Track Listing
1. Breaking Down Barriers
2. Heart in the Right Place
3. Just Like Belgium
4. Nobody Wins
5. Fascist Faces
6. Carla / Etude / Fanfare
7. Chloe
8. Heels of the Wind
9. Elton's Song
10. Fox, The
| Details | | Playing Time: | 45 min. | | Contributing Artists: | Bill Champlin, Jim Horn, Mickey Raphael, Reverend James Cleveland | | Producer: | Chris Thomas | | Distributor: | Universal Distribution | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | AAD |
Album Notes
Personnel: Elton John (vocals, piano); Ritchie Zito, Tim Renwick, Steve Lukather (guitar); Micky Raphael (harmonica); Jim Horn (alto saxophone); James Newton Howard (organ, Rhodes, vocoder, synthesizer, programming); David Paich (synthesizer); Dee Murray (bass, background vocals); Reggie McBride (bass); Nigel Olsson, Alvin Taylor (drums); Stephanie Spruill (tambourine, background vocals); Jeff Porcaro (percussion, drum programming); Roger Linn (drum programming); Vanette Gloud, Tamara Matoesian, Bill Champlin, Gary Osbourne, Max Gronenthal, James Gilstrap, John Lehman, Carl Carwell, Roy Galloway, Oren Waters, Ronald Baker, Chuck Cissel, Clarence Ford, Colette Bertrand, Rev. James Cleveland, Cornerstone Baptist Church Choir (background vocals).
Recorded at Superbear Studios, Nice, France and Sunset Lounge, Los Angeles, California between August 1979 & March 1980.
Like David Bowie, Elton John made himself over in the 1980s from his over-the-top glam-rocker image to one that was less theatrical, more refined, even slick. The music was affected as well, as the '80s saw Elton flirting with disco, new wave, and several lyricists. He also flirted with danger, dropping some of the more obvious trappings of the Me Decade (the big glasses, for example) but remaining perilously close to its hedonistic excesses.
His principal songwriting partners on THE FOX were the sometimes-estranged Bernie Taupin, and Gary Osborne. Production duties fell to Chris Thomas, who produced successful records for cutting-edge bands of the moment like the Pretenders. There's a bit more piano on this record than on some previous releases, such as on the opener, "Breaking Down the Barriers," which barrels forward on the strength of Elton's propulsive keyboard, and "Heart in the Right Place," which has the bite of some of Elton's early angry songs. The disco-tinged "Nobody Wins" did moderately well as a single, but "Chloe" is the stand-out track, a classic Elton ballad which should have been a big hit.
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