Peachtree Road

In January 2004, Elton John assembled his band at Tree Studios and Silent Sound in Atlanta Georgia to record his twenty-seventh album, By this point the Elton John Band had solidified, with longtime associates Davey Johnstone on guitars and vocals, and Nigel Olsson on drums and vocals, joined by Bob Birch on bass and vocals, John Mahon on percussion and vocals and Guy Babylon on keyboards. By this time, the latter 3 had worked extensively with Elton.

The album was named after the street on which Elton kept his Atlanta home and it betrays the album's very distinctive southern influence. Elton decided to produce the album himself, acting in that role for the first time with no co-producer, with the album dedicated to classic era producer Gus Dudgeon and his wife Sheila, both of whom had passed away in a car accident in 2002. The album was released on November 9, 2004.

Peachtree Road opens with the song "Weight of the World," on which you can hear a sound of relief in Elton's voice as he sings about how the weight of the world is off his back. The band's backing vocals perfectly heighten the emotion of this easy-going, mid-tempo ballad.

Next comes "Porch Swing in Tupelo" a reflection on the early years of Elvis Presley. The song features the "Voice of Atlanta" choir which consists of L'Tanya Shields, Alecia Terry, M. Denise Sims, Rosalind McKnight, Charles Bullock, Terrence Davis, Todd Honeycutt and Adam McKnight. The choir gives the song a joyous upbeat gospel vibe, and is clearly a loving celebration of how--and where--Elvis began his journey to becoming the king of rock and roll.

The third song and first North American single from the album was "Answer In The Sky," a showcase for the Voice of Atlanta with a very gospel-like, hymn-like song The song speaks loftily of a belief in a higher power, somehow without being overly preachy or overtly religious.

Next up is the country-rock influenced "Turn The Lights Out When you Leave" which features former Elton John Band member John Jorgenson on pedal steel guitar. The song was the third single released off the album in North America, and is a strong track, though like the first two singles its chart performance was a bit underwhelming.

"My Elusive Drug" features the protagonist admitting his flaws to his lover and features orchestration by Keyboardist Guy Babylon. The song has some nice touches, but is ultimately not a memorable Elton track.

"They Call Her The Cat" is a sly ditty about a transgendered woman. When performing the song live Elton would joke that it was not about him. Here Elton mixes in a little bit of Chicago with the Southern influence--as in the band Chicago. The track features horn arrangements by Chicago's Jimmy Pankow, who played trombone on the track, and brought in horn bandmates Lee Loughnane on trumpet and Walter Parazaider on alto saxophone, with sometime associate Larry Klimas on baritone saxophone. The end result is probably the album's most uptempo number.

Next up is "Freaks in Love" which is about two social outcasts whose love for each other gives them meaning. Guy Babylon's orchestration once again gives the song extra dimension, played by an orchestra featuring Endre Granat, Charlie Bisharat, Joel Derouin, Bruce Dukow, Eric J. Holser, Dimitrie Leivichi, Phillip Levy, Mark Robertson, Robin Olson, Sid Page, Anatoly Rasinsky and Lisa M. Sutto on violins. Simon Oswell, Brian Dembrow, Victoria Miskolczy and James V. Ross on violas and Steve Erdody on cello.

"All That I'm Allowed" is an uplifting song about being thankful for all you have been given. Adam McKnight, Charles Bullock, Terrence Davis and Mark Ford are the choir accompanying Elton on this track. It is a very soulful song that probably deserved more attention than it received; it makes a nice addition to a song mix for Thanksgiving.

"I Stop And I Breathe" is next, a piano ballad concerning a feuding couple that features more Guy Babylon orchestrations, and some odd keyboard accents that serve to distract more than add to the proceedings. Davey adds a nice guitar break.

"Too Many Tears" which lyrically is a prayer for peace, similarly features Babylon's orchestrations, and brings Davey to the for with some dobro and slide guitar.

By the time the final two tracks arrive, the album seems to have lost steam, "It's Getting Dark In Here" is a decent track about common fears, paranoia and depression but doesn't move the album much forward, nor does "I Can't Keep This from You," though it is lifted by prominent Hammond organ from Guy Babylon.

Sadly, Peachtree Road was a relative commercial failure for Elton, perhaps in part because his core audience was a little taken aback by the Southern textures and predominance of midtempo numbers. Perhaps more to the point, however, with 27 albums under his belt, Elton was no longer the new kid on the block. By now, Elton's early hits were getting most of the airplay, with the genre of classic rock and "soft rock" his primary outlets in an increasingly segmented audience market. Elton was no longer part of what would be considered pop music by this time, so cultivating a new audience wasn't something a new album, even a strong one, could accomplish on its own. From this point on, Elton's sales would be more solid than spectacular.