.864. Elton John--Elton John (1970; #4) (2)

864. Elton John--Elton John (1970; #4) (2)

1. Your Song (8+)
2. I Need You to Turn To (?) (3)
3. Take Me to the Pilot (6)
4. No Shoe Strings on Louise (?) (2+)
5. First Episode at Hienton (?) (4+)
6. Sixty Years On (?) (2)
7. Border Song (3+)
8. The Greatest Discovery (?) (2)
9. The Cage (?) (2)
10. The King Must Die (?) (2)

REVIEW: A good first outing, with songs like Your Song and Take Me to the Pilot foreshadowing the gems to come. A 2 for now.

1. Your Song (8+)
2. I Need You to Turn To (?) (3)
3. Take Me to the Pilot (6)
4. No Shoe Strings on Louise (?) (2+)
5. First Episode at Hienton (?) (4+)
6. Sixty Years On (?) (2)
7. Border Song (3+)
8. The Greatest Discovery (?) (2)
9. The Cage (?) (2)
10. The King Must Die (?) (2)

REVIEW: A good first outing, with songs like Your Song and Take Me to the Pilot foreshadowing the gems to come. A 2 for now.

ED'S TAKE:
864. Elton John--Elton John (1970;

1. Your Song (10)
2. I Need You to Turn To (10)
3. Take Me to the Pilot (9)
4. No Shoe Strings on Louise (9)
5. First Episode at Hienton (10)
6. Sixty Years On (10)
7. Border Song (9)
8. The Greatest Discovery (10)
9. The Cage (9)
10. The King Must Die (10)

OVERALL ALBUM RANKING: 10

COMMENTS: On this one, it was even better than I'd remembered....surely Elton's best for me. I absolutely took to every ballad on the album and found the fast one's very strong too. Surely, much of it WAS the songs by Bernie T. and the perfect meshing of them with Elton's vocals. I have a certain sensitivity to the use of big orchestral arrangements in rock music but it CAN be done where it doesn't lessen the affect of the music (re: The Beatles). Here, there ARE instances where the arrangements are quite busy but they never interfere with the song or the singing. At least not to me. Maybe some of this stuff DOES relate to one's initial connection...... a connection that time can't destroy. I mean, by Goodby Yellow Brick Road, I wasn't following Elton anymore but this album means as much today as it did the first time I heard it while stationed in Ft. Sill (Lawton), Oklahoma.

edit #1: I think I was already in my last military location, Alaska, when Elton's self titled album came out in 1970....NOT Oklahoma.