Madman Across The Water
Elton John
1971
Album Summary
Madman Across the Water is the fourth studio album by English musician Elton John, released in 1971 through DJM and Uni Records. The album was his third album to be released in 1971, at which point John had been rising to prominence as a popular music artist. The album contains nine tracks, each composed and performed by John and with lyrics written by songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. Yes band keyboardist Rick Wakeman plays Hammond organ on 3 songs. There were two singles released from Madman Across the Water, "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer". The album was certified gold in February 1972, followed by platinum in March 1993, and 2× platinum in August 1998 by the RIAA. The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. On 10 June 2022, the album was reissued as a deluxe edition for its 50th anniversary, featuring 18 unreleased tracks including demos, outtakes and alternate takes, as well as a 40-page book detailing the album's creation with notes from John and Taupin.
Wikipedia“Madman across the Water” by Elton John (1971) Long familiarity with this album, which I owned on cassette tape and listened to endlessly on a mono portable deck. Bernie Taupin wrote the excellent lyrics, Elton John composed brilliant melodies and performed the songs with passion, while producer, arrangers, studio musicians, choir, orchestra, and engineers put together one fine collaborative audio production. This one of the earliest albums where the mixing board becomes a musical instrument on its own (the producer, Gus Dudgeon, knew exactly when to ‘tell’ the piano to sit back and let the backing musicians take over). If it weren’t for a couple of clunkers (“Razor Face” and “Rotten Peaches”), this album could’ve been a classic. Elton John has characterized himself as a pianist: “I’m a pounder.” He’s right. He never developed his left hand, and his right hand is chord-heavy. But his piano/vocal composition, dynamic synchronization, and blend are magical. His vocal melodies are enthralling. As an experiment, try to listen to just the melody, while filtering out the vocal trills, runs, and stylings. Then also filter out the chords and background musicians, and you should touch greatness. Sequences of cascading and unanticipated intervals, always leading home to the anxiously expected tonic, frequently supplied only by the instrumentals. The melodies of “Tiny Dancer”and “Levon” will live forever. In terms of psychological horror, the title track “Madman across the Water” is profoundly angry, and fittingly under appreciated. Taupin shines (“Is it in your conscience that you’re after another glimpse of the madman across the water?”), while Sir Elton’s melody and vocal performance scares the hell out of you. And the social justice sensitivity of the sad and angry ballad “Indian Sunset” moves to tears (even if it’s tainted by a historically uninformed and anachronistic confusion of the plights of Iroquois, Sioux, and Apache cultures). I can’t listen to the line “Peace comes with a bullet hole” without a tissue. Fine album. 4/5
Dammit Elton John, why don't I like you? Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan of glam, even gaudy, music. But for some reason I'm just not connecting. Maybe it's your ballad structure, piano forwardness, love of california? Maybe you're too bombastic? Maybe your music feels both too sincere and not sincere enough? Maybe it's the thinness of your drum in the mix or that so many sound like You. Maybe your songs go on far too long, loitering far past their welcome? I don't know. Maybe one day I will. But not today.
Man this guy can sing! Loved it, and found some songs to be way more gospel-like than I expected but I dig it
I think this may be my favorite Elton John album. Perhaps because it contains "Levon," the first track of his to ever really capture my imagination. His creative collaboration with Bernie Taupin is incredible. Elton John is certainly a very talented musician and performer but honestly I think it is the poetic imagery and mysterious fractured glimpses of implied storytelling in Taupin's lyrics that really draws me in. "Rotten Peaches" is my second favorite track on the album.
A bunch of random stories, album wasn't cohesive. A lot of songs sounded the same. Ghetto Gospel sampled Indian Summer Favorite songs - Tiny Dancer, Levon
With most songs clocking in around five minutes, the record feels like a major work, and in many ways it is. Madman Across the Water begins to fall apart toward the end, but the record remains an ambitious and rewarding work, and John never attained its darkly introspective atmosphere again.
Another brilliant one in my eyes. It's no Yellow Brick Road but what a way to start the album with Tiny Dancer. I also didn't realise that Indian Sunset was the 'those who wish, to follow me' song. A fantastic tune that gives me the rising ballad feeling that I so adore. Long may the hairs stand tall on the back of my neck. I was pleasantly surprised when Levon came on after the classic opener. Straight into another ballad type song but I suppose that is the bread and butter of Elton John if we're honest. Just to confirm: I really enjoyed Levon. Only listened to this all the way through once but I will almost certainly be listening again. I enjoyed the feel of the entire album, very ballad-heavy which is right up my street; however, I was hoping for a 'Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting' type tune to burst out of nowhere. Despite that, really good stuff.
