Leather Jackets
Studio album by
Elton John
ReleasedNovember 3, 1986
RecordedJanuary 1985, January – February, May – September 1986
StudioWisseloord (Hilversum)
CTS (London)
The SOL (Cookham)
GenrePop rock
Length45:11
LabelGeffen (US), Rocket (UK)
ProducerGus Dudgeon
Elton John chronology
Ice on Fire
(1985)		 Leather Jackets
(1986)		 Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
(1987)
Singles from Leather Jackets
  1. "Heartache All Over the World"
    Released: September 1986
  2. "Slow Rivers"
    Released: November 1986
  3. "Paris"
    Released: 1986
  4. "Hoop of Fire"
    Released: 1986
  5. "Angeline"
    Released: February 1987
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Los Angeles Times(negative)[2]
Smash Hits8/10[3]

Leather Jackets is the twentieth studio album by English musician Elton John. Recorded at Sol Studios in England and Wisseloord Studios in the Netherlands, it was released in 1986 and was his first album not to have any top 40 singles in either the US or the UK since 1970's Tumbleweed Connection, which had no singles released from it. It is also one of his lowest charting studio albums in the United States, peaking at number 91 on the Billboard 200 chart.

This was John's last studio release to be produced by Gus Dudgeon. After his throat surgery in 1987, Chris Thomas would be rehired as producer.

Background

In 2001, John regarded "Heartache All Over the World" as the worst song he had ever recorded, calling it "pretty insubstantial";[4] in 2006, he would declare Jackets his least favourite of all his albums, saying "Gus Dudgeon did his best but you can't work with a loony."[5][6] He would also call its biker-inspired cover "very butch but a total disaster. I was not a well budgie, I was married and it was just one bag of coke after another."[7] In spite of this, lyricist Bernie Taupin believes 1997's The Big Picture deserves the honour of John's worst album.[5]

In 2000, Gus Dudgeon said: "There was a chance he could polish himself off. He'd go out and do some coke and it'd be all over his mouth, his nose would be running and I'd go: 'Oh God, this is just awful'."[8]

John has also stated in his 2019 autobiography Me that "it was about as close to an unmitigated disaster than anything I've ever released" and "overall, Leather Jackets had four legs, a tail, and barked if a postman came to the door".

"Heartache All Over the World" was the only single from the album to achieve chart success in the US, though it failed to crack the top 50. "Slow Rivers" is a collaboration with Cliff Richard that was released as a single in the UK. Cher collaborated with "Lady Choc Ice" (actually John himself) to write "Don't Trust That Woman".[9] Roger Taylor and John Deacon of Queen play drums and bass guitar respectively on the track "Angeline"; songwriting credit is shared with backing singer Alan Carvell, who composed the "oh-oh-oh's" that can be heard at the beginning and end of the track.[10]

John played "Paris" during his 1986 US tour. He included "Heartache All Over the World" and "Slow Rivers" on his 1986 Australian tour with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, which would eventually yield John's 1987 live album Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. "Heartache" was included in the band portion of the show (John opted not to play piano for that number) while "Slow Rivers" was played during the second half of the show with the orchestra. Due to contractual constraints, "Slow Rivers" was not included on Live in Australia, despite the fact that it was from the orchestral portion of the show, which was the basis for the album.

"Paris" became a minor FM hit for some jazz radio stations that programmed the track and reached the Belgium charts, peaking at number 37.[11]

To date, Leather Jackets is John's only studio album from the pre-1993 period that has yet to be reissued in remastered form; it last appeared on compact disc in the early 1990s. However, in 2008, it became available for digital download. Two songs from the album, "Hoop of Fire" and "I Fall Apart" were both issued on the Elton: Jewel Box compilation in 2020. As of 2023, Leather Jackets has been remastered on vinyl and is sold on the Elton John website.

Critical reception

The album received negative reviews. Matt Springer placed the album at number 31 in his ranking of all of John's studio albums, criticizing it as "the worst of the '80s – awful songs with equally awful production."[12]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Lindsay Planer found the material "half-hearted", performances "less than inspired" and John's voice to be "beginning to show signs of extreme fatigue and strain." They did however find "bright moments" on the album including "Heartache All Over the World" and John's collaborations with Cliff Richard and Cher.[13]

Recording

The majority of the tracks from the album were recorded during the Ice on Fire sessions in 1985. It was John's last album in which he played a grand piano before switching to the Roland RD-1000 digital piano for his 1988 album Reg Strikes Back and the two following albums.

