Too Low for Zero | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by Elton John | ||||
Released | 30 May 1983 | |||
Recorded | September 1982 – January 1983 | |||
Studio | AIR Studios (Montserrat) and Sunset Sound Recorders (Hollywood, CA). | |||
Genre | Rock, pop rock, new wave | |||
Length | 44:06 | |||
Label |
Geffen (US) Rocket (UK) |
|||
Producer | Chris Thomas | |||
Elton John chronology | ||||
|
||||
Singles from Too Low for Zero | ||||
|
Professional ratings | |
---|---|
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | |
Rolling Stone |
Too Low for Zero (stylized as 2 ↓ 4 0), released in 1983, is the seventeenth official album release for Elton John. The album marked a return to form for John, whose previous four albums had failed to yield many enduring international hit singles, and had disappointing sales compared to his string of hit records released during the first half of the 1970s. It is his best selling album of the 1980s, earning Platinum certification by the RIAA. It produced several hit songs, each accompanied by successful MTV music videos, and it spent over a year on the Billboard album chart.
For the first time since Blue Moves in 1976, all lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin. At the insistence of Taupin, John decided to go back to basics and returned to working with Taupin full-time. John also reunited with the core of his backing band of the early '70s: Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone as well as Ray Cooper, Kiki Dee and Skaila Kanga (who played harp on John's self-titled album and Tumbleweed Connection).
The album was produced by Chris Thomas and recorded at AIR Studios in Montserrat (the same studio for Jump Up!) and Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood.
For the first time since A Single Man, John played synthesizers in addition to piano, since James Newton-Howard left the band. John felt that synths allowed him to write better fast rock songs, having not been entirely happy with such compositions performed on piano.