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List Price: $11.98 | | Label: Mca
Salesrank: 154204
Released: October 25, 1990 |
| Our Price: $59.99 |
| Used Price: $7.98 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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A Single Man Track Listing:
1. Shine on Through
2. Return to Paradise
3. I Don't Care
4. Big Dipper
5. It Ain't Gonna Be Easy
6. Part-Time Love
7. Georgia
8. Shooting Star
9. Madness
10. Reverie
11. Song for Guy
A Single Man Reviews:
A Man At A Crossroads 
2009-06-20 - Elton John had enough sheer star power during the late 70's to ride out the storms of punk rock,disco,new-wave and whatever else was coming onto the music scene at the time. At this particular point Elton decided the best thing to do was.....pretty much stick with his classic sound.The main differences here is that his main lyricist Bernie Taupin is no longer onboard with him.Gary Osborne was chosen instead and,since everyone naturally assumed Elton would be nothing without Taupin......a lot of people plain didn't want to listen. But any of those people missed out because Elton was digging deeper into his own sound to see what kind of new and different contexts it could work in. Another thing was Elton was recording on his own label Rocket for the second time and perhaps that threw some people off a bit. Of course there are always those great ballads like "Shine On Through","Georgia" and "It Ain't Gonna Be Easy" but even the second section of that one becomes a mini epic not unlike something from his classic Goodbye Yellow Brick Road era only six years earlier. Interestingly enough this album is primarily devoted to uptempo tunes such as "Return To Paradise","Part Time Love-both pretty hefty hits in that day actually as well as "I Don't Care" and "Madness".All of these tunes help you realize how Elton's Broadway-styled rock productions sometimes had this strong influence on the cinematic disco style yet to come. Though none of these are quoate on quoate disco tunes the syncopation and strings sure would be a dead giveaway if they were intended as such."Big Dipper" actually is one of the more New Orleans styled R&B tunes Elton's done and "Shooting Star"..well it too has a soul flavor more on the slow end of things."Song For Guy"...well Elton hadn't done many instrumentals for some time but this one,lightly electronic and with a mildly downbeat tone to it is one of the moodier things he's ever done.The bonus cuts are,by and large more ballads although you get "Ego",a single featuring Taupin's lyrics and a really upbeat tempo:as with everything else here that's uptempo it's firmly in the Don't Go Breaking My Heart period sound for Elton."Flinstone Boy" recalls earlier Elton hits with it's strong groove.Overall one might end up scanning through this album and asking "where's the hit here"?I suppose that is what someone might've expected from an artist like Elton John during this time:to be a non-stop hitmaking machine.Well there are hits,even if they don't show up in heavy rotation on oldies radio as much as his earlier stuff has.But nevermind that for the moment:Elton is like many in the music world an artist and it was his distinct sound and style that made his greatest commercial successess what they were.So for a unsung glimpse into the very musical values that has always made Elton John what he is this is one of the best examples I can think of.
an interesting listen, despite not being very well-known
2007-03-27 - It's true- Elton John has such a long and legendary career, that it's hard to keep up with everything he did. He did a little underrated album in the late 70's called A Single Man.
The first thing that strikes me about this album is that the distinct rock sound he had in the early 70's on albums such as Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is all but gone, and instead a more trendy album was released. However, the one thing that remains is Elton's songwriting. Every song is filled with a lot of range, and this hasn't changed at all through the years. He's still very good at knowing how to write memorable hooks with lots of range and emotion. That's what you will find here. Emotions were running high when this album was made, and Elton expresses his honest feelings in every song.
"Return to Paradise" has to be the highlight for me. It's a really tropical-sounding song, with a distinct and instantly memorable chorus. It will take you to an island. "when WE re TURN to paradiiiiiise" See? It's memorable! "Madness" is another major highlight. An angry song where Elton is basically screaming/crying his feelings at an unbelievably personal level. You have to hear it to believe it- it sounds really angry.
"Georgia" is beautiful, "Song for Guy" is emotionally distinct, and "I Don't Care" might remind you of something from the Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player album.
Most people will ignore this album because they're convinced Elton John was going through such a terrible time when this album was made that it's not even worth a listen. That's not true at all. Every song's a winner, though it might take a few listens before you're won over with the different sound. Give it a chance.
A bit of a lull, but likeable 
2005-01-20 - After the crazy output of 1970-75, and the subsequent burnout, Elton was probably trying to get back to earth with this album. The emphasis is on the songs not inventive playing, and while it lacks the drive of his previous albums, it can be a good occasional listen. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. 'I Don't Care' and 'It Ain't Gonna Be Easy' come off as a bit forced, the former being a retread of some of his (more rocking) earlier songs, and the latter being an interminable slow tempo song with kind of silly vocals near the end. 'Part Time Love' sounds a bit more like he's hitting his stride with a moderately catchy keyboard and guitar hook (surprise surprise Davey Johnstone appears on that track). 'Big Dipper' probably has the most style of any song on this album, it achieves more by striving for less, with EJ's mocking vocal delivery and and arrangement that reminds me of 'Patricia the Stripper' by Chris DeBurgh. 'Shooting Star' is somewhat new jazzy territory for EJ, and of course 'Reverie' is simply a little intro to the track that follows,'Song For Guy', which starts out as a somewhat stiffly played piano riff and builds into a predictable late 70s instrumental with an admittedly haunting atmosphere (don't expect it to be rock and roll). 'Shine On Through' and 'Georgia' are simple ballads with nice melodies. 'Return To Paradise' is a nice Latin influenced ballad somewhat marred by a cheezy sounding Caribbean orchestra. No real standouts on this album. Should really get 2 3/4 stars.
Perhaps I am biased... 
2004-11-18 - I find it hard to accept some peoples reviews of 'Song for Guy'. A few people call it monotonous or boring, or say that they cringe when Elton John sings "Life isn't everything". I titled my review 'Perhaps I am biased' because Guy Burchett was my uncle. He was a motorcycle messenger who worked with Elton John, and at seventeen years old was killed in an accident while riding pillion on a motorcycle. Elton John's 'Song for Guy' is not only a very generous tribute to a young man who lost his life at a very young age, but also an emotional song that Elton John wrote from his heart.
Paradise
2004-02-18 - Return to Paradise is my favourite song off here. Also, there is an extra tracks version available. I just love Return to Paradise for Elton's beautiful vocals, the lovely instrumentation with marimba's, trumpet, metaphores about a tropical island. Shine on through is a mature ballad. I don't care and Part-time love are great gospel with a hint of Disco. Big Dippa is novelty slow jazz and then Georgia is a great anthem song. Song for Guy is a lovely piano piece with a dreamy atmosphere, a tribute to a 17-year-old that died. Very touching. Reverie is very beautiful but doesn't really stand up on in it's own right because it's so short. Of the rest, they're not so good, IMO. Shooting star is pretty but Elton's vocals are drab. His vocals are even worse on Madness, an awful song about people dying form a bomb blast. It ain't gonna be easy is so long it's hard to get throguh but is a solid slow blues osng and Tim Renwick is a great guitarist. Actually this album features his original bandmember Ray Cooper.
