I came in at the very beginning with Elton. Well, not technically... his first album, Empty Sky, was not released in this country until about the same time as Caribou. The self-titled album was the first one available here, and it's fair to say that hearing that album was a life-changing album for me. It's still my favourite Elton album, and one of my favourite albums of all time.
For several years I was a little obsessed with Elton, and picked up nearly all the albums. This period came to an end in about 1976, from which point his music started to get less interesting, with only the occasional exception. I do think he had a brief late creative resurgence with The One, but it's mostly his early stuff that I love.
Favourite albums:
1st tier:
Elton John
Caribou
Honky Chateau
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Capt Fantastic
2nd tier:
Empty Sky
Tumbleweed Connection
Don't Shoot Me...
Blue Moves
Two albums that I never warmed to in this period were Madman Across the Water, and Rock of the Westies.
He is also a really good showman, and always manages to ensure that you get something from a live concert that you don't get just from owning the CDs. I've seen him perform 4 or 5 times, the most memorable being the 1975 extravaganza at Wembley Stadium in UK, at which he topped a bill that included The Eagles, The Beach Boys, and Joe Walsh.
|