Search - Elton John :: Honky Chateau

Elton Finds His Sound

Lonnie E. Holder | Columbus, Indiana, United States | 05/04/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Honky Chateau was the first album to finally contain an identifiable "sound" for Elton John. Elton's previous albums meandered from country rock to gospel to symphonic to hard rock to pop; it was hard to tell just what type of music Elton was trying to sing. However, with Honky Chateau Elton defined a style that was to be his, and which I think is still his style today, evolved with time and skill.



Another of Elton's albums that went to number 1 on the album charts, this one is filled with gems that set a new personal standard for Elton, and gave the world rock music that would one day be classics.



"Honky Cat" was infused with a bit of jazz and had a fast beat, and has some thematic similarity to "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". Similar to the latter song "Honky Cat" charted as a single, and helped to establish Elton as a pop star.



"Rocket Man" is a pop ballad that is one of Elton's most requested songs, both in concert and on the radio. Certainly one of the most memorable space songs, along with "Space Oddity" by David Bowie. The nearly humorous lyrics ("...Mars ain't the kind of place to raise your kids...") belie the very serious nature of the song.



"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" is another mellow pop song, with beautiful harmonies. Underappreciated though very well performed.



There is a lot of quality in the other songs. "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself" is ironic in that the song is about death, but the music maintains a fast tempo and sounds upbeat. When I listen to this song I tend to ignore that the song is about suicide because the music sounds so positive.



"Mellow" has moments of musical interest as the music breaks from the expected musical path and explores stylistic variations. Was Elton John trying to inject progressive elements into his music?



"Hercules" has been a sort of theme song for Elton himself. During a 1975 concert in Denver Elton's band played Hercules for a very lengthy period of time as Elton walked around the stage and shook hands with as many fans as he could reach. He calls himself Elton Hercules John. This song is a rocker that he seems to want to use to identify himself.



"Salvation" has the potential to be a gospel song, but it really doesn't sound very gospel. "All the Nasties" from "Madman Across the Water" has a much stronger gospel sound, which was less strong than the previous "Border Song." Elton has used gospel elements in a few songs, but as he progressed in his career the gospel elements became weaker and weaker. On his next album, "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player", the gospel element was essentially non-existent.



Every song on this CD is at least good, and range up to great. The only song I had trouble with on this version was the hyper version of "Slave" added as a bonus track. I guess after getting accustomed to the released version the hyper version sounds like the original speeded up, a lot.



"Honky Chateau" is classic Elton. The music is still not commercial. He'd just found a sound that was all his. He was maturing as a singer and song writer. With this album it was evident to even the most cynical critic that Elton was a force to be reckoned with in the music world. However, even given Elton's growing track record, no one could have predicted the power house that he was yet to be.

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