Elton John: Jump Up CD Track Listing

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Elton John Jump Up (1982)
Originally Released April 1982 \nMCA Remastered CD Edition Released May 1992\n\nAMG EXPERT REVIEW: Jump Up! (1982) was Elton John's (piano/vocals) first full LP to have been recorded in the 1980s, and is best remembered for including "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" -- John and lyricist Bernie Taupin's tribute to the their slain friend, John Lennon. While the pair had been writing together again, albeit infrequently, since the late '70s, John continued to include material written with his primary non-Taupin collaborator, Gary Osborne. The latter team had previously scored big with "Little Jeannie" on John's 21 at 33 (1980), and to a lesser degree with the noir ballad "Chloe" from The Fox (1981). However, on Jump Up!, the quality of material dithers from the absurd and inane "I Am Your Robot" -- featuring lead guitar work from Pete Townshend -- or the insipid breakup opener "Dear John" to the sublime beauty of "Blue Eyes" or the cathartic value of the aforementioned "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)." The dramatic "Legal Boys" is an understated masterpiece, marking the first public effort between John and Sir Tim Rice. The pair would garner Tony and Grammy awards 12 years later for their work on the original motion picture soundtrack to the animated feature film The Lion King (1994). John's backing band includes many of the same musicians who contributed to his most recent recordings. Representing the "classic" personnel are Dee Murray (bass) and post-Captain Fantastic (1975) recruit James Newton-Howard (keyboards). Fleshing out the core combo are studio guitarist extraordinaire Richie Zito and Toto drummer (and another highly regarded session heavy) Jeff Porcaro. Steve Holly (drums), who worked with Wings as well as John circa A Single Man (1978), guests on the tracks "Ball & Chain" and "I Am Your Robot." While far from a total washout, Jump Up! would remain tethered in the wake of the follow-up, Too Low for Zero (1983), marking a reunion between John and both his "classic" 1970s combo as well as Taupin. -- Lindsay Planer\n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nOne Of Elton's Very Best And Still Holds Up Nearly Twenty Five Years Later....., December 28, 2006 \nBy John Kwok (New York, NY)\n"Jump Up!" was one of Elton John's best albums from the 1980s, and I think it still holds up quite well today. It was Elton's first album with producer Chris Thomas, who would produce most of Elton's 1980s and 1990s albums, and the last album featuring songs co-written with lyricist Gary Osborne. Recorded on the West Indian island of Montserrat, "Jump Up!" truly captures Elton at one of his happiest moments in the 1980s, backed ably by a fine studio band which included long-time associate, bassist Dee Murray, and legendary studio session drummer Jeff Porcaro, best known for his work with his band Toto and of course, with Michael Jackson too. The album harkens back to Elton's early to mid 1970s sound, with an eclectic range of pop ballads and uptempo rockers. The two songs which most listeners will recognize are the Elton John/Gary Osborne ballad "Blue Eyes", which was recorded later by none other than Frank Sinatra, and the Elton John/Bernie Taupin ballad "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)", which is Elton's bittersweet homage to the late John Lennon; both songs still rank as among the finest ballads ever composed by Elton in his nearly forty-year long career. And yet these aren't the only fine songs on "Jump Up!"; even the song which I regard as the weakest on the album, the Elton John/Bernie Taupin ballad "All Quiet On The Western Front" - the songwriting team's musical tribute to World War One's Western Front - I'd regard as one of their most memorable compositions. In other words, "Jump Up!" is that rarity among Elton John albums, one which truly doesn't have a lackluster song on it (My other favorites include the Elton John/Gary Osborne ballad "Princess", the Elton John/Bernie Taupin Philly Soul tribute rocker "Where Have All the Good Times Gone", the Elton John/Gary Osborne rocker "Dear John" (It features a fine guitar solo from none other than Pete Townshend of The Who!), the Elton John/Tim Rice ballad "Legal Boys" (their very first collaboration, long before Disney's "The Lion King"), and last, but not least, the Elton John/Bernie Taupin cyberpunkish rocker "I Am Your Robot".). Without question, I would regard "Jump Up!" as an essential Elton John album that should be acquired by both diehard fans and others interested in his music. