Favorite bands

SixesAlltheway said:
70s Elton John is fantastic. particularly the early to mid 70s stuff. The stuff I've heard from his 80s output has been pretty bad, but perhaps there's some good stuff in there that I've missed. He seemed to get a revival again in the 90s.
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Well, it's a combination for me:

- the 70's stuff is amazing and excellent and he really has no peer... those albums are great with no "but" to be said,
- you can pick some great stuff out of the 80's and 90's albums... let alone the fact his talent for using his type of weird chord progressions has never really left him and that he collaborated with Taupin, who is and was a genius in his own right,
- then you get his "comeback" in the late 90's - 00's, after which he simply became consistent again.

Summarise all this and you get a unique career indeed. I mean - as I said to my classmats many years ago - you can dislike him, or even hate him, but you should respect him.
 
What do you exactly find amazing about 1970s Elton John? I mean, I know he was a huge artist, he was a guest in The Muppet Show and all that.
Is some of it exciting, adventurous, or proggy? Or original? I am not in for simple (or sweet) pop music from that era (however emotionally made, or beautifully sung or played on the piano).
 
If we're classifying him as "pop" at the time (and there are people who would insist it was rock), he made it quite diverse and artsy. Listen to Funeral for a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding, for example (also has been covered by Dream Theater and it sounded absolutely appropriate, however strange it might sound). Listen to the album Captain Fantastic - a lot of untrivial chord changes and song structures, combined with emotional resonance and general catchiness. Pretty much every album from 1970's self-titled up to Captain is more or less quite unique, catchy, sometimes edgy (the misogyny in the lyrics to Dirty Little Girl is yet to be surpassed), very carefully produced and professionally played. I get it might not be everyone's cup of tea, but please, do not dismiss it beforehand. I did once and I now simply think I was being stupid. :D He won me over, which is much greater an achievement to me than if he did not have to. That's all.


EDIT: Sixes was faster. :) :ok:
 
And love lies bleeding in my hand
Oh it kills me to think of you with another man
I was playing rock and roll and you were just a fan
But my guitar couldn't hold you
So I split the band

:D
 
I am playing it! It surely has lots of different patterns. But it all sounds so constantly light(hearted).
I'll certainly play more work to see how that feels.
 
However, you should also take into consideration Madman Across the Water... Here, let's play it, with lyrics:


It's just so haunting, thought-over and to-the-point it's really one of the unjustly forgotten 70's gems to me. Even he himself never made anything like this one again...

(Actually, probably my favourite song by him and maybe even one of my favourite songs ever)
 
Will do Judas! I just saw that album coming along, when I went through his discography. Surely has lots of styles tagged to it:
Symphonic rock, soft rock, folk rock, progressive rock, psychedelic rock
 
Also, just a last thing to say, especially since it's not just about him... That whole "sucking in the 80's" doesn't bother me all that much, because many respectable 70's artists have been "sucking in the 80's". McCartney, Clapton, Nazareth, Steeleye Span, Kinks, Rolling Stones, ELO, Dylan (except for Infidels... well, except for Jokerman, that is), Queen, Yes, you could even add Pink Floyd or Alice Cooper to the list...
 
JudasMyGuide said:
Queen
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No way. They had some great stuff in the 80s. Positives totally outweigh the negatives for them in this case.

Madman Across the Water is a good one I discovered just recently. Found the original vinyl at a thrift store a few weeks ago with the book still inside! Good condition too, only song has skipping problems.
 
Mosh said:
No way. They had some great stuff in the 80s. Positives totally outweigh the negatives for them in this case.
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I agree they had some good stuff in the 80's, however as a whole, if you take II, Opera, Races, Jazz and even Attack and compare it with the 80's output (Game, Works, Miracle...) you feel a certain decline there, right?...
 
JudasMyGuide said:
Also, just a last thing to say, especially since it's not just about him... That whole "sucking in the 80's" doesn't bother me all that much, because many respectable 70's artists have been "sucking in the 80's". McCartney, Clapton, Nazareth, Steeleye Span, Kinks, Rolling Stones, ELO, Dylan (except for Infidels... well, except for Jokerman, that is), Queen, Yes, you could even add Pink Floyd or Alice Cooper to the list...
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This is more or less correct. A lot of people (fans of said bands even) are suprised to find out that these bands "survived" after the 70s (and 60s) and actually continued making music well into the 80s and 90s. I remember feeling that way about Elton John. I'd been listening to his 70s stuff forever and then I find out he made like 10 albums in the 80s....
 
SixesAlltheway said:
This is more or less correct. A lot of people (fans of said bands even) are suprised to find out that these bands "survived" after the 70s (and 60s) and actually continued making music well into the 80s and 90s. I remember feeling that way about Elton John. I'd been listening to his 70s stuff forever and then I find out he made like 10 albums in the 80s....
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That's it. But there's also the association that goes with that. I mean, with Elton, many people picture that shlocky, cheesy, synthy balladeer he was in the 80's (even that's not entirely correct, but whatever) or his 90's efforts like the Lion King or the One (or Candle in the Wind '97, but that's a completely different can of worms).

Yet everyone remembers Clapton because of Layla and not August, everyone remembers Dylan because of Blonde / Blood on the Tracks and not Knocked Out Loaded, everyone remembers Nazareth because of Hair of the Dog or the debut and not Fool's Circle etc.

All I'm saying is that it's not fair at all. :D
 
Not sure how any fan of 70s music could not at least respect Elton.
The theatricality, drama, undeniable pop hooks...I doubt there is an artist more representative of his era.
 
Well no, but Candle in The Wind and Lion King were big moments for him. They revitalized his career pretty much both times. No one remembers Fool's Circle...;)
 
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