Reg strikes back

Reg strikes back
Studio album by Elton John
Publication (s)	June 24, 1988
Label (s)	Rocket Records
Format (s)	CD, LP, MC
Genre (s)	Rock, pop
Title (number)	10
running time	41:59 min.
production	Chris Thomas
Studio (s)	Air Studios , London ; Westside Studios, London; The Record Plant , New York ; Circle Seven Recording Studios, Glendale [?]
chronology Elton John's Greatest Hits Vol. 3 (1987) Reg strikes back Sleeping with the Past (1989)
Single releases May 1988 (German release) I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That October 27, 1988 (German release) A Word in Spanish 1988 Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two) ( USA only ) February 9, 1989 (German release) Town of Plenty

Reg Strikes Back ( English for: " Reg strikes back ") is the 21st studio album by British musician Elton John .

background

Released in 1988, it said it was his comeback album and his way of fighting the negative press. The "Reg" in the title Reg Strikes Back refers to Elton John's birth name, Reginald Kenneth Dwight. It was the first studio album after Elton John's vocal cord surgery the previous year. The record covers of the album and the first single show items from Elton John's collection of costumes and curiosities, which he had auctioned at Sotheby’s in the same year .

The titles I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That and A Word in Spanish reached places 2 and 19 on the Billboard Hot 100, respectively.

Elton John didn't play a grand piano on this album, but a Roland RD-1000 digital piano. Pete Townshend contributes a guitar part for Town of Plenty . This album was the last time bassist Dee Murray took part; he died in 1992.

Track list

1. Town of Plenty (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 3:40
2. A Word in Spanish (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 4:39
3. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two) (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 4:12
4. I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 3:58
5. Japanese Hands (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 4:40
6. Goodbye Marlon Brando (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 3:30
7. The Camera Never Lies (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 4:37
8. Heavy Traffic (Elton John, Bernie Taupin, Davey Johnstone ) (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 3:28
9. Poor Cow (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 3:50
10. Since God Invented Girls (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 4:39

Bonus tracks (CD re-release by Polygram International 1999)

11. Rope Around a Fool (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 3:48
12. I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That (Shep Pettibone Mix) (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 5:56
13. I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That (Just Elton and the Piano Mix) (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 4:37
14. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Part Two) (The Renaissance Mix) (Elton John, Bernie Taupin) - 6:19

occupation

• Elton John: keyboards , vocals, harmonies, backing vocals
• Ray Cooper : tambourine , maracas , timbales
• Freddie Hubbard : Trumpet , flugelhorn
• Davey Johnstone : guitars , backing vocals
• Fred Mandel : Synthesizer
• Charlie Morgan : drums
• Dee Murray : backing vocals
• Nigel Olsson : backing vocals
• David Paton : Bass
• Pete Townshend : guitar
• Adrian Baker: Backing vocals
• Bruce Johnston: backing vocals
• Carl Wilson: backing vocals

reception

For Zounds. The music magazine is the second worst work of John. It was given 3 out of 10 possible points and the censorship "moderate". The German Rolling Stone listed it in its collective review of all Elton John albums in the category “Under Level” and gave no rating points. Charlotte Robinson regretted on popmatters.com that instead of a musical cut only repetitions could be heard. In the American Rolling Stone the album could score 3 out of 5 possible points. With Allmusic only 2 out of 5 possible points are displayed. The local editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine thought that Reg Strikes Back was babbling to himself. Werner Theurich said in the Musikexpress : “A lot of routine, a lot of respectable craft and no strokes of genius.” Of the 7 available points, he awarded 3. More than 20 years after publication, John confessed that he had problems at the time and that he was unable to control himself. That had an impact on record production.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Elton John Albums. Reg strikes back. In: starpulse.com. Retrieved August 28, 2015 . 
2. ↑ ^{a b c} James Masterton: The Top 40 Annual 1988. John, Elton. In: books.google.de. Retrieved on August 28, 2015 (English, unpaginated). 
3. ↑ ^{a b} P [eter] W [agner]: Everything has to go! In: Musikexpress / Sounds . No. 391 , August 1988 ,names, p. 18 .
4. ^ Roswitha Baumert: Elton John. A single man . In: melody and rhythm . February 1991, to the poster, p. 26th f .
5. ↑ ^{a b} Charlotte Robinson: Elton John. Reg strikes back. In: popmatters.com. Retrieved August 28, 2015 . 
6. ^ Billboard Hot 100 Chart History. "A Word in Spanish" by Elton John1988 # 19. In: song-database.com. Retrieved August 28, 2015 . 
7. ↑ ^{a b} Harold Goldberg: Reg Strikes Back. In: rollingstone.com. October 6, 1988, accessed August 28, 2015 . 
8. ^ Frank Heckert: Elton John. Captain Fantastic . In: Zounds. The music magazine . June 1992, Hall of Fame, p. 52 ff .
9. ↑ Arne Wilander: Below level . In: Still Standing. 35 years of Elton John. The summary of a long career (=  Rolling Stone Special ). March 2003, p. 66 .
10. ↑ Stephen Thomas Erlewine: Elton John. Reg strikes back. Allmusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine. In: allmusic.com. Retrieved August 28, 2015 . 
11. ↑ W [erner] T [Heurich]: Elton John. Reg strikes back . In: Musikexpress / Sounds . No. 390 , Jul 1988, Rock. Pop, S. 100 .
12. ↑ Cameron Crowe: Elton John: My Life in 20 Songs. Cameron Crowe explores Elton's journey from Reginald Dwight to technicolored pop sensation to rehab and back. In: theuncool.com. October 24, 2013, accessed on August 28, 2015 (from Rolling Stone # 1124 of February 17, 2011).