Search - Elton John :: Ice on Fire

Yet another masterpiece! Nikita and Wrap Her Up shine bright

Dennis F. Towle | Hayward, CA United States | 06/04/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"On Fire is right! Elton John didn't receive enough acclaim for this 1985 album. Bernie Taupin and John teamed up, once again, for this collection of songs....and what resulted was more hits for them to add to their, already, impressive long list of Top 40 songs! Wrap Her Up is a clever dance hit with John and, guest singer, George Michael naming off the most beautiful and sexiest famous women in the world; whom they both fantasize of being with....for a cup of tea :) Nikita is the showstopper hit, and is my very favorite Elton John song to this date: 6/4/01! Nikita is a wonderful ballad....of a man proclaiming his love for a Russian female soldier who is alienated from him by way of a large fortress wall. The beautiful music and lyrics of Nikita are sheer perfection of John and Taupin; with George Michael adding his backing vocals superbly to this one-of-a-kind love song! I would recommend this album simply for these 2 songs alone....I also would suggest his "Greatest Hits 1976-1986" CD(which also feature these hits)! Get it here at Amazon.com! Peace."

A great eighties album

Peter Durward Harris | Leicester England | 11/06/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Elton's career has had its ups and downs, but this album came at a time when he was in top form. It followed Breaking hearts (featuring Sad songs say so much, Passengers) and that in turn followed Too low for zero (featuring I'm still standing, I guess that's why they call it the blues). Both of those albums contained some fine album tracks as well as those major hit singles and some lesser hits, and this album followed the pattern. Gus Dudgeon, producer of Elton's albums from his classic 1970 to 1976 period, returned to that position for this album.



The biggest hit here was Nikita, which by making the UK top three, was Elton's biggest UK hit for nearly ten years, although he'd had plenty of UK top ten hits in between. Nikita also made the top ten in America. The follow-up single from this album, Wrap her up made the top twenty on both sides of the Atlantic without capturing the public imagination to the extend of its predecessor. Both hits featured George Michael on backing vocals. A third single from the album, Cry to heaven, became a minor UK hit. By that time, anybody who wanted the song probably had the album. Other great tracks on the album include This town, Tell me what the papers say and Candy by the pound.



When one thinks of Elton John's albums, this one isn't usually among the first to come to mind, but that's only because Elton recorded so many great albums. There is much to like about this album, which was later expanded to include four bonus tracks. This may not be the place to begin a collection of Elton's studio albums, but no serious Elton John fan should be without it."