Elton John - Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

For a number of years I have had just one album by Elton John. Two things have kept me from buying more. One is that I knew they were going to be remastered and, sure enough, they finally have been so that point is moot. The second thing is that the one album I have had is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. My fear is that any other album is going to be a big letdown. If you are not familiar with GYBR, it is simply a stunning album and I could not imagine Elton making another that even came close to it, though he was certainly capable of doing so. Silly, maybe, but that's how my mind works sometimes. I recently decided to take the plunge and picked up the remastered Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, considered to be one of Elton's best albums from the seventies. Well, I can report that, while not as good as GYBR, it is not the big letdown I feared. Songs like the exquisite Someone Saved My Life Tonight and the inclusion of bonus tracks including Elton's cover of The Beatles' Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds make this a keeper. Along with those songs, though, are hints of the overproduction that has plagued Elton for the past, oh, 25 years. Tell Me When The Whistle Blows is a good (sad?) example. I prefer Elton's music stripped down with room to breathe so I will be acquiring his earlier albums as I continue. Then again, I like what Hans Zimmer did with Elton's The Circle of Life so what do I know?