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RECENSIONI
Review by Robert Hilburn:
When 23-year-old Elton John made his
American club debut at the Troubadour in West Hollywood in the summer of
1970, he was already blessed with a deep and mature talent. The songs,
which he wrote with lyricist Bernie Taupin (just 20), combined eloquent
melodies and evocative lyrics that stepped boldly beyond normal Top 40
fare to embrace such diverse subjects as the innocence of youth (“Your
Song”) and a respect for the elderly (“Sixty Years On”). Backed simply
by bass, drums and his own piano, John delivered the songs with an
intimacy and immediacy that felt straight from the heart.
Remarkably
43 years on, John and Taupin have put together a new album, “The Diving
Board,” that reflects those same qualities in such splendid fashion
that it serves as an inspiring bookend to the two albums Elton showcased
at the Troubadour, “Elton John” and “Tumbleweed Connection.” This is
music so finely crafted and deeply moving that if they had played on
that 1970 night, instead of the ones that were performed, Elton would
still have been showered with applause and acclaim.
It’s no
wonder that one of the album’s key numbers is titled, “Home Again.” This
is music that celebrates the best of Elton and Bernie’s past, but in
ways that are consistently fresh and revealing. Time after time, the
songs look gracefully at a similarly broad range of themes—youth to
life’s lessons—but from the perspective of age. The closest parallel in
recent years is the way Bob Dylan re-examined some of his early
observations in such songs as “Not Dark Yet” and “Things Have Changed”
more than a dozen years ago—the start of what has been a spectacular new
resurgence in his own career.
Elton’s new chapter began when he
teamed with producer T Bone Burnett on “The Union,” the album Elton made
in 2006 with one of his musical heroes, Leon Russell. When Burnett
suggested Elton return to the spare instrumentation of the Troubadour
shows, Elton responded with some of his most heartfelt music in years.
Backed
only by his own vibrant and warm piano styling on the opening track, he
signals the album’s spirit. The song,“Ocean’s Away,” stands with the
most memorable John-Taupin works—a reflection on the passage of time,
touching on both those left behind and the lessons that live on. Taupin
dedicates the song to his father, Captain Robert Taupin, but he speaks
for everyone who has made it to a point in life where he or she
understands the blessings of the past. Its chorus:
Call ’em up, n’ dust ‘em off, let ‘em shine
The ones who hold on to the ones they had to leave behind
Those that flew and those that fell, the ones that had to stay
Beneath a little wooden cross oceans away.
From
there, the album travels in some surprising directions, sometimes a
touch playful, other times fearlessly personal, notably in “My
Quicksand,” “Voyeur” and “The New Fever Waltz.” The songwriting duo also
comments on the struggles of an artist. Rather than employ the
self-aggrandizement so common in contemporary pop, John and Taupin
salute the dramatic exploits of two other artists, “Oscar Wilde Gets
Out” and “The Ballad of Blind Tom” (Blind Tom Wiggins).
This
sub-theme of artistic dreams and sacrifice is touched upon most
memorably in the album’s title song, which speaks about the daring and
strength required to share one’s deepest feelings in music—a quality
that John and Taupin have together done consistently over the years.
It’s a quality that, too, tells la lot about why their music remains so
gripping. Crucially, the song is not a complaint about the fickle nature
of fame or stardom. Instead, it admits the joy of being able to spend a
lifetime making music that touches people. Confides Elton, “You fell in
love with it all.”
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da Mojo
 
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da UNCUT (cliccare per ingrandire)
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“The Diving Board”, il nuovo album di Elton John
da Rifondazione del 11/09/2013
“The Diving Board” è il nuovo album di Elton John e, per dirla con i
numeri, è la sua trentesima opera e la prima, dal 1979, in cui non
suona con la sua Band storica. Il secondo album che vede, alla
produzione, la presenza del grande T. Bone Burnette, che aveva prodotto
da par suo , il bellissimo “The Union” di Elton con Leon Russell. Ho
sempre considerato Reginald Dwight uno dei più grandi compositori
contemporanei, uno dei pochi a coniugare la qualità del miglior
cantautorato con la facilità del pop. Soprattutto le sue prime opere
sono dei capolavori, dei classici da mandare a memoria , album che si
riascoltano sempre con grande piacere, senza mai annoiarsi.
Bene, Elton John, ritorna a fare l’Elton John ispirato, quello degli
esordi e lo fa con 15 brani (19 nella consueta edizione Deluxe) , di
cui 3 intermezzi strumentali chiamati “Dream n.1-2-3” , arrangiati in
maniera semplice con il suo magnifico pianoforte in bella evidenza. La
formazione vede solo Elton, piano e voce ovviamente, coadiuvato dalla
leggenda di casa Motown Jack Ashford alle percussioni ( “Su A Town
Called Jubilee, ha usato lo stesso assetto che ha usato su What’s Going
On di Marvin Gaye!” ha esclamato John, ammirato), Jay Bellerose alla
batteria, Doyle Bramhall II alla chitarra, il produttore T-Bone
Burnett, altra chitarra, Keefus Ciancia alle tastiere e Raphael Saadiq
al basso. Gruppo essenziale per una musica che lo è altrettanto.
