Back and forth, back and forth. Elton John keeps getting deviated from to focus on other things, and frankly, it's his fault. If he didn't release 5,000 albums between 1980 and 1989, it'd be a little easier to get through them all. This time, I'm making my final push. There's two more albums I need to get through, and I'm going to focus, focus, focus these next two days on doing that.
We start off with 1986's Leather Jackets. Heavy into cocaine, Elton John entered the studio to create what he would later call his least favorite album. Critically, it was negatively received, siting it as a bunch of throw away songs, poor production, and a general lack of quality. It's considered such a bad album, that to date, it's not been remastered or reissued on CD since the 90's. Though, it is available for digital download.
Well, that's an incredibly low bar. This one should be fun.
Starting it up, I get the vibe of Queen's Hot Space. Something incredibly different, and not in a good way. It set the tone that it belonged in a certain type of bar, if you know what I mean.
Still, I won't pan it for its different sound, or lackluster production. Instead, I'll point out that there are decent songs here. Especially if you're into drum machines and heavy synthesizer, both which work for me. I dug Hoop Of Fire, Don't Trust That Woman, and Go It Alone.
Where Leather Jackets falters, and ultimately fails, for me, is its the heavy use of ballads to fill space. I don't mind the occasional one here and there, but an abundance of them, I don't need. Candidly, I tuned out the second half of the album as a result.
I guess my overall consensus of this one is that it's frankly just boring. Too many ballads, not enough hits, nothing to really tap your toes to. Is it the worst Elton John has every produced? I don't know. Maybe. I haven't heard much from him outside of the 80's, so I don't think it would be fair for me to say.
While he'd release two more albums in the 80's, 1988's Reg Strikes Back, and 1989's Sleeping With The Past, I've already played through the latter, so for me, there's just one more to check off. I'll be making it a point to do so tomorrow so that I can finally cross Elton off my "to do" list.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS October 28, 1989 |
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