture - Bob Birch, Charlie Morgan, Chris Thomas, Davey Johnstone, Elton John, Guy Babylon, John Jorgensen
8. Recover Your Soul - Bob Birch, Carol Kenyon, Charlie Morgan, Chris Thomas, Davey Johnstone, Elton John, Guy Babylon, Jackie Rawe, John Jorgensen, Paul Carrack, Paul Claris
9. January - Charlie Morgan, Chris Thomas, Elton John
10. I Can't Steer My Heart Clear Of You - Chris Thomas, Elton John, Matthew Vaughan
11. Wicked Dreams - Bob Birch, Charlie Morgan, Chris Thomas, Davey Johnstone, Elton John, Guy Babylon, John Jorgensen

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #31423 in Music
• Released on: 1999-03-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds
• Running time: 52 minutes

CD Description
As true as the Rolling Stones have remained to their blues beat, Elton John, who's been around nearly as long, has stayed true to his pop muse; and perhaps more than the Stones, he's retained his pop craft. THE BIG PICTURE is a simple album at heart, a collection of melancholy love songs beefed up with million-dollar pop arrangements and rocked up every nowand then with Davey Johnstone's electric guitar. The sentiments are basic enough: in "The End Will Come", he's ready toswear there ain't no mountain high enough to stop his love,while in "Love's Got A Lot To Answer For", he's ready to admit that no matter how he climbs there's just going to be another mountain around the bend.
Lyricist Bernie Taupin provides these basics, and John adds the incredible melodic weight that the best of these songs have. "Long Way From Happiness" is haunting blue-eyed soul; "The End Will Come" is a true anthem that showcases a Stevie Wonder-like conviction inthe power of music to overcome reality. "If The River Can Bend" serves as teasing proof that the rock flame behind suchearly John showstoppers as "Burn Down the Mission" is far from out.

Customer Reviews

A few good songs here and there, but overall uninspired.
After the release of 1995's "Made In England", a tidy album which Elton and Bernie bravely attempted to hone in on the songwriting craft, along with a major world tour and the subsequent "Tantrums" and "Audiences with..." tv shows, came the recording sessions for what became "The Big Picture" album.
In the midst of this came the shocking news that his friend, Gianni Versace had been murdered outside his home, which had obviously resonated onto this album. A short time later, as he was about to release the lead-off single "Something About The Way You Look Tonight", Princess Diana was killed. With arrangements being made for Elton to perform at the requiem, the single was withdrawn and reassembled with the addition of "Candle In the Wind" which became the biggest selling single in UK chart history. Such events caused a significant benchmark in Elton's career and one that's still,unfortunately, almost always drawn back to, for whenever there is need for an emotional musical touchstone, Elton seems to be at the top of the list. At least he now seems to realise that this could be his albatross which he's successfully escaping from.
The album is lush, dark, yet somewhat directionless and bland. The surprising choice for the opening track, a quiet introspective piece, represents the overall mood of the album.
The rather beautiful, though slightly overcooked "Live Like Horses", minus Pavarotti, is one of the highlights of the album and contains one of the best Taupin lyrics in recent years, which, with its allusions to mortality and spiritualism, lost all its emotional impact on the operatic single release.
"If The River Can Bend" is excellent rock-gospel, with plenty of key-changes and chord progressions to keep you interested.
One other highlight is the title track...strongly evocative of the songs on "Madman Across The Water" it prefigures Elton's creative shift into Ryan Adams-style alt.country that became "Songs From The West Coast" four years later.
"Something About The Way You Look Tonight" is worthy of its single release, though its representative of the standard Elton John love song he can easily churn out.
The rest lacks sparkle and sounds complacent and uninspired. Its interesting to note that during the subsequent tour to promote the album, he hardly touched on the album at all. To top it off the cover painting by the otherwise brilliant artist Julian Schnabel is dismal. Shame.

The Big Picture
Personally, I liked the album very much but I'm an Elton fan, so my opinions one sided.
This album isn't one of the greatest from Elton. It lacks the catchy tunes of old but does have several songs that you can take a liking to. 'Something About the Way You Look Tonight' may be remembered as being one of the songs on Princess Diana's single, and deserving of it to, and its one of Elton's better love songs on this album. The album version offers a Davey Johnstone guitar solo midway through to boot as well. 'Recover Your Soul' is another good love song with a cathcy melody. 'Live Like Horses' is the third of the better songs on offer with this album. Its a powerful sounding song with emotion.
It's a well produced piece with several good songs. An album for Elton fans but no necessarily one for the non-Elton fan.

Patchy, but not as bad as its reputation
This is the album released on the back of `Candle In The Wind 97`. It's not a great album (The End Will Come and I Can't Steer My Heart Clear Of You` are breathtakingly forgettable) but a handful of good tracks make it worthwhile. `Long Way From Happiness` has a powerful chrous (And there's no second guess/ We take the second best/ Chances are we're a long way from happiness), `Recover Your Soul` gave Elton a catchy top twenty single and `Wicked Dreams` is a return to more upbeat fare.....