Dimenticate l’Elton John barocco, modaiolo. Con il fido paroliere
Bernie Taupin, il musicista inglese ci delizia con brani asciutti e
molto ispirati. Sin dall’iniziale “Oceans Away” si capisce quale sarà
la direzione del lavoro. Pensate al periodo “Tumbleweed Connection” per
il suono “Americana”, al sottovalutato “Blue Moves” per l’uso del
piano, sempre “davanti” agli altri strumenti. E’ una rinascita
artistica quella di Reg Dwight, non ci sono brani minori,
fortunatamente non c’è il brano radiofonico cantato con il cantante o
la cantante alla moda, adatta al pubblico di MTV. E’ musica adulta.
Sentite il crescendo meraviglioso di “Oscar Wilde Gets Out” (il cui
testo racconta di Oscar Wilde che esce di prigione), punteggiato
da un piano che ti penetra sotto pelle e emoziona. “A Town Called
Jubilee” è una ballata con profumi gospel e che rimanda proprio al
periodo di “Tumbleweed Connection”, piano e chitarra con quest’ultima
che evoca il suono di George Harrison. Il coro gospel aggiunge pathos.
Una delle perle di questo “The Diving Board”. I testi di Bernie Taupin
parlano di “ritorni a casa”, rimpianti e nostalgie ma le musiche di
Elton cancellano ogni rischio di pesantezza, attraverso stili che
spaziano dal Gospel al Soul e al Boogie-Woogie. Bernie Taupin, mostra,
come al solito, come gli vengano facili sia doppiette di versi molto
evocative (“You’re the diner in my rear view / A cup of coffee getting
cold”) che dei momenti di verbosità fin troppo carichi (ad esempio
nella succitata canzone che parla di Oscar Wilde). La scelta di
inserire anche tre brevi brani strumentali è legata al desiderio del
cantante di rendere questo album il lavoro più pianistico dell’intera
sua produzione.
Home Again è una ballata carica di desiderio che sembra racchiudere in
sé l’intero disco: note al pianoforte che cadono dall’alto come cascate
battesimali, mentre John canta della sua voglia di ritornare a casa.
Quello che rende The Diving Board più di un esercizietto in nostalgia è
che suona come un ritorno alle radici. “Questo è l’album che avrei
dovuto fare dopo The Union, dice con riferimento alla collaborazione
del 2010 con Leon Russell, anch’esso prodotto da Burnett. “È il disco
più adulto che potessi fare a quest’età. Finirò a 80 anni a suonare
all’Holiday Inn”.
“The Ballad Of Blind Tom”, un intero pianistico ci regala un up-tempo fantastico .
Lo stesso cantante ha rilasciato, recentemente, le seguenti dichiarazioni in merito al suo nuovo lavoro :
"E' l'album più eccitante che abbia registrato da molto tempo a questa
parte", ha dichiarato John, che ha fissato su nastro le nuove
composizioni - sei delle quali scritte in soli due giorni - a tempo
record in uno studio di Los Angeles: "All'inizio non ero convinto di
voler tornare in sala di registrazione così in fretta: ero in vacanza,
e non avevo intenzione di fare una cosa del genere. Poi mi sono detto:
va bene, torniamo in studio. Se non dovesse funzionare, pazienza...".
Poi, contrariamente alle aspettative, la svolta: "Una volta arrivato in
sala le canzoni hanno iniziato ad affiorare da sole: è stato il disco
dalla realizzazione più rapida che abbia mai registrato". Merito anche
dei collaboratori: "Avevo proprio voglia di lavorare con Raphael: è un
bassista eccezionale, capace di suonare qualsiasi tipo di musica. Adoro
i suoi album".
"Sono eccitato da questo album come lo ero per 'The Union'", ha
dicharato John: "E così come per 'The union' ho dovuto guardare al
passato per proiettarmi verso il futuro, la stessa cosa ho fatto per
'The diving board'". Tenere il disco fermo per un po’ ha significato
“essere in grado di spolverarci su dello zucchero”, dice oggi John, “di
“eltonizzarlo”. E lo ha fatto oscillare tra titoli: intitolato
inizialmente The Diving Board, il disco si è poi chiamato Voyeur per
poi ridiventare The Diving Board.
“Voyeur” è anche il titolo di uno dei brani dell’album, il pezzo forse
più convenzionale fra tutti. In “Mexican vacation” l’aria blues e
boogie-woogie, diverte e coinvolge. Il lavoro, almeno nella versione
standard, si chiude con il brano che da il titolo al disco “The Diving
Board”, che rimanda moltissimo alle migliori ballate di Leon Russell e,
persino nel cantato, Elton sembra voler fare il verso all’amico
americano.
