Search - Elton John :: Sleeping With the Past

Elton Continues to Strike Back

Lonnie E. Holder | Columbus, Indiana, United States | 06/27/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"There was a lot of hope for Elton John fans with the release of "Reg Strikes Back" in 1986. Elton's singing was more energetic and his music was more creative than in the previous few albums, particularly his musical low point, "Leather Jackets." The question was: would Elton's next release show even more improvement? The answer was an absolute yes. "Sleeping with the Past" had Elton and Bernie moving toward improved creativity and a renewal of their careers. Some of the songs on this CD are significantly more inspired than songs the duo had created in years, and fans could rejoice that Elton really was striking back.



The album kicks off with "Durban Deep." Durban Deep is the name of a mine in South Africa. I believe the mine is actually a gold mine, though the lyrics talk about breathing coal dust. Regardless, this bouncy tune has some interesting musical effects to back it up.



The second song is upbeat. "Healing Hands" reflects the powerful pop style of Elton's 70s hits. This song sets the tone for this album, rather than the first song. This song also reached #15 on the U.S. charts, backed by "Dancing in the End Zone," which did not appear on this album in its original release, but which is included on the remastered version.



The third song is one of the best songs on this CD, and surprises me in that the song was not released as a single by itself rather than being released backing "The Club at the End of the Street." This song is one of the most artistic on this CD, and is a beautiful love ballad as well. Elton excellently matched his music to Bernie Taupin's lyrics to create one of those songs that could easily have been included on Elton's "Love Songs" CD. This song is an overlooked gem. Fortunately it is one of the longest songs on this CD, and I enjoy every second.



"The Club at the End of the Street" is a nice pop song that is bouncy and upbeat and fits all the requirements for commercial success. However, of the songs released from this CD, this one was the weakest, reaching only #25 in the U.S. Since this song was backed by "Whispers," which I think is the better song of the two, perhaps this song should have charted higher.



The next song is the title track. Keeping with the tone of the album, this song is also peppy and upbeat, with a very enthusiastic refrain. While this song has a commercial flavor similar to the previous song, somehow this song comes across as more creative and interesting. By the time you reach this song you realize that this CD is much more consistent and musically interesting than any Elton John CD in a number of years, and yet, there are even more interesting songs to come on this CD.



I have little to say about "Stones Throw from Hurtin'." I know Elton was trying to affect a certain style, and perhaps he succeeds. I know I do not care for the style. The vocal sounds muddy and nearly monotone and the music is too repetitious. This song is the weakest and is stylistically very different from the other songs on this CD.



"Sacrifice" makes up for the last song by being one of the best songs on this CD. This song reached #18 on the U.S. charts, backed by "Love Is a Cannibal," which is a song from "Ghostbusters II." This song was chosen for Elton's "Love Songs" collection, and is one of Elton's greatest ballads. The music contains a lot of electronic effects, but they are so well done that they enhance the beautiful words and the excellence of Elton's vocals. This song is one that strikes an emotional chord every time you hear it.



Breaking out of the mellow mood is "I Never Knew Her Name." This jazzy song is about an observer at a wedding, seeing a beautiful woman that impresses him. This song is an above average song for this CD that contains a number of interesting musical moments, including an all too brief organ portion. Combined with Elton's powerful vocal performance, this song delivers.



Elton did powerful blues songs early in his career, but did so less frequently as his career progressed. "It Amazes Me" has a lot of soul and power, with even the words throwing in an element of blues and soul, making a number of obvious references. This song is poetically and musically interesting, and is yet another of the strong performances on this CD. The guitar on this song is very well done and takes a rare lead on the bridge of this song.



The last song on this CD is very mellow. I could easily see Dan Fogelberg singing "Blue Avenue." The music is very well done and matches Taupin's lyrics very nicely. There is a touch of jazz on this song, in keeping with some of the earlier songs. This song is yet another of the standout songs on this CD.



In addition to the original songs, the remaster includes the aforementioned B-sides "Dancing in the End Zone" and "Love Is a Cannibal," both nice additions to fill out the time available on this CD, in addition to being associated with singles released from this album.



If Elton had yet to really strike back with his previous album, he certainly did with this album. Following Elton John and Bernie Taupin's induction into the National Songwriter's Hall of Fame in 1988, this album generated Elton's first ever #1 single in the United Kingdom, "Sacrifice," and proved that Elton John was still an incredible singer and song writer. Elton and Bernie were poised to go into the 1990s refreshed, ready to climb back into the charts anew, and ready to break into territory that was new to both of them.

"

Elton's got soul

Dr Jeremy Buddle | Battery Point, Tasmania Australia | 08/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is a terrific album. Quite simply, it is the first Elton album since Captain Fantastic in 1975 to have any sort of unifying theme, and the idea (let's do a set of new songs inspired by pop, rock and soul classics of yesteryear) was really good, even if , as Elton explained in a 1989 radio interview I have in my collection, it had been borrowed from Billy Joel and his An Innocent Man album (1983).



