Elton John
Duets

An atypical product in Elton John's discography, this Duets album was somewhat a spontaneous creation in 1993, following the good but not outstanding The One from the previous year. Initially, there was consideration for a Christmas collection with both existing and new duets, but eventually a double LP was opted for, totaling sixteen tracks, fifteen of which are duets, with the concluding Duets for One sung solely by Elton. This album highlights the voices of various artists and represents a truly abundant and overflowing product. However, it is considered a transitional product, not particularly appreciated by the public or critics. One had to wait for Made in England for a real comeback for Reginald Dwight. Among the 16 songs, the singles released included True Love, featuring Kiki Dee returning after 17 years. Elton and Kiki attempted to replicate the success of Don't Go Breaking My Heart, but the result didn't measure up. Don't Go Breaking My Heart is instead reintroduced here with Ru Paul, and in 1994, Elton also participated in the Sanremo Festival, hosted that year by Pippo Baudo, five years after bringing A Word in Spanish. Another song worth mentioning is Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing, which Elton performs with Marcella Detroit. Additionally, the existing duet for two years between Elton and George Michael in Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me stands out, which relaunched the careers of both artists and the song itself 17 years later, sometimes even being preferred over the original version found in Caribou. Finally, noteworthy is the presence of two iconic figures, Little Richard, who Elton will explicitly mention in Made in England two years later, with whom he performs The Power; and Leonard Cohen, with whom Elton performs Born to Lose. Duets will be the last product by Elton sold in parallel on vinyl. Then the CD will definitively establish itself, but during the 2010s, Elton will return to releasing on the old format. This collection deserves two and a half stars; the product doesn’t convince, and the minority of the tracks are saved while most go largely unnoticed.