Brano bellissimo come del resto lo è l’intero album. Consigliatissimo e da ascoltare senza pregiudizi. Un Grande ritrovato…
Ugo Buizza
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da http://www.express.co.uk
CD review: Elton John - The Diving Board
Rating: 4/5
ELTON JOHN is so much a part of our sensibility that we need a neologism for “national treasure” to do him justice.
This means that a new record, especially his first studio album in seven years and his 30th to date, is cause for celebration.
It’s telltale Elton John/ Bernie Taupin territory, one that is all kinds of lovely.
Elton’s blues brim
with pathos and wisdom, his delicate, often moving melodies wrapped
around Bernie’s lyrics that dig deep, real deep.
Elton’s blues brim with pathos and wisdom.
If you get the
deluxe Mint Pack edition it’s big too, with 19 tracks, each one a
treat. A beautiful album from an artist who really matters
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Allmusic.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
So the story goes like this. Inspired by their work on the Leon Russell
duet album The Union, producer T-Bone Burnett encouraged Elton John to
return to making albums like he used to in the old days for 2013's The
Diving Board, harking back to the days when he wrote quickly and
recorded with little more than a rhythm section. This all sounds like a
major shift in aesthetic for John, but Elton has been on a decade-long
quest to tap into that old magic, beginning his voyage into the past
with 2001's Songs from the West Coast and getting progressively
elliptical with each subsequent release. The Diving Board does indeed
evoke ghosts of Elton past but it never suggests the hits. It's an
album consisting almost entirely of songs that riff on "Sixty Years On"
and "Rotten Peaches" -- long, languid ballads or open-ended
blues-rockers where atmosphere trumps hooks. Occasionally, Elton
musters up elongated melodies that eventually catch hold, but The
Diving Board isn't a collection of finely sculpted pop; it's a set of
song poems and ballads, all placing emphasis on mood, not immediacy.
This is an exceptional idea in theory; in practice it is ever so
slightly gormless, floating whenever it should be taking root. There
are moments where the tempo gets ever so slightly sprightly -- "Take
This Dirty Water" has a dirty gospel shuffle reminiscent of a
toned-down "Take Me to the Pilot," "The Ballad of Blind Tom" is
faithful to the spirit of Tumbleweed Connection, "Mexican Vacation
(Kids in the Candlelight)" not only rocks but has a welcome gust of
tastelessness -- but that only emphasizes just how ponderous the rest
of the record is. There is much that is admirable about The Diving
Board -- the feel is spacious and haunting, the ambition is commendable
-- but the emphasis on tone over song means it leaves only wistful
wisps of melancholia behind with the actual songs seeming like faded,
distant memories.
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Philip Matusavage, Music OMH
There have surely
been few greater demonstrations of the maxim that “absence makes the
heart grow fonder” than the hysteria which greeted the return of David
Bowie earlier this year. His last album, 2003’s Reality, had met with
middling reviews and vanished quickly from the charts. This year’s The
Next Day, in contrast, hit the number one on iTunes in over 60
countries and its Mercury Prize and Q Award nominations seem certain to
be the opening in a torrent of accolades. In truth, The Next Day wasn’t
markedly different from the music Bowie had been making 10 years ago;
what had changed was that Bowie’s vanishing act had created a vacuum
within which his myth could grow and people could miss him. When it
comes to legendary acts like Bowie (or The Rolling Stones, to use
another recently returned example) it seems that new material can prove
to be a distraction for many listeners who would rather remember and
celebrate them as they were in their prime.
Elton John has
certainly never given listeners a chance to miss him. Four years is the
lengthiest gap he’s left between studio albums – gaps which tend to be
filled with soundtracks, musicals, guest appearances, a lot of touring
and an inordinate amount of media attention. His music has long been a
part of our collective identity while he as an individual seems as much
a part of our landscape as the Queen. As a result, it could be argued
that we take this prodigious talent who has created so many pop
standards for granted. In concerts he knocks out the hits and his
biggest chart successes in recent years have been retrospective in
nature – his Good Morning To The Night remix album with Pnau hit Number
1, a feat none of his studio albums have achieved since 1989. Yet if
he’s obliging enough to largely give audiences what they want, he’s
also canny enough to mine this nostalgia in his current work. As The
Diving Board’s Voyeur puts it, he’s “committed to connecting the old
ways to the new”.
It’s no surprise,
then, that The Diving Board (his 30th studio album) is billed as a
return to the sound of Elton’s early days. While the largely sparse
piano, bass and drums instrumentation may deliberately echo this,
however, in truth the series of strong albums he’s released since
2001’s Songs From The West Coast have all followed the blend of blues,
country and Americana which made his name back in the day. Heck, 2006’s
The Captain & The Kid was a direct sequel to 1975’s Captain
Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. The Diving Board, then, might make
great capital out of its self-consciously retrospective sound but it’s
actually very much business as usual. Fortunately ‘usual’ for Elton
these days consists of very good things indeed.
