10 Classic Rock Albums That Got Better Over Time
9. Madman Across the Water - Elton John
In the age of vinyl, it felt like the radio stations were a little more lenient on the kind of music that could be played on stations. Hell, if a song like American Pie could reach the top of the charts in all its 9 minute glory, than anything was possible, right? Elton John certainly benefited from this with the song Tiny Dancer... now can we get the same kind of praise for the rest of the album that it came from?
When people bring up Madman Across the Water, they normally don't look at it past the monumental opening track. Long before Goodbye Yellow Brick Road though, this is where the songwriting partnership of Elton and Bernie Taupin started to reach perfection, with songs that have almost a cinematic bent to the way that they're structured. Since Bernie was always a wordsmith, this is the first time where you see him really put stories into his songs, like the bittersweet sounds of Levon or the heartbreaking tale of Native Americans in Indian Sunset.
Along with the lyrics, Elton really pulls out at the stops on this record, going for broke on every single track to make them feel like the soundtrack to the greatest '70s movie that never got made. If you were to look at any picture of Elton from around this time though, you weren't going to necessarily call him subtle, now were you?