Songs from the West Coast

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The appearance of “Rocket Man”-era cohorts Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone as backing vocalists touches this CD with one of the trademark sounds of Elton John’s 1969-75 LPs. John has acknowledged those records–his most typically singer-songwriterish–occasionally, if mostly to revisit audience favorites in concert (1987’s Live in Australia, a late-’90s VH1 show). But on Songs from the West Coast, his admiration of Ryan Adams and Rufus Wainwright (a guest here) inspires him to recall the stripped-down, lyric-driven sensibility of his early days. The tone of the words Bernie Taupin feeds this notorious diva is elegiac, rooted in a wearier version of the romanticism that fueled oldies as diverse as “Your Song,” “Love Lies Bleeding,” and “Burn Down the Mission.” West Coast sidesteps bombast with a couple of exceptions; only “The Wasteland,” with its invocation of Robert Johnson, is enough to provoke a dismayed “oy.” The standout track is “I Want Love,” a Lennonesque rumination that’s their most impressive writing, separately or together, in more than a decade. –Rickey Wright

Product description

Elton John – Songs From the West Coast – CD

Review

“….John can still sleep with the past and make it sound fresh and vital.” — Maimi Herald, September 28, 2001, 4 STARS

“….the album they’ve been waiting for since the glory days of the early ’70s.” — Chicago Sun-Times, September 30, 2001, 4 STARS

“…its spirit and ambition have finally come back home.” — Rollingstone, October 11, 2001, 4 STARS

“…welcome slice of vintage Elton… work akin to early `70s favorites such as Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across the Water” — Oakland Press, September 30, 2001, 3 1/2 STARS

“Elton John is back to what he does best.” — Atlanta Journal & Constitution, October 2, 2001