Furthermore, the sequence now serves as the link between John’s glory years (1970 -1975) and the last two decades, during which he’s released a series of fine records that hearken back to his classic era without being beholden to it. The combination of an excellent set of Elton John/Bernie Taupin compositions with a series of smart production and arrangement choices led to a superb statement. Songs From the West Coast is just that good. I’d also change my notes to read “…that picks up way back where Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy left off in 1975″. Master arranger Paul Buckmaster, who worked on John’s earliest collections, returns to perform his magic, particularly on “Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes”.Īs its 20th anniversary was approaching, I immersed myself in Songs From the West Coast and can now confidently state that if I redid my Top 20 list, I would bump the LP up at least two notches (if not higher). But the whole album is a strong effort with songs such as “Look Ma, No Hands” and “Birds”, featuring a stripped-down sound and production style harkening back to John’s earliest work. John’s musical revival is evident from the opening notes of “The Emperor’s New Clothes”. “Ryan Adams inspired John “to do better” and the result was Songs From the West Coast, a return to form that picks up way back where Too Low for Zero left off back in 1983. It was placed between The Diving Board (2013) at #11 and The Captain and the Kid (2006) at #9, and here is what I wrote: When I finished, John’s 26th studio LP, Songs From the West Coast (released at the start of October 2001), found itself in the #10 spot. Several years ago, the Arizona Republic tasked me with compiling a list of 20 essential Elton John albums.
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