We move on to Elton’s second double album, BLUE MOVES. Unlike GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD, which is considered an undeniable classic, BLUE MOVES has much more mixed opinions. Some consider it one of the greatest albums he’s ever made, including Elton himself. Some consider it repetitive and overly moody; the album was made at a bad time in Elton and Bernie’s personal lives, with Elton struggling with overwork and Bernie dealing with his failing first marriage, and that’s reflected in a lot of the songs here. And then, of course, there are those who think this should have been cut down to a single album.
I used to be in this last category, but upon repeated listens, I’ve been finding it kind of has a WHITE ALBUM quality to it, where, though there are definitely some songs I’d have no problem cutting, there actually are more good songs than I used to give it credit for. I’ve never disliked the album; in fact, it actually contains a song that I consider to be one of the greatest songs Elton has ever recorded. But there is something about the sequencing, especially the second half, that does make the “blue” atmosphere a bit too much to handle, even though individually a lot of these songs are good.
It starts with “Your Starter For”, an instrumental written not by Elton, but by Caleb Quaye. Although additional writing credits had started appearing on ROCK OF THE WESTIES, it becomes more common here, with Caleb, Davey and James Newton Howard all receiving co-writing credits on multiple songs. It’s a cool song; the riff is catchy and the musicianship around it is strong, with some cool synth work and marimba playing supporting Caleb’s main guitar riff. Oddly enough, Elton is credited for playing piano here, but he’s either so far back in the mix that I can’t hear him or he’s not on it at all; the album also credits Elton and Bernie for writing the other two instrumentals, so they’re not exactly that accurate.
“Your Starter For” transitions into “Tonight”, the first of many sad ballads. This has a really awesome orchestral intro written by James Newton Howard and probably the most classical influenced piece on an Elton album since...well, ELTON JOHN. But unlike something like “Sixty Years On”, there feels like there’s a proper balance and interplay between the orchestra and Elton’s piano. The actual song itself is great too, keeping the focus on Elton, who’s in great vocal form throughout.
The next track is “One Horse Town”, which I consider to be one of the greatest tracks Elton has ever recorded. The moment I heard it, I just fell in love with it. It starts with a Newton Howard-influenced prelude, this time him playing keyboards, and I believe this is also the source for his co-writing credit on the song. Slowly some strings join the mix before...boom! The rest of the band hits you with this epic, guitar-heavy introduction that continues building and building. It’s supported by what I consider Paul Buckmaster’s best arrangement on an Elton song. It’s funny, writing about “Tonight” and the ELTON JOHN connection made me realize just how different Buckmaster’s style was by this time. Buckmaster gives this already epic song some appropriately epic orchestrations. I love the way they play off of the guitar during the solo and how they match it between verses. Elton’s voice is fantastic, the guitar solo is great, and there’s an amazing, “Wednesday Night”-style bridge section that features a really cool combination of synths, guitars and vocal harmonies; “they’ll pick all night” is one of my favorite Elton vocals. It’s such an awesome song, very much in the same epic way as “Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”.
We return to ballad territory with “Chameleon”, which is actually an older song that Elton intended for The Beach Boys to record, but they apparently rejected it. Beach Boy Bruce Johnston, who had also arranged the backing vocals for “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”, also came in to arrange the backing vocals for this one, and you can kind of hear a Beach Boys-influence here. Even Elton’s higher register vocals sound kind of unique here compared to most tracks. Not much to say here otherwise; it’s a good song with unique vocals that moves at a good pace.
What doesn’t move at such a good pace is the next song: “Boogie Pilgrim”. I don’t like this song. With a name like that you’d think it would be this upbeat, dance song, but there’s nothing remotely danceable about it. It’s this ridiculously slow number that goes on way too long. I don’t like the horn arrangement, the chorus is repetitive...nothing about this track works for me, it just feels way too much like it’s chasing trends that it can’t catch.
“Cage the Songbird” is definitely an improvement over “Boogie Pilgrim”, but feels a bit underwhelming. Co-written with Davey Johnstone, this actually originated during the ROCK OF THE WESTIES sessions; in fact, it was actually written during the same writing session as “Grow Some Funk of Your Own”. It’s a quiet acoustic number, a type of number I usually tend to really like. It’s fine, but for some reason it just doesn’t impress me as much as I feel it should; it might be the length, as this song is surprisingly short. I suppose it’s kind of like “Goodbye” in a way, in that it ends just when it feels like it’s really getting started. Again, I want to stress that I don’t dislike it, I do like the instrumentation here...it just doesn’t grab my attention the way I feel it should.