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nJump Up! Qualifies As Classic Elton, August 6, 2006 \nBy Julien Walden (Austin, TX)\nWhile the album art and photos on Jump Up! are almost comically dated, the music, for the most part, stands up to time's test quite well. Opening with the uber-catchy 'Dear John' (which stands as one of the most clever lyrics produced by Elton's creative tryst with Gary Osbourne) and moving forward with the Taupin-penned 'Spiteful Child,' Osbourne's 'Ball & Chain,' and the first collaboration between Elton and Tim Rice, 'Legal Boys,' this is a strong, energetic record that, twenty-four years on, is still worth hearing. Okay, so 'I Am Your Robot' is a clear relic of the pre-digital age (Jump Up! was probably the first record of Elton's to come out on CD as a new release, come to think of it), sounding kind of naive and quaint here in 2006, and 'Princess' and 'Where Have All The Good Times Gone' also sound very 1982, but so what? Like the album art, these songs serve to remind us of a time that was less cynical and more relaxed than our own time of higher technology and temperatures, lower government and expectations, senseless international conflicts and economic lunacy on an unprecedented scale. Either way, like the three that open the album, songs like Osbourne's laid-back 'Blue Eyes,' as well as Taupin's John-Lennon tribute 'Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)' and 'All Quiet On The Western Front' will survive in any climate, whatever the state of the world, providing pleasure and escape from the trials of mundane existence in any place and time. From our music, what more can we ask? \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nFive great songs on this album, May 12, 2005 \nBy Dr Jeremy Buddle (Battery Point, Tasmania Australia)\nElton John made this album in 1982 and it contains the superb John Lennon tribute song Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)- one of my all-time favourite songs by anyone. This is a perfect example of the best qualities of the Elton John/Bernie Taupin writing team - a great melody matched with an artful and moving lyric. I also really like the tune All Quiet On The Western Front - a beautiful lament for the fallen in WW1, and the dramatic Legal Boys ( a superior Tim Rice lyric about a messy divorce wrangle). Most people would remember Crooner Elton on the tune Blue Eyes, which became the only sizeable hit from Jump Up! in 1982. This saw Elton moving into the "adult-contemporary" bracket of mature, sophisticated pop, and doing it well. Where Have All The Good Times Gone is also really good, and is a nostalgic trip through groovy light soul. It's just a shame that these five great songs are matched with less-good material on the rest of the album . Dear John is a quite-good but generic pop-rocker, while the others are fairly inconsequential album tracks. I'm still going to give this 5 stars though because I love the good songs on it. \n\nBuy this record if you are a fan of accessible, mainstream pop music or if you enjoy Elton's later 80's work. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nGlad To See This Reissue!, March 4, 2005 \nBy Jonathan M. Goodman "Blue Suede Schubert" (Franklin Square, NY USA)\nI was grateful that this album finally got it's CD release, and quickly bought it. It is about as straightforward an album as you can get from Elton(no overblown arrangements here--very understated but crystal-clear). Alas, it would be the last such tasteful album from him; the schmaltz here is earned, which can't be said for anything that came after. Hard to hear "Empty Garden" without thinking about where we were when we heard about John Lennon. Anyone who loves Elton's AIDA can look to this album for the first collaboration of Elton and lyricist Tim Rice. I know I'm going to give the minority opinion here, but I think Tim Rice showed up Mr. Taupin with the clever wordplay of the wrenching divorce saga, "Legal Boys". Elton responds with a masterful, chordally and rhythmically complex, but imminently listenable rocker that would be his best song of the 80's. The rest doesn't hold up to this song, but is enjoyable, confident Elton material; mediocre from Elton is still worthy of 4 stars. Why? Because Elton is a superior craftsman of the highest order in popular music, and the producers had the sense to not ruin this album with extraneous sounds. This is the best Elton album of the 80s. Dare I say it? It's the last 4 star album he ever made. There; I await the next great Elton album to be made. \n\nA footnote: "Blue Eyes" is a curious thing; a standard worthy of mention next to Porter or Berlin, but Elton's voice is bafflingly weird-sounding,like he was digitally warped before that was even possible. Elton's voice is great enough that he shouldn't have to mess with it. