Elton John - 21 At 33 (1980) Album Score: 8

It's back to basics for Elton John after his curious debacle, Victim of Love. He doesn't embrace any of the stylistic trends of 1980 (apart from a few instrumental choices) and he doesn't seem to want to. He writes songs just like he used to in his prime except much staler. Since it's the 1980s now, it's probably fair to label this album as "adult contemporary." Yes, John hadn't quite regained his touch and he's continuing to conform to formula.

But among seas of stale rockers and ballads, there still lies a few rich reminders of why everybody used to love Elton John. I'm speaking specifically of "Little Jeannie," which is an absolutely charming ballad with a marvellous melody. It was also his biggest hit in years ... hitting No. 3 on the charts. At least the public didn't totally forget about him! I also thought the rocker "White Lady White Powder," obviously about his cocaine addiction, had a nice melody.

Unfortunately, the album also contains stuff like the overextended rocker "Two Rooms at the End of the World," which has an awful and repetitive melody. "Never Gonna Fall in Love" seems as boring as it gets as far as Elton John's ballads go....meh! At least he brings it all to a decent conclusion with "Give Me Love," the most flamboyant effort in this album.

Interestingly, John was just about as active in the 1980s as he was in the 1970s. Naturally, nobody remembers him for being an '80s star, so .... we'll see what he comes up with.

TRACKS

Chasing the Crown 8/10

This is an overall decent track with a mighty fine melody. The track is so pristine polished and even has a nice electric guitar solo in the middle of it for good measure. This sounds exactly like the songs he wrote in the '70s except it's not as infectious. Well ... you know the guy lost his touch, but it's nice to see that he continues to know how to be fun.

Little Jeannie 10/10

Alright, apparently John felt the need to replace his piano with an electric piano, but at least he has a very nice melody in this ballad that could rank as one of his best. It's catchy and the overall song is pleasant and comfortable. ... Yes, I like comfortable Elton John. It does sound a tad dated, but not enough to really count (you also have that synthesizer that pipes up a few times.)

Sartorial Eloquence 7.5/10

A sweeping ballad this time, but the melody just isn't up to the snuff. Technically, (instrumentation-wise) it's just like the previous track, but the hooks are lesser. Of course, they're still there, but ... John is so dependent on them!

Two Rooms at the End of the World 6.5/10

This is probably the most rocking song of the album so far, but the melody is so stale that it really doesn't come off too well at all. Really stale, and the melody gets old after about 30 seconds. And for some reason he has to drag this on for more than five minutes. Hm.

White Lady White Powder 9/10

This is a personal song about John's horrible addiction to cocaine that nearly destroyed him (like it does to many rockers). Who knows why he fashioned it as a country-western ditty? Oh well, this is certainly one of the album's better tunes. The reason for that is the vocal hooks. It also has nice flow, except I take a minor issue with those piano fills.... hmmm....

Dear God 7.5/10

This one is stale but not too shabby. There are one or two hooks that really manage to grab me, which seemingly made the effort worth it! This is a fairly desperate but very general prayer to God pleading to make things better on Earth. I have no idea why he wanted to write that! The melody reeks of a showtune, but as you might know I've been known to listen to showtunes!

Never Gonna Fall in Love 6/10

This ballad is boring here ....................... in fact, this is very boring. The chorus is pretty nice, but that's basically the only appeal. Then there's a cheesy sax solo in here .............. ugh, Elton John is old.

Take Me Back 6.5/10

Another country-western song except this one's reaaaaaaaaaaaaallly stale, and John's cutesy tendencies surface in a bad way here. The melody is very disappointing, but I expected it. The violins were a nice touch for the instrumental interlude, but ........ hm. I'm snoozing.

Give Me Love 8.5/10

This is a good song for John. It has a little more flash than most of these other songs although it's still quite stale with a not-so-great melody. The instrumentation has a few good points, though. It seems to be coming off of the disco era ... there's some funky guitar and a horn section. Granted, much of this instrumentation is a product of the era, but it's not that bad. John does some piano soloing in here, which we all missed I'm sure.