Elton John – Honky Chateau (remastered) CD

From Elton John comes Honky Chateau (remastered), a rock album on Island. This is the CD edition. This edition was released on May 3, 1996.

This newly remastered reissue of one of Elton's classic LPs (featuring complete packaging with detailed sleeve notes) includes one bonus track: "Slave" (alternative version). By 1972, Elton John was already a star, although most casual listeners still identified him as part of the singer/songwriter explosion, thanks to the success of "Your Song" and "Levon". Honky Château changed all that, beginning with the success of "Honky Cat", a rousing New Orleans-ish R & B powerhouse that kicks off this terrific collection of songs. This was the album that first revealed John as a pure-pop craftsman, and he's all over the musical map on this set, moving from country-ish rock to blues-based rockers. But the best things here still might be two gorgeous ballads: "Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters" (displaying the young vocalist at his best) and the hit single "Rocket Man" (which had many rock fans debating which was the better space odyssey of the day--this or Bowie's). And lyricist Bernie Taupin was revealing a new, slightly darker side here with tunes like "I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself". --Bill Holdship