Customer Reviews

Made in England

5 star:		(42)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have heard a considerable portion of Elton John's enormous back catalog, and as an experienced EJ listener I can say without a doubt that Made In England, despite being a recent effort, is one of Elton's very best albums. In fact, it is my favorite besides Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (surpassing my previous runner-up, Honky Choteau). Okay, so what makes it so good? Well, first off this is BY FAR Bernie Taupin's best set of lyrics ever. They are good, fairly deep, and occasionally funny. Elton is not slouch on the album either, of course. He turns in a good performance on the piano and his usual stellar vocals. Also good are the orchestral arrangements (reminiscent of early Elton John albums) and Davey Johnstone's guitar work. Sure, he's not Steve Vai (and you don't have to be, if you're in Elton John's backing band), but he can play. The best songs include Believe, Made In England, House, Pain, and the beautiful Belfast. A must own for any EJ fan, in fact get it early.

This is my absolute favorite Elton John CD... I listen to it beginning to end over and over. You don't need to skip tracks on this disc, regardless of your mood. Rockin' but not head rattling tunes. You can really turn up the volume and rock to such tracks as the title cut, or sit back and relax... this is just a great CD... easy to listen to at work, while studying or on a long drive. Excellent... sometimes mellow, but never boring. Thanks, Reg!

As a 35-year fan of Sir Elton John, I thought I'd heard all of them. I had never heard this CD before late 2005! It's extraordinary!

The album was produced by Greg Penny, who I must say I'm thoroughly unfamiliar with, but I have to applaud him. George Martin conducted the strings and orchestra for "Latitude", a bluegrass beauty that has me wanting to waltz every time I hear it! He was behind the Beatles' better work, and he's a man who obviously appreciates orchestration like I do. I'm definitely a sucker for a French horn in a song. Young people believe strings don't belong in popular music; that's unfortunate and it's their loss.

The great Paul Buckmaster conducted the London Session Orchestra on the songs "Believe", "House", "Cold", and the exquisite Celtic masterpiece, "Belfast", a song that absolutely brings tears to my eyes for its sheer beauty; it's outstanding. "Believe" was re-introduced to me through YouTube; it's a gorgeous work, with a powerful message and a great music video that went with it that features the Twin Towers in it and is done in black and white. Just gorgeous.

The title track is a hoot! In this homage to his birthplace Taupin writes, and Sir Elton sings: "you can still say 'homo' and everybody laughs!" And I found out that a blue Cortina is a car! "House" sounds as if it were written for or by John Lennon; this doesn't surprise me at all. I love "Pain"; it's an excellent uptempo rocker, and the lyrics definitely convey a sense of the pervasiveness of pain! "Please" has a rockabilly/Beach Boys feel to it that's very pleasant. I hear the organ by Paul Carrack on "Man", and it makes me think of the late Billy Preston. There's really not a bad song on the album. I don't think that's always been the case with his recordings of the 90s.

Can I talk about Sir Elton's musicianship? His powerful piano work in the song "Lies" is second-to-none, as it is throughout the album. Davy's guitar work is fabulous, and he obviously emulates the late George Harrison at times. I love listening to him. Sadly, Dee's been gone a while, but I wonder why Nigel wasn't a part of this recording? Charlie and Bob are admirable stand-ins, none the less.

Finally, reading Bernie Taupin's lyrics are a very good reason to forego downloading this once, at least until the booklet is available by download also.

Seems like I do remember the song "Blessed", but for some reason I never made the connection to this album. It's typical that the song they chose for the single wasn't the best choice. It's very mellow with a sweet sentiment, though, not the dance number I would have thought would have been radio-worthy. I have to keep in mind that there's a whole generation of people who don't realize that Elton John is first and foremost a piano man/saloon singer! Maybe the record company felt this would be the safest song to release, since that generation knows him primarily as a balladeer!

This album put me in mind to the old days when I would see the song titles on an Elton John record and try to imagine what the songs would be like while I saved up to buy it. I used a lot of allowance money on his records back in the day, and at 10 cents a week I sometimes had a long wait. If this one had been released in the 70s when I was a teen, and with its non-electronica, live instrument sound it easily could have, this would have been well worth the wait! It's the sound that made this black teenager stare at the stereo with open-mouthed wonder in 1972. Listening to strings in my music was no surprise to me, I grew up with the Motown sound and it was as common as copper pennies back then. I miss orchestration in today's music as much as I miss melody. For me, Elton John's "Made in England" album represents everything that's missing in today's popular music.

