The Union (LP)

 
The Union (LP) cover
$75.00 Special Order
3 - 6 weeks
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Elton John & Leon Russell
The Union (LP)

[ 2 LP ]

Release Date: Thursday 28 April 2011

This item is only available to us via Special Order. We should be able to get it to you in 3 - 6 weeks from when you order it.

The Union quite deliberately evokes the spirit of 1970, splicing Russell's terrific eponymous LP with Elton's own self-titled record and Tumbleweed Connection. In that sense, it's a kissing cousin to John's last album, 2006's The Captain and the Kid, which was designed as an explicit sequel to 1975's golden era-capping Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, but thanks to producer T-Bone Burnett, The Union dials down Bernie Taupin's inherent pomp and ratchets up the roots. Burnett had John and Russell record live in the studio, trading verses and solos, letting the supporting band breathe and follow their loping lead. This relaxed, natural interplay cuts through the soft haze of Burnett's analog impressionism, giving the record a foundation of true grit. If there are no immediate knockouts among this collection of 14 original songs, the tunes are slow, steady growers, taking root with repeated spins, with the sound of John and Russell's piano-and-voice duets providing ample reason to return to The Union after its first play. And even once the songs take hold, what lingers with The Union is that natural interplay, how John and Russell easily connect with their past without painstakingly re-creating it. Surely, it's a revival for Leon Russell, who has spent decades in the wilderness, but it's not a stretch to say The Union revitalizes Elton John just as much as it does his idol: he hasn't sounded this soulful in years. - AllMusic

Tracks:

A1 If It Wasn't For Bad 3:42
A2 Eight Hundred Dollar Shoes 3:22
A3 Hey Ahab 5:39
A4 Gone To Shiloh 4:50
B1 Hearts Have Turned To Stone 3:46
B2 Jimmie Rodgers' Dream 3:42
B3 There's No Tomorrow 3:45
B4 Monkey Suit 4:46
C1 The Best Part Of The Day 4:45
C2 Dream Come True 5:06
C3 I Should Have Sent Roses 5:20
C4 When Love Is Dying 4:50
D1 My Kind Of Hell 3:15
D2 Mandalay Again 4:54
D3 Never Too Old (To Hold Somebody) 4:57
D4 In The Hands Of Angels 4:43