Well, I have to admit that I was surprised by El Dorado. Much better than TBP but not nearly as good as Made In England. This collection of songs reminds me of going to a Oriole game...You're down by one run with 2 outs in the 8th with a man on third base and your #8 hitter hits the ball just over the short-stop to tie the game. Not a home run but a nice surprise and great sense of relief that your man can still deliver the goods once in a while.
The best thing about El Dorado is the return of backing vocals. Particulary Queen of Cities, Trail We Blaze and Friends Never Say Goodbye. Plus, Patrick Leonard certainly brings a freshness to all the songs that we haven't heard in a while.
Lyrically, I'm getting a little tired of story/concept albums and Tim Rice can be a little awkward but at least it seems to challenge Elton (which is more than we can say for Taupin these days). Which is what makes Friends so good... it builds and builds to the chorus i.e. Rocket Man and Someone Saved My Life Tonight.
Too bad they put 3 instrumentals and didn't include the bonus tracks on the same cd. Because the instrumentals bring the whole album down and therefore, always makes it not quite a full Elton John album. I hope it does well.
Dave
Return to the album information.