Tracks: 18
- Genre/Styles
- Rock & Roll, Singer/Songwriter, Soft Rock, Glam Rock, Contemporary Pop/Rock, Album Rock
Album Tracks (18)
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What the Critics Say
Recorded for the BBC at Christmas in 1973, smack in the middle of the Yellow Brick Road, with "Step Into Christmas" stormtrooping up the chart and not a single lousy album in his entire catalog, Elton John hit the airwaves for a festive party which still wipes the floor with every live recording he's unleashed himself. The opening "Funeral For a Friend"/"Love Lies Bleeding" (has anyone conceived a better intro than that?) sets the stage. John himself is in strong voice, and even stronger fingers; never the kind of consummate show-off which scarred the performance of so many other early '70s pianists, he still hammered the keys into submission, coaxing genuine emotion where others would go for mock majesty, and having a bloody good time while he was at it. He chases the guitar with his tonsils during "Bleeding"; slowing "Bennie And The Jets" to a vaudevillian grind, a million miles from the classic rock staple it has so tiresomely become; getting playful for "Honky Cat," baleful for "Alice," and encouraging the audience to bossa nova through "Daniel." And all that despite suffering from an audibly crippling cold. A throwaway "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" conjures up memories of the music hall piano turns from which John's own showmanship was most obviously descended, while storming versions of "Crocodile Rock" and "Saturday Night" bookend positively the most heartfelt "Your Song" you're ever going to hear. But the most important thing to bear in mind is, for all the musical sins he's subsequently committed, he was once a jobbing, slogging musician in a real rock & roll band, hitting the highways in a sweaty van and eating greasy food with the roadies. And this was recorded while he still remembered what that felt like. ~ Dave Thompson, All Music Guide
