Search - Elton John :: Caribou

Dwight M. (Dewey) from RUTLAND, MA
Reviewed on 6/1/2010...

Caribou houses some of the great music from the Elton John/Bernie Taupin writing team. Even the lesser known music is great, but my favorite song on this album is "Ticking". Any E. John fan will be more than satisfied with this CD.

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There is a later remastered version available

Lonnie E. Holder | Columbus, Indiana, United States | 07/22/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"I am not sure why this album is still available, because there is a later remaster also available. In any case, the songs are the same, so you may want to seek that one out instead of this one.



This album suffered from a number of problems, the biggest one of which is that when you keep releasing album after album that pushes the edge, what are you going to follow up with? While many people were disappointed with this album because some of the songs are relatively lightweight, the core music here is solid, and there are a couple of gems. Furthermore, this album was one of the few Elton did that was nominated for album of the year. Included in this re-release are four bonus songs, which I'll include in my review.



The songs that are the least serious and closest to being throwaway songs are "Pinky", "Grimsby", and "Solar Prestige a Gammon". Though there are chords that will seem familiar when compared to the music from "Captain Fantastic", these songs are not in the same league.



"You're so Static" and "Bitch is Back" are fast-moving songs in the vein of "Saturday Night's Alright for Fightin'" and "Your Sister Can't Dance" from "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". I have to throw "Pinball Wizard" in this group because it is a fast rocker too, even though it stands out because it was originally a Who song, performed by Elton in the movie "Tommy".



"Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is an Elton John standard, beautiful lyrics and music, every bit as good as anything Elton's ever done.



There are two songs on here that I find personally satisfying, though neither is really pop. I'm not sure where they fit, actually. The first is "I've Seen the Saucers". The subject is just what the title says; it's a slow mellow song about visitors from another planet. I love science fiction, I love the song. It's one of the rare songs with a science fiction flavor that is done well and at least semi-seriously, versus silly songs like "Purple People Eater". The second song is "Ticking", which is incredibly moving and sad. I like to play this song loud, and sink into the lyrics. There is a story to this song that is in a category similar to "Danny Bailey" from "Yellow Brick Road". You can almost see the story of this song as a headline.



I also liked "Step into Christmas". Some people may think it's silly, or unsatisfying, or whatever. Fine. I still like it. There are few rock Christmas songs that are any good, and I personally enjoy this one. Another one that I play loudly because I think it's good.



There are a couple other songs that I missed, such as "Sick City" and "Cold Highway", which were B-sides to something. These songs are fair. Not Elton's best, but nice to have.



While this album was not Elton's best, the production values were very high. There are a number of songs that are very good. Some songs are unique in the Elton John playbook. You must have this album if you are a serious Elton John fan. If you are a casual fan, buy his greatest hits and pass this one over. However, before you pass this one by, I recommend you listen to a copy and decide for yourself whether you like the music. I still rank this album as one of Elton's 10 best out of the dozens that he's done.

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