Made in England was a gift from Sir Elton John that I'm sorry about not remembering when it was a brand new recording in 1995. But I've got it now, drawn by the compelling CD cover shot by Greg Gorman of Sir Elton at his handsome best, and I'm sharing it with everybody I know who still appreciates good music, good vocals, good arrangements, and good songwriting. It's a classic.

Wow, does this CD bring back memories.

1995.

We had just purchased our first PC: a sturdy Hewlett-Packard Multimedia 6100 (with an eye-popping 24K memory). To my utter delight, I could listen to CD's on this wonderful 'chine while I went through the Windows 3.1 tutorials.

My daughter gave me Elton John's MADE IN ENGLAND, which I listened to--endlessly--as I played with my new toy.

I became more enamored with the music than the PC. Having always been an Elton John fan, I was overwhelmed by the overall quality of this album. The tracks were clean, crisp, dynamic, powerful, haunting--compelling songs, including "Believe," "House," and the wonderful "Made in England."

Through the infinite peaks and valleys of Elton John's career, MADE IN ENGLAND is perhaps the best effort from this talented artist (and his partner in crime, Bernie Taupin). This is good stuff, and you don't have to buy a new PC to appreciate it.
--D. Mikels

I bought my copy of Made In England in March 1995 on the day of its release. As a long-time fan of Elton's music I had been very eagerly awaiting this album for 2 reasons - firstly because it was his first new set for almost 3 years, and secondly because in 1994 I had purchased a deluxe illustrated hardcover book of the lyrics of all the Elton John /Bernie Taupin songs that had been released officially on albums and singles up to that time (including rarities). I was thus intrigued by the printed lyrics to the 11 as-yet-unreleased songs that were to be the Made In England album that I couldn't place or recognise. Not having heard the songs, I thus began to imagine what Elton might have made of these newly-written Bernie Taupin lyrics - he is famously able to spin them into winning tunes almost from the moment he receives the words. When I finally listened to the new songs, I was delighted with the results, and the record became my most-favourite album for the year of 1995.

One interesting feature of Made In England was the fact that 10 of its 11 songs had one-word titles; only the title tune didn't conform to this pattern. Elton appeared serenely happy and contented in the colour photo on the album's cover, which eschewed any obvious Union Jack-styled flag-waving imagery in favour of a simple black and white CD booklet. This seemed to be indicative of the peace and stability that Elton had achieved in his life in the 90's after cleaning up his act in 1990, and slowing down the frantic pace of his career.

The contents showed he still had plenty of great songs to offer. Believe is a strong song both lyrically and musically, and would probably qualify as a "power ballad", yet one as well-crafted and memorable as any other 90's pop star could manage. Even aged 48, Elton remained firmly in the top echelon of international pop music. The album's chief hit, Believe scored a Top20 peak in the UK. Made In England is a defiant rocking song that I think is fantastic. It's got several "hooks" in the one song, driving lead guitar, and Elton's first full-tilt attempt at a fast rock n' roll vocal for several albums. Plus it is a rare chance to hear Elton singing about his own life story and getting stuck into those critics "who think they know, but they've all got it wrong".

House is a soft, slow, sweet ballad that features nicely on Elton's 1995 home video Tantrums And Tiaras where Elton is seen extolling the virtues of a happy home life in his lovely luxury home. Cold is a throwback to the heavily-orchestrated style of Madman Across The Water or Elton John albums of the early 70's and is quite good, while Pain is almost as good as Made In England as it's a fast, exciting rocker that is another really strong Bernie lyric that mentions the year 1994 (the CD was completed the year before in 1994, but was held back from release owing to the tremendous popularity of Elton's Oscar-winning soundtrack project for the Disney animated movie The Lion King).

At this point, the album is already heading for a 5-star rating, and gets even better with Belfast. I read one reviewer's disparaging comments about this song, but I think it is wonderful. I love the idea of the extended instrumental intro to the song - it sets a mood that is brought out further by the deeply-affecting lyrics and enchanting instrumentation on this ode to the divided and troubled Northern Ireland capital. Latitude is a good, somewhat unusual, happy-sounding song. I can get used to Please, which I must say I didn't much like at first, but which has a direct simplicity and charm that I found myself warming to after a while. If you haven't seen it, try to check out the vibrant Pop Art video Elton made for this song - It's on the Love Songs VHS video from 1996. Man is a slow-medium tempo bluesy track that is up to standard, while Lies is good, and features a recital of a whole list of things people will fib about before declaring "but I'll never lie to you..." A nice sentiment.

