By JOHN BONAZZO
STAFF WRITER
Following the release of 2010’s The Union, a Grammy-nominated collaboration with Leon Russell, Elton John said that he would stop making chart-topping pop records and start making the music he wanted to make. The first fruits of that approach are seen on the album The Diving Board, and it works for him – these songs may not make the Top 40, but they show John has still got it in spades.
Elton John is a master at harnessing the full gifts of the piano, as shown by the album’s two very different singles: “Home Again,” an atmospheric, slightly dark song featuring the return of his signature riffs, and “Mexican Vacation (Kids in the Candlelight),” a rocking tribute to youth with echoes of “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting.”
John reteams here with his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, and many of the results are simply sublime. This is shown, in particular, on the metaphor-laden “Oscar Wilde Gets Out,” in which the title character sings that he “felt like the head of John the Baptist.”
John and Taupin reaffirm that they can tell a story through song better than anyone else with songs like “A Town Called Jubilee” and “The Ballad of Blind Tom.” They also look to their past work, as the latter song hearkens back to “Pinball Wizard.”
There is a Southern influence on many of the songs, particularly on “Can’t Stay Alone Tonight” and the spiritual “Take This Dirty Water.” This is largely thanks to the Southern crew that helped John make this album, particularly producer T-Bone Burnett and guitarist Doyle Bramhall II.
There are also three classical instrumental pieces, called “Dreams,” that feature piano and minimal percussion. These beautiful, short compositions set the mood for the different sections of the album.
The title track, which also closes the record, is, according to John, a warning to stars like Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus about the perils of fame. This is an apt comparison—when John soulfully sings about a time “when {he} was sixteen, and filled with the world and its noise,” it is hard not to reflect on the dark side of superstardom.
On this versatile album, Elton John leaps across genre and tone with ease. The Diving Board continues his creative renaissance, featuring some of the Rocket Man’s best work in years.