Elton had just started emerging from a horrendous sequence of personal traumas (unjustified press vilification, divorce, drug abuse, slumping record sales, and vocal cord surgery) during the 3 years 1986-88 when he went into the studios in Denmark to record this 10-song set in 1989. With each lyric, he and Bernie thought of a style of music that might be appropriate, then Elton would whip up the new tunes.



In August 1989, the first single Healing Hands was released . An uplifting, soulful song about the redemptive power of love, this missed overseas, but was a #14 hit here in Australia. A great song, it re-ignited my interest in Elton John's music, which had wavered during the late 80's - I remember spinning my new copy of the 7' vinyl single heaps of times in October 1989!! From then on I was keenly interested in the chart fortunes of Elton's new album and its subsequent singles.



The album cover showed a monochrome photo of a hatless Elton(!!!) sleeping in shadows, with wispy, now platinum-white dyed hair!!



Opening track Durban Deep is jaunty , but not actually that memorable, although it seems to be about miners in South Africa. Despite the potential for thus causing political trouble (this was still the 80's and the odious National Party government still ran that country), this innocuous track made few waves. Healing Hands came next and really sparked the album into life. It was followed by the sublime Whispers. I really like this song - it showed Elton was really back in form after treading water for several years creatively. This had lovely music, especially the tinkling piano flourishes in the coda, and subtle vocals from Elton, whose voice was also approaching its best again after his health scare.



Track 4 was the very enjoyable Club At The End Of The Street, which I recall Elton saying in an interview was "after the style of the Drifters" - i.e. soulful harmony pop complete with vocal "doo-wops" etc. This was accompanied by a really fun animated video, which is one Elton John collectible I hace never been able to track down, but which I remeber from pop TV back in 1990. Club... became a pop hit in July 1990 as the 3rd single from the album. "Me and you rendezvous / In the club at the end of the street..." The album's title track Sleeping With The Past has a conventional guitar hook and is not bad overall, just not the best song here.



Side 2 of the original LP began with Elton producing an unusual soft falsetto vocal on the catchy tune Stone's Throw From Hurtin'; this worked well in concert, I recall. Then comes Sacrifice, which is remembered as the key song of this album for several reasons. Firstly, it is a well-crafted, mature song about relationship difficulties and disappointments that avoids the obvious and over-used cliches inherent in this genre of songwriting (Bernie is too clever to fall into this trap). Secondly, it seemed to be one of those occasions where Elton was singing about something personal to his own life, and put lots of soul into his performance. Thirdly, it was a smash hit at a time when Elton was pushing 43 and could perhaps have been expecting to start a slow fade from popularity after 19 years already as an established pop star. Sacrifice missed in the UK on initial release in 1989, but hit #7 here in Australia in March 1990. Then in June, it was re-released as a double-A 7" single with Healing Hands and topped the UK chart for 5 weeks !!

An amazing comeback for Elton, who celebrated again soon after when Sleeping... hit Australia #2 and UK #1 (his first album chart-topper there in 15 years). This resurgence happily co-incided with Elton's success in reforming his obsessive lifestyle, and promised an optimistic decade ahead. The Sacrifice had been worth it.



The last three songs are slow to medium paced and really good too. I Never Knew Her Name revisits the bride and groom territory of Kiss the Bride (from Too Low For Zero), while Amazes Me is a slow track that's drenched in soul. Last track Blue Avenue occupies a similar place to Too Low For Zero's One More Arrow - it is a great piano-based song with a wonderful melody that deserves to be better known than it is. It stands up well against classic tuneful Elton ballads of any past era.



Like Too Low For Zero six years before, this album enjoyed a year-and-a-half run on the charts, and spawned several hit singles, while bringing Elton's music right to the forefront of popular acclaim once again after aeveral fallow years. It is a very enjoyable set that still sounds good today.



The bonus tracks are the 1989 B-sides Dancing In The End Zone and Love Is A Cannibal, neither of which is a stand-out track, but which are OK rockers.



This album is 5-stars for sheer entertainment value and for its pivotal role in restoring Elton to his rightful place at the top of the pop music world.

"

This Album Proves That Elton Is Still Standing

Barry | 09/20/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Every musical artist has their ups and downs. Their peaks and valleys. Elton John has certainly had his. The late 70's started to turn bad, but there was an upswing in the early 80's. It went mediocre again in the mid 80's. But, in 1989, Elton shined through again with this amazing album. Sleeping With The Past is easily Elton's best work of the entire 80's. "Too Low For Zero" would be second. The album is fashioned after a lot of soul and R&B music that had originally inspired Elton and Bernie. The three singles were all hits and the strongest set of singles Elton released in the 80's. "Healing Hands" is classic Elton. The melody is priceless. "Sacrifice" is one of the best, most hauntingly beautiful pieces of work he's ever recorded. "Club At The End Of The Street" is bouncy fun. Every track on this album is either good or great. There's no weak spot. That's something to be treasured. The title track is an uptempo rocker that'll make anybody a fan. "I Never Knew Her Name" is a fantastic song that deserved to be a single. Elton's voice sounds as good as ever. It's just a lovely, haunting album. You can tell by the somber looking front cover. Elton started back on a roll again with this album. He hasn't stopped since. This is an essential album for any EJ fan to have. A classic Elton John album."