Flipping over to 1981, I dive straight in from yesterday's post, Elton John's 1980 21 At 33, to his follow-up, The Fox. As noted yesterday, this album, along with the aforementioned 21, and its predecessor, 1982's Jump Up! were three albums I added to my collection out of some nagging necessitation to have all of his 1980's work.
Much like yesterday's post, I'm not going to dig into the history of the singer. I don't know enough about it to speak in any fashion of expertise, and I'm not going to regurgitate his long Wiki history as any perception of knowledge. Instead, I'll just jump into the album itself, and go from there.
Unlike 21 At 33, The Fox jumps out of the gate peppy, and interesting to my ears. Its upbeat tempo which drives Breaking Down Barriers is enjoyable, and makes me want to add it to my shuffle list. That right there is an achievement that none of the tracks from 21 got. It gave me hope.
I'm not a big rhythm and blues fan, but I will say that the guitar work in the second song, Heart In The Right Place was enough to make me take notice. It also showed the versatility of John. I already knew he had the chops to handle pop, rock, and even ballads. Now, we can go ahead and add blues to the list.
As a whole, I really dug this album. It had everything that 21 At 33 lacked. It was catchy, peppy, and a solid rock and roll entry. All this, despite not having what were considered "hits". Nobody Wins was the stand out track for me. It was mad upbeat, and just catchy all around. Definitely a hidden gem to be found. You should check it out. Yes, you. The person who just read that last couple of sentences.
Overall, The Fox was enjoyable. Again, devoid of hits, but good. Beyond that, there's not much to really say. This is kind of one of those short and to the point posts.
Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.
Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.
 |
| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS June 7, 1980 |
 |
| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS June 7, 1986 |
No comments:
Post a Comment