Elton John - 21 at 33

By Lee G.

The decade of the Super70s saw Elton John experience all the facets of a career in music. In the early Super70s he was a force on the rise, by the mid 70's he had achieved international superstar status, and by the late Super70s things had begun to deteriorate, the curtain seemed to be coming down on him. The recording and release of the album "21 at 33" marked the beginning of Elton's resurgence to fame and glory that would continue on through the Awesome80s.

This is an excellent and very unique album. It displays many different musical sides of Elton John, some of which were not heard from before, or since. The album gets off to a good start with "Chasing The Crown". It's an exuberant number, Elton combines the sounds of rock n roll and mixes in a little funk, and it works well. Next up is the song that this album is mostly known for, "Little Jeannie". This tune put Elton John back on the charts, and began his resurgence to fame. It's a ballad, with wonderful vocal harmony being the highlight. Next up is "Sartorial Eloquence". This song also charted, but didn't have nearly the impact as "Jeannie" did. Another terrific ballad, it's also a bit more powerful and emotional than "Little Jeannie", which has a lighter & softer sound.

Side one ends with "Two Rooms At The End Of The World". I believe Elton is singing about his reuniting with Bernie Taupin on this one. It's a funky sounding tune, not usual territory for EJ, but it fits the mood of the album well and it's quite enjoyable.

Side two opens with "White Lady White Powder". This excellent rocker sounds like a throwback to Elton's heyday in the mid Super70s. It had all the tools to be a hit, but possibly because of the songs title and lyric content it received little attention. I wouldn't know for sure, it's just a theory. Next up is "Dear God", a song of inspiration. Elton touches on religion with this gospel-like tune, and it reaches for your soul. The vocal arrangements and harmonies are wonderful, it makes you want to stand up and sing along! Another fine ballad follows with "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again". The melody and harmony flow smoothly, and the sax solo gives the song an added extra touch. Elton goes country next with "Take Me Back". Complete with even a fiddle solo, this kind of song is something you wouldn't normally expect to hear from Elton John, but it's still very pleasing, and somehow, refreshing as well. The album ends with "Give Me The Love", a soulful, funky, jazzy number that really sounds good with the lights turned down low.

Overall, with the years that have passed by, some of the songs on this album might sound a bit dated to some people. But if one can accept it for what it is, then the listener is in for a very enjoyable experience. Many of Elton's albums from the Super70s suffered from inconsistency. "21 at 33" is great from start to finish. It paved the road for Elton's comeback, and his subsequent albums throughout the Awesome80s were quite good as well. By all means, get hold of a copy of "21 at 33" and give it a listen. You'll be glad that you did!

		Tracks

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""21 at 33" from 1980 is an album where Bernie Taupin write as few as three of nine possible lyrics, "Two rooms at the end of the world" (the song gave name for a book and an album dedicated to Elton and Bernie), "Chasing the crown" (both with much electric guitar) and "White lady white powder" where Elton shows that he's the biggest composer of our time. Gary Osborne writes three songs too and all of them are ballads, two of them really good work by both writers, "Little Jeanie" and "Take me back". The other song, "Dear God", is a "chorus song" more than anybody of Elton's song because it's the only part that my ears like. Tom Robinson is Taupin in two songs, the ballads "Sartorial eloquence" and "Never gonna fall in love again" wich are very good songs where both lyricist and composer have done their best. Tzuke is a for me unknown Taupin in the last song, "Give me the love" wich is, I'm afraid, a really bad song. But, however, Elton is a superstar after more than 30 years of CD:s and tours. And the Awesome80s had just started when he released this album. "Aida", "I'm still standing", "Made in England", "Sacrifice" and "Sad songs" waited, they waited. And "Your song", "Daniel", "Goodbye yellow brick road", "Rocket man", "Someone saved my life tonight" and many more already were in our hearts. They were, I promise Elton." --Tommy Kristensson/Sweden

"Coming back to life after the tragic disco era of the forgettable album Victim of Love which must have been embarrasing for Mr John, this album is half pretty good and half not so. A step in the right direction, developed further on Jump & Too Low for Zero which followed after The Fox, his next album. Still Little Jeannie is a cracker of a song and so is Chasing the Crown." --70s Rocker

"21 at 33 was the first Elton John album I ever bought, I was only 16. White Powder White Lady was the defenitive song of my life until 30. I still have the vinyl, and it sounds sooooo good at 40." --Howie