Well damn I have a concert review to go with the album review!

Artist: Iron Maiden

Venue: Cellaris Ampitheatre (Atlanta, Georgia, US)

Price: $79.00

Setlist

Churchill Speech/Ace’s High Where Eagles Dare 2 Minutes To Midnight The Clansman The Trooper For The Greater Good Of God The Wicker Man Sign Of The Cross Flight Of Icarus Fear Of The Dark Number of The Beast Iron Maiden

—–Encore——

The Evil That Men Do Hallowed Be Thy Name Run To The Hills

Band

Bruce Dickinson: Lead Vocals

Lead Vocals Dave Murray: Guitars

Guitars Adrian Smith: Guitars, Backing Vocals

Guitars, Backing Vocals Janick Gers: Guitars

Guitars Steve Harris: Bass, Backing Vocals

Bass, Backing Vocals Nicko McBrain: Drums

Here we have my birthday gift from my dad, which were two tickets to see Maiden. Six months later and here we were, driving down to Atlanta. Of course we nearly missed the exit to get there but we did make it, and we actually caught some of The Raven Age’s set, which is a metalcore band that Steve Harris’ son is in, and while I love Steve Harris and am all for parents supporting their kids, I really didn’t give a shit about seeing them (though in fairness they weren’t that bad; solid players and they were passable if generic).

After that, Maiden’s crew began setting up the stage while my dad and I waited alongside everyone else in the lawns. A couple soldier looking guys came out to the tune of “Doctor Doctor” by UFO and then finally, the screens showed the trailer for the mobile game which actually looked pretty fun.

Soon, lights go down, Churchill’s Speech starts, and those twin guitars kick in and everyone in the band comes roaring out. Bruce was the last member to show up and he went through different outfits for each song, wearing a pilot hat for Ace’s High. An extremely solid performance overall leading into Where Eagles Dare. Holy shit was that good! They went through a few more Maiden standards as well as The Clansmen, which was one of two Blaze tunes played that night. The Trooper, you can go on about overplay, but it was awesome getting to hear that and seeing Eddie come out and even sword fighting with Bruce for a bit.

They played For The Greater Good Of God Off A Matter Of Life And Death, Which I don’t remember liking but it was actually okay live and I filmed it after trying to film The Clansman.

The highlight though would have to be Sign Of The Cross going into Flight Of Icarus. THAT I should have filmed in hindsight but oh well. Oh and Bruce had flamethrowers for Flight Of Icarus which was so kickass! I was also happy to see Hallowed Be Thy Name brought back for the encore since I know there was that lawsuit because-Hallowed Be Thy Name.

The band was excellent all through the night and still so on point. Could have done without some of Janick’s stage moves but what can you do? Bruce. Holy fuck, the dude is less than a month away from turning 61 and was diagnosed with tongue cancer not that long ago and he still sings and performs his ass off.

I can definitely recommend this tour overall, a great show!

“For The Greater Good Of God”

“Number Of The Beast”

News

Alrighty, let’s get cooking with Honky Château, the fifth studio album by Elton John. Released May 19, 1972 on Uni Records in the U.S. and DJM in the U.K. and produced by Gus Dudgeon, the album marks the first album to make prominent use of Elton’s touring band (guitarist Davey Johnstone, bassist Dee Murray, and drummer Nigel Olsson) after only being able to use them selectively on previous albums. In addition, the album marks an increasing rock and roll influence in John’s music. The album got its name from the studio where it was recorded, which was Château d’Hérouville in Hérouville, France. To date, Honky Château and was the first of seven consecutive number one albums.

So how does the album fair? Let’s kick it off with….

1. “Honky Cat” (Elton John/Bernie Taupin):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=92s-MPAQBCU

“Honky Cat”, the album’s first single and its second best known song arguably. The song is an autobiographical portrayal of Bernie Taupin’s life growing up in the country side of England and his desire to move out into the world.

First off….man it’s got such a good groove to it, great horns that recalls the Dixieland. Even with their British roots, a lot of Elton and Bernie’s early stuff has a strong Americana running throughout and this song is a great example. And the song is something I really connect because I’ve lived in a smaller town my whole life and I definitely don’t want to spend the rest of my life here.

This is a really good song and a great way to kick off the album. Let’s see how the album holds up.

2. “Mellow” (John/Taupin):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tT-s2jcq5to

We now come to a mellow song called…Mellow. The song features the great Jean-Luc Ponty contributing electric violin.

For a guy who has so many classic hits, it’s tempting to stick with that but when you look beyond that and go for the album tracks, you’re very much rewarded. This is right there with a lot of the classic hits (including one coming up on this album), fantastic song that kind of foreshadows “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” at the beginning. And of course Ponty is icing on the cake.

3. “I Think I’m Gonna Kill Myself” (John/Taupin):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=82wU5NfRfr4

“I Think I’m Gonna Kill Myself”, with “Legs” Larry Smith from the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band tap-dancing on the track. The song is a tongue-in-cheek piece about a moody teenager trying to get attention by threatening suicide.

I absolutely love this song, just a really fun song with a dark sense of humor. For the record, I deal with depression and anxiety. Trust me, I know damn well how hard it is and how much of a toll it can take on you. But I also have a morbid sense of humor. And that part where it slows down at the end of the chorus is excellent and I dig the little tap dancing as well.

