Comments for John, Elton, Jump Up

Empty Garden was written about the murder of John Lennon

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." This sums up "Jump Up" quite well. There are some highlights: "Empty Garden" and "Blue Eyes" (a haunting melody). But at the same time, there are some that are probably some of the worst embarrassment Elton's ever had. "I Am Your Robot<' for example, suffers from downright stupid lyrics ("I am your robot, my serial number is 32497," etc.) and Elton trying to sound in parts like a robot and gracing the whole heap with some computer sounds for added effect. Kind of sad when you think about a) the drugs he was on, and b) the old classics like "Your Song."

Jump Up! Features Blue Eyes and Empty Garden This is an upbeat album with a modestly punk sound on side 1 and a philly-soul sound on side 2. The album begins with the rocker "Dear John" and moves into the funky "Spiteful Child." Pete Townsend joins Elton for "Ball and Chain" and Elton showcases his first tune with Tim Rice (of the Lion King fame) "Legal Boys." After a rocking "I am your Robot," Elton ends the side awkwardly with "Blue Eyes"--a beautiful song that is out of place following the harder edged songs preceding it. Side 2 starts with the amazing Empty Garden, an incredible tribute to John Lennon and one of the strongest hooks Elton had written in over 7 years. Followed by the upbeat "Princess" and "Where have all the good times gone?," the album's strong melodies make this a great album to listen to. Elton concludes with the dramatic "All Quiet on the Western Front." All in all, this is a strong effort and quite deserving of the 4 star rating Rolling Stone gave to the album. The album features two top 15 songs, Blue Eyes and Empty Garden, that brought Elton back in the limelight and primed his 1980's comeback. Jim Hanson

An underrated album, "Jump Up!" suffers an injustice with the masses because of it's 80s styled artwork--really bad. I think that whole album cover was a bad attempt at finding a place in the diverse yet bubblegum 80s pop scene which by '82 Elton John had surpassed long ago. The music stands out for itself. If anyone can locate a copy of "Take Me Down To The Ocean"--a throw-away track from the sessions--you'll see what I mean. It's a darn shame that "Take Me..." was never included on the final album.

This is a very poor album by Elton John standards. However, it features the classic ''Empty Garden''; which alone makes this CD worth buying. It should have done better on the charts, being that it is a subtle yet very moving tribute to John Lennon and has one of the most sweetly melodic choruses that EJ has ever had the mind to compose. Just listen to that coda at the very end of the song: "Johnny, can''t you come out to play in your empty garden, Johnny...". Imagine a young and innocent boy knocking on the door of his best friend''s house repeatedly and not getting any answer, unaware that his friend ''can''t come out to play'' because he is not there anymore. This is what Bernie Taupin (EJ''s lyricist) clearly intended us to imagine. Also, is the ''empty garden'' supposed to be Madison Square Garden in New York? Those with sharp memories remember that John Lennon was supposed to appear with EJ for a few songs at that venue in 1974, and had massive stage fright before going on. He did go on, and played and sang with Elton, but it so happened to be the last live performence of his life before he was killed in 1980. ...On another hand, this album has ''I Am Your Robot'', one of the worst (if not THE worst) EJ written tracks in history. It''s so bad it''s funny. And it has ''Blue Eyes'', a minor and insignificant hit back in ''82.

I say: "One of the best albums ever!"