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nJump Up and Down!, May 2, 2004 \nBy David Sigler (Baltimore, Maryland)\nElton John had started the 80s with a huge hit called Little Jeannie from a solid album called 21 At 33. He followed that album with the similar but lukewarm The Fox. Well hold on. Because on this outing, Elton John wakes up and hits the ground running. If you thought he was down and out, he was preparing his fans for a release that was truly the jump start of his career in the 1980s. \nJump Up contains some outstanding songs. Dear John, Spiteful Child, Legal Boys, Blue Eyes, Empty Garden, Where Have All The Goodtimes Gone and All Quiet On The Western Front. The production has never been stronger with thanks to Chris Thomas for giving these songs a real shine without over doing it. The tight production on songs like Spiteful Child and Legal Boys measure up to anything that came before this effort.\n\nElton sings convincingly and with a self-assurance that resembles his best known work. The ache in his voice during Empty Garden, the wonderful tribute to John Lennon is moving. Elton has said he had fun making this release and it shows. He and producer Chris Thomas started to gel and while the hits Blue Eyes and Empty Garden may overshadow this album, it was a perfectly well executed album that deserves to be heard. \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nA Solid Summery Album, July 19, 2003 \nBy Keith T. Pells (Fort Myers, FL United States)\nA year after 1981's somewhat tepid response to that year's majestic and stately album "The Fox" (see my review for that album), Elton John broke out of the gate with "Jump Up!". While "The Fox" was subdued and understated, "Jump Up!" came out rocking and fun. Recorded in Montsarrat, it feels like an album that was recorded at leisure while on holiday.\nFrom the thundering opening drums of "Dear John", the album as a whole is upbeat. Only the two American Singles "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" and "Blue Eyes" were ballads. "Dear John" rocked harder and louder than anything he'd done since "Rock Of The Westies" (though not quite as hard as 1984's "Li'l Frigerator" from the "Breaking Hearts" album (see my review for that album)).\n\nLike the "21 At 33" album (see my review for that album), the arrangements and production values were crisp and pointed. The piano in "Spiteful Child" has punch to it, the synth-solo in the Summer-y "Princess" (released as a single outside the United States) has a sense of urgency. \n\nBut every now and then, John surprises his listeners and records a "period piece". A track that highlights the musical flavourings of the moment without going overboard (NOTE TO JOHN: I'd love to hear an all instrumental album from you someday). Prime examples up to this point were disco (from the "Victim Of Love" album - DEFINETELY see my review of that album) and Philly-Soul from "The Thom Bell Sessions". \n\nWith "Jump Up!", the period piece is "I Am Your Robot". With elements of electronica and industrial along the lines of A Flock Of Seagulls' "I Ran", "I Am Your Robot" remains one of my favorite John tracks. Only John can give credibility to lyrics like "I am your robot, I'm programmed to love you...my serial number is 4-4-3-5-7". Great stuff!\n\nLike most of his 80's output, the album closes with a stately more solemn number. In this case, it's "All Quiet On The Western Front" (released as a single outside the United States). With hymn-like vocals front-and-center, the track mirrors the bleakness and despair of war. The arrangement builds throughout, with a church organ brining it to a soaring conclusion. My father (a Korean War veteran) loves this song. \n\nLike the other 1979-1984 import remasterings, the only drawback is the lack of bonus tracks. There were some great b-sides available, such as "Lonely Boy" and "Take Me Down To The Ocean". In fact, "Ocean" is one of his best written and arranged b-sides, right up there with "Love Sick" (available as a bonus track on 1978's "A Single Man").