Elton John
Peachtree Road

Nothing to be done, all the conditions were there, it could have, indeed, it should have been the right time, but not even this time did it succeed!

Obviously, I am talking about Elton John and the fact that it's been forever, more precisely since the early '80s with "The Fox" and "Jump Up!" that he hasn't managed to release two great albums in a row, but this time the yoyo effect that has plagued the career of the pianist from Pinner since 1992 is quite inexplicable: if "Duets" is more a collection of covers haphazardly assembled rather than a true album and "The Big Picture" was heavily influenced by issues of media overexposure, in the case of "Peachtree Road" the prerequisites to produce an album that could easily hold its own against its predecessor "Songs From The West Coast" (and its successor "The Captain And The Kid") were all there: the Elton John of 2004 is decidedly more withdrawn from the star-system compared to the one of 1997, and focused enough on his music and confident in himself to produce the album in person, but the final result, despite the great promises, is absolutely one of the most mediocre, monotonous, and lackluster albums of his.

"Peachtree Road" is an album almost entirely centered on acoustic sounds and orchestral arrangements; no trace of rock, eleven ballads out of a total of twelve songs; overall a deadly boredom, yet at least at the beginning, the album seems to work well if not even excellently thanks to the wonderful piano-ballad "Weight Of The World", which "celebrates" EJ's newfound serenity and inner peace, a song magnificently enriched by airy orchestrations that manages to be a highly impactful opening despite its essentially intimate nature, just like the extraordinary gospel crescendo of "Porch Swing In Tupelo", which evokes the rural scenarios of a young Elvis Presley's life. Too bad that after these two master strokes, which seem to precede a masterpiece "Peachtree Road", it becomes a practically flat electrocardiogram, except for the pleasant country-pop "Turn The Light Out When You Leave", sung live together with Dolly Parton in an exceptional duet between "immortals" and the concluding "I Can't Keep This From You", supported by the pleasant melodic line of Guy Babylon's Hammond organ; apart from these songs, the rest of the album is depressingly lackluster: completely bland and pointless the only rhythmic song, "They Call Her The Cat", boring and stale all the other ballads, which seem to come out of an acoustic version of "The Big Picture".

Summing up, "Peachtree Road" is perhaps the "best" album among the least successful of Elton John, which should have been the logical follow-up to "Songs From The West Coast" but in terms of stylistic variety, inspiration, and chemistry between the individual tracks, the 2001 album can't be seen even with binoculars. "Weight Of The World" and "Porch Swing In Tupelo" nonetheless remain two great songs, along with the beautiful cover, they are the only reason to remember an otherwise completely forgettable album, which as usual EJ will know how to eclipse with the next and sumptuous "The Captain And The Kid", but that's the way he is, take it or leave it.