Album Review: Elton John’s “Wonderful Crazy Night”
As we’ve seen several of our music idols leave this world, it’s refreshing to have one who is still out there creating music to enhance our lives and ears. Elton John has teamed up again with producer T Bone Burnett to create an album that shows he still loves what he does. With lyricist Bernie Taupin, Elton John’s “Wonderful Crazy Night,” his 32nd album, has a sound that can take us into a new realm of love songs and also bring us back to our younger years with a rock style that speaks of the ‘70s and ‘80s.
It has been three years since John released his last album. “The Diving Board,” which was also produced by T Bone Burnett, had no Top 10 chart toppings but still managed to reach No. 4 on the Billboard Top 200. “Home Again” was the most popular song off that album, yet it only peaked at No. 14 on the charts, which is a rather disappointing show for John. With this new addition to his album history, I’m hoping that at least one song can hit the airwaves and reach a Top 10 spot.
“Wonderful Crazy Night” features 12 new songs that, for the most part, are more ballad than beat. John has put more of a personal touch into these new works, and he doesn’t try to please anyone but himself with the finished product. There is a feeling of fun in several of the songs, and there is a lot of heart in the whole product. You can’t help but feel emotion in words like, “Take a chance, and take your time / Reading my face between the lines” in “A Good Heart” and “I lose myself in you” in “Blue Wonderful” (which also features a solo by Burnett). His voice has that soulful quality that is soothing to the ears and gives some of that pleading you like to hear when your heartstrings are being tugged.
The title track, “Wonderful Crazy Night,” automatically makes you want to jump up and dance with the rocker style that we’ve come to expect from an Elton John hit, and “Looking Up” has more of a jazz/boogie woogie piano sound that instantly gets you moving. It makes me wish he had more of these type songs on this album.
“Claw Hammer” and “Tambourine” are my least favorite songs on this album. I don’t care for the lyrics on these two songs. They have a good melody that you can listen to while driving around or play while relaxing at home, but I just can’t get into words like, “You’re an ontological soul / Cold hard truth, only proof” and “I come out clean / Like a Baptist banging on a tambourine.”
If you prefer ballads, then this album may become a favorite of yours. The songs are sweet and smooth, and of course John’s voice is as good as ever, but I was hoping there would be more upbeat songs to enjoy. Maybe I’m asking too much of an icon who has been on the record charts since 1969 and has already seen several peers in his age group pass on. Overall, Elton John delivers and shows us he is still willing to share his soul.
