Elton John Too Low For Zero CD

Additional Tracks

Personnel: Elton John (vocals, keyboards); Kiki Dee (vocals); James Newton Howard (arranger, conductor); Davey Johnstone (guitar, background vocals); Skaila Kanga (harp); Stevie Wonder (harmonica); Dee Murray (bass, background vocals); Nigel Olsson (drums, background vocals); Ray Cooper (percussion).
Compilation producer: Mike Gill.
Recorded at Air Studios, Montserrat, British West Indies and Sunset Sound Studios, Hollywood, California. Includes liner notes by John Tobler.
Digitally remastered by Gus Dudgeon (Abbey Road).
Elton John began inching back into the mainstream with Jump Up, an uneven but strong record highlighted by "Empty Garden." Its success set the stage for Too Low for Zero, a full-fledged reunion with his best collaborator, Bernie Taupin, and his classic touring band. Happily, this is a reunion that works like gangbusters, capturing everybody at a near-peak of their form. That means there aren't just hit singles, but there are album tracks, like the opener, "Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year)," that strongly (and favorably) recall Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. John hadn't been this engaging in years, not since Gerald Ford was in office. Why does this work so well? Well, the question isn't just consistency, since records like A Single Man were strong, but it's because each cut here showcases John at a peak. He's rocking with a vengeance on "I'm Still Standing" and "Kiss the Bride," crafting a gorgeous romantic standard with "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues," while knocking songs as immaculately crafted as "Religion" -- songs that anchor this album, giving the hits context. While this may not be as rich as his classic early period, it's a terrific record, an exemplary illustration of what a veteran artist could achieve in the early '80s. [The 1998 reissue -- which didn't appear in the U.S. until 2001 -- contains one bonus track, full artwork, extensive liner notes, and remastered sound.] ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
Always a prolific artist, Elton John put out a record a year during most of the '80s. On his recordings from the era, he collaborated with a slew of new producers, lyricists, and arrangers; and session musicians had largely replaced the core group who played on his biggest hits. Meanwhile, his troubled private life was becoming increasingly public. On 1983's TOO LOW FOR ZERO, he gathered up his old band, even Kiki Dee on one song, and worked exclusively with Taupin for the first time in years. The result was one of his most solid and successful records of the era, a clear signal that Elton John had remade himself into an '80s-style hitmaker.
The monster hit "I'm Still Standing,"is a driving, in-your-face brag to a callous lover that also testifies to the singer's survival of an ill-advised marriage, a career that seemed in danger of slipping away, and the excesses of the rock-and-roll lifestyle. "I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues," with Stevie Wonder's guest harmonica solo, isn't a blues at all, but it made the Top 10; and "Kiss the Bride," with its whomping guitars and booming drums, rocks with swaggering authority.