Honky Château

Elton John - Honky Château

Honky Château
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CD Details

Artist: Elton John
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered
Published: 1996
CD Release Date: 1996-05-14
Music Label: Island
Soundtracks:
  1. Honky Cat
  2. Mellow
  3. I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself
  4. Susie (Dramas)
  5. Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time)
  6. Salvation
  7. Slave
  8. Amy
  9. Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters
  10. Hercules
  11. Slave (Alternate Version)

Music reviews of Honky Château

Music Review: Elton Goes Pop.
Rating: 4 Stars

I have the greatest admiration and affection for Elton John. He has tackled and conquered most styles of music with great success. HONKY CHATEAU is his fifth album, released in May 1972. I hope to review all his seventies albums and this is the first I drew "out of the hat".

After his two previous albums which were artistic, but not commercial triumphs, Elton went for the larger audience with HONKY CHATEAU and created a more pop orientated album, without sacrficing his artistic ideals. He started to shake off the obsession with the American Wild West and sang about more modern subjects. Americana is atill in evidence especially on HONKY CAT, SLAVE, MONA LISAS AND MAD HATTEERS and ROCKET MAN but it is more varied. Nothing wrong with that as I was getting tired of hearing about people labelled as "guns" in his previous albums. The seeds of what can be described as Elton's band, Nigel Olsson, Davey Johnstone and Dee Murray originated here and they were the core of musicians during Elton's golden period in the early and mid 70's. Even Ray Cooper plays on some tracks.

The cover is one of the most misleading I have seen. Who is that bearded, serious guy? Surely a better cover could have been deivsed. Anyway to the album itself. I would like to give it 4.5 stars but am not allowed by the rating system. Song titles are followed by the song time.

It kicks off with HONKY CAT (5.13). I haven't heard Elton having this much fun since he sang THE CAGE on his self-titled album which was three albums previous. This is a great song with great Taupin lyrics. Definitely one of my favourites.

Next is MELLOW (5.32). This one I can skip although most reviewrs consider it a highlight. I like the verse but not the chorus and it goes on too long. On of my peeves with artists is songs that go on longer than they should. This is one of them. Too many chorus repeats.

Song 3 is I THINK I"M GOING TO KILL MYSELF (3.34). This is very light-hearted and not to be taken seriously. Just listen to the arrangement! Honky-tonk piano, tap dancing and spoons. Sounds like a big spoof.

SUSIE (DRAMAS) (3.24). Another favourite and it is the first gutsy song on the album. The Dramas part escapes me and is not necessary. BLACK-EYED SUSIE would have been a better song title.

Then comes ROCKET MAN (4.41). One of Elton's biggest hits. Great tune, great vocal, great arrangement but some of the lyrics are lazy especially in Verses 3 and 4. "Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids. In fact it's cold as hell" are two wonderful lines but what follows "and there's no-one there to raise them if you did" doesn't make much sense". The next verse about "it's just my job five days a week, a rocket man" etc is also a letdown.

The next two songs: SALVATION (3.58) and SLAVE (4.20) are the two most dismissed songs by other reviewers. SALVATION is quit a nice song with a gospel feel to it but I think SLAVE is a highlight. It has a very laid back whimsical feel to it although the lyrics are on the angry side and it is rare on an Elton song that the keyboards take a back seat. Great acoustic guitar, country guitar and banjo all played by Davey Johnstone!

AMY (4.03) is probably the weirdest song on the album and one of Elton's most unique songs in that there is no tune!. You cannot sing or whistle it but that is why I like it. Very odd lyrics but I love the line "Amy you're the girl that wrecks my dreams". Aslo listen to the bizarre electric violin played by Jean-Luc Ponty!

MONA LISAS AND MAD HATTERS (5.00) gets the most praise and it does hit the nail on the head about New York City. My only problem is that it cries out for a third verse and not an amalgamation of Verses 1 + 2. I feel the song is over half-way through and it has nothing to say for the last two minutes. Sorry for going against the grain of thinking. But it is my one main gripe about Elton John in that some songs could be shorter. TINY DANCER, MY FATHER"S GUN, BENNIE AND THE JETS and SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT are other examples.

Last song is HERCULES (5.20) which is a lot of fun and ends the album on a fun singalong note! Obscure lyrics again from Bernie. I can just about glean from the words that it is about a girl in love with a muscle boy but the words incorporate much more that I cannot fathom.

There is also a bonus track, a fast rocking version of SLAVE(2.51) which is worth listening to but the album version is much better.

More Honky Château free music reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Description of Honky Château

Japanese-only SHM-CD (Super High Material CD) paper sleeve pressing of this classic album from the British singer/songwriter and entertainer, originally released in 1972. SHM-CDs can be played on any audio player and delivers unbelievably high-quality sound. You won't believe it's the same CD! Includes one bonus track. Universal. 2008.
By 1972, Elton John was already a rising star in America, although most casual listeners still identified him as part of the singer/songwriter explosion, thanks to the success of "Your Song" and "Levon." Honky Château changed all that, beginning with the success of "Honky Cat," a rousing New Orleans-ish R&B powerhouse that kicks off this terrific collection of songs. This was the album that first revealed John as a pure-pop craftsman, and he's all over the musical map on this set, moving from country-ish rock to blues-based rockers. But the best things here still might be two gorgeous ballads: "Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters" (displaying the young vocalist at his best) and the hit single "Rocket Man" (which had many rock fans debating which was the better space odyssey of the day--this or Bowie's). And lyricist Bernie Taupin was revealing a new, slightly darker side here via tunes like "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself." --Bill Holdship

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