I enjoyed the theatricality so much more than I thought I would. A classic with a lot of sincerity, but Indian Sunset certainly does not stand up.
A fine album from Elton that contained elements of what would carry him to his imperial phase later on in the decade. The first four songs load the album with consistent hooks and catchy melodies, the middle portion is a little forgettable and the last two songs end the album out with great ease. One of the few worthwhile introductions to Elton around this time if you want to get ahold of what he was about. Favorites: Tiny Dancer, Levon, Razorblade, Madman Across the Water, All the Nasties.
"Tiny Dancer" might have one of the greatest build ups of all time. Over 2:30 to get to the chorus! Unreal restraint and talent on display here. And then Elton outdoes himself and goes straight into "Levon". The record loses a little steam with "Razor Face" but bounces back with the title track, which is heavier and more atmospheric than I expected. This album almost gets a five from me for its first two tracks alone. It feels like a classic, near-masterpiece to me. "Indian Sunset" is compellingly cinematic if you can ignore the stereotypical representation of an Indigenous warrior written by a white British dude with very little in the way of meaningful perspective or insight. It's not particularly problematic, but it hasn't aged well. I can't quite bring myself to give the record a five, but it's a worthy inclusion and I really enjoy how dark and introspective Elton gets here. Especially "Goodbye". Chills. Rating: 4.5/5 Favourite tracks: Tiny Dancer, Levon, Madman Across the Water, Holiday Inn, Goodbye
A pretty solid (and dare I say “proggy”? Prog-ish?) release from Elton John. First half of the record was better than the back half. Tbh, Indian Sunset was where I started losing interest and Rotten Peaches was laughably dumb.
Just not my thing. I find Elton John quite annoying when it’s not a song I know well. Gave up halfway through.
This album has symbolic meaning for me and I think it’s good music too
On se kova! Sir Elton piti otteessaan koko levyn ajan. Levyn lopussa jo vähän hiljenneltiin, mutta niinhän se kuuluukin kunnon rallin päätteeksi. Olisi ollut huikeaa nähdä ukko joskus livenä nuoruutensa päivinä, kun meno on ollut päällä.
Didn't realise Elton John was so rock n roll (and so his appearance on Fall Out Boy's "Save Rock and Roll" feels apt). Looked it up, not only did he change his actual name but he changed his actual middle name to Hercules - what a mad lad. Every song is really good, plenty of good choices, good songwriting, incredible vocals. Won't go into further detail coz it's all great. Only criticism is that the verses can drag slightly, compared to choruses, outros etc.
Among Elton's best work. Indian Sunset is a sprawling, underrated masterpiece. Pretty much perfect!
Terrific and resplendent. God love Sir Elton John. There’s a reason they made this man a knight, because his music champions the people to a different state of mind and brings them home safe again.
Elton is solid, liked it very much. Great Songwriting, Musical Vibes but still very pop.
Me encanta este álbum, solo conocía tiny dancer e Indian sunset pero me han enamorado casi todas las canciones, no hay casi nadie q se compare con el gran Elton John.
Favorite track: Madman Across the Water. But this whole album is good. Not a huge Erin John fan, but respect is owed.
GREAT ALBUM CHOICE, I listened to this just recently. Elton and Bernie developing their more epic and experimental sound that would come to fruition on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Good times.
This has Tiny Dancer and Levon on it, two heavy hitters that I absolutely love. Yeah, five dang stars easily.
This was my first time listening to an Elton John album in full and my man knows how to make good music
very top heavy but the top is so heavy, the rest can't weigh it down Tiny Dancer - Banger vor dem Herren
Beautifully cinematic, what a story teller. The man absolutely cains the ivory.
Legal demais! Não conhecia o álbum e me encantei com as canções. Boas baladas, tom crítico em algumas canções e uma pegada bem característica do John. Quero ouvir outros.
Great pop album that is focusing on its strengths and not trying to be something it shouldn't be. Great variety of songs, all at a very high quality level, they all belong there
Elton at his best. Piano pop rock with his amazing voice. The songs have great lyrics, each song is composed so well, layered with nice harmonies from choirs, orchestration, and nothing out of his caliber. This is top quality pop.
Excellent. Elton John is a true original and this is one of his best albums.
Classic Elton John album, sounds as good as ever: a clear 5* album of course (and not even his best seventies album!)
Incredible opening to an album. This is the kind of piano playing that catches my attention more than the previous album in my list. Hard to find anything to complain about
I've always liked Elton John and I still like Elton John - a strong album. Tiny Dancer is one of his very best songs.
Great Elton album, start to finish. His best tracks are found elsewhere, but there are no bad tracks on this gem.
