Search - Elton John :: Big Picture

Michelle D. from HAMPDEN, ME
Reviewed on 3/11/2021...

The 90's weren't exactly Elton John's strong suit. BUT however, this album has some of my favorite Elton John songs. Wicked Dreams is awesome, as is Live Like Horses. The only others that seem to stick out for me are Long Way From Happiness, Love's Got A Lot To Answer For, and Something About The Way You Look Tonight. Many might remember that last one as the A-side for the Princess Diana memorial single. This is a pretty good album, and totally worth a listen.

A Missing Picture

Michael Kerner | Brooklyn, New York U.S.A. | 02/15/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"When it came to the 90's for Elton John, he returned to the roots of making dominant albums. After his recovery from his addictions to drugs and alcoholism, he made some of the best music that had shown in years. With the success of albums like The One from 1992 and the 1995 overlooked masterpiece Made In England, which returned him to the classic roots of 70's albums. But, for the following few years, he had dealt a double whammy of blows which coincided with the deaths of his friends Gianni Versace and Princess Diana. It showed into what made his follow-up to Made In England a much more subdued but deeply creative album that showed in the reflection.



Elton John's 1997 album The Big Picture doesn't completely showcase a dominance that was shown in his music from earlier times. Nevertheless, that doesn't mean the album is medicore. The album does include some really good songs, but all of them were mainly overshadowed by the #1 smash, Something About The Way You Look Tonight, which was a part of the Candle In The Wind 1997 single to show in memory of Princess Diana's death. Regardless, this record was all done on memory of Gianni Versace. Other than Something About The Way You Look Tonight, there are a lot of surprising songs here like the Gospel-influenced If The River Can Bend, the overlooked Recover Your Soul, and slow mid-tempo somberness of songs like the opening track Long Way From Happiness to the depths of Live Like Horses, all the way to the essence of beginnings as detailed in January.



All in all, The Big Picture isn't a bad album for die hard Elton John fans and has some meaningful songs, but it doesn't do enough to bring in newcomers to Elton John's music. Still, it is a pretty good album that says so much from the heart and that is really the actual big picture.



Songs: B-



Price: B



Mastering: C+



Overall: B-"

Mature composers DO DELIVER!!!!!

Martha de Roufogalis | Bogotá, Colombia | 10/07/2008

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's unlikely that a mature composer, even one as great as EJ, can make such an excellent album.



But this is truly inspired stuff, not a rehashing of a well-known musical language.



And if it doesn't hit you immediately, keep listening. The reward is worthy."