Elton John once claimed that he could remember The One among his latter-day albums because it was the first he recorded without drugs or alcohol.
If true -- and there's no reason to doubt him -- that could be the reason why this has more character than most of his albums since the early '80s, holding together well in its deliberately measured, mature songcraft by Elton and Bernie Taupin.
There's less gloss than on many of his late-'80s records, and John gives a fairly convincing performance throughout this set of pretty good songs.
If there's any real problem, it's that the album just doesn't have many memorable songs.
Though they're all reasonably melodic and well-crafted, none of the them have memorable musical or lyrical hooks and, if anything, Chris Thomas' production is too evenhanded.
Still, even if it isn't memorable, it does represent a meaningful move forward, just because it does sound warmer and more considered than the records that immediately preceded it.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simple LifeElton John, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 06:25 | 14 MB | 36 MB |
| 2 | The OneElton John, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 05:52 | 13 MB | 35 MB |
| 3 | Sweat It OutElton John, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 06:37 | 15 MB | 40 MB |
| 4 | Runaway TrainElton John, Olle Romo, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 05:22 | 12 MB | 34 MB |
| 5 | Whitewash CountyElton John, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 05:28 | 12 MB | 36 MB |
| 6 | The NorthElton John, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 05:14 | 12 MB | 31 MB |
| 7 | When a Woman Doesn't Want YouElton John, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 04:53 | 11 MB | 28 MB |
| 8 | EmilyElton John, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 04:56 | 11 MB | 30 MB |
| 9 | On Dark StreetElton John, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 04:42 | 10 MB | 31 MB |
| 10 | Understanding WomenElton John, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 05:01 | 11 MB | 29 MB |
| 11 | The Last SongElton John, Bernie Taupin | Elton John | Play | 03:20 | 7 MB | 17 MB |
| 57 mins | 132 MB | |||||
| 57 mins | 353 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Guy Babylon | Keyboards, Programming |
| 2 | Beckie Bell | Vocals (Background) |
| 3 | Andy Bradfield | Assistant Engineer |
| 4 | Eric Clapton | Guest Artist, Guitar, Vocals |
| 5 | Kiki Dee | Guest Artist, Vocals (Background) |
| 6 | Patrick Demarchelier | Photography |
| 7 | Alex Firla | Assistant Engineer |
| 8 | Carole Fredericks | Vocals (Background) |
| 9 | David Gilmour | Guest Artist, Guitar |
| 10 | Elton John | Composer, Keyboards, Primary Artist, Vocals |
| 11 | Davey Johnstone | Guitar, Vocals (Background) |
| 12 | David Nicholas | Engineer |
| 13 | Nigel Olsson | Vocals (Background) |
| 14 | Pino Palladino | Bass |
| 15 | Olle Romo | Composer, Drums, Percussion, Programming |
| 16 | Adam Seymour | Guitar |
| 17 | Andy Strange | Assistant Engineer |
| 18 | Bernie Taupin | Composer, Lyricist |
| 19 | Mark Taylor | Keyboards |
| 20 | Chris Thomas | Producer |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |