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So the story goes like this. Inspired by their work on the Leon Russell duet album The Union, producer T-Bone Burnett encouraged Elton John to return to making albums like he used to in the old days for 2013's The Diving Board, harking back to the days when he wrote quickly and recorded with little more than a rhythm section. This all sounds like a major shift in aesthetic for John, but Elton has been on a decade-long quest to tap into that old magic, beginning his voyage into the past with 2001's Songs from the West Coast and getting progressively elliptical with each subsequent release. The Diving Board does indeed evoke ghosts of Elton past but it never suggests the hits. It's an album consisting almost entirely of songs that riff on "Sixty Years On" and "Rotten Peaches" -- long, languid ballads or open-ended blues-rockers where atmosphere trumps hooks. Occasionally, Elton musters up elongated melodies that eventually catch hold, but The Diving Board isn't a collection of finely sculpted pop; it's a set of song poems and ballads, all placing emphasis on mood, not immediacy. This is an exceptional idea in theory; in practice it is ever so slightly formless, floating whenever it should be taking root. There are moments where the tempo gets ever so slightly sprightly -- "Take This Dirty Water" has a dirty gospel shuffle reminiscent of a toned-down "Take Me to the Pilot," "The Ballad of Blind Tom" is faithful to the spirit of Tumbleweed Connection, "Mexican Vacation (Kids in the Candlelight)" not only rocks but has a welcome gust of tastelessness -- but that only emphasizes just how ponderous the rest of the record is. There is much that is admirable about The Diving Board -- the feel is spacious and haunting, the ambition is commendable -- but the emphasis on tone over song means it leaves only wistful wisps of melancholia behind with the actual songs seeming like faded, distant memories.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
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T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Stjepan Hauser, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Luka Sulic, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Doyle Bramhall II, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Cantos, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jack Ashford, Tambourine, AssociatedPerformer - T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Bill Maxwell, Vocal Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - ALVIN CHEA, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Perry Morgan, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Judith Hill, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Louis Price, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carmel Echols, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Cantos, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jack Ashford, Tambourine, AssociatedPerformer - T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Bill Maxwell, Vocal Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - ALVIN CHEA, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Perry Morgan, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Louis Price, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Stjepan Hauser, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Luka Sulic, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Cantos, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jack Ashford, Tambourine, AssociatedPerformer - T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Bill Maxwell, Vocal Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - ALVIN CHEA, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Perry Morgan, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Louis Price, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Jack Ashford, Tambourine, AssociatedPerformer - T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
David Piltch, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Darrell Leonard, Flugelhorn, Horn Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Chuck Findley, Flugelhorn, AssociatedPerformer - George Bohanon, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Bruce Fowler, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - William Roper, Tuba, AssociatedPerformer - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Doyle Bramhall II, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Cantos, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jack Ashford, Tambourine, AssociatedPerformer - T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Bill Maxwell, Vocal Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Judith Hill, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Rose Stone, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carmel Echols, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Darrell Leonard, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - George Bohanon, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Maxwell, Horn Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Ira Nepus, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Stjepan Hauser, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Luka Sulic, Cello, AssociatedPerformer - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - William Roper, Tuba, AssociatedPerformer - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Bill Cantos, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jack Ashford, Tambourine, AssociatedPerformer - T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Bill Maxwell, Vocal Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - ALVIN CHEA, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Perry Morgan, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Judith Hill, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Louis Price, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carmel Echols, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Darrell Leonard, Trumpet, AssociatedPerformer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - George Bohanon, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Maxwell, Horn Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Ira Nepus, Trombone, AssociatedPerformer - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - William Roper, Tuba, AssociatedPerformer - Carl Lieberman, Unknown, Other
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Doyle Bramhall II, Guitar, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Cantos, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Jack Ashford, Tambourine, AssociatedPerformer - T-Bone Burnett, Producer - Chris Owens, Engineer, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Gavin Lurssen, Mastering Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jason Wormer, Mixer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Vanessa Parr, Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - Bill Maxwell, Vocal Arranger, AssociatedPerformer - ALVIN CHEA, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Perry Morgan, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Louis Price, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Zachary Dawes, Mix Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Jeff Gartenbaum, Engineer, StudioPersonnel
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Cantos, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Darrell Leonard, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Jason Wormer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - George Bohanon, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Genewick, Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Ira Nepus, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Carmel Echols, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - William Roper, Tuba, AssociatedPerformer - Jean Witherspoon, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Cantos, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Darrell Leonard, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Jason Wormer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - George Bohanon, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Genewick, Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Ira Nepus, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Carmel Echols, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - William Roper, Tuba, AssociatedPerformer - Jean Witherspoon, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Keefus Ciancia, Keyboards, AssociatedPerformer - Bill Cantos, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - Darrell Leonard, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Jason Wormer, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Jay Bellerose, Drums, AssociatedPerformer - Bernie Taupin, ComposerLyricist - Elton John, Piano, Vocals, MainArtist, AssociatedPerformer, ComposerLyricist - George Bohanon, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Steve Genewick, Producer, Recording Engineer, StudioPersonnel - Raphael Saadiq, AssociatedPerformer, Bass (Vocal) - Ira Nepus, Horn, AssociatedPerformer - Carmel Echols, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer - William Roper, Tuba, AssociatedPerformer - Jean Witherspoon, Background Vocalist, AssociatedPerformer
℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
Album review
So the story goes like this. Inspired by their work on the Leon Russell duet album The Union, producer T-Bone Burnett encouraged Elton John to return to making albums like he used to in the old days for 2013's The Diving Board, harking back to the days when he wrote quickly and recorded with little more than a rhythm section. This all sounds like a major shift in aesthetic for John, but Elton has been on a decade-long quest to tap into that old magic, beginning his voyage into the past with 2001's Songs from the West Coast and getting progressively elliptical with each subsequent release. The Diving Board does indeed evoke ghosts of Elton past but it never suggests the hits. It's an album consisting almost entirely of songs that riff on "Sixty Years On" and "Rotten Peaches" -- long, languid ballads or open-ended blues-rockers where atmosphere trumps hooks. Occasionally, Elton musters up elongated melodies that eventually catch hold, but The Diving Board isn't a collection of finely sculpted pop; it's a set of song poems and ballads, all placing emphasis on mood, not immediacy. This is an exceptional idea in theory; in practice it is ever so slightly formless, floating whenever it should be taking root. There are moments where the tempo gets ever so slightly sprightly -- "Take This Dirty Water" has a dirty gospel shuffle reminiscent of a toned-down "Take Me to the Pilot," "The Ballad of Blind Tom" is faithful to the spirit of Tumbleweed Connection, "Mexican Vacation (Kids in the Candlelight)" not only rocks but has a welcome gust of tastelessness -- but that only emphasizes just how ponderous the rest of the record is. There is much that is admirable about The Diving Board -- the feel is spacious and haunting, the ambition is commendable -- but the emphasis on tone over song means it leaves only wistful wisps of melancholia behind with the actual songs seeming like faded, distant memories.
© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 19 track(s)
- Total length: 01:16:16
- Main artists: Elton John
- Composer: Various Composers
- Label: EMI
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock
© 2013 Mercury Records Limited ℗ 2013 Mercury Records Limited
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