Elton John
The Lockdown Sessions

The Covid-19 pandemic unfortunately halts most activities, including music. But Elton John takes advantage of it to create a work, initially not planned, and he decides to title the whole thing, with an explicit reference to the situation in which the album was born, "The Lockdown Sessions". Sixteen tracks, ten of which are new, for a "fruit salad album", with different styles and artists even far apart from each other. Indeed, because this 34th studio album by the Pinner pianist hosts many names in music, to the point that he himself becomes a session man, a job that Elton had undertaken in his early days, accumulating an enviable experience in the '60s. The rules for remote recording have been strict and rigorous, but in the end, the sacrifice paid off, and an album was born, anticipated by Cold Heart, a track that mixes Sacrifice, Rocket Man, Kiss the Bride, and Where is the Shorah?, all with a mix by Pnau, with whom there had already been a collaboration in 2012 in Good Morning to the Night. Elton signs nine new tracks, the best of which are Always Love You and After All, with Elton returning to that vocal and piano blend that has characterized him especially in recent works. The song that seems to depart from the “comfort zone” the Author himself mentioned is "E-ticket", with a more rock than romantic tempo. Notable also are Beauty in the Bones and One of Me, dueted with Lil Nas X and already released before October 22, the release date of the entire project. Not only an album of unpublished songs written by Elton but also a cover album. Among them, Nothing Else Matters by Metallica and It's a Sin by Pet Shop Boys stand out, while The Pink Phantom with Gorillaz and the concluding I'm Not Gonna Miss You by and with Glen Campbell are less convincing. Although it is an abundant work, 16 tracks, the album flows without being heavy, and the average duration of the songs is still not excessive. The most important guest turns out to be Stevie Wonder, who duets with John in Finish Line, the third single released after Cold Heart and After All.

I give the album three out of five stars, and in tenths, I give it 6.5. It's a transitional album, unplanned, enjoyable but where there are no great songs that risk, positively, to go down in history. Except for Nothing Else Matters, of course. From a compositional point of view, it was exploring new territories, as mentioned by Reginald Dwight, not only from a musical standpoint but also as work, both remotely and in a team.

Elton will be in Milan on June 4th '22 for the last concert in Italy of his career.