Elton John – Ice On Fire (2010)
Elton John – Ice On Fire (2010)
1 This Town 3:55 2 Cry To Heaven 4:15 3 Soul Glove 3:31 4 Nikita 5:43 5 Too Young 5:13 6 Wrap Her Up 6:07 7 Satellite 3:57 8 Tell Me What The Papers Say 3:40 9 Candy By The Pound 3:56 10 Shoot Down The Moon 5:00 Elton John - Keyboards, Piano, Synthesizer, Vocals David Bitelli - Sax (Baritone), Sax (Tenor), Saxophone Alan Carvell - Vocals, Vocals (Background) John Deacon - Bass, Guest Artist Kiki Dee - Vocals, Vocals (Background) Raul d'Oliveira - Trumpet Gus Dudgeon - Vocals, Whistle (Human) Deon Estus - Bass Mel Gaynor - Drums Millie Jackson - Vocals Davey Johnstone - Guitar, Guitar (Electric), Synthesizer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) Nik Kershaw - Guitar, Guitar (Electric) Katie Kissoon - Vocals, Vocals (Background) Fred Mandel - Guitar, Keyboards, Synthesizer Dave Mattacks - Drums, Drums (Snare) George Michael - Vocals, Vocals (Background) Charlie Morgan - Drums Onward International Horns Pino Palladino - Bass David Paton - Bass Nick Pentelow - Sax (Tenor), Saxophone Chris Pyne - Trombone Frank Ricotti - Congas, Percussion, Shaker, Tambourine, Vibraphone Sister Sledge - Vocals Paul Spong - Trumpet Bob Sydor - Sax (Tenor), Saxophone Rick Taylor - Trombone Roger Taylor - Drums, Guest Artist Pete Thomas - Sax (Tenor), Saxophone Philip Todd - Sax (Alto), Saxophone Paul Westwood - Bass Pete Wingfield - Vocals, Vocals (Background)
Sandwiched between 1984's Top 20 hit Breaking Hearts and 1986's commercial disaster Leather Jackets, 1985's Ice on Fire is a forgotten Elton John effort. While it is hardly a masterpiece -- it isn't even up to the standard of such '80s efforts as Too Low for Zero -- it's still an enjoyable record, living proof of the power of professionalism. John was riding high on his comeback of the early '80s and ready to turn out another record. And that's what Ice on Fire is -- another Elton John album, in the best possible sense. Sure, it does mark the reunion of John and lyricist Bernie Taupin with producer Gus Dudgeon, who helmed John's greatest recordings, but you'd never know it from the sound of the record. Ice on Fire is pure 1985, heavy on synthetic drums and keyboards -- the kind of record where Davy Johnstone is credited with guitar, but it never sounds as if there's a guitar on the record, or any other "real" instrument, for that matter. That's not really a criticism, since John always made state-of-the-art records, so it should come as little surprise that this sounds like its time; it's sort of fun, in a way, since it instantly brings back its era. The biggest complaint is that much of the record never rises to the level of memorable. The two singles, the cold-war ballad "Nikita" and the George Michael-featured "Wrap Her Up," are the strongest items here, but even those are rather disposable. The rest of the album shares the same sparkling, canned production, and a few songs could have held their own on the Top 40, but much of it is just average Elton. ---Stephen Thomas Erlewine, AllMusic Review
Last Updated (Wednesday, 11 January 2017 14:21)