Leather Jackets is the twentieth studio album by English singer-songwriter 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 the poorest-charting album of his career.
Background
In 2001 Elton regarded "Heartache All Over the World" as the worst song he'd ever recorded, calling it "pretty insubstantial"; 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." 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." 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'." "Heartache All Over the World" was the only single 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" to write "Don't Trust That Woman". Roger Taylor and John Deacon of Queen play drums and bass guitar respectively on the track "Angeline"; songwriting credit is shared with backup singer Alan Carvell, who composed the "oh-oh-oh's" that can be heard at the beginning and end of the track. 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 live albumLive in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. "Heartache" was included in the band portion of the show 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. Though not released as a single, "Paris" also became a minor FM hit for some jazz stations that programmed the track. This is John's only studio album from the pre-1993 period that has yet to be remastered as of 2019; it last appeared on compact disc in the early 1990s. However, in 2008, it became available for digital download.
Critical reception
Matt Springer placed the album at #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."
Recording
The majority of the tracks from the album were recorded during the Ice on Fire sessions in 1985. This was John's last studio release to be produced by Gus Dudgeon and his last in which he played a grand piano before switching to the Roland RD-1000 digital piano for Reg Strikes Back and the two albums following that. After his throat surgery in 1987, Chris Thomas would be rehired as producer. For the first time in John's career, no songs on this album are longer than five minutes.
Track listing
All songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, except where noted. Side one
"Leather Jackets" – 4:10
"Hoop of Fire" – 4:14
"Don't Trust That Woman" – 4:58+
"Go It Alone" – 4:26
"Gypsy Heart" – 4:46
Side two
"Slow Rivers" – 3:06
"Heartache All Over the World" – 4:01/4:17++
"Angeline" – 3:24 /3:55
"Memory of Love" – 4:08
"Paris" – 3:58
"I Fall Apart" – 4:00
+Not to be confused with Les Dudek's version of the same Cher's lyrics, included on his 1981 album Gypsy Ride. ++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, 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.
Personnel
Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.