For the first time in John's career, no songs on this album are longer than five minutes.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted

Side one
No.TitleLength
1."Leather Jackets"4:10
2."Hoop of Fire"4:14
3."Don't Trust That Woman" (Cher, Lady Choc Ice [John][9])4:58
4."Go It Alone"4:26
5."Gypsy Heart"4:46
Side two
No.TitleLength
1."Slow Rivers" (duet with Cliff Richard)3:13
2."Heartache All Over the World"4:01
3."Angeline" (John, Taupin, Alan Carvell[10])3:56
4."Memory of Love" (John, Gary Osborne)4:08
5."Paris"4:01
6."I Fall Apart"4:00
Total length:45:11
  • Sides one and two were combined as tracks 1–11 on CD reissues.

Notes

  • On the LP original pressing, the Greatest Hits Volume 3 compilation, and some single releases, the length of "Heartache All Over the World" is 4:01 (incorrectly listed as "3:52" on the album sleeve), while on CD editions, including the 1992 American CD re-release, the version of "Heartache" includes a brief additional a cappella segment during the final chorus, resulting in a length of 4:17.[14][15]
  • Angeline is 3:24 in length on the LP version, but extended to 3:55 on the CD release.

Personnel

Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.

Production

  • Produced by Gus Dudgeon
  • Tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9 10 & 11 engineered by Graham Dickson
  • Tracks 2, 5, 6 & 8 engineered by Stuart Epps
  • Assistant engineers – Albert Boekholt and Ronald Prent
  • Mixed by Graham Dickson and Gus Dudgeon
  • Mastered by Greg Fulginiti (US)
  • Studio coordinators – Steve Brown and Adrian Collee
  • Art direction and design – David Costa
  • Artwork – Andrew Christian
  • Photography – Gered Mankowitz
  • Management – John Reid

Charts

Chart (1986–1987) Peak
position
Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[16] 4
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[17] 22
Canada Top Albums/CDs (RPM)[18] 38
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[19] 34
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] 21
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[21] 34
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[22] 12
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[23] 31
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[24] 13
UK Albums (OCC)[25] 24
US Billboard 200[26] 91

Certifications and sales

Region CertificationCertified units/sales
New Zealand (RMNZ)[27] Gold 7,500^
Spain — 12,000[28]
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[29] Gold 25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[30] Gold 100,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

  1. ↑ Lindsay Planer. "Leather Jackets – Elton John | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  2. ↑ Matsumoto, Jon (30 December 1986). "Turn-ons and turn-offs in current home entertainment releases". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  3. ↑ Braithwaite, Simon (5–18 November 1986). "Album Reviews". Smash Hits. 8 (23): 76.
  4. ↑ Uncut, September 2001 "Elton – The Magnificent Showman", page 46
  5. 1 2 "The Lion King". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 4 October 2011.
  6. ↑ Mojo Magazine "Fantastic Voyage" by Tom Doyle, October 2006 – issue 155, page 90.
  7. ↑ Elton John – "Sound Your Funky Horn" by Cliff Jones – Mojo Magazine, October 1997.
  8. ↑ Gus Dudgeon interview on "Elton John – Behind the Music", VH1 19 March 2000.
  9. 1 2 Bernardin, Claude; Stanton, Tom (1996). Rocket Man: Elton John From A - Z (Paperback ed.). Praeger. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-275-95698-1.
  10. 1 2 Bernardin, Claude; Stanton, Tom (1996). Rocket Man: Elton John From A - Z (Paperback ed.). Praeger. p. 5. ISBN 978-0-275-95698-1.
  11. ↑ "Elton John - Paris - ultratop.be". www.ultratop.be. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  12. ↑ "Elton John Albums Ranked Worst to Best". Ultimate Classic Rock. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  13. ↑ "Leather Jackets - Elton John | Songs, Reviews, Credits | AllMusic". AllMusic.
  14. ↑ Elton John- Leather Jackets original US vinyl release @Discogs.com Retrieved 1-29-2011.
  15. ↑ Elton John- Leather Jackets US CD reissue @Discogs.com Retrieved 1-29-2011.
  16. ↑ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  17. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Elton John – Leather Jackets" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  18. ↑ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 0755". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  19. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Elton John – Leather Jackets" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  20. ↑ "Offiziellecharts.de – Elton John – Leather Jackets" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  21. ↑ "Charts.nz – Elton John – Leather Jackets". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  22. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Elton John – Leather Jackets". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  23. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Elton John – Leather Jackets". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  24. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Elton John – Leather Jackets". Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  25. ↑ "Elton John | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  26. ↑ "Elton John Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
  27. ↑ "New Zealand album certifications – Elton John – Leather Jackets". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 1 June 2019.
  28. ↑ "Elton John - Spain" (PDF). Music & Media. 30 January 1988. p. 45. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  29. ↑ "Polygram award to Elton John for sales of over 25,000 of the Leather Jackets" album in Switzerland". 20 February 2023.
  30. ↑ "British album certifications – Elton John – Leather Jackets". British Phonographic Industry.
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