Customer Reviews

Love Songs

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you enjoy Elton John and like his mellow music best, you've found your CD. Most of the hits on this solidly pop CD were top 40 hits, many of them top 10 and a few were #1's. Because Elton John has had mellow songs from the beginning of his career, this music covers the time frame from the beginning of his popularity in the US (1969) to 1996. The music is all excellent, even the two sometimes-reviled hits from "The Lion King".

Two of the songs on this CD are new, "You Can Make History (Young Again)" and "No Valentines". Both are good songs that show how easily Elton John can churn out listenable music.

I strongly believe that Elton John has the ability to write elevator music for hours a day if that was his interest. Fortunately the orchestration and skill that he puts into his mellow music frequently elevates it to the level of excellent, and thus suitable to be top 40 music. Elton has more talent on his off days than most current musicians on their best days, and this CD shows much of that talent.

Five of the 15 songs are from the "classic years": "Daniel", "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", "Your Song", "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me", and "Candle in the Wind". Of these, two are remakes: "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a live duet with George Michael that was a hit for both in the early 90s, and a live version of "Candle in the Wind" recorded at a concert in Australia in the late 80s. Both are very good versions of the originals, which says a lot because I normally am not a fan of live music recorded for CD.

The eight songs remaining after the two new songs cover the period from 1976 to 1995. Of these, five ("The One", "Can You Feel the Love Tonight", "Believe", "Blessed", and "Circle of Life") were released from 1992 to 1995. The remaining three ("Sacrifice", "Blue Eyes" and "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word") were released during the years that Elton John battled drug and alcohol addictions, and was not at his talented peak. Achieving so many creative peaks in the 90s after the relative drought from 1976 to 1991 once again shows the amount of incredible talent this one man has.

Nearly all of these songs are pop classics to some degree. If you are an Elton John fan and have a lot of his music, you may pass this CD by. However, I have many of his CDs and I purchased it because of the collection of mellow music which often fits my mood. If you are new to Elton John and like quiet, mellow music, then you should absolutely buy this CD; it is a great introduction to Elton John. After you have this CD, then go back and look for his music from the early to mid-70s, and most of his CDs released since 1992. You will be amazed and pleased at the ability of a man whose career spanned 36 years at the time this was written.

There are many Elton best ofs on the market and this is just another one to add to the list. This is like a suit that you wear for a certain occassion. You take what you already own and rearrange it. If you are an Elton John fan then you probably have all the songs in different locations. I own the originals on lps,and started buying the best ofs to recollect. Getting back to Love songs though, bottom line is that you most likely would like to have these songs arranged as they are here. A nice mix of old and new tunes. I didn't hesitate to buy this cd because all the songs are excellent on their own. Good value.

I didn't discover Elton John very young. I mean, growing up in the 70s, I'd heard a few songs, like Crocodile Rock and Yellow Brick Road, but I wasn't a huge fan. This CD, although it is skewed toward the newer stuff, has enough pre - 1988 (when I bought my first EJ CD - Reg Strikes Back) music to make me realize I need to complete my collection with some Greatest Hits CDs.

The songs are gorgeous. Love songs are ususally sappy and pointless, but the ones here aren't. Elton finds every bit of soul and depth in them and sings them for all they're worth. The musicianship on the album is equally top calibre. There's a reason this guy's been around for so long -- he's a genuine talent who speaks to people of all ages. I love listen to this CD after a hard day. It helps me unwind. Makes perfect background music, and the songs are great to sing along to.

So why not 5 stars? The two new songs, and the two Lion King songs, while good, aren't quite the calibre of some of the other pieces. Still, if you consider yourself a fan of mellow music in general, or Elton John in particular, you can't go wrong with this one.

This is a compilation of some of Elton's most beloved tunes from the 1970's, 1980's and 1990's, featuring his collaborations with Bernie Taupin and Tim Rice. If you're looking for an essential Elton John CD, then this might be it, though frankly, you'd be missing a lot of his great material. Among the highlights on this collection is his live version of "Candle In The Wind" from his 1980's live album produced in Australia. Not to be missed either are his tunes with Tim Rice, "Can You Feel The Love Tonight", and especially, "Circle Of Life". Given the mellow nature of these selections, I am a bit surprised that neither of his hits with lyricist Gary Osborne, "Little Jeannie" and "Blue Eyes", appear in this compilation.

This is really a compilation of the biggest, more mellow singles from Elton John. If you're looking for a well rounded overview of Elton's music, this is the wrong place to go. However, if you are among the many who know Elton only from adult contemporary radio, then this is not a bad collection. Early classics such as "Your Song" and "Daniel" share space with more recent hits like "Blessed" and "Believe", all very melodic and slow, of course.
The CD is also notable for the first appearances outside of "The Lion King" of "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Circle of Life". In addition, two songs were recorded especially for this release -- Bernie Taupin's rather awkwardly worded "You Can Make History Young Again" and the more morose "No Valentines". These both have the big, lugubrious sound that Elton would go all out on for his next release, "The Big Picture".

It should be noted that some of these songs were chosen more for the fact that they're ballads and charted high, rather than being "love songs". A love song, to me, implies romance. The subject matter of "Daniel" or "Candle in the Wind" is hardly romantic love. And "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is actually about Elton, basically, telling his fiancee to &%$# off! I guess they weren't paying attention too closely to lyrics when they were putting this CD together.

