Everythi A fairly nice lad, ’e was. That Reg Dwight was just another talented chap who wanted to ’it the bigtime. ’Twas Elton John before he teamed-up with Bernie Taupin, a promising young poet And you are there as Elton John spins his musical autobiography on Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, and takes us all thru his rise from nothing to the top of the Top 40. Elton, known variously as a good piano player, a closet queen, and a sunglass fetishist, has hyped this album as being his hallmark to posterity; his great masterpiece. Well, surprisingly enough, he is damn near right. But before getting into the meat of the music, let me describe the magnitude of the hype. Included with the record is a poster, a lyric book (including one song not on the album), a “scrapbook” complete with excerpts from Elton’s diary and a cartoon “biography” of Reg Dwight, ne’e Elton John. Also thrown in is a sheet with a coupon to join the “Official Elton John Fanclub” and an “exclusive” offer for T-shirts, posters, and photo-books. As an added attraction, the cover illustration (which is also the poster illustration) is done by the same guy who gave us the Beatles Illustrated Lyrics, Vol. 1 & 2, Alan Aldridge. To back up all this stupendous, beautiful, capitalistic, material hype, Elton and now disbanded Elton John Band include a 12-inch Vinyl platter of startlingly good music. The biggest surprise is not in Elton’s music per se, but in the peerless guitar-playing demonstrated by guitarist Davey Johnstone. This, combined with elements of deja-vu and a rebirth in Elton’s music produce one of the finer albums of the year. Elton John, in the guise of a pseudo-fairy-tale, becomes Captain Fantastic, the end product of the alliance between Reg Dwight and Bernie Taupin, herein immortalized as the Brown Dirt Cowboy, and tells the story of Reg’s rise to Elton to Fantastic. The story, in a way, is corny, but it’s true. Because of that, it is rather fascinating. However, one can become quickly bored listening to the same story over and over. And that is where this album fails. Because of the narrow subject matter, its plot soon becomes repetitious, and as a result, ioses some of its potency. Of course, the story is not the entire album, and that is why this album is so successful. It has plenty of great music to carry it over its low moments. Opening with the title track, Elton transports the listener back to his earlier days in an introduction to the story’s protagonists. Sweet-sweat, the ultimate nostalgia, all the way back ’6B, pounding hard rock and screaming guitars into the brain. Desolation Boulevard is their second album, they certainly haven’t improved but then why should they? Their commentary on America is not really what they’re saying but the volume at which they say it. Just like the New York Dolls, by attacking the senses with noise, we can escape the other too cruel realities of “Trash” on the streets. The subject matter is incredibly simple. “Bar Room Blitze’s”, “A.C. D.C.” women, “Being Committed” - ?l thought I was a teenage dream boy, with a brain made of solid plastic a110y...”; the musical treatment equally as banal, simple guitars, bass & percussion,, but combining the two we get some really fine rock - really fine! Sweet is very tight, the rhythms are fast and tempo changes are well executed, all members (Cowwolly, Priest, Scott & Tucker) are proficient on their instruments. There are several 45 prospects: “The 6 teens”, “Set me Free”, and particularly “Fox on the Run”.. Music has always been an expression of the society - the escapism of the 30’s, the positive optimism of the 40’s, and now, we 11... Sweet is decadent, degenerated, cynically sick escapist rock. They sum it up nicely in “Set me Free” - “Call me a saint that's what I ain’t Inside my head Maybe I’ll feel better dead Drink anything, anything at all as long as it’s straight and at least 90 proof. ng you may want to know about Elton John* Set me free” so prevalent on Caribou and Yellow Brick Road, and contains hints of the Eagles and shades of James Taylor. The following cut is “Tower of Babel,” the first of several blows against the pop music establishment Elton takes. It’s a nice moderate rocker whose highlight is the guitar-work interlaced with traces of the Faces. “Tower...” sets-up the next cut, “Bitter Fingers,” which elaborates on the same theme. The third song is my pick for Best of Album. “Tell Me When the Whistle Blows” belongs to Bernie Taupin; it’s part of his story. But the music is unquestionably Elton John at his best. It’s the perfect synthesis of Elton’s unrivaled vocals, Johnstone’s peerless guitar, and an orchestral arrangement by Gene Page that is rare in rock: distinctive, but not lush or sentimental. The song can leave one breathless. Ending the first side is one of Elton’s personal favorites, “Someone Saved My Life Tonight." It’s a pretty song sung with a lot of emotion, which is usually absent in Elton’s songs (lately, at least). And it explains a lot about Elton John, the person. Side Two receives most of the plaudits for the album. It contains a better collection than the first. It begins with “Meal Ticket,” sure to be loved by many, then winds into “Better Off Dead,” my second-favorite. Then we’re spun into a very Allman-Brothers-sounding piece called “Writing.” Naturally enough, it describes the Taupin-John writing routine. Throw some