plorentz's Full Review: Peachtree Road by Elton John
I was too young to experience the most glorious days of Elton Johns recording career firsthand. But, long before I knew who he was, or what he looked like, I knew all the words to Philadelphia Freedom and Your Song. I remember singing the chorus of Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny), and making up all my own oh-so-dramatic fade-out ad-libs while bumming around the fire station where my dad was a volunteer fireman. I remember hiding out in the walk-in dairy refrigerator in the stock room of the grocery store where I had my first job, attempting to shirk my grocery-bagging duties in order to really listen to Someone Saved My Life Tonight playing on the Muzak.
I always found myself getting lost in his songs. The romantic melodies, the sharp storytelling in the lyrics, and of course, the way he sang them all. More than any of the other, prettier artists out there, Elton John was a singer I always wanted to be.
And despite the tabloid dramas, despite the Eminem duets and the Madonna feuds, the prima donna, drama queen reputation and canceled concert appearances, despite the Las Vegas show, despite Can You Feel the Love Tonight, and the obligatory South Park skewering, Elton John can still sing a song in a way that makes me forget where I am at the moment I hear it. I remember seeing the video of I Want Love, from his 2001 album Songs from the West Coast, featuring a battleworn Robert Downey Jr. lip-syncing to one of Eltons rawest vocal performances - words so declarative, so full of yearning and self-condemnation, they were almost painful to hear: A man like me is dead in places other men feel liberated, he sang, and the sheer brutal observation in that line still feels like a stab wound when I hear it.
When I found out about the impending release of Elton Johns newest record Peachtree Road, I dug out that last CD and listened to I Want Love for the first time in at least a year. And I listened to it again. And then I listened to it again. And I put in the car to listen to on my way to the grocery store, and when I got the store, I sat in my car until it was over, singing along with it, singing to myself in my rear view mirror, watching my face transform into that of the man singing, and by the time I got home, I had the voice of a guy a quarter century older than myself.
Its easy to laugh at Elton John, but when he really nails a song; at that very moment when he achieves that perfect combination of melody, verse and theatre, there is truly no voice on Earth more powerful than his. And even on his worst albums, he always manages to hit that spot at least once or twice. But, despite the increasing punchline-worthiness of his extramusical life, hes been riding an under-the-radar artistic renaissance on his last few albums, each of which since 1995s Made In England - has improved upon the last.
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His latest record continues that trend, once again finding the singer returning to the soulful, southern-fried styles of early classics like Tumbleweed Connection and Honky Chateau. Like those records, Peachtree Road is a deliberately American (and in this case, specifically Southern American) sounding record. This is not a country album, but there is country music here. This is not a Memphis soul record, but there are hints of Memphis throughout.
This is a record that finds Elton breathing new life into all the old Elton John song archetypes from the Bitch Is Back-style rocker (see They Call Her The Cat), to the Border Song gospel ballad (see Porch Swing in Tupelo), to Country Comfort twang (see Turn the Lights Out When You Leave), to the heart-on-sleeve Dont Let the Sun Go Down on Me showstopper (see I Cant Keep This From You) and, of course, the made-for-charity-benefit inspirational number (see just about everything else).
But most of all, this is an album about living on the sunny side its about contentment and hope and finding true love in the strangest of places. Where Songs from the West Coast was one of Eltons darkest, most internal, and most intimate records ever, Peachtree Road is easily his most optimistic, his most broadly outward-looking, his least sarcastic and cynical. And I think its telling, for an artist whose work has always been so inseparable from his image, that theres not a single picture of the man in this package at all. Instead, we have rustic pictures of rural roads, a saddle hanging over a rusted wire fence, railroad crossings.
This is a values record. Named after a road in Atlanta. With lots of hot (gay) pink in the booklet.
And if the faith-based lyrics and Disney-ready melody of lead single Answer In The Sky feels a little Republican National Convention-ish, its easy warmth ultimately rings true and even a little (errm trying not to gag here) inspirational.
Elsewhere, Elton takes a look around and decides that the ugly sentiments of I Want Love be damned, hes got a heck of a lot to be happy about. In Weight of the World, he ponders the blessing that is middle-aged rock-stardom while mundanely shooing away flies in his kitchen. In All That Im Allowed, the albums most immediate song, he is emphatic and effusive in his gratitude (and Im thankful Thankful Im thankful So thankful Im thankful ) to the Great Whatever for all hes got. Its almost damned un-American in its frightening lack of commercial yearning, and it is positively subversive in setting that message to one of his most commercially appealing tunes.
And songs like the delightfully happy-to-see-you-go twangfest Turn the Lights Out When You Leave, and the I-cant-see-me-lovin-nobody-but-you sweetness of high-school-prom slowdance Freaks In Love (Me and you- were damaged goods) prove that tabloid headlines notwithstanding - the old queen hasnt lost her sense of humor yet.
But maybe the best thing about Peachtree Road is its uncharacteristic lack of filler. Aside from the torchy, too-heavy-on-the-molasses My Elusive Drug, theres nothing here that really begs to be skipped. In fact, there are an inordinate number of songs here that beg to be repeated. And thats something that none of even the best of Eltons most recent albums can boast. On Peachtree Road, Elton finally re-claims in a big way that elusive balance between honest, organic songwriting and an easy-on-the-ears adult contemporary sound. Its sweet, but not sugary, and commercial, but not bland. Its uncommonly happy, but its a deeply felt happiness that informs this music. In short, its the best thing hes released in twenty years, and it wants to be in your CD collection right now.
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BECAUSE YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Peachtree Road by Elton John
Rocket / Universal Records
Released 11/9/04
Produced by Elton John (for the first time, ever!)
52 min.
SONGS: Weight of the World Porch Swing in Tupelo Answer in the Sky Turn the Lights Out When You Leave My Elusive Drug They Call Her the Cat Freaks in Love All That Im Allowed I Stop and I Breathe Too Many Tears Its Getting Dark in Here I Cant Keep This From You
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