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Elton John - Breaking Hearts (1984)
Breaking
Hearts appare come il logico proseguimento del precedente Too Low For
Zero, che aveva riscosso un buon successo sia di critica che di
pubblico. Il risultato č buono anche se non a livello
dell'album dell'anno prima, ma riesce persino ad arrivare al n° 2
delle classifiche inglesi.
1) Restless
2)
Slow
Down Georgie (She's Poison)
3)
Who
Wears These Shoes
4)
Breaking
Hearts (Ain't What It Used To Be)
5)
Li'l
'Frigerator
6)
Passengers
7)
In
Neon
8)
Burning
Buildings
9)
Did
He Shoot Her
10)
Sad
Songs (Say So Much)
classifiche
Stati Uniti:
20° posto
Inghilterra:
2° posto
Italia:
-- posto
da
Stereoplay n° 131 - aprile
1985
Greetings,
fellow Rowers... can't believe it's been four albums already, but this
review brings us to the end of the remaster reviews... at least until
more
arrive. I'm sure we'll all be chiming in on the re-release (yet again)
of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" during the fall, but for now this will
have
to do! So, without further delay, you've waited long enough for it and
after apologizing for the delay I'll get right to "Breaking Hearts". By
the time he got around to recording "Breaking Hearts", Elton John had
firmly
re-established himself as a force in the music business and on the
record
charts. His singles were performing well overall, with several top-40
and
top-10 hits in numerous record charts around the globe and particularly
in the US and the UK. His record sales were strong... beginning with
"The
Fox" and "Jump Up!" and accelerating further with the world-wide smash
"Too Low For Zero", gold and platinum awards were once again becoming
commonplace
for Elton's albums. Elton and the band's concerts were selling out
around
the world and he had successfully made the transition from radio star
to
video star with a couple of strong music videos, not the least of which
was the lavish, colorful and campy tour de force "I'm Still Standing".
Taking a short break from touring, Elton and company owed Geffen a
followup
to the best-selling "Too Low For Zero" and decided that since the
formula
of John-Taupin compostions + Dee/Davey/Nigel + Chris Thomas = hit
records
worked so well on the last album, they would use it once again.
recorded
principally at Air Monserrat and released in the summer of 1984,
"Breaking
Hearts" was the kick-start to a very busy time for Elton John. Coming
off
a fairly extensive world-wide trek for "Jump Up!" and "Too Low For
Zero",
the band was taking a rest before what looked to be one of their
biggest
tours to that point. But before the concerts would come the recording.
Based on the speed and precision that "Breaking Hearts" was assembled,
it seems the album came together easily. Elton and Bernie were
generating
songs as they once did back in the seventies, the remote island studio
gave everyone a chance to unwind while they recorded and the renewed
energy
was captured in what would prove to be some very spirited recordings.
"Breaking
Hearts" took the consolidation of personnel that had begun on "Jump
Up!"
and continued on "Too Low For Zero" even further, with all tracks
written
by Elton and Bernie except "Passengers", which in addition to Elton and
Bernie also had contributions by Davey Johnstone and Phineas McHize, of
whom little is know... perhaps a nom de plume as suggested by John
Tobler
in his liner notes, or perhaps a writer who composed a part of the song
on which the final track was based. Also, only Elton and the band
appear
on all tracks, except for one lone guest appearance by Australian
session
sax player Andrew Thompson, who blew a scorching alto lead on "Lil
Refrigerator".
The only other major change was in the engineers. Bill Price stayed
home
on this one and Chris Thomas instead chose to work with Renate Blauel,
a German-born engineer, who assisted on "Two Low For Zero". As history
will note, Elton began a relationship with Renate during the sessions
for
"Too Low..." and the two were married on Valentine's Day of the
following
year. "Breaking Hearts" is an interesting album, and though not
necessarily
a fan favorite, it's still a very good album and historically important
to the Elton John timeline. For one thing, it performed well with the
album
scoring a very respectable Top 20 finish in the US and stunning #2
position
in the UK, not to mention the FIVE singles that came from the record.
