Cheap Reg Strikes Back (Music) (Elton John) Price

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Customer Reviews of Reg Strikes Back

Songs like "Town Of Plenty", "The Camera Never Lies", "Heavy Traffic", and "Since God Invented Girls" have actually grown on me, especially the latter, which is a delicate Beach Boys inspired album with one of the band members singing on it. Elton gets to stretch his keyboard playing talents on "Poor Cow", "Heavy Traffic", "The Camera Never Lies", and the album's only smash hit, the catchy dance number, "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That". The song that's grown on me most is "Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters Part II". I hated it originally because it was absolutely nothing like the original first half from 1972. But when I think of it, the song is actually a really good rocker.

"Reg Strikes Back" is a great album. It got Elton doing what he did best for the first time in the '80s' since "Breaking Hearts", which I also suggest picking up.

Anthony Nasti

A Good Album, But Not One Of His best
This 1988 album by Elton John is not exactly what his fans crave for. Several tracks are dull and dreary, such as the sugary love
song " A Word In Spanish ", some are just " god awful " which is
the case for the album's first track, " Town Of Plenty ", and
some just plane stink, such as the closing track, the dreary
" Since God Invented Girls ". And one song on this album I must point out you should skip : " Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters " ( Part
Two " ). This is an okay song, but it does not deserve to be named the second half of Elton's 1972 classic song. Unlike the first half, the song criticizes rather than celebrates New York.
( Perhaps this was because Bernie Taupin never liked New York that
much ) ? But like all albums, it has its " high points " . The album's single " I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That ", is a catchy song that has been remixed several times. And then there's my favorite track, " Poor Cow ". The song attacks the American " working - class " system. But otherwise, the songs are just filler, including the four tracks I haven't mentioned yet : the strange " Heavy Traffic " ( the lyric sounds like they were written by a man in a " mental ward " ), the droopy ballad
" Japanese Hands ", the syrupy " The Camera Never Lies ", and the horrible " Goodbye Marlon Brando ". But hey, don't shoot me, I'm only the reviewer. ( Note : this review refers to the 1988 original release, not the new, remastered edition with " bonus tracks " ).

The real "strike back" was a few years off, but it's a start
The 1980s are not known for being a stellar decade in Elton John's career. He was deep into substance abuse, and even while he was working with his top-notch lyricist Bernie Taupin, Bernie's own personal problems wreaked their own havoc on Elton's output, culminating in 1986's LEATHER JACKETS, widely acknowledged as Elton's absolute worst album. Apparently, the acclaimed LIVE IN AUSTRALIA album & tour awoke Elton to the gems of his earlier days, and that along with surgery done to remove throat sores was to help make 1988's REG STRIKES BACK his big splash back into the spotlight. However, these were just baby steps compared to the all-out triumphant return of 1992's THE ONE, Elton's first clean & sober album in ages. But he had to start somewhere, so this might as well be it.

While I had long heard that REG STRIKES BACK was near the bottom of Elton's best, I was encouraged to buy it for "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That", which I consider to be one of his best works even from a fallow period in his career. Sure enough, Elton sounds vocally invigorated on this song, growing into the deeper-textured voice that either came as a result of the surgery or just the passing years. Also, while Elton may have been playing more keyboards than actual piano by this time, this song is enough to make one admit that the man could still play! The public seemed to agree for "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" peaked at an impressive #2, becoming his highest-charting hit in over a decade.

Commercially, that was perhaps the extent of REG STRIKES BACK's success, although one more single did manage to chart somewhat high. "A Word In Spanish" is another song that Elton's fans don't quite rank high on their lists, and granted, it's not that stellar. But for a love song at a time when Elton & Bernie were starting to see that these guaranteed them hits more than the rockers of yore, "A Word In Spanish" still retains the intelligence of their older romantic songs. The airy exoticism of "Japanese Hands" & lush Beach Boys tribute of "Since God Invented Girls" do a much better job in the ballad department.

All in all, REG STRIKES BACK is more scattered in terms of good, presentable songs, with the prevailing atmosphere one of jubilant celebration having come back from the brink (though Elton had just begun), explaining the emphasis on rhythm. "Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters [Part Two]" is a much more syncopated number than its prequel of 15 years before, but lyrically, it's a fine way of updating the tune from a man who had indeed grown a lot in the years since.

"Goodbye Marlon Brando" (an all-too-apropos title recently) is a frenzied, funny way of bidding farewell to the excessive 1980s, which Elton is maybe the first to admit at being an active participant in (just look at the album cover). Although I'm not sure you could count off all the defining characteristics of the decade in just 3 1/2 minutes.

"The Camera Never Lies" is another uptempo "anti-love" song like "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That", but with a more unsettling subtext, one hinting at voyeurism with the whole camera motif. On the other hand, "Town Of Plenty", "Heavy Traffic" & "Poor Cow" sound like they're coming from the still substance-addled minds of Elton & Bernie, maybe showing their insistence on words that simply sound good together rather than mean something.

The bonus tracks are rather nil on the reissue of REG STRIKES BACK, favoring alternate mixes than lost tracks. "Rope Around A Fool" is the real find with its bluesy atmosphere, and what sounds like a rare time in this period that Elton forsook his keyboards for a good old Steinway. On the other hand, the "piano-only" (but of the remix) version of "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" is another indication that no matter what kind of keyboard he plays, Elton is a wizard. Some people have claimed that the remix of "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" is an improvement over the original, which I think is a stretch. Rather, it's equally good & comparable, Shep Pettibone giving it a distinctly 1980s-kitsch flavor as a knowing wink to the anything-goes mood of the era. The same goes for the recasting of "Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters [Part Two]".

Maybe the 1980s was not the best time to be an Elton John fan for while commercially, he was still moving full speed ahead, creatively, it seemed that train had left the station once Bernie Taupin departed for the first time. Nevertheless, it was admirable that Elton & Bernie realized it was time to get back to business & win back their old fans with the "renewal" of REG STRIKES BACK. Looking back, it was not the ultimate "strike back" that was expected, but it still had enough reminders of the old genius days to give fans hope that a full-scale return was in the works.