Elton John's second best album behind 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,' with many amazing classics like 'Tiny Dancer' and 'Levon.' The lyrics are sometimes weird, but more often are they whimsical and carry you away to some strange place you didn't know you wanted to be in. I could listen to this album many times over before getting tired of it.
Very pleasant to listen to album with gorgeous piano playing, also a very solid album. Favorite song: Holiday Inn
One of my favorite Elton John albums. Really displays his true and best sound.
I don’t know if I can give an honest review of this album without the color of sentiment. This the epitome of early Elton John. His bright, young, expressive voice takes center stage of every song. He sings with enthusiasm and never just recites the words. Every song is easy on the ears with no unnecessary noise. Every instrument is brought in and faded out with purpose. Of course the piano lays the foundation. But horns, strings, and even an accordion take their place in the songs. This album is often overshadowed by later ones. But this brings out the early talent and lays out musical elements that show up in later albums.
a really consistent album. if you like the sound, you love the whole thing
This album was awesome. Got my morning started like a bat out of hell. After having listened to so many albums on this, you can really tell the difference between a good artist and a great artist
I used to think the title was some kind of marketing ploy aimed at Elton John himself. Now I think maybe it refers to longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin, whose lyrics are completely bananas. Is there a luckier man to ever exist, who responded to the same newspaper ad the same time as the only person alive with enough talent and charisma to turn his words into magic? Anyway, Elton John is incredible despite whatever nonsense Taupin makes him sing about.
More genius. My favourite Elton John album, from the halcyon days of rock.
Two of the greatest songs ever written on this iconic album - Levon and Tiny Dancer.
Solid album. Good that it's short, as there is not honestly a lot of musical variety
Contains two of Elton's best songs. Not sure the "Indian Sunset" message holds up, but everything on here is still super solid. Favorite tracks: "Tiny Dancer", "Levon"
Great. Love the piano work. Some songs run together. Tiny dancer is definitely the hit
I wasn't sure if I was going to be into this album, since I'm often hot and cold with Elton John, but this album starts off strong with Tiny Dancer and keeps going from there. 4/5
Good album, unfamiliar with his wider discography but enjoyed this album.
Tiny dancer is a classic; the rest is fairly folky for Elton but still enjoyable.
Contains arguably the most iconic song by Sir Elton John. But to be honest the rest of the album couldn't keep my attention.
fantastic album! I've listened to this before, and it was a joy to listen to again.
Bra album! Bästa låtarna ”Madman across the water”, ”Tiny Dancer”, ”Levon”.
Well, you either love him or hate him. I do love a bit of Elton, particularly since I saw him live a few years ago. Undeniable genius song writer, regardless of what you think of him
Unlike yesterday with Aladdin Sane, there were quite a few tracks on this album that I had never heard before. What an incredibly sad album! I read this entire project as a rumination on finding beauty and dignity within tragedy. I enjoy the instrumentation throughout, and can't help but feel like E.L.O. attempted to steal a lot of this sound. Tiny Dancer - The biggest 'hit' from the album, and the one I had heard the most before. Still catchy and fun to sing along with. Maybe the worst song on the album? This song is about unrequited love and holding a torch for someone long gone. SAD SONG. Levon - I had heard this one before too. I like the string riff throughout. A song about a man whose parents thought he was destined for greatness, but then he becomes a miserly balloon seller and his son hates him. A SAD SONG. Razor Face - A song about losing your former greatness. We assume that at one point Razor Face was a tough customer, but now he needs someone to help him walk. A SAD SONG. Madman Across the Water - A song about insanity. A SAD SONG. Indian Sunset - My favorite track on the album. A bit problematic today, as it uses reductive imagery of Native Americans as seen by a white british man. But also it's a sympathetic view of the American genocide of the Native American. A SAD SONG. Holiday Inn - I'm a sucker for mandolin anywhere. Second favorite track. A track about the malaise and boredom of being an under-appreciated backup musician on the road. A SAD SONG. Rotten Peaches - A song about the prison industrial complex and losing optimism. A SAD SONG. All the Nasties - A rather prescient song about people who nitpick and criticize. The critics are calloused without actually knowing anything about the person they judge. I love the choir. A SAD SONG. Goodbye - A song about feeling worthless, and giving all your energy to others. A SAD SONG. I really enjoyed this, but if I have staked Aladdin Sane as a 5 star album, then this by rights cannot be higher than 4. I may give it a 3 just to give myself room for future albums.
Almost Famous made Tiny Dancer widely known, but Levon has always been one of my favorite Elton John songs right after Rocket Man. But my all time favorite, Can You Feel The Love Tonight? Elton in his prime...