Elton John - Madman Across The Water (1971) [2001, Japanese Mini-LP CD]

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Elton John - Madman Across The Water (1971) [2001, Japanese Mini-LP CD]

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"Madman Across the Water" is the 4th studio album by Elton John, released in 1971. This was the last album to feature John's regular touring band (Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson) on only a single song. Later band member, percussionist Ray Cooper, makes his first appearance with this album. As with all John songs during this period, the lyrics were penned by his writing partner, Bernie Taupin. This was the last album to be recorded at London's Trident Studios, although subsequent albums would be remixed or overdubbed at Trident. Caleb Quaye and Roger Pope would not play with John again until Rock of the Westies in 1975, following Murray and Olsson's departure from the band. "Madman Across the Water" barely reached #41 on the UK Albums Chart, spending only two weeks there. It has been the lowest-charting album of his career to date. The album fared much better in North America, peaking at #8 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums and placing at #10 on the year-end list of 1972. It received Gold by the RIAA in February 1972, achieving $1 million in sales at wholesale value just in the United States. In 1993, the album was certified Platinum, representing shipments of more than 1 million units in the US.[6] In 1998, the album was certified Multi-Platinum, representing shipments of over 2 million units in the US. In May 2017 the album was certified Silver for sales of 60,000 units by the British Phonographic Industry.

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Elton John - Madman Across The Water (1971) [2001, Japanese Mini-LP CD]

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Trading the cinematic aspirations of Tumbleweed Connection for a tentative stab at prog rock, Elton John and Bernie Taupin delivered another excellent collection of songs with Madman Across the Water. Like its two predecessors, Madman Across the Water is driven by the sweeping string arrangements of Paul Buckmaster, who gives the songs here a richly dark and haunting edge. And these are songs that benefit from grandiose treatments. With most songs clocking in around five minutes, the record feels like a major work, and in many ways it is. While it's not as adventurous as Tumbleweed Connection, the overall quality of the record is very high, particularly on character sketches "Levon" and "Razor Face," as well as the melodramatic "Tiny Dancer" and the paranoid title track. Madman Across the Water begins to fall apart toward the end, but the record remains an ambitious and rewarding work, and John never attained its darkly introspective atmosphere again.

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Elton John - Madman Across The Water (1971) [2001, Japanese Mini-LP CD]

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Elton John - Madman Across The Water (1971) [2001, Japanese Mini-LP CD]

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