Jumping ahead 18 years, we reach the 1989 album Sleeping With the Past, which Elton John describes as a “drunken album” rather than a “drugged” one, and the last album he recorded before entering rehab.
When I first read the title of this song, it didn’t ring a bell. But once I fired it up on YouTube, it was instantly familiar. I don’t know if I heard it a bunch when I was 17 or more in the years since, but I certainly know it.
Elton John’s third album, Tumbleweed Connection, is one I own but I’m not very familiar with it. ‘Burn Down the Mission’ is the best-known track, and the only one I know by title alone.
In the Rolling Stone interview, John singles out the second track, ‘Come Down in Time,’ as a favorite from this album, citing its melancholy nature (a quality that should make it a favorite of mine as well).
In the latest issue of Rolling Stone, Cameron Crowe interviews Elton John about the songs that mean the most to him. The Elton John songs that mean the most to Elton John, that is.
Some were obvious, and popular — ‘Your Song,’ ‘Burn Down the Mission,’ ‘Madman Across the Water,’ ‘Rocket Man,’ Crocodile Rock,’ ‘I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues’ — but just as many were deep cuts. Songs I’ve never heard, at any rate.
I’m vulnerable to the cool new thing.
When a movie or album or performer is lavished with praise in all the “right” magazines and websites, I get a little antsy until I’m in the know. And more often than not, I agree with the chattering class.
In my defense, the critics are usually right, especially when there is near unanimous consent.
Today’s Random Weekend selection is the fifth cut from Adele’s blockbuster 2011 album, 21, to make the blog. And the six I haven’t featured are just as good.
This album was such an unexpected masterpiece. Adele’s first album (19) was a bore. I liked ‘Chasing Pavements’ well enough but I could barely make it through the rest. What happened in the intervening two years that prepared Adele to write and record such a stunning record?
Meet Me In Montauk 