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I guess I had never listened to a whole Elton John album that came out later than in mid 1970s. For it`s known to most people that he`s nothing more than an old fart who records piano ballads. But somehow I got the news that this album here is a fairly good one, so I said to myself - why not give it a try? The album starts off with a typical Elton John ballad "Porch Swing in Tupelo", which clearly showcases all the pros and contras of this album. What`s good is that Elton doesn`t try to be hip and record something cool-sounding, he just sticks to his known winning formula. And the contras? He sticks to his bloody formula. While the songs may be not bad as such - on the contrary they`re moody and beautifully sounding but they are absolute rip-offs from John`s older stuff (especially "Your Song" and "Candle in the Wind" come to mind). Sometimes he records a bit more rocky tracks - like "They Call Her the Cat" - which reminds me of something from his early recordings. Of course, his old songs are good, therefore the new ones don`t come out bad as well. But listening to this record you can`t be sure that you haven`t heard everything on it sometimes before.