Album Review: The Diving Board by Elton John

My experience with Elton John is a bit limited. I've only listened to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road all the way through and I've heard all the other singles he's put out. I love Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and really enjoy the dynamics and direction of that album. The Diving Board is a bit different seeing that the entire album is strictly piano, drums and bass and of course Elton's vocals. I guess its not really fair to compare the two albums considering Yellow Brick Road is regarded as the best album he ever wrote. I'll try my best not to deadlock them together.

I do like Diving Board a lot. It was a nice change of pace on my iPod. I was just surprised that it was so mellow and so piano oriented. I do appreciate the fact that the lead instrument is a piano. Many have tried to lead with a piano like Ben Folds, but no one really does it like Elton John. His piano "licks" are unique and completely non-generic. He even throws a few musical interludes throughout the album which give you a break from the solemn tunes. I was hoping for at least a few tracks that resemble Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting. I like the upbeat Elton John tunes as much as his ballads, but this album was severely lacking that rock and roll feel. I have to wait until track 13, a song called Mexican Vacation, to get a song that was faster paced. That is way too long to wait.

As I said before there are an abundance of ballads on Diving Board, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Home Again particularly played on my heart strings and it conveyed a message that I've always believed in. You can always come home, no matter where you are, you are always working your way back home. The other song that really took me by surprise and was extremely relevant to my current situation was Can't Stay Alone Tonight. I love when you can find a song that goes into your mind and really portrays what going on in your mind at that time. Well done Elton.

While Elton really drove it home with a handful of songs, I think the "filler" could have been a lot better. He beautifully paints certain parts of a portrait and the rest is just bland so it doesn't feel like a complete piece of art to me.

I've read that someone close to Elton suggested that this album recorded in a certain fashion. Namely just being the piano, drums and bass. I don't know if I agree with that formula, but allegedly this was Elton's style when he first started playing so I can dig that he wanted to get back to his roots. I'm sure if you are en Elton John fan, you will grab this one up. At least get Home Again, Can't Stay Alone Tonight and Diving Board if you want the best tracks. It's worth at least a listen.

I give The Diving Board by Elton John 3.5 out of 5 Burning Lariats

Album cover provided by amazon.com.