Elton John Album: “Reg Strikes Back”

Well, I was somewhat reluctant to buy this because Elton's 80's career is in not anyway comparable to his 70's career, but this album is REALLY good, and a Hell of a way for Elton John to prove that the surgery has not affected his voice very much, although his inability to hit the high notes is a downside, but he does hit a few on the final track.

"Town of Plenty" is a great way to kick it off. Upbeat, and Pete Townshend plays acoustic on it. Very good. Then "A Word in Spanish", not bad, good guitar and singing on it. "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters Part 2" is my favorite song on this album, Elton John doing the funky urban beat on Taupin's more optimistic view of New York City ("Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" on "Honky Chateau" is beautiful, but bitter towards New York City). The biggest hit on the album is "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That".. .actually, that's probably his biggest hit in the US during the 80's, peaking at number 2. It's got a good beat and the melody never changes. "Japanese Hands" is a nice romantic song, probably the best romantic song on the album. "Goodbye Marlon Brando" is also a favorite of mine on the album where Elton John waves goodbye to 80's culture in power rock format. It's a funny song, actually. "The Camera Never Lies" is an okay song, the lyrics are better than the song, actually. "Heavy Traffic" is catchy with good soloing by Elton John. "Poor Cow" is rather peculiar and dark, but good nonetheless, and it's wrapped up by "Since God Invented Girls", which is nice enough, but not the best to close it off. The bonus tracks are not really much to look at, though "Rope Around a Fool" is a good song, actually, but the remixes aren't really worth anything.

This is where Elton John goes to a more keyboard/pop oriented sound; his voice didn't seem to change much from this point. Not as good as "Too Low", but worth the money I paid. Buy it, people

Maybe it's not as good as Elton's major success in the early 70's, but it's still one of my favorite Elton CD. the opening track, Town of Plenty, is my favorite song on the CD and is also one of my favorite Elton songs altogether(along with Bennie and the Jets and I'm Still Standing). Poor Cow is a great song and is also one of my favorites. Also featured on this CD is Mona Lisas and Madhatters (part two). What a great way to bring back memories of such a great song on Honky Cheteau! Most of the songs on this CD are more up-tempo such as I don't want to go on with you like that(a great song too), but there are a few good slow songs, like Since God Invented Girls or A word in Spanish, which is OK, but it's not bad. Really, the only poor song is Japaneese Hands, which is OK, but not good. Goodbye Marlon Brando is a great anti-80's song. Heavy Traffic, a song co-written by guitarist Davey Johnstone is good up-tempo example. It's a fun song such as early 70's songs such as Jamica Jerk-Off from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. And last but definetly not least (they leave that place to Japaneese Hands), The Camera Never Lies, a good late 80's-type song. This is one of my favorite Elton CDs. It is very fun. Don't let Japaneese Hands make you think differently. Cos as I said there are some great songs as Town of Plenty and Poor Cow.

This disc has a few good songs here and there but overall there are too many synthesizers and a lack of decent hooks to listen to this one to regularly.

The "Strikes Back" portion of this title was apt at the time. Elton had completed surgery on his vocal chords that - as he had been warned - could have resulted in his never being able to sing again. He'd also won a pair of important legal issues; He and Bernie Taupin had succeeded in their challenge to Dick James Music for royalty payments owed, and Elton's lawsuit against a tabloid for slander had been ruled in his favor. So it was a renewed and feisty Elton who was ready to record "Reg Strikes Back."

It shows the reinvigoration. While "Reg Strikes Back" is still very much an 80's album (heavy on synths and drum machines), the songs are uniformly strong. He even went as far as to update "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" from "

," and then perform the two as a medley in concert. Pete Townsend plays guitar on the peppy opener "Town Of Plenty," and the Beach Boys chime in on "When God Invented Girls." There are a couple mistakes here; "Poor Cow" is stupidly misogynistic and I never quite got the atmospheric "Japanese Hands."

With that in place, this was also the album with one of Elton's best mid-80's hits. His friendship with George Michael had clearly given his pop-sense a jolt of energy. The Wham-like "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" became his highest charting single of that decade. It was everything his 'recovery' embodied. It is an energetic, sassy and danable record, with an added irony that it was George Michael who held Elton out of the number one position.