That just leaves Blessed, which, for a sentimental bloke like me, represented one of the most beautiful thoughts I had heard on a music album for a long time. Here Bernie created a lovely lyric addressed to a future son or daughter: "Hey you, you're a child in my head. You haven't walked yet. Your first words have yet to be said..." I love this song.

Nine years after its release, I still view this as a special Elton John album that contains the indefinable magical ingredient needed to really shine in one's memory. There are no bogus songs here. Highly recommended and 5-stars from an Elton John fan Made in Australia.

I'll start by saying that I am 17 and a great fan of music in general, from the Beatles to Sting to Michael Jackson and Prince. But there is only one artist I can claim to be a favorite, Elton John, and that was confirmed with 1995's Made In England. I hold this CD in high regard along with the classics like Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and more recent attempts like Big Picture and Songs From The West Coast. Two listens and I was hooked into this masterpiece.

Of 11 songs, all are of very good quality, my only occasional skips are "Pain" and "Lies". The work has a consistent mood, almost relaxing but not overly depressing. Songs like "Cold" and "Belfast" have an almost european sound to me and I love the atmosphere and tone of the single "Believe." The pianos guitars of the second single "Blessed" are soothing and the melodies perfect, making it my favorite song on the album. "House" is excellent also as well as the third single "Made In England", picking up the pace a little. Bernie Taupin contributes great lyrics that lend to this CD's charm and fit well with the melodies Elton masters. The simplicity and purity of the sound quality and production are just icing on the cake. So if you like music at all, I would call Made In England a most worthwhile purchase.

I am a HUGE Elton fan...and while Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Madmad Across the Water are my familiar favorites, Made in England is right up there with them. While this album lacks the usual piano driven melodies, it does not lack meaning, depth, and vitality. Elton John does not dissappoint.
This album has a slightly different feel and is not your "typical Elton music," but I find myself loving it all the same. Songs like "Belfast" are haunting and linger in your mind long after the song ends. Then there are the upbeat songs like the title track "Made in England," and the more soothing tracks such as "Blessed."
The lyrics are extremely intelligent, meaningful, and moving...as is the music itself. I love this CD..Elton John proves that he is staying strong.

Those who say that Elton John's streak of great albums ended with "Captain Fantastic" should listen to "Made in England". Paul Buckmaster's superb orchestral arrangements are heard belatedly once more, after a long, long, time, most notably, in the classic "Believe"; which is just as memorable a song as "Candle in the Wind", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", "Bennie and the Jets", "Someone Saved My life Tonight", "I'm Still Standing", "Sad Songs (Say So Much)", "Sacrifice" or "The One". Percussionist Ray Cooper is back, along with guitarist Davey Johnstone, giving some of their best performances in their careers. For once Bernie Taupin has written an entire album of fine, witty - and at times, funny - lyrics, ranging from his musings on the Northern Irish troubles ("Belfast") to Tennessee Williams ("Lies"); there's not a single dud in the whole lot, though "Pain" comes perilously close to being filler. Elton has never sung with more sincerity as he has in the title track or in "Believe"; his vocals on the other songs sound equally convincing. Along with "The One" and "The Road to El Dorado" this has to rate as the best of Elton's work from the 1990's; indeed, I believe it will be remembered as a classic alongside his great albums from the 1970's.

All the songs on the disc will make you think about life, love, living, safety and the effects of war. "Believe" is a very strong song, it will make you realize and appreciate the truest meaning of love. "House" is a song about a home being a sanctuary, it is where you live, it is your own. "Pain" is a song that makes you realize that it's a part of life, it doesn't always do harm, sometimes you have to experience pain to benefit the pleasures in life. These are just some of my favorites on this disc, to me this entire set of songs is a masterpiece in thought.

Made In England finds Elton John and Bernie Taupin at their very best. Bernie's moving and intelligent lyrics are beautifully showcased by Elton's versatile compositions. 'Believe' has amazing depth for a pop song; 'House' and 'Belfast' are exquisite. After listening to the album over and over, I finally settled on 'Latitude' as my favorite -- though it was not an easy choice. The music is fabulous, making me wish Elton would do an instrumental album, though his exquisite voice is in top form. Highly, highly recommended.