“Crazy Water” is another song I feel sounds too much like it’s trying to chase trends, although unlike “Boogie Pilgrim”, I don’t necessarily dislike it. It sounds a bit like “Writing” mixed with “Hard Luck Story”, but if they were way overproduced and with a backing vocal arrangement that’s not really that good. A lot of people really like this one and it’s shown up from time to time at concerts as a result, but...I don’t know, it just doesn’t scream “classic” to me.
The last song of side 2, thankfully, is a huge improvement. “Shoulder Holster” is interesting because it actually doesn’t have (non-bass) guitars on it at all. Instead, the rhythm is driven by Elton, Roger, Kenny, and the Brecker Brothers on horns. And unlike “Boogie Pilgrim”, the horn riff here is actually really fun and catchy. The harmonies are especially great here, too. I absolutely love the ending fadeout with Elton singing “you can never tell if the law’s about” in multiple different pitches. Such a fun song and easily the best song on side 2.
Side 3 opens with probably the most well-known song from the album, “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”. “Sorry” is a unique song in the Elton catalogue, as it’s a rare case of Elton writing the melody before the lyrics with Bernie; in fact, some sources state that most of the lyrics are Elton’s, which I can believe. That’s not meant to be derogatory in any way; the lyrics kind of have a simplistic quality to them that feels fitting for the theme. The vibraphone and accordion add to the atmosphere and James Newton Howard even throws in another nice string arrangement. A solid song overall, though considering its light tone and sad theme, it’s kind of surprising that it became a hit. At least “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” built up to something hopeful in the end; this is just consistently sad until the end, which isn’t a criticism. I just find it shocking that it became as big of a hit as it did.
Next is the album’s second and longest instrumental, “Out of the Blue”. This jazzy instrumental really shows off the great musicianship that this incarnation of the Elton John Band had. Lots of great interplay here between the guitars, drums, bass and Ray’s vibraphone. And, unlike “Your Starter For”, Elton is clearly playing piano on this track, as evidenced by the second half of the song which puts him more in the spotlight until that amazing pause where the vibraphone takes center stage. Really awesome song, definitely worth checking out.
We return to the sad tone with the next track, “Between Seventeen and Twenty”, which is a collaboration between Elton, Bernie, Davey and Caleb. This is also probably the most direct reference to Bernie’s marriage on the album. The title refers to the ages his wife and him were when they met and laments what went wrong in their marriage. This is one I used to not like mostly due to the repetitive sequencing it starts, but it has actually grown on me, mostly due to Elton’s voice, the backing vocals and James’s organ playing. Much like “Chameleon”, there’s just something about the higher register vocals here that are really unique and memorable. Bruce Johnston also directed the backing vocals here, so I have to wonder if he may have had some influence on Elton’s performance here as well.
That’s followed by “The Wide Eyed and the Laughing”, the only collaboration credited to Elton, Bernie, Caleb, Davey and James Newton Howard. There was one point where I considered this the worst song Elton had ever recorded. Looking back, I think there are a few that are worse, and this one does get points for ambition...but I still think it’s a terrible song. It’s a sitar-heavy song. Sitar-heavy songs are usually good at creating worldly effects and, to be fair, I feel like that’s what they were trying to go for here. But the sitar and Elton’s vocals just sound so out of tune with each other that it’s hard to listen to, and making it even worse are these awful synthesizer sounds from James which have the same, awkward flying saucer effect as in “First Episode at Hienton”. It almost sounds like they’re completely separate songs that were mashed up together in a bad way. The only tolerable parts are the few moments where it’s just the sitar playing.
Next up is “Someone’s Final Song”, a good song that, like “Between Seventeen and Twenty”, suffers from bad sequencing, being another sad ballad in a long line of sad ballads. This is a piano-focused song that once again has some of the most unique, high pitched vocals Elton has ever done...so it should come as no surprise that, once again, Bruce Johnston was involved. I especially love the backing vocal part that’s brought to center stage in the middle. It kind of has a later Beatles-like quality, giving me “Because” vibes specifically.
If you guys are wondering why “Where’s the Shoorah?” has so many views on streaming compared to most of the other tracks, here’s the reason: this song was sampled in the recent hit, “Cold Heart”. And to this day, I still have no idea what made them choose it because I actually really dislike this song. This song is BORING! It’s so slow, the chorus sings “Shoorah” in such an awkward way, I don’t like the depressing way the harmonium sounds on it...I just can’t find anything to like about it. I’m not even sure what a “Shoorah” is. I’ve tried looking it up and have found multiple answers. Apparently it has some sort of religious meaning. It still doesn’t make it a good song, but I will at least give Bernie credit for trying to tell something with such a deep meaning...it’s just not arranged well.
