Made in England

Elton John went into the studio to record his 1995 album still riding high on the success of The Lion King, including his very own Academy Award. Armed with Bernie Taupin's latest set of lyrics, Elton brought in Greg Penny, best known as K.D. Lang's producer, to co-produce the album with Elton himself at George Martin's AIR Studios in London.

The result was Made in England, a largely overlooked gem that was almost certainly the best and most consistent album Elton had done in nearly two decades.

Making his recording debut with Elton on the album was bassist Bob Birch, who came aboard for The One tour in 1992 and on this album earned the nickname Mr. Perfect for nailing all his bass lines in one take. Also in the band for this album were longtime associates guitarist Davey Johnstone, percussionist Ray Cooper, drummer Charlie Morgan and keyboardist Guy Babylon. The album was dedicated to David Furnish, Elton's then boyfriend and current husband. Along with the confidence brought by his Oscar (and his growing sobriety), this new relationship could be the reason that Elton sounded as invested in this album as he had been in quite a while.

Both Elton and Bernie seem to be a bit under the belated spell of John Lennon on the album; lyrically, Bernie addresses themes reminiscent of John's early solo albums; some in fact see Bernie providing 10 one-word titles to go with the three-word title track as a not too subtle nod to Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, his Primal Scream album that featured five one-word titles and no title of more than three words.

Opening track "Believe" is a Lennonesque statement about the universal power of love, dramatically put forth with a string arrangement by classic era-arranger Paul Buckmaster, the orchestrator and arranger who had scored the 1970 film Friends with Elton and contributed to most of the 1970s albums. His touch had largely been missing from Elton albums since 1978's A Single Man. He gets a lot to do here, scoring not only backgrounds for many of the songs but also providing several orchestral fills between songs.

The title track follows and is a different animal: a not too friendly ode to his youth growing up in England, seems intended to serve as England's equivalent to Bruce Springsteen's Born in the USA, Like that song, Made in England seems on its surface an up-tempo patriotic anthem but if you listen closely, the lyrics present a thinly veiled criticism of his and Elton's homeland and upbringing there. It touches on homophobia and other social ills in the UK, significant topics if not quite the powerhouse statement that Springsteen makes on the US involvement in the Vietnam War.

Another Buckmaster string arrangement leads into "House" a heartfelt anthem to the comforts of home. Up next is "Cold" a heartbroken ballad that provides another showcase for Buckmaster, but also accommodates some memorable guitar from Davey Johnstone.

Next is the guitar and piano driven "Pain," a bouncy tune whose lyric reads like a list of things in this world that cause pain (ie, pretty much everything), as presented by a character who claims to be pain itself. It is another example of Elton's downbeat lyric -upbeat melody trick. The lyric was written by Taupin while his father was dying of cancer.

"Belfast" is more specific: a love song to the Northern Irish city of the same name which at the time was ground zero for the conflict between Ireland's Catholic and Protestant factions. The start of the song is devoted to Buckmaster's orchestral motif that returns throughout the album and Elton delivers Bernie's words in as heartfelt a manner as he has mustered in some time. An overlooked classic.

"Latitude" is a waltz featuring a horn and string arrangement by legendary Beatles Producer George Martin. It's a lively change of pace of the sort Elton hadn't accomplished since his glory days.

Next up, "Please" a pleasing tune that heavily features Davey Johnstone's guitars which really drive the song. It's theme is committed long-term love and echoes the song "Grow Old With Me," a touching John Lennon song he never officially recorded; most recently revived by one Richard Starkey with Paul McCartney on bass. As for Elton's song, it was successfully covered by bluegrass singer Rhonda Vincent, and done in similar fashion by Dolly Parton on the 2018 tribute album "Restoration." Elton's regard for the song is indicated by its inclusion on the very successful Love Songs compilation later in the year.

"Man" features orchestral arrangements by Elton and keyboardist Guy Babylon, whose organ is prominently featured. It's akin to "Pain" in its bleak look at life's path and its hardships but ultimately sees "faith in man" as redemptive.

"Lies" has a rather driving beat and strong keyboard work, including an effective piano and drum solo at the close of the song. Like the preceding song, its view of man as deceitful is pervasive. But in the end it's redemptive point is love, as the protagonist admits his own deceit but maintains that "I never lied to you."

"Blessed" is more along the lines of "Please," another heartfelt love song, this time promising love a to a yet to be born child, Bernie and his new wife were expecting a child at the time. calling to mind Elton and Bernie's very early "Greatest Discovery" in its innocence. The song features a soft melodic bed of piano and Ray Cooper's congas along with a cross-stick beat by drummer Charlie Morgan along with delicate synthesizer touches by Guy Babylon; toward the end, Ray Cooper adds castanets and Davey Johnstone adds Spanish guitar. It's a pleasing and effective end to an album that seemed to mark a return to Elton's creative best.

Sadly, this forward momentum would not carry on to his next album. But that is a story for another time.