\n\nBut with great packaging and liner notes, the remastering only enhances the sound, making this album a welcomed return to the spotlight in the John catalog. Those of you who prefer John's 70's output should take a closer look throughout the 80's. Though more of a "singles artist" during this time, there were some great records! \n\n\nAMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEW\nElton begins his comeback, July 4, 2003 \nBy Jim Hanson (Walla Walla, WA United States)\nElton made it clear he was going to be a force to reckon with on Jump Up. Yielding two top 15 singles, Blue Eyes and the John Lennon tribute Empty Garden, Jump Up! is Elton's most consistent effort since Captain Fantastic in 1975. \nJump Up is a great sounding album with a variety of great songs. Spiteful Child and I am your Robot are punkish rockers; Princess and Empty Garden are classic Elton ballads; Blue Eyes is a Frank Sinatra-esque tune; Dear John is a bouncy rocker; Where have all the good times gone? is a great philly-soul sounding song. There aren't any bad songs here and the album has a bouyant, energetic and polished feel to it. In my opinion, it is one Elton's best of the 1980s. \n\n\nHalf.com Details \nContributing artists: Pete Townshend \nProducer: Chris Thomas \n\nAlbum Notes\nPersonnel: Elton John (vocals, piano); Pete Townshend, Richie Zito (guitar); James Newton-Howard (synthesizer, electric piano); Dee Murray (bass, background vocals); Jeffrey Porcaro (drums); Steve Holly (tambourine, synthesizer drums); Gary Osborne (background vocals).\n\nRecorded at Air Studios, Montserrat.\n\nElton John was in something of a transitional period in the early 1980s. After he stopped touring in 1977, he continued to appear on the charts, but he no longer dominated them. In 1982, when JUMP UP was released, he was tinkering with his sound, as some of the more synthesizer-driven songs here demonstrate. But, more importantly, his extraordinary partnership with Bernie Taupin had broken up and reformed, leaving Taupin as one of four lyricists on JUMP UP; it was the Taupin collaboration on "Empty Garden," a tribute to John Lennon, that proved to be the record's big hit.\nHis abilities as a balladeer are much on display in the gorgeous, torch-style "Blue Eyes," which enjoyed chart success and which Roy Orbison would have done well to cover. The other obvious standout, "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)," with its soaring melody and emotional vocal, is a great showcase for Sir Elton's gift with a pop hook. Some songs, like the hard-stomping "Dear John" and "I Am Your Robot," reflect the synth-pop 80s sound, while "Ball and Chain," with its catchy hand claps and sprightly guitar work from guest Pete Townshend, is a little gem.\n\n\nROLLING STONE REVIEW\nJump Up is the album that redeems Elton John from his famine years as a fallen superstar exiled to less verdant pastures. Showing more spunk than anyone might have expected at this late date, he's put himself back on top simply by making a tour de force of a record that says he knows he's worth it. Even if he never again comes close to inciting the mass hysteria of the mid-Seventies, the sheer stylistic breadth of Jump Up should secure Elton John's reputation as a rare master of pop form.\n\nFrom the muscular lurch of "Dear John" to the Philly-soul stylings of "Princess," Elton is feeling frisky again. Those trademark piano rolls and crisp cadences never sounded so good as on "Spiteful Child," and he's found a new expressiveness in his singing (witness the dramatic, mock-Brechtian reading of "Legal Boys," which redresses the paper chasers with eloquent vehemence). And, for a guest-celebrity change of pace, there's "Ball and Chain," a catchy little tune that rolls along to the inimitable percussive strum of Pete Townshend's acoustic guitar.\n\nLyric-writing duties are divided between Gary Osborne and Bernie Taupin. The former seems to coax a more effervescent melody from John, while the latter plumbs for emotional intensity -- be it vengeance ("Spiteful Child") or sentimentality ("Empty Garden," a heartfelt paean to John Lennon).\n\nElton John just might be rock & roll's equivalent of the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz. His songs have a kind of mechanical vigor, he's a one-man pop-music assembly line, but the guy's got a heart that won't quit. "I am your robot/I am your robot man," he sings on Jump Up, in a way that suggests he's content with this self-assessment. Yeah, he may be a robot, but he's our robot, all right. God bless him. (RS 370 -- May 27, 1982) -- \nPARKE PUTERBAUGH
This misc cd contains 10 tracks and runs 42min 33sec.
Freedb: 7509f70a
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