Overall, I really like this song.

4. “Susie (Dramas)” (John/Taupin):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=14CiJoldp0k

And now we get a little bit funky with “Susie (Dramas)”, where Elton plays a county fair musician in love with one Susie.

This is a total gem. First you have that bass line by Dee Murray that really just pops out and really takes the song to another level. Even Davey Johnstone’s solo has a rough and jagged character that somehow works perfect for the song. And the track just grooves like crazy.

This is a rockin little number and one of my favorites off the album.

5. “Rocket Man (I Think It’s Gonna Be A Long, Long Time)” (John/Taupin):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DtVBCG6ThDk

Easily the most famous song off this album and the namesake of the film I reviewed earlier this year. The song came about during the Apollo 16 mission, although Bernie Taupin took inspiration from the short story The Rocket Man by Ray Bradbury which also inspired a song of the same name by a folk rock group called Pearls Before Swine. However that song is mainly from the child’s point of view, whereas this is largely from the astronaut’s perspective.

Now onto the song. Elton’s vocal and piano work is so beautiful, very direct and down to earth. Dee Murray’s bass really accents the right moments and really helps create the feeling of loneliness, giving the track an extra pathos in the process.

We think of astronauts in almost mythic ways and there are only certain people who can be astronauts (if simply because of all the training and requirements involved). But in the end, they’re still people. They still have an existence outside of the job, they still have friends and family, and they do get burned out after a while.

This is a total classic and worthy of its popularity.

6. “Salvation” (John/Taupin):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XTXUszuAU20

We open the second side with “Salvation”, and the opening reminds me a little bit of “Candle In The Wind” while still it’s own beast.

This is a beautiful ballad with so much spirit and soul to it. And I love the harmonium, or pump organ if you will, that Elton adds on here, it really does a nice job shading the lead piano and melody. And then you have a really tasty slide solo by Davey Johnstone.

Such a gorgeous song and another favorite on this album.

7. “Slave” (John/Taupin):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=U40PxQua_-Y

A Song where Elton doesn’t play piano?! Or any keyboards?! Holy shit!

In seriousness, this is a song about the South and the slavery in its history as indicated by the song. The song does such a great job capturing a rural Americana and it reminds me a lot of Elton’s previous album Tumbleweed Connection which is probably his and Bernie’s writing at its most Americanic. I could easily hear The Band or CCR even doing this song, it really does perfectly capture that sound. And Davey plays the pedal steel and banjo on this song and does a great job at it.

This is one song where, if all you know of Elton John is the pop star in funny outfits, you’ll be really pleasantly surprised because there’s far more to him than the outfits.

One more song for the win, I absolutely love it.

8. “Amy” (John/Taupin):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LMCcdc97kb8

“Amy”, with Ponty once again contributing violin. In addition, Ray Cooper offers percussion duties to this track, marking his only appearance on the album and his last before becoming a full time member of Elton’s band.

Ray’s percussion really does add such a cool flavor to it. The track has a funk character with Elton adding some boogie woogie piano to the track. This is some total Dr. John stuff, real New Orleans Dixieland kind of gumbo. I can see Little Feat doing this, which giving that I know Elton is a big fan of Bill Payne makes sense. And hot DAMN does Ponty scorch Earth on this song.

I absolutely love this song, my favorite on the album.

9. “Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters” (John/Taupin):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=9tRgYfQ48A0

This comes from Bernie’s first trip to New York City when he heard a gun shot go off out his window. The song would receive a sequel on Reg Strikes Back.

This is an incredible song, very raw and straight to the point in all the right ways. There’s such a purity to this song that you don’t always find in Elton and Bernie’s writing. And I think removing the drums worked perfect for this song, because it really does have the feeling of Elton just at the piano playing his heart out (albeit with some mandolin and bass from Davey and Dee). And it was such a perfect song for the Concert For New York City, you especially felt the anguish of NYC after 9/11.

Such a perfect song, and one that Elton couldn’t top, certainly not with the sequel song, that sucked. It’s like that horrible Return of The Hangar song that Megadeth did, trying so hard to reclaim the glory days and trying to recreate previous success and absolutely failing at it.

10. “Hercules” (John/Taupin):

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=BYgo495KJsE

We close the album with the third single that never was, “Hercules”. This of course would become Elton’s middle name when he had his name legally changed, Coming not from the mythological figure but from the horse on the British sitcom Steptoe and Son (also the basis of Sanford and Son).

After the last track, this is a good way to end the album on a lighter tone and it’s a really fun song. The band is solid as always and Elton is in good form vocal wise and performance wise, delivering a tongue in cheek lyric about a wimpy guy getting his ass kicked then losing the girl. It’s not my favorite song on the album but I do love it nevertheless.

FINAL VERDICT

That’s Honky Château, yet another album in Elton John’s seventies winning streak. One great song after another, this was a time where just about anything Elton touched turned to gold, and this is no exception. I also think this is a good place to start with Elton as it has the different light and the shade, and I think if someone is more on the fence this will definitely make them rethink Elton John. I can’t recommend this album enough, definitely worth a go.