Madman Across the Water

Piano man is a genre right?

These are good songs well executed. Elton is a good singer and the production is nice if if it’s time .

Would I listen to this album if someone played it for me , probably , but would I put it on myself - probably not. 2.5 /5

Apparently Tony Danza is Leaving - well at least that’s what it sounds like.

Dangit deleted my review by pressing the wrong button, too lazy to go rewrite it. Good collections of songs minus the Indian one. Don't really think of it as a coherent album but also don't really care.

As much Elton John that I’ve listened to in my life, this is probably the first time I’ve sat down and actually listened to a whole album. Honestly, It’s hard not to be an Elton John fan

This is a tough one. It has good moments, but at other times it's kind of a bore. Maybe had I woken up on the other side of the bed today, I might give it a 4/5 instead.

još jedan sasvim neloš album eltona johna? ponovo do neke mjere progresiva. no ovaj me se nije toliko dojmio kao prethodno odslušan (»goodybe on yellow brick road«), neka su mjesta previše eh, stoga trojka. u svakom bih slučaju htio ponovo odslušati i ovaj i spomenuti album

[odslušao i napisao 15/10/26]

Tiny Dancer natürlich fantastisch. Mag Elton John inzwischen sehr. 4 Sterne

The first two songs are TOP NOTCH. I was getting a little annoyed after a while though "why does he sound like he's from the American south" *searches the internet*... he lived in Georgia for over 32 years. Makes sense.

Not bad. Tiny Dancer was great.

Two or three songs on here - Tiny Dancer, Holiday Inn, Madman Across the Water - are about as good as songs get.

Perhaps not a great song, but definitely worth mentioning, is All the Nasties, a song about "what would I do, and how would they react, if I told them about my secret" which, in hindsight, is about as open as Elton got back then about his sexuality.

Elton's melodies and singing are very strong and Buckmasters arrangements are pretty stunning.

The weak link in the chain for this, remarkably, is the usually solid Bernie Taupin, who let's his Americana thing run away with him and also indulges a tendency towards over writing.

Goodbye, Levon and Rotten Peaches are prime examples - all symbolism and cowboys and self importance.

Levon, however, is rescued by the brilliance of the music and the arrangement.

And the less said about the cosplay of Indian Sunset the better.

Pre Listen:
First Elton John album on here, neat! I got a couple of his main hits on my playlist, Rocket Man, Crocodile Rock, Yellow Brick Road, etc. I don't think I've listened to a full album of his other than Yellow Brick Road, and even that one was years ago. Higher expectations than usual.

Notable Tracks:
Tiny Dancer - One of those hits I already had on my playlist. It's a fun song, good sound to it. My favorite track of the album too, likely from pre-exposure bias though.
Indian Sunset - Least favorite track due to the lyrical content. Just kinda feels like a weird thing for a pasty white dude to be yappin about.

Post Listen:
Very cinematic album, it feels like a cross between a rock album and a musical. There's a story somewhere along here, but I had trouble following it.

I'm struggling to find a way to describe how I feel about this album. It's good, everything about it from a production perspective is really good. Elton's voice is great, and the stories each song conveys is good too. There's just something in it that's not bringing it up to a perfect 5 for me. I can't identify what that thing is, but I reckon it's just musical taste on a personal level. As a result, I don't really click with a lot of the songs here. It's a bit frustrating, because as I'm listening to it, my brain is telling me "You should really be liking these songs, this is wonderful" but my heart can only muster back a "meh".

Maybe I'm just a Madman across the water from Elton, on the other side of the river. Regardless of how much I personally like the music, I think this album deserves praise, it is indisputably well done. 4/5

do you think he ever played elden ring & named his character Elden John

The Good: We know where the madman is!
The Bad: Even on the other side, madness still follows us…
The Ugly: Finding out that the Insaneman lives next door…

I forget when it was, though I know that it was well before I started this journey here, that I decided to listen to the complete discography of certain big names in the music industry.
Elton was one of them there names.

Why this album is on the list, and Honky Chateaux isn’t beats me… it is a far superior album imho.

This one, well it starts of grand, and is followed up by a song which, though I am certain I had listened to before, I couldn’t recall vividly listening to… Levon, what a gem of a tune…
The rest of the album… filler. Bad filler.

I feel bad for the madman across the water… he deserves better than this…

3*

Hold me closer Tony Danza

I’ve never been a big fan of Elton John. Admittedly, he’s an extremely talented songwriter, an outstanding pianist, a good singer and a veritable hit machine who churned out catchy tunes one after the other. He’s the Mozart of pop music. But here’s the problem: I love Beethoven. I only like Mozart in small doses and without any extra frills, no extra icing please. In classical music, I can choose which interpretation I prefer; in pop music, I can’t. To cut a long story short: most of Elton John’s work gets on my nerves. Too happy, too melodic, too Hollywood. There’s hardly an album of his that I enjoy listening to. There’s only one I think is brilliant. Ironically, it’s this, the lavish "Madman Across the Water", of all things. It features rich orchestral arrangements and opulent compositions. Elton John was never more ‘prog’ than on this album. And here, the extra icing on the cake fits perfectly. A wonderful album from start to finish. And with "Tiny Dancer", it also features John’s best song. Absolutely brilliant.

Love

I don't know why, but I feel this immense evil radiation from Elton John & no matter how many good things he's done it won't go away. This album was very bland for me sadly besides the two tracks "Tindy Dancer" and "Madman acroos the water".

didn't know most of the songs but he's a cool guy. I like his voice and his music style. so would listen to it again.

Expecting a lot more from an album with Tiny Dancer as an opener. It was fine but some of the songs do plod along. I liked the one with the mandolin as him doing something quite different.

The wikipedia article calls this Elton John's "progressive rock album"? I am confused, it sounds like early 70s commercial pop to me. I of course heard this record many many MANY times around when it first came out and therefore am qualified to say that I have heard “Madman Across the Water” before I died.

Overall I'm pretty tired of Elton John at this point, but still, these are reasonable songs. 3 stars

I dunno, I've never really been a fan of Elton John and this album isn't doing much to help. I do like Rick Wakeman however, but you could barely hear him on the songs he was on. Maybe the next Elton John album will be better...