One year after EJ released his two-album set, "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", it wasn't long before he was in the studio trying to capture the magic once again. Unfortunately, he fell far short; not that it hurt record sales too much. The album starts out promisingly with the hard-edged and funky "The Bitch is Back." From this point on, the situation gets dicey indeed. "Pinky" is a nice, subtle love song, but perhaps a little too sticky sweet for some. "Grimsby" makes the point about how living in a far-flung, sea-side village is in some ways better than the rolling hills of the country or the gritty city life. "Stinker" is a raunchy blues rocker with great horn work and nice soloing by Davey Johnstone. However, songs like the gibberish-laden "Solar Prestige a Gammon" reach a new nadir; this song probably got Elton more comparisons to Liberace than any other. "I've Seen the Saucers" is interesting, but won't last long in the memory. "You're so Static" is just plain awful, and "Dixie Lily" is an inconsequential song about fishing on the Mississippi. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" redeems the dross quite a lot. The album ends on the downer narrative, "Ticking." I'ts a story that grabs a lot of headlines nowadays: A lone gunman holds people hostage because he's deranged, and ends up killing a few who try to escape. The story tends to overlap the melody too much, but the frantic piano overdubbing follows the story very well. For instance, when the bullets go flying, the piano notes are played very quickly. It is debatable as to whether the story actually happened, however. There's not too much here that wasn't done before, or more to the point, done BETTER, on other EJ albums. My review might actually be closer to 2-1/2 stars; you really must be in the mood to listen to it.

Cliche on "Caribou" is it was a rush job. But, we're talking about Elton John here. He wrote double album classic "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" in a weekend, and smash hit "Sad Songs Say So Much" in a reported three minutes. On "Caribou" "The Bitch Is Back" is a rocking, shaker; "Pinky" a beautiful ballad; "Dixie Lilly" is a catchy country tune, "I've Seen The Saucers" examines UFO scares, "Ticking" about a teen who loses his mind and goes on a shooting rampage; and of course "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" - an all time classic. The other tunes are fun rockers all mixed up unexpectedly in brilliant Elton John style. Unbelievable vocal range of the young Captain Fantastic, and entertaining lyrics from Bernie Taupin.

After the mammoth classic that was 1973's GOODBYE YELLOW BRICK ROAD, Elton John & his lyricist Bernie Taupin had to have felt a bit drained creatively after having put their whole talents into that album. In today's music industry, an artist would be allowed to lay low afterwards to regain the energy. But with Elton's two-albums-a-year contract back in the mid-1970s, a follow-up was needed, even if the duo had little to offer this time around. Because of these conditions, 1974's CARIBOU is often given a cold shoulder in Elton's long career. True, it's not the all-out bomb it's often thought to be, but it certainly is no blockbuster either.

CARIBOU had been written & recorded in the small space of about a month in order to be released ahead of a large world tour, and the album has more than a few hallmarks of it being a rushed affair. Had Elton & Bernie been given more time to record this album, chances are the songs included would either have been worked on further or discarded altogether. But with what we've got, analysis is still necessary.

First off, the sour grapes. "Grimsby" has been long considered a joke recording that in retrospect is quite distasteful. I wouldn't go that far, but it certainly is several steps down from Elton & Bernie's best.

"Solar Prestige A Gammon" was said to be written in response to critics' overanalyzation of the duo's music, so its meaninglessness is perhaps intentional. But while Paul McCartney managed to make a classic out of roasting his naysayers ("Silly Love Songs"), Elton & Bernie don't make their riposte go down as well.

"I've Seen The Saucers" is about UFO sightings, which nevertheless just shows how Elton & Bernie were stretching for material to complete the album. "Dixie Lily" is somewhat of a good country workout that's good while it plays, but perhaps there's a reason why Elton never made another album like TUMBLEWEED CONNECTION. It's hard to catch lightning twice.

While those are the only glaring embarassments, CARIBOU has more than its share of raisons d'etres, and they just barely overcome the ever-present bumps in the road. The top 5 hit "The Bitch Is Back" is one of Elton's finest rockers from a time when he still did a fair amount of it (interesting choice of Dusty Springfield for a back-up singer). "You're So Static" & "Stinker" are fun, meaningless rockers that are much more memorable than the other intentionally-shallow material on CARIBOU.

The ballads are the songs that do a lot in making CARIBOU a much more enjoyable album than is often made out to be. "Pinky" is one slow number that is shockingly not given more attention in Elton's career. The closing "Ticking" is an ambitious epic about a serial killer that is literally an Elton solo recording with mostly just his piano. Despite being hailed as a low in his career, this song helps prove Elton & Bernie could still put their minds to it on a good day.

