The Captain & The Kid

Interesting details of Elton John life

There is hardly a musician who can boast as many super hits and top ten albums as Sir Elton John has created in the 50 years of his music career. The British pop/rock singer, composer and pianist has sold over 250 million records and has over 50 Top 40 hits which makes him one of the most prominent live legends of all time. The beginning of the XXI century saw a new epoch in John’s music with return to the ballads that once made him so popular all over the world, but this September he has unleashed something different from the 2001record Songs From the West Coast and the following 2004 work Peachtree Road. The new album The Captain And The Kid is autobiographical and made as a sequel of the first suchlike work Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy released back in 1975. The songs on The Captain And The Kid tell about the lives of both Elton John and his long-time friend and countrerpart lyricist Bernie Taupin, and for the first time there are both of them on the album’s cover. They have been together through many situations and hardships supporting each other, so there are enough most frank confessions and interesting details of Elton John life.

The Captain & The Kid is most interesting for the autobiographical lyrics

The Captain & The Kid is amazingly reminiscent of the music Elton John wrote in early 1970s with powerful backing vocals and impetuous strings. Yet the most interesting part of the album is the autobiographical lyrics, from which one can find out how Elton and Bernie started their cooperation and follow them up to the present days. The album opens with the grandiose composition Postcards From Richard Nixon, filled with the young musicians’ sincere admiration for America symbolizing the beginning of Elton John’s popularity growth in the US. On track Just Like Noah’s Ark the singer and the poet share their gladness with the success of the first performances, and song Wouldn’t Have You Any Other Way (NYC) demonstrates Elton John’s warm feelings towards the good old Manhattan. One of the frankest compositions on the album is And The House Fell Down: it adds more shocking details about alcohol and drugs that were accompanying the two guys when they became famous. The Bridge is the first single, though it is not going to be released separately so that to preserve the entirety of the album. It is another unforgettable piano composition bringing some philosophy to John’s reflections about his career which continue on the beautifully melodious song I Must Have Lost It On The Wind. On the closing title track The Captain And The Kid John mentions yellow brick roads and rocket-man, that have become an integral part of his biography.

The atmosphere of youth and taking it all from life

Introspective and at the same time soulful, The Captain And The Kid is an album that makes certain conclusions in Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s careers and gives the fans a more full picture of their idols’ life. The singer has reached an age when it is high time to look back and reveal many secrets that have been long hidden from the audience. For some several songs might seem too banal, but one should not forget that have been initially conceived as typical of early Elton John’s creative work, and therefore their sounding is so familiar to us. On the whole The Captain And The Kid presents many people with the invaluable minutes of nostalgia about the youth and high hopes and fills with gladness, while younger generations can get acquainted with the manner of performance that John adhered over thirty years ago. The fact that he has managed to record such a unique collection of stylish songs evidently destined to become hits witnesses that the singer is not going to leave the stage in the nearest future and as long as his eternal co-author has new ideas the creative duo is sure to please the audience with their music for all time. For now The Captain And The Kid lets you completely submerge into the atmosphere of youth and taking it all from life.