Product Description

The aptly titled A SINGLE MAN finds Elton John working without legendary partner Bernie Taupin, his usual lyricist, during a much-needed break from each other, following their turbulent, albeit wildly successful mid '70s collaborations. Joining forces instead with Gary Osborne, Elton takes the opportunity to present an album of pure craft--with its scaled down production, A SINGLE MAN is an almost live-sounding album, one of his most straightforward. This approach places in even greater relief John's gift for combining widely varyingmusical atmosphere with beautiful melodies and honest emotional performance.
If A SINGLE MAN didn't produce any legendary hits for Elton John, it provided a welcome chance for him to cool off and just write songs. As is his wont, John takes on a wide variety of styles: the Spanish-sounding melancholia of "Return To Paradise" moves handily into the upbeatstrut of "I Don't Care" in a stylistic segue which few could pull off. The swaggering honky-tonk of "Big Dipper" finds itself juxtaposed with the soft rock of "It Ain't Gonna Be Easy". Stripped down though it may be, the album isn't without its epic--in this case it's the heavily orchestrated, under-sung "Song For Guy".

Track Listing

1. Shine On Through
2. Return To Paradise
3. I Don't Care
4. Big Dipper
5. It Ain't Gonna Be Easy
6. Part Time Love
7. Georgia
8. Shooting Star
9. Madness
10. Reverie
11. Song For Guy
12. Ego
13. Flinstone Boy
14. I Cry At Night
15. Lovesick
16. Strangers

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #49971 in Music
• Released on: 1998-06-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered
• Running time: 70 minutes

Customer Reviews

Elton's comeback fails to impress
After 'Blue Moves' was released in 1976, Elton took an extended break from the music scene, and this was his comeback project.
Despite two big singles, the catchy 'Part Time Love' and the wonderful tribute 'Song For Guy', this is a weak offering.
The remaining tracks are lightweight and forgetable with the exception of 'Return to Paradise'.

Criminally underrated; one of Elton's best
A Single Man is probably the most underrated of Elton's albums. Maybe it got lost under the roar of punk rock in the late seventies; maybe the 2 year break after Blue Moves and such an apparently low-key return was a mistake but there are some absolute gems here. Part Time Love was a great slice of pop, It Ain't Gonna Be Easy is dark and brooding and Georgia and Shooting Star are great tunes as well - all that and Song for Guy as well. Even the bonus track Ego (a minor hit over here when it was a single only release) is creative golddust.

At the end of the day, this is a great album of 70s soul influenced pop, and while it might not be quite as good as Elton's very best albums (Tumbleweed Connection, Madman, Don't Shoot Me, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Blue Moves) it sits right behind them and a long long way ahead of what he is doing today.

Singularly fabulous
This is my all time favourite of Elton's albums. My vinyl copy is scratched to bits from so much playing. It cheers me to hear this collection, from Shine on Through to Madness. Part-time love is a joyful song and the football chorus on Georgia makes me tingle. Song for Guy is excellent. If you are an Elton fan, you'll love this one.