It
also marks Elton's formal "debut" on keyboards other than piano,
harmonium,
mellotron and harpsichord - that being the new staple of pop music
bands
during the 80's known as "the synthesizer". Indeed, electronic
keyboards
and the advent of MIDI technology really took off during the
mid-eighties,
with Kurzweil, Synclavier, Roland and Yamaha all competing for
customers
in various price ranges. Perhaps the best known keyboard of this time
has
to be the Yamaha DX-7, which was (and still is) widely used by any
number
of touring bands. The synthesizer had appeared on Elton records before,
with early versions of the Arp synth appearing on the "Elton John"
album
as early as 1970, but Elton himself hadn't really played them all that
much, if at all, over the years, preferring to assign those chores to
other
players, such as Ken Scott, Dave Hentschel or James Newton
Howard.
"Breaking Hearts" finds less of Elton on piano on most of the tracks,
though
his keyboard parts are all over the album in one form or another.
Yamaha
is credited as supplying the synthesizers for "Breaking Hearts". For
this
remaster, once again the pattern is generally the same, though I must
say
that the packaging for "Breaking Hearts" is possibly the most
consistent
of the five discs, with original artwork reproduced faithfully,
including
additional photographs all from the "Breaking Hearts" period. While
there
is no Elton signature, single sleeve artwork is once again included as
are complete lyrics and credits, and shots of Bernie and the band
members,
who were left off the US issue of the original CD release. Gary Moore's
mastering is impressive again here. The original masters of "Breaking
Hearts",
at least the ones used for the first CD transfers, were very noisy and
lacked not only dynamic range but clarity. While this version doesn't
improve
the dynamics dramatically, this is more than acceptable in light of how
much noise has been removed and clarity had been improved. I would have
been happy with a less noisy master, but it's amazing the things you
can
now hear and better appreciate with Moore's sonic refinements.
Musically,
"Breaking Hearts" could very well be the album that "Caribou" aspires
to.
We all think of "Caribou" fondly through the perspective of time and
distance,
but when one places it in context between "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road"
and
"Captain Fantastic", it's actually a musical mess. Gus Dudgeon's
post-production
work salvaged the record and pulled together the tracks in a sequence
that
works, but it's a terribly unfocused piece of work when you consider it
in detail. "Breaking Hearts", while not a masterpiece by any stretch,
had
the disadvantage of coming after "Too Low For Zero", but made the most
of its limitations and couple with Chris Thomas' production actually is
a fairly focused and cohesive collection of tunes. There are the
obvious
rockers, "Restless" and "Lil Refrigerator" which while not on the par
of
say "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" are improvements on even
something
like "Whipping Boy". There
are also the the obvious singles in "Who Wears These Shoes" and "Sad
Songs
Say So Much", both of whom are catchy, danceable and in the case of
"Sad
Songs..." instantly memorable. One of my favorites on the disc is "Did
He Shoot Her?", a psedo dance track that features a growling Davey
guitar
solo and intermixed with his sitar layered against Elton's keyboards.
There
are of course the obvious ballads in "In Neon" and "Breaking Hearts".
Bernie
made his directorial debut on the video for "In Neon" and it's
certainly
my hope he does more directing, as this piece of film was quite good
and
tells the song's story in pictures very well. That point
notwithstanding,
these two tracks are every bit as good as any John-Taupin ballad and
illustrate
why Elton and Bernie are among the very best at the genre. These two
tracks
also let Elton step out from behind the sythesizer and lay down some
real
piano, which reminds us quickly that he's not left behind his true
instrument
and certainly that he's not forgotten how to play it! There are the
"filler"
tracks, like "Burning Bridges" and "Slow Down Georgie", which are
really
deserving of a better title as they stand up very well for themselves
and
help chain the rest of the songs together... far above the level of
most
filler on most albums by lesser artists. And few Elton albums would be
complete without one or two excursions off the beaten path in a track
such
as "Passengers", an ecclectic little number about apartheid and
segregation
in Africa and Australia that percolates along nicely to Nigel's drums
and
Davey's myriad of acoustic guitars and Elton's melodic and recurring
keyboard
riff. Special mention should be made of Dee and Nigel, who can both be
heard prominently across the entire record and prove again how
brilliant
they played together. Regrettably, in another sadder milestone,
"Breaking
Hearts" marks the last time on record that they would supply rhythm
section
along side Elton and Davey. Thankfully, the "choir of three" reunited
once
again to supply vocals on "Reg Strikes Back", but personally I know we
all wished there had been more albums with Dee on bass and Nigel on
drums.