The monotonous sequencing finally ends with the next track, “If There’s a God in Heaven (What’s He Waiting a For?)”. Despite what the title may have you believing, this one’s actually fairly uptempo and contains much more instrumentation than the tracks immediately preceding it. It’s a welcome change of pace; the guitar has kind of a summer, beach vibe during the solo. My favorite part of it, though, is Buckmaster’s string orchestrations. I love the way they’re arranged. They’re performed in an epic way similar to “One Horse Town”, especially the sections after each chorus. They sound so cool and I also think it’s among Buckmaster’s best work with Elton, despite the fact that it’s actually quite light compared to most of his arrangements.
Next is “Idol”, another rare Elton-Bernie collaboration where the music came first. This is another jazz-influenced track, this time featuring Elton, Roger and Kenny as a trio with some support from the Brecker Brothers. It’s a type of song you would hear a lounge singer perform; I could totally imagine Frank Sinatra singing this song. This is another one that’s grown on me over the years.
“Theme From a Non-Existent TV Series” is the third and last instrumental on the album. The title is weird because it doesn’t sound anything like a TV theme; “Your Starter For” sounds more like a TV theme, and “Out of the Blue” actually was the closing theme for the British car show TOP GEAR for many years. It’s still a cool song, though. Very futuristic with its focus on synthesizers. It’s quick and fun, a nice way to lighten the mood.
And it all ends with “Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance!)”, an upbeat song that actually lacks a sad theme. I really like this song; unlike “Boogie Pilgrim”, this feels like a legitimate dance song with a hard rock edge to it. Some fans have criticized the second half where the choir keeps singing “Bite Your Lip” over and over again, but it actually works for me. I’ve been critical of songs in the past like “My Father’s Gun” and “All the Nasties” for doing stuff like this, but “Bite Your Lip” is a very dynamic song that keeps the energy moving at a good pace. The band is jamming out and having fun, and I find that I have fun listening to it. I love listening to Elton’s piano during the jam; it’s so full of life and makes for a nice contrast to all of the piano-focused slower songs that obviously couldn’t have that. Also, it builds up to an amazing ending where Roger just pounds away around the drum kit and leaves things with a bang. I love it; I think it’s a great closer.
BLUE MOVES marked the end of Elton’s reign at the top of the charts. Here in the U.S., it stalled at...gasp! Number 3! A great chart position, obviously, but not compared to the impossibly high standard Elton had set by this point. It’s not like I can’t entirely see why it stalled like this; it’s not really a commercial album and the sad theme can be kind of overwhelming, especially in the second half. Much like THE WHITE ALBUM, there are three tracks on here that I’d prefer to not hear again, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that there are still some really good tracks on here, both downbeat and upbeat. And you have to give him credit for doing something so brave and experimental at a point where that was very risky. So, yeah, it has problems, but the good stuff really is worth checking out and definitely among his classic tracks.
Alright, two more tracks to discuss from this period: the single-only “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart”/“Snow Queen”. The A-side...I don’t even have to really introduce it. Everybody knows this duet. The other singer, Kiki Dee, is someone who has popped up on occasion in the Elton story; she was one of the early acts signed to Elton’s label, Rocket Records, and appeared on some of his albums like GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD and ROCK OF THE WESTIES as a backing vocalist. She had one big hit by herself here in the U.S., “I’ve Got the Music in Me”, which is actually a really good song that I highly recommend checking out. “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart” is a homage to the classic Motown duet acts like Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. Yeah, it’s silly, but I love it. It’s as catchy as you can get, and Kiki really did have a great voice too. The B-side, “Snow Queen”, also features Kiki and is more in line with the songs featured on BLUE MOVES. Elton experiments more with his lower range on this one, a hint at what was soon to come. Again, they sing well together on it and it certainly could have replaced one of the weaker BLUE MOVES tracks like “The Wide Eyed and Laughing”. It’s not a great song, though; it does feel like it overstays its welcome a bit near the end, but for what it is, it works fine.
And that concludes the classic 1970-1976 Elton John period. I’m up for continuing past this, as there are a lot of tracks I think are underrated and would enjoy sharing, so let me know if you guys are still up for it.