In
keeping with the sense of nostalgia and recollection which underpin the
album, opening track Oceans Away is a simple yet stately ode to the
‘Greatest Generation’ – those who went off to war and left many behind
“beneath a little wooden cross oceans away.” It’s a moving testament to
the lyrical abilities of Bernie Taupin (Elton’s long-time collaborator)
for whom themes of ageing and time have been increasingly large
concerns – perfectly matching Elton’s musical return to his roots. This
is clear in first single Home Again, a poignant ballad which appeals
both musically and lyrically to a sentimental longing for the past.
Can’t Stay Alone Tonight, meanwhile, is an effortlessly catchy return
to earlier classics like I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues and
its nagging chorus is a future certainty on Radio 2.
If there is little here which surprises, it’s not all a case of
re-treading old ground: My Quicksand features what is apparently
Elton’s first piano solo on record, a jazzy middle-eight which is
indeed impressive. The superlative piano playing continues on The
Ballad Of Blind Tom, about the musical prodigy Blind Tom Wiggins. It
may be a bluesy companion piece to Songs From the West Coast’s The
Wasteland (about Robert Johnson) but it’s nonetheless dazzling, with
Elton’s in-character line “play me anything you like, I’ll play it back
to you” drawing parallels with his own virtuoso abilities (also
highlighted on three brief improved instrumental interludes, Dream
#1-#3).
Still, the album’s appeals to the Americana of Tumbleweed Connection
are obvious, from Elton’s affected Southern twang to lines about going
to “eat a T-bone steak, watch a picture show for a dollar and a half”
(A Town Called Jubilee). The rich history which The Diving Board draws
on also slightly undermines it: there is certainly nothing bad here yet
so much of it has been done by Elton before. When you’ve been around
for as long as he has, though, that almost goes without saying – a fact
picked up by Taupin in Voyeur which documents the difficulty of
continuing to find new inspiration. Nothing here will change anybody’s
mind about Elton John; but then again, if anyone needs convincing after
45 years of some of the best pop music ever made they’re probably a
lost cause. That The Diving Board is very good is an achievement in
itself, even if it seems certain to be quickly forgotten by listeners
eager to hear Your Song for the billionth time.
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The Guardian
4 stars
http://www.theguardian.com/
During
last week's inaugural Brits Icon ceremony, Elton John discussed his
keen interest in new music, but his first solo album in seven years is
an emphatically conventional singer-songwriter set. Still, it's also a
beauty. Recorded in under two weeks with a core piano/bass/drums trio,
The Diving Board is a lovely union of craftsmanship and artistry. Bernie
Taupin's lyrics are among the most evocative he's written: just for
starters, he attempts to convey Oscar Wilde's thoughts on his release
from prison (Oscar Wilde Gets Out), and offers a glimpse behind the
impassive countenance of a black pianist in the American South (The
Ballad of Blind Tom). John gives each song the space it deserves,
ruminating in a baritone that evokes golden autumn light. He also revels
in playing his piano; the delicate figures of Home Again communicate
his passion for the instrument as strongly as Mexican Vacation's bawdy
barroom tinkling. Meanwhile, his love of country and blues informs Can't
Stay Alone Tonight and Take This Dirty Water. It's an album that
strikes a perfect blend of maturity and freshness.
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http://somethingelsereviews.com/2013/09/13...ing-board-2013/
Second acts are
difficult; third acts, even more so. But what of a fourth? That’s Elton
John, who’s already been a country-inflected singer-songwriter, Captain
Fantastic and a mainstream pop star.
Perhaps the pathway
to such thing is through deep self-examination, a return to your roots
— at least that’s the message of the superlative Diving Board, due
September 24, 2013 from Capitol Records. John, in the wake of an
eye-opening, career-turning passion project with Leon Russell (2010′s
Union), has rekindled the nervy, stripped-down verve of early projects
like 11-17-70 (often appearing in a similar trio format) and the frayed
old-west themes of Tumbleweed Connection (thanks, in no small part, to
his partnering again with classic-era lyricist Bernie Taupin).
But for all of
that, from the wonders of those small-group sounds (Raphael Saadiq is a
warm presence on bass) to the smartly constructed flourishes from
producer T Bone Burnett (Doyle Bramhall II guests on guitar, there are
also a few tastefully done backing arrangements), Elton John remains at
the center of The Diving Board — as a singer and, perhaps most
importantly, at the keyboard.
As the ruminative
themes of “Home Again” and “Voyeur” unfold with such a wistful grace,
you realize once more what’s been missing for so long: Somewhere hidden
behind the flashy duets, and the even flashier oversized glasses, the
tributes to British royalty and the Disney cartoons, there must have
been that same pianist, in search of a song. John has found it, over
the course of an album that looks with determined focus on difficult
themes like the passage of time, home goings, and the arc of history.
Along the
way, The Diving Board emerges as a triumph of musical scale, too. John,
with smart assists from Taupin and Burnett, establishes a narrative
rhythm that can be both sprawling (“Oceans Away,” “Oscar Wilde Gets
Out”) and, it seems, deeply personal (“Home Again,” the title track),
both interior (“My Quicksand”) and saloon-rattlingly raucous (“A Town
Called Jubilee”).
