Trading the cinematic aspirations of
Tumbleweed Connection for a tentative stab at prog rock,
Elton John and
Bernie Taupin delivered another excellent collection of songs with
Madman Across the Water. Like its two predecessors,
Madman Across the Water is driven by the sweeping string arrangements of
Paul Buckmaster, who gives the songs here a richly dark and haunting edge. And these are songs that benefit from grandiose treatments. With most songs clocking in around five minutes, the record feels like a major work, and in many ways it is. While it's not as adventurous as
Tumbleweed Connection, the overall quality of the record is very high, particularly on character sketches "Levon" and "Razor Face," as well as the melodramatic "Tiny Dancer" and the paranoid title track.
Madman Across the Water begins to fall apart toward the end, but the record remains an ambitious and rewarding work, and
John never attained its darkly introspective atmosphere again. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine