In 1975 Elton John and his regular lyricist Bernie Taupin invented Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy, a concept album that told of the turbulence surrounding their successful rise and what this did to their friendship. Thirty-one years later, they pick up the thread of this sequel on The Captain & The Kid. Musically John also harks back to the seventies. He alternates classic pop songs
… such as Postcard From Richard Nixon and Tinderbox with extravagant rock 'n' roll, in keeping with the tradition of his early albums. And it is not without reason that he thanks 'for inspiration' in the CD booklet to hip artists such as The Killers and Scissor Sisters. By identifying John as an important influence, they undoubtedly convinced him of the timelessness of albums like Captain Fantastic… and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (1973). In that sense, The Captain & The Kid is also a retro album on which an artist (after many detours) returns to his original sound. This simultaneously produces his best and most coherent album in years. (MR)more
