mon 09/12/2024

CD: Elton John - Wonderful Crazy Night | reviews, news & interviews

CD: Elton John - Wonderful Crazy Night

CD: Elton John - Wonderful Crazy Night

Elton’s crazy night feels more like a quiet evening in

Elton John: not so crazy these days

A lot of water has gone under the bridge since Elton John famously jumped onstage at a 1973 Stooges gig in Atlanta dressed as a gorilla and almost gave the drug-addled Iggy Pop a heart attack. While the Godfather of Punk is still playing the wildman when he hits the stage, it’s fair to say that the ennobled Elton has slowed down somewhat.

Elton John has, of course, long embraced sobriety, family life and Disney soundtrack appearances and anyone hoping for a David Bowie-like radical reinvention of his easy-on-the ear shtick is going to be disappointed. Wonderful Crazy Night is Elton’s 32nd album and it doesn’t rock any boats. It’s largely middle-of-the-road fare that treats modern Disney-type tunes with a hefty wash of soft country rock, guided by the production of T-Bone Burnett. This will no doubt please large amounts of his longterm fans but it really doesn’t have much to recommend it to new ears.

“Looking Up” with its “Spirit in the Sky”-like opening and honky tonk interludes suggests that Elton and his song-writing partner Bernie Taupin might still have something interesting to bring to the table and “In the Name of You” also injects a bit of spirit, despite some seriously banal lyrics. Apart from these highlights though, we are treated to the nursery rhyme country music of “Tambourine”, the soppy balladry of “A Good Heart” and a title track that suggests that really wonderful crazy nights have not been on the cards for Elton for a good while. The album then closes with “The Open Chord” which seems to borrow heavily from both the strings of Enya’s “Orinoco Flow” and the melody of “Safety Dance” by 80s one-hit wonders Men Without Hats. Instead of the promised wild night out, this album is more of a quiet evening in.

'Wonderful Crazy Night' is Elton’s 32nd album and it doesn’t rock any boats

rating

Editor Rating: 
2
Average: 2 (1 vote)

Explore topics

Share this article

Comments

"Quite" evening in lol. Might help if you could spell.

And it's the 33rd album.

Add comment

The future of Arts Journalism

 

You can stop theartsdesk.com closing!

We urgently need financing to survive. Our fundraising drive has thus far raised £33,000 but we need to reach £100,000 or we will be forced to close. Please contribute here: https://gofund.me/c3f6033d

And if you can forward this information to anyone who might assist, we’d be grateful.

Subscribe to theartsdesk.com

Thank you for continuing to read our work on theartsdesk.com. For unlimited access to every article in its entirety, including our archive of more than 15,000 pieces, we're asking for £5 per month or £40 per year. We feel it's a very good deal, and hope you do too.

To take a subscription now simply click here.

And if you're looking for that extra gift for a friend or family member, why not treat them to a theartsdesk.com gift subscription?

newsletter

Get a weekly digest of our critical highlights in your inbox each Thursday!

Simply enter your email address in the box below

View previous newsletters