This is a great album. I think it's even better than Songs from the West Coast (which was his best album in years to begin with). It's ballad heavy, but hey, so was Madman Across the Water. The production is wonderful (and it's the first time ever that Elton has produced one of his albums on his own), all "live band" with classy group background vocals and strong string and horn arrangements. Recorded mostly in his now-hometown of Atlanta, Georgia, the southern-fried arrangements fit like a glove around these soulful, heartfelt songs. Taupin's lyricism reaches a new high as he stretches his emotions to create lyrics that reflect Elton's feelings and perspectives. These songs sound "autobiographical" in the best way, honest and real.

I listened to this album for the first time driving home from Nashville yesterday evening, and I just kept thinking to myself, "Yeah, great stuff"...then "It's Getting Dark In Here" came on towards the end, and I almost had to pull off the road and weep. That song in particular captures something few songwriters have been willing to look at...the sense of irreversable loss that so many people around the world, and especially in America, have felt since 9/11/01. This song already has to rank among my 10 or 15 favorite all time Elton John songs.

If you loved Elton and Bernie on albums like Tumbleweed Connection, this album is worth checking out. No, he doesn't sing with that piercing tenor wail of his younger years, but he has more soul than most, and uses it to excellent effect on this truly brilliant collection of new songs.

I've not heard it yet, so I appreciate your take on it. I bought SONGS FROM THE WEST COAST without hearing any of it, based on some reviews that said it harkened back to the golden era. I didn't think that much of it. I'll try to listen to the new one on Rhapsody or download it before buying it.

JcS

Thanks for the recommendation. Haven't been into Elton much recently but I did love Tumbleweed Connection and all his earlier works with Taupin. This sounds like something I might like. And Elton's voice has actually gotten better with age I think.

this is the first positive review ive read for this album- everything else has been brutally negative. even the reviewers ive read who giv credit to ...West Coast hav panned it. glad yure lovin it, but iwont go out of my way for music's Queen Bitch [meant in the most complementary way possible- well, maybe not the most complementary way].

Chris, you didn't read All Music Guide's review, obviously:

Elton John returned to the sound and aesthetic of his classic early-'70s work with 2001's Songs From the West Coast, finding critical acclaim, if not much commercial success. Not that the lack of sales greatly bothered Elton — in many interviews, including one with Entertainment Weekly the week before Peachtree Road was released in November 2004, he claimed he was "disappointed" that it just barely went gold, but he was tired of making "uneven" records. John wasn't merely doing publicity: Peachtree Road proves that he's back to making good, solid records focused on songs, not hits, the way he did at the outset of his career. Since this is an album by a veteran, not an artist on the rise, it doesn't have the sense of discovery, or the hunger, that the early records still retain, and the production — the first self-production by John with no collaborators — is a little cleaner and crisper than the rich, warm sound of the late Gus Dudgeon (to whom this record is dedicated), who helmed such masterworks as Tumbleweed Connection. This means Peachtree Road is about craft, both in the writing and recording, which also means that it's a grower, with each song sounding stronger, better with each spin. While the sound of the record is bright and polished, this album makes few concessions to radio: this is certainly adult pop, but it never panders to adult contemporary radio, and the music is a little too rugged and sturdy to fit alongside the stubbornly sweet sounds of 21st century MOR. Which is precisely the point, of course: Elton has consciously returned to the reflective singer/songwriter template of the early '70s, both in his writing and production. Not that this is as lush as Elton John or country-tinged as Tumbleweed Connection — "Answer in the Sky" recalls the high-flying disco of "Philadelphia Freedom" quite deliberately, and "They Call Her the Cat" finds a halfway point between "Honkey Cat" and "The Bitch Is Back" — but it fits alongside those albums quite nicely because the focus is on songs, not trying to have hits. These songs may not rival his standards, but they're in the same tradition, and there's not a bad song in the bunch, resulting in a sturdy, satisfying record that proves that the comeback on Songs From the West Coast was no fluke and, hopefully, this latter-day renaissance for Elton will not be short-lived either.

obviously.