Elton John: Made In England - 1995

Apart from the title track, all the songs have single word titles - maybe Bernie Taupin was trying to "get back to basics". 

Either way, this is a little mentioned, maybe somewhat underrated album. Often this album is grouped in with Leather Jackets and The Big Picture as a poor quality Elton John album. That does it a disservice. It is nowhere near that bad. It should have garnered the clichéd 'return to form" headlines, but for some reason, it didn't, which is a shame. 

Believe
Made In England
House
Cold
Pain
Belfast
Latitude
Please
Man
Lies
Blessed 

The first track, Believe, is very John Lennon-esque in its sound and lyrical content. Made in England is an absolute Elton rock classic - upbeat, riffy and catchy. One of the great forgotten Elton John classics. For me, it is almost up there with Saturday Night's Alright and The Bitch Is Back. House has a beautiful string production (legendary string producer Paul Buckmaster, from the Elton John album, is back for this album). It has a lovely, full bass line too. 

There are some hidden gems on this album, which merit it more than one listen. Considering some of the over-synthesised dross that Elton put out in both the eighties and nineties, there is a stark mournfulness to this album that renders it worthy of more respect than some of the others. Plaintive ballads abound, and the excellent Cold is another of them. Elton's piano is far more prominent on here than it certainly had been on many others before and after this one. 

Pain has a Stonesy introductory riff and is a lively, catchy rocker. It is good to hear Elton properly rocking again, with a proper rock backing. This would not have sounded out of place on Caribou or Rock Of The Westies. Elton is on great vocal form. It is like turning the clock back twenty years. A breath of fresh air.   

Belfast begins with some classic strings sweeping all around before it turns into a tender piano ballad after nearly two minutes. This certainly would have suited the Elton John album. Latitude has a folky guitar backing, some jaunty brass and a shuffling, appealing rhythm. This is another one that harks back to the early seventies in its feel. Please also has that certain something too, complete with a slight Searchers-style guitar twang in its riff (or maybe it is Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers). There really is some undiscovered good material on here. It is a much better listen than the somewhat sterile The Big Picture from 1997. 

Man has an Atlantic-style soul beat and an organ straight out of When A Man Loves A Woman in places. It mixes these influences with classic Elton balladry to give us one of the best tracks on the album. It builds up to a big gospelly ending. Great stuff. The excellent Lies has a grandiose, Pinball Wizard (Elton's version)-style rolling piano intro and morphs in to another seventies beat mid-paced rocker. Check out Elton's piano near the end too. Blessed is an atmospheric ballad, with a lovely string melody underpinning it, a great vocal and a sumptuous bass line. 

Give this album a listen, you will not be disappointed, if you like seventies Elton.

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