The Official Needles and Grooves 1001 Album Generator Project (aka Preachin’ about the Preachers if today’s selection sucks)

gafacaode said:
I'm going to have to rephrase that: I still don't care for the saccharine ballads




Damn it, I like this one too, maybe more that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road? It's a leaner album and I dig that.
Tiny Dancer fucking rules


Will check this one out next.

Looks like my aversion to 80/90's Elton made me completely overlook the 70's
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If you enjoyed Madman and GYBR give Honky Château a go next.
 
TenderLovingKiller® said:
His run from Tumbleweed Connection through Captain Fantastic is excellent but that spread of Madman > Honky Château > Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is really special. GYBR is excellent album, my mom was a gigantic Elton John fan and had all his records so I’ve heard all his albums more times than I can count. Madman is a personal favorite but I would say GYBR is his best overall and Honky Château isn’t too far behind either.
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Honky Chateau is my favorite of the full albums I've listened to and, in addition to "Rocket Man", it has my favorite EJ song, "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters".
 
After reading through the discussion here, I find that for Elton John I guess I'm more of a casual listener. For others of the "classic rock" era like Dylan or Neil Young, I can really get into the deep tracks and appreciate the album as a whole. But for Elton John I have a hard time putting on a full album for a playthrough or connecting with it - beyond the emotional impact of the more popular songs.
 
#10 - Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Back on familiar territory (I've heard this album a bunch) and I will reiterate what has been said elsewhere here that between 1970-1975, Elton's run of albums is pretty much untouchable in terms of quality. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, as stated in the allmusic reivew, is designed to be an absolute blockbuster and it is. The run of hits on this album are among the top pop songs of the era (Candle In The Wind, Bennie and the Jets, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting) and there's a lot more under the surface. The 11 minute epic "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding" to start the album is just a ballsy and kickass move for Elton at this point in his career and it works perfectly. Lots of great album tracks and I can find something to enjoy in all of them. An utter classic.

Rating - 5.0/5
 
Yeah that's 70s run of Elton albums is incredible, and I think it's awesome some are just checking them out! I blame 2000s Almost Famous for getting me to listen to his catalog. It featured what became my 2 favorite songs of his in 'Tiny Dancer' and 'Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters.' Neither were on the greatest hits cd I had in high school, so that sent me down his discography.
 
Whiteout75 said:
Growing up in the 80's/90's and mostly listening to metal and punk rock, Elton John was always the epitome of sentimental crap for me, with "Sacrifice" as the crowning pillar of achievement for everything that was wrong about late 80's radio pop. I've come to warm up to him a bit since then, especially his 70s stuff, but still can't say I'm a huge fan. I mean, I understand the talent of his songwriting and this album is objectively "great" (I even have it in my collection), but I'm not really keen on having to listen to "Candle in the wind" ever again. But I'll give it a shot.
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i was exactly the same and i am a little embarrassed to admit but what let me get into his 70s work with fresh ears was the use of tiny dancer in almost famous. That song in that scene really touched me for some reason
 
So I played Little Richard as a "wake-me-up"-record on my work commute early this morning through a snowy Sweden, and man did it it work! It's hard to rate this, as it is untouchable if you talk about the cultural impact and sheer energy of it. A solid 5/5!

But listening to any early rock n roll album is also a bit exhausting as these songs really weren't meant to be heard like this. They were meant to be brief outbursts on your radio, jukebox, on stage or as a single on your turntable. Presented together it quickly becomes repetitive. I mean, "Tutti Frutti", "Ready Teddy", "Long Tall Sally", "Rip it Up" and "Jenny Jenny" are essentially the same song at it's core, with only slight variations in lyrics, phrasing and tempo. I know, this isn't a revelation or anything, as all rock n roll stem from the same 12-bar blues structure, but in this context it feels really obvious and a bit jarring. The stand out tracks for me was "Baby" and "Slippin' and Slidin' (Peepin' and Hidin')", as both were a bit new to me. I mean, I've probably heard them before, just never really listened to them. On "Baby" I first thought he had invited a female guest singer. He sings like a god(ess) on that song, which also kinda enforces his status as a (infamously reluctant) queer icon (or I don't know, I may be overthinking this). "Slippin' and Slidin'" has an otherworldly groove, and it will find a solid place on many of my mixes and playlists from now on.

This is a bit off topic as this song isn't on this record, but I regurarly play Little Richards "Keep a knocking" in my culture history class at the university, just to illustrate the seismic shift of teen culture in the 50s with the birth of rock n' roll. I play it back to back with Lois Jordans jazz version of the same song, and when Richard kicks his version in gear (I probably play it way too loud as well), it's always a blast to see the grin on the faces of the students. I mean, you can feel the sheer force of that song as it lands like a perfect sucker punch to the chin and leaves you punch drunk and knocked out. One student once explained her feelings about the song (and Little Richard as an artist) best: "I mean, this was actually punk rock, but basically before there even was any 'rock' to be 'punk' about".
 
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Jan said:
i was exactly the same and i am a little embarrassed to admit but what let me get into his 70s work with fresh ears was the use of tiny dancer in almost famous. That song in that scene really touched me for some reason
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That scene probably touched everybody who saw it! Me too, and it was probably my entry point into 70s Elton as well (or it could have been when Ryan Adams played Rocket Man on stage with Elton around that same time, which is probably even more embarrassing to admit now, though....)
 
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