45 Years of Elton John's Captain Fantastic, A Look Back
Review by Austin Sher
45 years ago to the day, Elton John and company released what would be an instant classic in history’s eyes, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.
Released on May 19th, 1975, lyrics from Bernie Taupin and instrumentation from Elton John joined forces to make one of music’s more memorable pieces of work. In my opinion, a far underlooked album when looking back on Elton’s historical discography. Speaking just upon the album cover, I feel that it’s always presented itself as slightly psychedelic, but also gives insight to what exactly you’re going to be getting by diving into the music. It’s for sure an entertaining spectacle to look at while spinning the vinyl.
While the entire album is really one big highlight, my personal favorites have always been the title track (obviously), Bitter Fingers, (Gotta Get A) Meal Ticket, and Writing. There are of course countless hits with an unbelievable amount of replay value available, but my constant listens are those four for sure.
While being completely honest, this was a record that was passed down from my parents to myself, and boy am I glad they had great taste. This album really shaped what type of music I’d be listening to for the rest of my life. As a guitar player, it’s inspired to play piano and really focus on lyrics and not just beautiful instrumentation and melodies. The entire album really is a work of art in terms of overall creativity and breaking ground on what music could be.
Looking back to the year 1975, you have to imagine that recording capabilities were obviously much more difficult to record with, especially production techniques. Captain Fantastic really pulls out the ultimate feats in terms of creating a sonic sound and has held up over time in terms of replay value.
After a full listen this morning, I have no choice but to rank it as my definitive favorite Elton John record, for multiple reasons. I still see it as underappreciated, less talked about compared to his other classics, highest replay value, and favorite album cover. We hope you feel the same and would love to hear your thoughts!
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