This was the album where Elton decided to reclaim his personality, as the great Sothby's sell-off of his old gear on the cover shows. He and Bernie set out to craft songs that emphasized their resurgent popularity and succeeded here, and started the third chapter in Elton's illustrious career. Get this because it is Elton's second best 80's album after "

," and you'll be satisfied.

After having a number of lackluster and uninspired releases through the 1980s, with perhaps the lowest point being the 1986 release of "Leather Jackets," Elton John started a turnaround in quality and artistry that was evident on this album, and would eventually yield albums such as "The One" and "Made in England" in the 90s. While this album had much less quality and artistry than Elton's 70s albums, loyal fans were gratified to see that Elton could still write and sing good songs.

Elton's rediscovered enthusiasm shows in "Town of Plenty." Admittedly this song is one of the lesser songs on this CD; the words are corny and simple, and the music is relatively simple. However, Elton's voice sounds refreshed and clear, and the production is much improved over "Leather Jackets." This simple song is little indication of the music that comes later on this CD.

The second song also has relatively simple words, though more complex and inspired than the words of the first song. However, Elton's music in "A Word in Spanish" contains a flavor of that sound that made Elton John great in years gone by. This song was also the longest song on this CD at 4:39 long. This mellow love song peaked at #19 on the charts in 1988. With the improvement over the first song, this song promised that this CD held even better songs.

Elton and his band get bombastic on "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two)." The original song was a mellow and harmonious creation on "Honky Chateau." This version is funky and bouncy, and far from being mellow. While I am tempted to compare this song with some of the worst from "Leather Jackets," the comparison would be wrong. This song has fun with the overblown style and keeps the enthusiasm evinced from the first song. This song also makes an excellent stylistic introduction to the next song.

The next song is the best indication that Elton had created a very listenable album. "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That" had a sharp musical production with a snappy beat that maintained the pace and power of the three previous songs. This #2 charting song had good lyrics and even better music to make this song one of the best created by the Elton John-Bernie Taupin team in a long time, and gave fans the opportunity to rejoice that the duo still had this kind of music to give the world.

Then comes a song that I think belongs in the portfolio of some of the best Elton John ballads. In "Japanese Hands" Bernie Taupin finally created lyrics to match some of his best from the era that yielded "Madman Across the Water" and "Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player." Elton matched those words with lovely music and a singing style that was heard on Elton's "Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra" and would be later heard on "Songs from the West Coast." This beautiful ballad is one of my personal favorites on this CD.

The next song is a change of pace. "Goodbye Marlon Brando" has a beat that is even faster than the first songs on the CD. This song reminds me of Billy Joel, especially "We Didn't Start the Fire." The song is less ambitious than the Billy Joel song, confining itself to summarizing the 80s, and perhaps the 70s to a certain degree. The song does say goodbye to a lot of things I remember from the 1980s. This song is interesting and fast, and perhaps slightly better than the average song on this CD.

The next three songs combined form a weak spot in this CD. "The Camera Never Lies" is the rock version of those country songs that deal with the bad things that happen in life. In this case the subject is infidelity. While the music and the words are less than inspired, the song is okay and is an average song for this CD. This CD goes from an average song to a less than average song. "Heavy Traffic" contains a few moments of interest, but otherwise the song is one of the weaker songs on this CD and sounds more like Elton on cruise control. The following song lyrically seems intended to be sympathetic to women who get stuck with too many children and a loser husband, but "Poor Cow" never fulfills the promise of the lyrics, and is another that is much less than average.

This CD originally finished with another lovely ballad, "Since God Invented Girls." This song contains a tribute to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. The backing vocals enhance the feeling of the tribute by adopting the harmonious style of the Beach Boys. This song joins "Japanese Hands" as being another of my favorite songs on this CD.

This album starts with a promising title. This CD was not quite the "strike back" that the title promised. However, there are enough good songs on this CD to make this CD a good improvement over the previous original album, and fans a few years later would recognize that this album marked a turn for the better for Elton John and Bernie Taupin, now going by the single name Taupin. In a few short years Elton John would receive more awards and nominations than he had received in his career to this point, and while the future Rock and Roll Hall of Fame member may have fallen short in striking back with this CD, perhaps this CD was just the beginning of a strike that is pushing its way into two decades.