Of course, John has been trying for this kind of comeback for some time, beginning at least with
2001′s Songs From
The West Coast and continuing through projects like 2006′s The Captain
and the Kid, presented as a sequel to 1975′s Captain Fantastic and the
Brown Dirt Cowboy. But he’s never gotten it so utterly right before,
never balanced things quite so well. It’s reminiscent of his best
moments, without necessarily echoing them completely.
That, in the end, makes The Diving Board the album we’ve been hoping Elton John would make for years.
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The Independent
5 stars (album of the week)
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertai...ry-8812801.html
Recorded with a
pared-down unit of mostly just piano, bass and drums under the watchful
ear of producer T-Bone Burnett, The Diving Board is Elton John's most
vital release since the mid-1970s heyday of landmarks such as Goodbye
Yellow Brick Road, one significant difference being that this album is
clearly not as garlanded with hit singles. Instead, the singer has
matched Bernie Taupin's best crop of lyrics for years with his own most
emotively apt melodies to produce a collection that both harks back to
the intrigues and interests of his earliest recordings, yet manages to
break new ground, quite an achievement for an artist in his sixth
decade.
As might be
expected, there's a reflective tone to some of the songs. “Oceans Away”
opens the album with a tribute to old soldiers, both the dead and “the
ones who hold onto the ones they have to leave behind”; a similar vein
of empathy drives “Voyeur”, about snatching solace in liaisons, however
temporary, as respite from the adversity of conflict. The longing for
home and loved ones extends into the single “Home Again”, where
wanderlust is precariously balanced with homesickness in the awareness
that “if I'd never left, I never would have known”. Elton's own roots
are lovingly revisited in the punchy, rolling piano grooves and
serpentine runs of “Ballad Of Blind Tom” and the frisky, rumbustious
“Mexican Vacation”, both of which nod to his friendship with Leon
Russell, and in the gospelly “Take This Dirty Water”, a fond throwback
to Tumbleweed Connection territory.
But the best
moments are reserved for “The Diving Board” itself, a wry, Nina
Simone-esque rumination on the precipitous nature of celebrity; for
“Oscar Wilde Gets Out”, an account of the writer's flight to France
upon his release from Reading Gaol, and most of all for “My Quicksand”,
a devastating portrait of a bohemian poet acknowledging his life's
failure, its poignant tone captured in a soulful jazz vocal that's
movingly unlike anything that Elton has recorded before. It's the
crowning glory of an album that may be the best of his career.
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Rolling Stone, 4 stelle
By Alan Light
September 13, 2013
Tabloid fixture,
Las Vegas institution, movie producer, duet partner with everyone from
Lady Gaga to Queens of the Stone Age – even in his sixties, Elton John
still thrives in the spotlight. Yet musically, his priorities have
shifted. When he released 2010's The Union – a triumphant collaboration
with Leon Russell, which reclaimed the legacy of one of Sir Elton's
greatest inspirations – he said that the project had left a permanent
mark on his creative direction. No longer would he chase the fleeting
vanities of pop taste, but he would commit to making music that was
more honest and personal.
The first
result of this new approach is The Diving Board, which brings Elton
back together with Union producer T Bone Burnett and demonstrates that
he wasn't blowing smoke. The album is more focused than anything he's
done in years, and it returns Elton to the kind of spare,
country-flavored narrative songs with which he made his name on
early-1970s masterworks like Tumbleweed Connection and Madman Across
the Water – before he plugged in his electric boots, transformed into
Captain Fantastic and became the biggest rock star in the world.
For much of the
album, Elton's piano is backed only by neosoul wonder Raphael Saadiq,
who plays bass, and drummer Jay Bellerose, at times augmented by guitar
fills from Doyle Bramhall II or by atmospheric horn or string
arrangements. The simple feel leaves space for the recurrent themes of
travel, memory, nostalgia – of lessons learned – to resonate, reaching
wistful, emotional peaks with "Voyeur" and the first single, "Home
Again." As usual, Bernie Taupin's lyrics are filled with images of
vintage Americana and the Old West. Sometimes, as on the detailed
history lesson of "Oscar Wilde Gets Out," the words are too dense to
leave much room for melody, and occasionally a metaphor runs amok
("When the arrow's in the bull's-eye every time/It's hard assuming that
the archer's blind"). But the opening "Oceans Away," a moving,
deceptively complex tribute to the lyricist's father and fellow World
War II vets, illustrates the power of Taupin's language.
Perhaps the LP's
most impressive achievement is the way it returns Elton's piano to the
forefront, where it ought to be. There has never been a rock pianist
like him, equally fluent in Little Richard jackhammer rhythms, careful,
Nashville-derived fills and English music-hall razzmatazz. It's
apparent in three brief instrumental breaks, but even more so when he
lets loose with the honkytonk gospel of "A Town Called Jubilee" and
"Take This Dirty Water," where Russell's influence is felt the deepest.
