Madman Across the Water

Tiny Dancer is great, so lovely; the rest are, well, shit.

This album grew on me. I've never been huge into Elton John - his hits are good enough, but I never felt I needed to hear anything else. First few listens to this album didn't click either, but eventually I found it growing on me. Definitely a good album, but I don't know that it's one I will go out of my way to listen to again. That usually makes something a 3 in my book, but that doesn't feel right so I'll go with 4. Favorite tracks: Tiny Dancer, Levon, Madman Across the Water, All the Nasties.

Fantastic!! An Elton John album!! With Tiny Dancer and Levon as Tracks 1&2! This should be a good listen!

This album moves further into the psychadelic rock genre, while keeping the big band/strings accompaniment. It is definately front loaded, with the back half of the album falling kind of flat.

This album is the third of five albums that Elton John released in an 18 month period. Bernie Taupin would write the songs, and Elton would put them to music. I guess Elton was so good at scoring music that Bernie would give Elton lyrics, and within an hour or so Elton would have all of the musical accompaniment figured out. These guys were just a powerhouse duo. Song writing machines!!

This record did terrible on the UK charts, and may have been his worst tracking record there. It did better in the US, however. The odd thing is that the song Tiny Dancer was not a single in the UK, and was a single that didn't do that good in the US. It didn't become a smash hit as we see it today until the year 2000, with the release of the movie Almost Famous. The inclusion of that song in this movie made everyone rediscover it again and realize that it was a fantastic song. Tiny Dancer is actually about songwriter Bernie Taupin's then wife Maxine Feibelmenn, who had started touring with them, and was Elton's costume designer:

Blue jean baby,
LA lady,
Seamstress for the band

Overall, an excellent Elton album! Dries up towards the end, but is still an excellently produced and scored album just the same! Listening to this album today introduced me to some of Elton's lesser known songs such as Indian Sunset, which is a phenomenal story!!

Favourite songs: Tiny Dancer, Levon, Indian Sunset, Holiday Inn, Rotten Peaches

Least favourite song: All the Nasties

4/5

It's quality, it's proggy, but it's just too showtuney for me

Not really an Elton John fan but as far as his stuff goes this one is decent. Not really my style at all but I wouldn't complain about it being on.

Ik krijg deze de dag na George Michael. Leuk om deze twee naast elkaar te zetten. De heren kunnen beide prima zingen en muzikaal klopt het allemaal. Toch is het een easy win for Elton. Hij gebruikt in elk nummer zijn stem en de muziek veel veelzijdiger (zonder uit de band te vliegen). Het wordt hierdoor nooit saai. Het album van Elton is een stuk ouder dan dat van George, maar klinkt veel moderner. Een zeer bekende naam natuurlijk, maar eigenlijk toch een ontdekking voor mij.

This is one of my favorite albums, mostly because of the centerpiece, “Indian Sunset”, and the deep cuts. “Madman” and “Tiny Dancer” are great songs, but “Indian Sunset” rises above the rest of this already perfect album. It’s not really what you think of when you think of an Elton song. It’s expansive, serious, and bittersweet, kind of like a grander “Skyline Pigeon” or “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”. The delicate piano parts giving way to the orchestral finale perfectly evokes not only the sadness and solitude of the Native American warrior but his inevitable and glorious demise. Side B has the deep cuts worth every moment of your time, from “Holiday Inn” through the appropriately-titled final track, “Goodbye”. I just wrap up in this album like it’s a warm blanket.

Vähän väsynyttä Eltonia. Pakkohan tältä on olla useampi levy tällä listalla jos tääkin on täällä, koska aika outo valinta musta muuten. 2/5

I can't figure out what, but something prevents me from connecting with this album. To be fair, it is full of good music, energetic performances, and emotional storytelling. Normally that would be the perfect mixture for me.

For some reason though, it just feels a bit too "put on" or stuck somewhere in the uncanny valley, just shy of the qualities that would resonate with my senses. I guess I would point to 'Indian Sunset' as an example of what I'm talking about. I should be into it, but it just feels a bit awkward.

Looking beyond the well-known tracks like 'Tiny Dancer', I personally think 'Holiday Inn' is the stand-out here, but even that could do without the sitars and swelling strings.

A good album, but something's just off for my taste.

tinyyy danceeeeeeeeee

A lot of the songs sound like tiny dancer, which is fine, since I like that one. Wide range of lyrical themes, surprisingly, and pretty consistent quality throughout. Only three stars though, can't be much higher since even the best song is ony OK!

No conocía este disco ni ninguna de las canciones. Entretenido. Mucho piano (lógico) me ha recordado a Billy Joel. Me ha sorprendido que en 1971 ya consiguiera Elton John meter tanta gente y supongo que pasta en una grabación. El disco suena bien pero de ahí a ser imprescindible hay mucho. Lo mejor las 2 primeras canciones.

I think this may be my favorite Elton John album. Perhaps because it contains "Levon," the first track of his to ever really capture my imagination. His creative collaboration with Bernie Taupin is incredible. Elton John is certainly a very talented musician and performer but honestly I think it is the poetic imagery and mysterious fractured glimpses of implied storytelling in Taupin's lyrics that really draws me in. "Rotten Peaches" is my second favorite track on the album.