But I suppose that's just nitpicking. The casual fan who only cares for the mellow side of Elton will do well enough by picking up this CD. For those who want fuller picture of the man's music, "Greatest Hits 1970-2002" would be a better choice.

"Love Songs" is essentially a greatest hits album released in 1996 in the guise of a concept compilation. A better title would have been "Ballads," as not all of these really qualify as love songs. Regardless, the song selection is superb, spanning Elton's entire career (to that point) and evoking fond emotional responses listen after listen.

Even if you're one who doesn't normally pick up compilation LPs, it's a good one to have for the two "Lion King" recordings, plus the two previously unreleased compositions "You Can Make History (Young Again)" and "No Valentines." Overall, a wonderful collection of classic ballads for any collection. No matter who you are, you probably love some of these (and even know a few by heart).

A parting word - the 4/29/04 review by "A music fan" is the kind of stuff that makes me fume. Of course you mind, or else you wouldn't have found that a news flash-worthy item. To our informative friend: Elton John was not fully aware of his true sexuality until the late 80s/early 90s, and so a good many of these were not written about "gay love" at all. For instance, "Daniel" was about a Vietnam vet who wanted to escape the attention of being a war hero. Others yet were written for a film ("Can You Feel the Love Tonight," "Circle of Life"), about the artist's joy in creating music ("Blessed"), or about being rescued from a suicide attempt by a true friend ("Someone Saved My Life Tonight"). Please know what you're talking about before you give us such a note-worthy warning again.

Reggie, oh, Reggie I never knew you at all and you never seen me though I'd hear your songs on the air, so sing another one for me Reggie, and I'll curl up in my father's chair.....Well maybe I can't write great lyrics like Reggie Dwight ever could. Who in the whole world hasn't liked at least one of the Rocket Man's songs or even sung one of them. "Your Song" was declared one of the 10 top love songs of all time in a list published by "The Guardian" a UK newspaper, and it's right here on the 'Love Songs' album. This is one of Elton John's best compliation of his best love songs since he's been making music. There are a few other old-time mellow classics on the CD. With hits like-"Daniel," "Someone Saved My Life Tonight," "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (a duet with George Michael), "Candle In the Wind" LIVE (tribute to Marilyn Monroe which he later did the same for Princess Diana as "Goodbye England's Rose."). Plus there are more of the modern hits gathered together on one CD like-"The One," "Believe," "Blue Eyes," "Blessed," "Sacrifice" and "No Valentines." "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" and "Circle of Life" from the award winning 'Lion King' Soundtrack complete this great CD album. Only three songs were missed-"Little Jeannie," "Mama Can't Buy You Love" and "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (with Kiki Dee) which you can get on Elton's Greatest Hits 1976-1986.

CAN YOU FEEL THE LOVE TONIGHT and CIRCLE OF LIFE will give Elton John fans an incentive to buy this album. Also the 2 original tracks,NO VALENTINES and YOU CAN MAKE HISTORY(the original hit from this album). CANDLE IN THE WIND,the version from LIVE IN AUSTRALIA is a touching tribute to Marilyn Monroe,one of Hollywood's all-time greats. We hear young Elton on YOUR SONG(his oldest song from 1970),DANIEL,SOMEONE SAVED MY LIFE TONIGHT and SORRY SEEMS TO BE THE HARDEST WORD. There's also the title track from 1992's THE ONE,and BELIEVE and BLESSED from 1995's MADE IN ENGLAND. This album seems like another hit collection of Elton's,doesn't it? From 1982's JUMP UP there's BLUE EYES(Elton was recording on Geffen records then),SACRIFICE from SLEEPING WITH THE PAST(1989),and a live rendition of DON'T LET THE SUN GO DOWN ON ME between Elton and George Michael. The EJ/GM song originally was released as a single and later used for Elton's DUETS album and LADIES AND GENTLEMEN-THE VERY BEST OF GEORGE MICHAEL. This album could have used LITTLE JEANNIE and MAMA CAN'T BUY YOU LOVE on it.

I'm not a huge fan of a lot of Elton John's music. I've mostly enjoy his ballads. This a good collection of some of his ballads from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s.

Elton John's Love Songs (1996) isn't really all love songs; it is a quaint, thoughtfully assembled and enjoyable collection of unique songs from Elton's long and varied music career.

I originally bought this for the two songs from Disney's The Lion King (Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Circle Of Life). It was a nice surprise to find Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me (w/ George Michael) here, too. It's a great song, and this live version sounds great.

Of course, Your Song is here, and it's one of my favorite songs by EJ. It's a simple little tune, but it's perfect in it's simplicity.

The somber Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word and Someone Saved My Life Tonight are both here, and even though they're hardly "love songs", I like them, too. Daniel and Candle In The Wind aren't "love songs" either, but they're both EJ classics so their inclusion here isn't a problem, and they add depth to the collection.

Blessed, Blue Eyes, Believe, and The One represent some of the best of Elton's 1980s and 1990s work. The production and sound of these songs is quite different from Elton's earlier work, and that contrast gives the album a wide range of texture that adds energy to the set.

There are also two new songs, You Can Make History (Young Again) and No Valentines.

All in all, Love Songs is a nice mix of well produced and mature love songs (mostly) from over 25 years in the fabulous career of a great entertainer.