The album ends with
the title track, a slow and stunning meditation on that final moment of
youth, when we are all still pure potential. "I was 16/And full of the
world and its noise," Elton recalls in the slightly slurred and weary
voice of the saloon singer, before embracing the call of "the planets
alight/Those dizzy heights." With The Diving Board, Elton has regained
his sense of musical possibility and taken a brave, graceful jump.
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The Guardian, 4 stelle
Elton's 30th solo
studio album finds him opting for basic piano, bass and drums, many of
the numbers stripped back and given extra atmosphere by T Bone
Burnett's production. The setup gives the tracks an honesty and reach
absent from so much of his prime pop material. Second number Oscar
Wilde Gets Out builds to a thudding intensity with bass drum and
strings from a beautiful opening solo figure, while A Town Called
Jubilee and Take This Dirty Water (sample couplet: "If you break some
bones on landing/ You'll know you're built to last"), with its slide
guitars and female backing vocals, could have been recorded in 1974.
John's voice has a lived-in, gruff depth these days, and the
stripped-back piano accompaniment on the early tracks might almost
recall early Tom Waits; he sounds a bit like Neil Diamond on Can't Stay
Alone Tonight. Throughout, he remains the master of bluesy
honky-tonking and surprising modulations that he always has been.
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http://rockofagesit.blogspot.it/2013/09/re...ving-board.html
Quarantaquattro
anni di carriera, tra le migliori sempre. Una carriera iniziata nel
1969 e che in questo 2013 vede la pubblicazione del trentesimo disco in
studio. Sessantasei anni e non sentirli, questo di potrebbe dire di Sir
Elton John, ormai da quasi mezzo secolo sulla cresta dell'onda.
Quando hai
venduto oltre quattrocento milioni di dischi, sei da tutti riconosciuto
come un'icona pop dei nostri tempi, hai ispirato centinaia di artisti
dopo di te, se continui a fare musica lo fai solo per amore della
stessa. Eppure sono lontanissimi i tempi di Goodbye Yellow Brick Road e
di Captain Fantastic, quando l'ispirazione e la voglia di stupire erano
quelli di un ragazzo. Ora si lascia spazio a una sobrietà che si
riflette anche nella sua musica. Affiancato quindi dal fidato Bernie
Taupin ( artisticamente insieme dal 1967 ) si torna in studio per
l'ennesimo lavoro discografico, come detto il trentesimo in studio. E
stando alle loro interviste per presentarlo ci sono voluti appena due
giorni a scriverlo.
Il risultato di
questa ennesima è un ottimo lavoro, in cui a farla da padrone è come
sempre il pianoforte magistralmente suonato da Sir Elton. Un disco
compatto con quasi nulla che spicca dal resto, ma che tiene costante un
livello molto elevato. Con la malinconica Oceans Away sembra che il
disco voglia andare da una parte, ma già dalle successive Oscar Wilde
Gets Out e A Town Called Jubilee si cambia registro, con un sound molto
più ritmato e cadenzato, che è sempre stato nelle corde del baronetto.
Il disco continua con il ritmo che preso con The Ballad Of Blind Tom,
per passare a un paio di basi blueseggianti Can't Stay Alone Tonight,
Take This Dirty Water e Mexican Vacation. Il disco si chiude con la
titletrack The Diving Board forse il pezzo più debole dell'intero
disco. Ma è alla metà esatta del disco che troviamo quello che forse è
il punto più elevato. Voyeur ricorda molto da vicino i pezzi più famosi
del repertorio sconfinato del baronetto, andando a miscelare alla
perfezione la voce di Elton con il suo piano che si fondono in un pezzo
meraviglioso.
In totale dodici
traccie ( tre sono intermezzi di pochi secondi ) che ci ricordano
ancora una volta, e per chi lo avesse dimenticato, che questo quasi
settantenne inglese, dalla vita incosciente e discussa, ancora è in
grado di dare lezioni di come si fa musica a lunghissime schiere di
giovani artisti, che verranno ancora una volta ispirati e influenzati
da questo meraviglioso artista.
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No Depression Americana and Roots Music
http://www.nodepression.com/m/blogpost?id=...ogPost%3A984297
CD review: Elton John - The Diving Board
by Alan Harrison
I was a huge fan of
Elton John in my teenage years and still argue that Goodbye Yellow
Brick Road is the greatest Double Album of all time; but not long after
that the drink and drugs took their toll on his career and he started
to believe his own hype; and subsequent releases becoming increasing
flamboyant and over produced; in line with his lifestyle.
That said; these
later albums appealed more to my wife and her friends than Tumbleweed
Connection and Honky Château ever did; so who am I to criticize? About
a year ago I was invited to review Elton’s concert in Newcastle and
accepted; as a treat for my wife, thinking “At least it will be a good
show.”
As we took our
seats I noted that the stage was quite bare with one plain Grand Piano,
a drum kit, guitar bass and handful of amps. The concert turned out to
be three steps top the left of a Greatest Hits Package, with the focus
being on the starker early recordings that I loved.
This all brings us
to "The Diving Board"; and Elton’s journey into the past courtesy of T
Bone Burnett, and his long time cohort Bernie Taupin’s return to form.