laurel wreaths to Johnstone for more matchless guitar. Finishing the album is a couplet of songs running about ten minutes in total length: “We All Fall in Love Sometime” and “Curtains.” The former is a very nice ballad again vibrant with emotion, while the latter is the album’s end crescendo and fade-out. On both, Elton is listed as playing harpsichord, something he doesn’t do enough. But listening to them, I could only find one small bit near the end of “We All Fa 11...” which was submerged in an ocean of other sounds. C’est la vie. To cap it all, I’ll just say that Capt. Fantastic is a refreshing change from some of the noise evident on Elton’s last two albums (don’t get me wrong, there was lots of good music, too). I’ll even forgive Elton his self-indulgent life story. But now that he’s lost Dee Murray and Nigel Olsson just when the Elton John Band was beginning to jell, I can only wonder. Well, the best thing we can do is sit back and enjoy this latest offering from the king of sunglasses, and listen-off into the sunset with the Brown Dirt Cowboy. The initial calliepic bars of the theme break into the chaotic strains of “Capital of Power” with the strength and fury of an ancient chariot catapulting through the milieu of a Roman marketplace. You are transported back to 73 B.C. and there before you, in the arena, fights Spartacus . From his introduction, through the melodic “Deadly Dream of Freedom” and on to his eventual defeat at the hands of “the Superior Force of Rome,” you grow to know this legendary hero whose quest for freedom has inspired so many freedom fighters. Perhaps this sounds a bit melodramatic, but it is really the only way to effectively communicate the dynamic style with which Triumvirate has produced this history. Spartacus is Triumvirate’s second album, hopefully it will not be their last. The LP was composed and produced by Jurgen Fritz, whose expertise on keyboards (organs, moogs, pianos) is equalled only by Kieth Emerson. The remainder of the group, Helmut Kollen (guitars, bass, vocals) and Hans Bathelt (drums) rounds out the EL & P sound. If this album can be compared to any other, it would have to be Tarkus. However Triumvirate has managed to avoid the many esoteric passages that often hamper EL & P. Recently we have been confronted with various thematic works - particularly Wakeman’s Tales of King Arthur. None of these can approach the fine musicianship and arrangement of Spartacus. Its themes are concise and traced throughout the L.P., its vocals are compatible with the music (and on key - ref. King Arthur), and finally it has none of the superficial over-dramatics (madrigal choirs, symphonic backings) of many. Try a good stout Italian red, then if you’re lucky, find Kubrick’s Spartacus on the late show. If he had had a scoring such as Triumvirate’s Spartacus, his film version might have been another 2001 or Clockwork Orange. Kozmic Kid *But never cared enough to ask ome Revisited The Lioness in Winter Katharine Hepburn has done it again. Viewers of “The Lion in Winter” with its original 1968 release may well remember that Miss Hepburn has managed once again to provide the saving grace for an -otherwise unremarkable film. The Anthony Harvey directed story of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitane stars Hepburn and Peter O’Toole, and revolves around several plots and subplots. The Christmas 1183 setting provides the backdrop for the royal family quarrels sparked by the all-important question of which of three sons is to become Henry’s successor to the throne. Tightly interwoven with this conflict is what may qualify as the lo.ve-hate relationship of all time. Eleanor and Henry spend much of their short time together alternately destroy ing and sympathizing with each other. The bulk of the film consists of complex plots against various sectors of the family, each of which is altered at an unbelievable pace, as mother, father, and brothers sell each other out continually. Alliances and partnerships dissolve and re-form as the audience strains to understand this rapid royal chess game. Interspersed with all of this are the only truly good scenes in the film-those between Eleanor and Henry. Revenge and one-up-man ship are enacted vividly. Did she sleep with Henry’s father? Will he divorce her to marry Alais and beget more sons? Somehow, one leaves this movie caring little about whether she did or he will or will not. As for the sons, Henry’s eventual conclusion is correct; none of the three are worthy to replace him-as a king or as an actor. O’Toole exhibits a great effort to prove himself effectual as a monarch, but his blustery outbursts seems more like childish tantrums than royal anger, and he possesses none of the regality of a Burton or Olivier. Of the lot, only Hepburn is convincing as the scheming villain she portrays. As Eleanor, she is permitted to show a softer side, and this she does equally well. Whether presiding at dinner, or grovelling at O’Toole’s feet, Hepburn manages to present a queen whose numerous defeats have done little to mar her dignity. All in all, the movie is-fair. It is cute, simple in its apparent complexity, and replete with amusing retorts, but it fails to provide the material worthy of its stars. “The Lion in Winter” is presently playing at the Capital City Mall Cinemas in Camp Hill. Maureen A. Ryan Bless
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