Madman Across the Water (1971)

Madman Across the Water is the fourth studio album by British musician Elton John, released on 5 November 1971 by DJM and Uni Records. The album was his third album to be released in 1971, at which point John had been rising to prominence as a popular music artist. John's first progressive rock album, Madman Across the Water contains nine tracks, each composed and performed by John and with lyrics written by songwriting partner Bernie Taupin. Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman plays Hammond organ on two songs.

There were two singles released from Madman Across the Water, "Levon" and "Tiny Dancer". The album was certified gold by the RIAA in February 1972, followed by platinum in March 1993, 2× platinum in August 1998, and 3× platinum in December 2024. The album was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. On 10 June 2022, the album was reissued as a deluxe edition for its 50th anniversary, featuring 18 unreleased tracks including demos, outtakes and alternate takes, as well as a 40-page book detailing the album's creation with notes from John and Taupin.

History

The nine tracks were each composed and performed by John and with lyrics written by songwriting partner Bernie Taupin as with his previous material. Like John's other studio albums up to this point, only one song on Madman featured John's touring band (which consisted of bassist Dee Murray and drummer Nigel Olsson), due to producer Gus Dudgeon's lack of faith in the group for studio recordings. Instead, most of the tracks were backed by studio players and string arrangements put together by Paul Buckmaster. Davey Johnstone, who had previously worked with Dudgeon as a part of Magna Carta, was also put on as the main guitarist.

Johnstone, Murray and Olsson would be fully featured on John's next album, Honky Château. Percussionist and later band member Ray Cooper made his first appearance with this album, which was John's last to be recorded at London's Trident Studios, although subsequent albums would be remixed or overdubbed there. Caleb Quaye and Roger Pope would not play with John again until Rock of the Westies in 1975, following Murray and Olsson's departure from the band.

Title

The album's title song was initially set to be released on John's previous album, Tumbleweed Connection, featuring guitarist Mick Ronson; however, that version was set aside and the song was re-recorded for this album, with Johnstone on guitar. The earlier version was included on the remastered Tumbleweed Connection compact disc.

Dispelling rumours that the song's lyric referred to then US President Richard Nixon, Bernie Taupin had this to say:

Back in the seventies, when people were saying that "Madman Across the Water" was about Richard Nixon, I thought, That is genius. I could never have thought of that.

Album artwork

The album cover for Madman Across the Water was embroidered over two weeks by Janis Larkham, wife of the album art director David Larkham. She used the back of an old Levi's jacket, and the original was gifted to John. There was no initial run of expensive album covers with similar embroidery, nor embossed versions; it was flat printed, though it did include a lavish booklet. Janis chose to credit herself as "Yanis" for this artwork.

Reception

Madman Across the Water was one of John's lowest-charting album efforts. It continued a streak of mediocre performance in the UK for John, peaking at No. 41 on the UK Albums Chart and spending two weeks there. The album fared much better in North America, peaking at No. 8 on the US Billboard Top Pop Albums and later on at No. 10 on the year-end list of 1972.

The album was certified Gold by the RIAA in February 1972, achieving $1 million in sales at wholesale value just in the United States. In 1993, the album was certified Platinum, representing shipments of more than one million units in the US. In 1998, the album was certified Multi-Platinum, representing shipments of over two million units in the US. In May 2017 the album was certified Silver for sales of 60,000 units by the British Phonographic Industry.

On release, Alex Dubro of Rolling Stone was not especially enthusiastic about the album and found it inferior to its two predecessors. Although he commended "Tiny Dancer" and "Levon", he found the lyrics throughout the record confusing, concluding that it is a "difficult, sometimes impossibly dense record" that would not upset John's current fans, but not gain new ones either. Penny Valentine in Sounds magazine was more positive, describing John as "a music man of immense feeling and power" and full of unexplored talent.

When it was released in The Classic Years collection, it was the first album not to feature any bonus tracks. One known track recorded at the time, "Rock Me When He's Gone", was released on the 1992 compilation Rare Masters. The song was written for and recorded by one of John's long-time friends, Long John Baldry. It was later remastered for the 50th anniversary deluxe edition.