But it's definitely the classic "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" that makes CARIBOU worth picking up. Definitely in the top 5 of Elton's ballads (although he had long abandoned any traditional love songs), this song deservedly peaked at #2 on the charts, and would finally see #1 when Elton re-recorded it as a live duet with fan & influence George Michael. The fact that George, Oleta Adams & Joe Cocker have all done well by this song is a hint of its timelessness.

The bonus tracks on CARIBOU are certainly some of the best in the whole reissuing campaign of Elton's backlog. "Sick City" & "Cold Highway" were relegated to B-sides, but Elton & Bernie prove that just because they're on the other side of a 45 doesn't mean they're inessential. It's great to have these more easily available for those who didn't save their old singles.

Elton's appearance in the movie version of The Who's TOMMY was one of its biggest highlights & his cover of their "Pinball Wizard" is just marvelous. His piano playing ranks up with his best, and his insertion of a snippet of "I Can't Explain" is genius. The Who were so knocked out by that, that when they covered "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" on the TWO ROOMS tribute album, they returned the favor by inserting a little of "Take Me To The Pilot".

"Step Into Christmas" has deservedly become a modern Yuletide standard since its appearance, and once again indicates that no matter what kind of commonplace genre they tackle, Elton & Bernie will still put their own stamp on it. Not to mention, it is so infectious, even the most Scrooge-like of listeners will feel compelled to join in.

Elton John & Bernie Taupin were indeed visibly exhausted on CARIBOU, with them perhaps recording the album simply to get it out & not pushing themselves to create something magical (probably because they had not much time to). The GREATEST HITS album that arrived late in 1974 would buy the duo some time for them to get back on the track again, but in the meantime, CARIBOU had to have worried some people who thought Elton & Bernie had lost their touch. But when disregarding the rhinestones in a collection like CARIBOU, it's much easier to discover the gems, even if some of them don't shine as much as they used to.

Clearly exhausted from the grind of turning out multiple albums within a short time span, Caribou doesn't catch Elton at his best. It does have a number of gems sprinkled throughout the album but more than its fair share of filler. Still, what filler! Even the weakest material is still fairly catchy and memorable.

The ironic thing is that Elton hated Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me when he first completed it. Yet it managed to become one of his signature tunes. The top flight production of Gus Dudgeon and arrangements manage to salvage most of the weak tunes. Yes, Solar Prestige is gibberish (and was meant to poke fun at all those looking for illumination in Elton's work) but like the gibberish on the White Album it still manages to entertain.

Carbiou was certainly a come down after the nearly flawless GYBR of the previous year. The garish cover says it all.

The sequel to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road "Caribou" was written between tours. I don't know why most EJ fans shun it.

1. The Bitch is Back: A great song showing EJ returning. Fun and catchy and a hit in my book. I love to sing it.

2. Pinky: A nice laid back song about someone named pinky. Soft mellow chords from EJ.

3. Grimsby: A great toe-tapper about a man and his boat. Great work from Davey Johnstone!

4. Dixie Lilly: Catchy song, takes me back to Tumble Weed Connection. I like the train whistle from Ray Cooper.

5. Solar Prestige Agammon: I'm one of the few EJ fans who loves this song! Fun nonsense from EJ!

6. You're So Static: From the first few piano notes to the clam shells to the stomping drums to the blasting horns, this song wins my heart over the two hits TIB and DLTSGDOM.

7. I've seen the Saucers: Not too many songs I've heard about aliens. awesome vocal work!

8. Stinker: Old schoolish blues. Great horns and "down" lyrics. Way to Go Bernie!

9. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me: I like this song. Who knows the the number of hearts it has touched

10. Ticking: Following the aucustic footsteps of "This Song Has Know Title" An 7 min epic about a boy who goes crazy and kills people. The lyrics alone sends shivers down my spine.

11. Pinball Wizzard: Like most fans I agree that it kicks butt better than the Who's version.

12. Sick City: So far the only EJ song I've heard with a disorted piano. (I maybe wrong though) Me likes it!

13. Cold Highway: An audio flaw? Nice song with a slow bridge but I have to turn up the volume to hear it.

14. Step Into Christmas: Yay! I'm so glad that he made a Christmas song when he was young. I play it a lot durring the holidays. Great drums and guitar and everything!

I love this album and this quality reaches GBYBR standards! It's worthy to be called an Elton John Classic!