The 1986 album Elton John can’t stand: “It was a disaster”
Elton John has always been forthright about his opinion of many pop stars. Whether talking about the fantastic virtues of The Beatles’ music or dragging Madonna through the mud now and again, John tells it like it is with little regard for what any of his contemporaries have to say about it. For all of the bile he’s thrown in every direction, John has a specific bone to pick with one of his own creations.
That same blunt honesty hasn’t just been reserved for his peers. Over the years, John has shown a rare willingness to turn that critical eye inward, openly dissecting his own catalogue with the same candour he applies to others. In an industry where legacy is often protected at all costs, his readiness to call out his own missteps sets him apart.
It also speaks to the standards he holds himself to as a songwriter. For an artist whose career is built on timeless melodies and meticulous craftsmanship, anything that falls short of that mark becomes impossible to ignore in hindsight. Rather than rewriting history, John has consistently chosen to confront it head-on, even when that means labelling parts of his own discography as failures.
At the very start of his career, though, the famed singer was already in for an uphill battle. While initially rejected by his record label, the pairing of him and Bernie Taupin made for musical ecstasy when they began writing hits like ‘Your Song’. Just when they seemed to be riding high, John was about to take a massive downslide.
After the album Rock of the Westies, John’s bulletproof track record on the charts dissipated. Although John was initially happy that a few of his singles didn’t automatically reach number one, his rampant cocaine abuse severely affected his quality control on albums like Victim of Love.
Dipping his toes into the disco genre, half of the album featured lacklustre production that brought John into the realm of a kitschy Vegas act instead of the timeless songwriting craftsman. From John’s point of view, the absolute low point wouldn’t come until much later. When working on the album Leather Jackets, John didn’t have a single kind word to say about his new album.
Recalling the time in his autobiography ME, John didn’t mince words about the quality being severely lacking on the project, saying, “It was about as close to an unmitigated disaster as anything I’ve ever released. The big single was meant to be ‘Heartache All Over the World’, a song so lightweight you could have lifted it up with your little finger”.
After having a strict no-drug rule in the studio, John blames the quality of the record on bringing cocaine into the sessions, explaining, “I had always tried to be strict about not using drugs in the studio, but this time, that rule went out the window. The coke had precisely the impact on my creative judgement as you might expect. I stuck any cold crap on Leather Jackets”.
The album is also home to one of John’s least favourite songs that he ever wrote, ‘Don’t Trust That Woman’. Written as a co-write with Cher, John wouldn’t even claim ownership of the tune. He said: “You could tell what I thought of that by the fact that I declined to put my own name to it, crediting the song to Cher and my made-up studio character, Lady Choc Ice. Of course, if you hate a song so much that you won’t actually admit you wrote it, it’s generally speaking a good idea not to record and release it”.
Then again, the songs could have easily suffered from not having longtime collaborator Bernie Taupin at the helm. Thinking that they needed a break from each other, Taupin had taken time to helm projects with fellow rock acts like Alice Cooper, which became a point of jealousy for John then.
Even with the mediocre songs, it would take John longer to give up his cocaine habit, finally cleaning up in 1990. Although he is welcome to play any song he wants to throughout his illustrious career, there’s probably a good reason why nothing from Leather Jackets made its way into his farewell set.