Nigel has recently returned to work with Elton, but sadly Dee lost his
battle with cancer in 1991 and a full-scale reunion is out of the
question.
After "Breaking Hearts", Elton's personal life was in turmoil and his
recording
and tourning tended to mirror that in many ways. Elton once again
changed
the band and would go through a few different lineups. In many ways,
"Breaking
Hearts" marks the end of an era. It isn't a stellar work, but it is a
solid
album and if you're looking for a single body of work that truly
bottles
the essence of what Elton and Bernie are capable of in a pure pop
setting,
you need look no further than this collection of fine songs performed
by
one of the best all around bands rock music ever produced.
Andy
Geisel - 22nd Row 2003
|
da All Music Guide
Building off of the success of his previous long player Too Low For Zero (1983), Elton John
(piano/vocals) retained his 'classic quartet' for the follow-up
Breaking Hearts (1984). After an eight year ('75 -- '83) hiatus Dee Murray (bass/backing vocals), Davey Johnstone (guitar/backing vocals) and Nigel Olsson (drums/backing vocals) briefly reunited with John and Bernie Taupin (lyrics) to attempt a musical resurrection of their early-to-mid '70s sound. Without question this is one of John's
most consistent efforts during his half decade on Geffen Records ('81
-- '86). However the shift in pop music styles since 1975 as well as
lack of edgy material, seemed to stifle the band's return to full form
circa Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (GYBR) (1973) or Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
(1975). Breaking Hearts was not light on hits either, yielding "Who
Wears These Shoes" as well as the Top 5 smash "Sad Songs (Say So
Much)"." The oft over looked "L'il 'Frigerator" is a high octane rocker
that could be considered a post script to "Your Sister Can't Twist (But
She Can Rock 'n' Roll)" from GYBR. The opening cut "Restless" is also
one of the spunkier tracks and came off particularly well when John
hit the road with his formidable sidemen to support the disc. The vast
majority of Breaking Hearts however, is met with varying degrees of
success. Both "In Neon" and the reggae-dub influenced "Passengers" were
best suited to the lighter pop genre and Adult Contemporary radio
format where John joined the ranks of Phil Collins, Lionel Ritchie and George Michael.
This stylistic direction, while concurrently popular, also criminally
under-utilised the synergy between the artist and band. With the
exception of the noir 'unplugged' title performance "Breaking Hearts
(Ain't What It Used To Be)" a majority of the LP is indistinguishable
from much of the rest of his mid '80s and early '90s catalogue.
Lindsay Planer All Music Guide
|
| anno/label |
1984
- ROCKET in UK, GEFFEN
in USA |
| produzione |
Chris
Thomas |
| arrangiamenti
orchestrali |
|
| studio |
Air
Studios, Montserrat |
| musicisti |
Nigel
Olsson: batteria e cori; Dee
Murray: basso e
cori; Davey Johnstone:
chitarre e cori; Kiki
Dee: cori; Ray Cooper:
percussioni; Elton: piano |
| note |
buon
album, non apprezzato
particolarmente dalla critica e dal pubblico, anche se il singolo Sad
Songs
ha avuto un discreto successo.
come
stile č il proseguimento
logico di Too Low For Zero |
© badsideofthemoon
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