I remember buying this album like it was yesterday, back in the good old school days. There was so much amazing music released in that four year period when I was at high school. When I look back on that period now, it blows my mind that I was surrounded by such amazing music. This is hands down Elton John’s finest hour, as this album is just superb from beginning to end.
I love every inch of this album right from the almost Prog opening of Funeral For A Friend, to the beautiful ending of Harmony. I don’t care who you are, but any artist would have been proud of just Side 1 alone. The aforementioned Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding, Candle In The Wind, and Bennie And The Jets. I mean come on! Elton and Bernie sure tapped into something in ’73 – this is such an incredible side of music.
Funeral For A Friend (Love Lies Bleeding) is my favourite Elton piece of all the things he has recorded – it’s such an epic awesome piece of music that I love dearly. There are two other big singles on the album, namely the awesome title track and the rockin’ Saturday Nights Alright For Fighting. Nobody could touch Elton in his prime, and he had the knack of painting pictures in your mind with his music -that’s a gift not many musicians have. The record company must have wet themselves when Elton handed them this, as they must have seen dollar signs going off into the sunset. Elton has sold over 300 million albums throughout his career, and this has sold over 30 million of them. I would advise handing over your cash to be one of them.
10/10 from The Grooveman.
