Madman Across The Water - ELTON JOHN*****

Tiny Dancer/Levon/Razor Face/Madman Across The Water/Indian Sunset/Holiday Inn/Rotten Peaches/All The Nasties/Goodbye

Madman Across The Water was another classic album from Elton John which strangely had little impact in the UK at the time. Nevertheless it is the equal of the more successful albums which preceded and succeeded it. (US:8 UK:41)

“There was a huge singer/songwriter thing happening in the early 70s, and John was at the top of his game. There are two bona fide classics here - the beautiful Tiny Dancer and the more lyrically complex Levon. But others like the excellent title cut, and Goodbye are right up there with them. John's singing has never been better than here, and his playing is as always immaculate. There indeed was a time when image didn't mean a whole lot to him, when he put everything into the music.”

“Possibly the most difficult of his classic era albums to get into, Madman Across The Water reveals its pleasures slowly. With no major hit singles or even love songs aboard, and with arguably as difficult a set of lyrics as Bernie Taupin ever gave him to write music to, Elton applies a lot of rigour and no little craft to attempting to bring these songs to life.”

“For an Elton John fan, it doesn't get much better than this. This album proves that Elton is a songwriting genius despite the flak he takes for his later albums. For anyone who doubts Elton's abilities, or is unimpressed by his more contemporary stuff, listen to this album, it is likely to change many minds.”

“This is a pretty dark album. There are no upbeat pop songs on here, not like he would turn to in future albums. This is deadly serious stuff, which makes it a very unique album for Elton John, because in his classic period he did mostly glam-like pop.”

“If you like early Elton John, then Madman Across The Water is a must have, as it shows the Bernie Taupin and Elton John creative team in the ascendant and honing their craft. Levon, Razorface and the title track are as good as anything they've ever done, but all the other tracks also have their highlights. If anything perhaps they should have been a little more ruthless in trimming some of the songs down, as six of the nine tracks break the five minute mark when there really is no need for them to do so. Also the somewhat over the top string arrangements can bury the songs a little. Very nice, but a little overwrought.”