The gentle piano
intro to Oceans Away; which opens the album is simply delightful and
Elton’s voice oozes through a tribute to Soldiers who die ‘for the
cause’ and also the ones who survive; but still cling to the memory of
the ones they left behind.
By track four; The
Ballad of Blind Tom I found myself relaxing as I realized (hoped) that
there weren’t going to be any orchestras swooping in or choral
societies singing choruses as if their very lives depended on it; this
was going to be pretty much just Elton John on vocals and piano with
Raphael Saadiq on bass and Jay Bellarose on drums and a smattering of
percussionists as and when necessary – I was already in musical heaven.
Can’t Stay Alone
Tonight has the hint of a Country melody to it and a rhythm section
that are so tight they manage to enhance Elton’s voice better than even
Ray Dolby could have dreamed of doing. Speaking of his voice; Burnett’s
production has made it sound as good; if not better than in his younger
days; which is quite an achievement baring in mind his hedonistic
lifestyle in the 80’s and 90’s.
There are no
obvious Hit singles on "The Diving Board" but the quality of the
Taupin’s songwriting shines like a beacon on the misty cliff of popular
music; with My Quicksand, about a Poet looking back on a life of
failure; being possibly the finest song Elton John has recorded in over
25 years. The beautifully crafted songs and melody even takes him into
the softer reaches of Jazz; which is something I never thought I’d hear
myself say, but would love to hear more like this.
After three hours
of constantly playing the album I had to put Mexican Vacation and the
loosely political (Elton John Political???) Take This Dirty Water on
heavy rotation; as his rolling barrel-house piano and punchy lyrics
took me back to those heady days of trying to decipher the the songs on
Tumbleweed Connection and Honky Château when I should have been
revising for my exams.
The title track
"The Diving Board" is another slightly Jazzy number and ends the album
on a high; even if it does sound suspiciously like he’s tipping his hat
in the direction of Tom Waits; but when was that ever a bad thing?
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http://cultura.panorama.it/musica/elton-jo...oard-recensione
Elton John: la recensione di The Diving Board
Il disco della rinascita con Bernie Taupin, il collaboratore storico.
di Tony Romano
È riuscito a
diventare una rockstar in un epoca dove il rock si suonava con le
chitarre distorte e indossando blue jeans, ma lui, Reginald Kenneth
Dwight con il suo fedele pianoforte è diventato Elton John, uno dei
protagonisti indiscussi della musica rock di tutti i tempi. Oggi, dopo
sette anni di attesa, Sir Elton insieme a quel fedele pianoforte,
arriva il tanto atteso The Diving Board, scritto a quattro mani con
l’amico e collaboratore storico, Bernie Taupin. The Diving Board è uno
degli album più maturi e sinceri in cui il pianoforte ritorna
protagonista, regalandoci quella dolcezza, quel romanticismo e quelle
deliziose modulazioni blues e honky-tonky che hanno da sempre
caratterizzato il suo stile e gusto musicale.
L’album si apre con
una splendida ballata piano e voce, Oceans Away, intima e riservata ma
che ci lascia intravedere una certa nostalgia ed un senso di ritorno
verso casa, verso le origini. Subito dopo troviamo Oscar Wilde Gets in
cui attraverso le parole di Bernie Taupin sembra di intercettare i
pensieri di un Wilde appena uscito dal carcere. Molto bella A Town
Called Jubilee, in cui possiamo finalmente riascoltare quello stride
piano che si fonde agli ottimi cori gospel regalandoci non poche
emozioni.
Con The Ballad of
Blind Tom ci regala uno sguardo dietro il volto impassibile di un
pianista nero e sembra di venir catapultati dentro una di quelle
bettole da quattro soldi in cui si vendevano un tempo, amore e whisky
di contrabbando. The Diving Board è intervallato da 3 brani
strumentali, solo piano, Dream #1, #2 e #3, splendidi nella solo
semplicità.
Molto intensa anche
My Quicksand, una struggente ballad che ci regala un bellissimo finale
jazzy, da pelle d’oca. Interessante l’arrangiamento e il ritmo di
Voyeur, coinvolgente anche se lascia un retrogusto aspro, tipico della
malinconia. Con Take This Dirty Water arriva una ventata di
spensieratezza, tra profumi gospel, slide guitar e tocchi di piano
blues, aria che si respira a pieni polmoni in Mexican Vacation, dove il
boogie-woogie avvolge e costringe i piedi a battere a tempo. L’album si
chiude con la traccia omonima, un blues molto particolare che convince
e che ricorda molto lo stile degli anni ’40.Con questo disco Elton John
ha sicuramente compiuto l’ennesimo salto, riuscendo a librare
nell’aria, esplorando e rafforzando sempre più la sua continua
rinascita creativa.
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American Songwriter
http://www.americansongwriter.com/2013/09/...e-diving-board/
3.5 stars
Elton John’s new
album The Diving Board starts out with “Oceans Away,” an elegiac ballad
featuring just the man and his piano. The stark approach is the M.O.
for much of the album, as producer T Bone Burnett strips away the easy
listening gloss that seemed like it had permanently adhered to John’s
work for the last few decades.
Burnett also
produced The Union, an excellent 2010 collaboration between John and
Leon Russell that apparently inspired Elton to go back to basics. While
it’s tempting to wonder why in tarnation it took him this long to
realize what most of his ardent fans already knew, perhaps it’s better
to let bygones be bygones and appreciate the fact that this singular
talent is in prime form once again.
John’s piano is at
the core of most of these songs, a fact which renders even the weakest
among them palatable. The evocative intros he conjures effortlessly set
the mood, while his solos are uniformly stellar.
Lyricist
Bernie Taupin delivers some excellent period pieces which are brought
to life with fervor by his old buddy. “The Ballad Of Blind Tom,” for
example, is a fiery portrait of a brilliant piano player churning his
way through the Jim Crow-era South. John may have lost the higher range
of his vocals over the years, but he can now lend character sketches
like this undeniable heft.
At times, John and
Taupin pursue of their old muses a bit too soberly. Certain songs like
“My Quicksand” and “The New Fever Waltz” labor under the unwavering
seriousness of the music and the wordy stew of the lyrics. The album
could have used a little more of the relaxed musical vibe of “Can’t
Stay Alone Tonight.” As on some of his best 80’s hits, Elton’s piano
rolls like thunder on this track while he effortlessly slips into the
song’s mood of romantic regret.
The good news is
that the rare missteps are ambitious ones. Having John try maybe a
little too hard is a far cry better than having him mail it in. And
when he nails it, the results are within shouting distance of his best
without ever seeming overly self-referential. The title track oozes
after-hours ambience as John reflects on the life of a performer, while
first single “Home Again,” accented with some Band-like horns, features
some of Taupin’s most direct and cutting lyrics. John sings, “We all
dream of leaving, but wind up in the end/Spending all our time trying
to get back home again.”
Interpreting those
lines through the prism of John’s rollercoaster career gives them an
extra layer of meaning, but they still resonate with anyone who has
made some bad choices and wayward moves in their own lives. The Diving
Board proves that Elton John is on the right musical path once again,
sounding so energized by the familiar trappings that a career
renaissance, which seemed a long shot a few years back, now seems
thrillingly possible.
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da Sorrisi e Canzoni
Elton John, il nuovo album: «Ho ritrovato la mia casa dietro a un pianoforte»
Di record e trionfi
Sir Elton John ne ha ottenuti a non finire: tra gli altri, gli oltre
200 milioni di dischi venduti in quasi mezzo secolo di carriera e un
singolo («Candle in the wind ’97», la versione di un suo celebre brano
rielaborata per i funerali di Lady Diana) che resta ancora il più
venduto della storia.
Oggi festeggia un
nuovo traguardo: la leggenda del pop, che assieme al compagno David
Furnish ha da poco dato il benvenuto al secondo figlio Elijah, ha
raggiunto la meta del trentesimo album solista. Si intitola «The Diving
Board», è stato scritto assieme all’inseparabile amico paroliere Bernie
Taupin e getta uno sguardo al passato, ritrovando il sound essenziale
delle origini.
Convinto dal
produttore T-Bone Burnett, Elton ha scelto infatti di rimettere il suo
primo grande amore, il pianoforte, al centro della scena. Così sono
proprio le sue mani sulla tastiera il nucleo pulsante dell’album, che
si apre con una struggente ballata sui reduci e i caduti di guerra
(«Oceans Away») e si chiude con il brano che dà il titolo al disco, in
cui l’artista sembra rivolgersi a se stesso adolescente, quel Reginald
Dwight (il suo vero nome) che a 17 anni si faceva strada nei locali di
Londra con i Bluesology, la sua prima band.
Nel mezzo del
disco, scritto e registrato a Los Angeles con strabiliante naturalezza
(«Abbiamo composto 11 canzoni in tre giorni» ha raccontato il
cantante), Elton propone tre intermezzi strumentali (tutti intitolati
«Dream») e si muove con passione e sicurezza nei territori sonori del
Paese che lo ha adottato. «C’è tutto quello che amo della musica
americana» ha raccontato John: dai cori gospel di «A Town Called
Jubilee» al boogie di «Mexican Vacation», passando per le sonorità
country-soul di «The Ballad Of Blind Tom» e quelle morbide e jazzate di
«My Quicksand». L’attacco di pianoforte di «Voyeur», poi, ricorda
l’Elton di «Your Song».
Già il primo
singolo, «Home Again», fa capire la direzione dell’opera. È una canzone
dominata da pochi elementi: il piano, la voce, lo struggente testo di
Taupin. «Se non fossi mai andato via, non l’avrei mai saputo» recita il
ritornello «che tutti sogniamo di partire, ma alla fine passiamo il
tempo cercando di tornare a casa». Elton la sua casa l’ha ritrovata
proprio qui: seduto davanti ai suoi amati ottantotto tasti bianchi e
neri.
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