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List Price: $9.98 | | Label: Island
Salesrank: 22902
Released: February 20, 1996 |
| Our Price: $5.37 |
| Used Price: $2.93 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Empty Sky Track Listing:
1. Empty Sky
2. Val-Hala
3. Western Ford Gateway
4. Hymn 2000
5. Lady What's Tomorrow
6. Sails
7. Scaffold
8. Skyline Pigeon
9. Gulliver/It's Hay Chewed/Reprise
10. Lady Samantha [*]
11. All Across the Havens [*]
12. It's Me That You Need [*]
13. Just Like Strange Rain [*]
Empty Sky Reviews:
Elton John's debut album. 
2009-09-23 - Empty Sky was first released in the UK in June of 1969, and wasn't released in the US until 1975. As a debut album, I see this as having pretty good songs. The first side of the album starts off with the title track, which is lengthy but has great guitar and piano parts in it. I think the double-tracked vocals in the chorus are very effective. The second track Val-hala, has a nice harpsicord with the piano. The melody is rather simple yet catchy. Western Ford Gateway is a good song, but I think that it starts out way too loud! Otherwise, the chord progressions work well with Elton's vocals. The last track off of side one is Hymn 2000. The dissident chords in the beginning make the song that much more interesting to me.
Side two opens with Lady What's Tomorrow, which has very straight-forward chord changes and has a distinct Elton melody to it. Sails continues on that same note and the melody certainly does rock! The Scaffold can be boring, but the quiet nature of the song makes it mysterious. Skyline Pigeon is very good, my only complaint being that there's too much organ and I think the piano should have been on this original version. The last track is actually three songs in one, Gulliver/Hay Chewed/Reprise. A moody song about the death of a dog, it has a great aura about it and in my opinion is one of the best off the record. The second part enters with Hay Chewed, an instrumental boogie-woogie that I particulary like. Lastly, the final part Reprise seems slightly uneccesary but interesting to hear brief excerpts of one song going into the next.
The CD reissue has four bonus tracks, which seem to fit well with the album. Lady Samantha has an infectious chorus and neat guitar licks. All Across The Havens has almost a folk feel and is probably my favorite bonus track here. It's Me That You Need has a neat melody during the verses, the chorus however can be a little repetitous in my opinion. Lastly, Just Like Strange Rain is average at best to me. Elton's voice and chord style make this out to be a rock song in a way. I give this album a B and here's my ratings of tracks.
Empty Sky - 9/10
Val-hala - 10/10
Western Ford Gateway - 8/10
Hymn 2000 - 8/10
Lady What's Tomorrow - 9/10
Sails - 9/10
The Scaffold - 7/10
Skyline Pigeon - 9/10
Gulliver/Hay Chewed/Reprise - 9/10
Lady Samantha - 8/10
All Across The Havens - 10/10
It's Me That You Need - 8/10
Just Like Strange Rain - 7/10
= 85% Good album.
Awesome 
2009-08-25 - This album is simply awesome. It is uncut, un "prettied up," un "pop-produced," and simply raw. the opening track is awesome, with a solid, driving bass guitar/drum rythm and excellent lead guitar by Caleb Quaye. Elton's piano playing on that album is also very good, and the song is very creative, delving into a false ending then coming back with a cool (but somewhat cheesy) loud ending. Val-hala is also awesome, showcasing EJ's harpsichord playing which sounds a bit "playful," but with inspiring, mysterious lyrics. In fact, mysterious lyrics are what dominate much of the songs on this album, leaving the listener to use their imagination to figure out what the lyrics mean. Hymn 2000, with seemingly pointless lyrics, is an excellent interplay between the bass guitar, the flute, Caleb's acoustic guitar, a tambourine and Elton's Piano. Weird as the lyrics are (singing about a cat from next door being found in surgical dissection), the musical interplay provides a nice, humble, but still somewhat musically exotic listening experience. Sails is undoubtedly my favorite song, and quite possibly my favorite EJ song. It's just a straight rocker with excellent, driving keyboard playing from Elton and an awesome lead guitar work by Caleb. The bass is also excellent, providing an excellent "under" rythum off of which for everyone else to work. Skyline pidgeon is also good and is very bare and basic, having an almost warm, humble feeling. Lady, What's Tomorrow is also a good song, the lyrics seeming to delve into the future of a relationship. Lady Samantha is also an awesome, airy, but bare-bones rocker.
Overall, this is a great insight into Elton's roots. A definite must buy if you want to see where EJ originally came from, musically speaking.
First Effort
2008-04-06 - For Elton's first effort, it's great. From the rockin' title track, which is worth the whole album, to "It's Me That You Need" the single. There's a few duds but all in all, I was impressed. Stand out tracks are "Lady Samantha" "Western Ford Gateway" which sounds like a preview of "Tumbleweed Connection" and "Sails". A lot of great music came out in 1969, too bad this album slipped through the cracks back then.
(3.5 stars) The Great Lost EJ Album
2007-11-22 - Much better than you've heard, assuming that you've heard of it at all - with a couple exceptions, anyway (the jam-till-you-drop title track; the closing medley; weak Beatles imitations "Hymn 2000" and "Western Ford Gateway"). And there's only one truly excellent song: the dramatic hard rocker "Sails". Still, there's a lot of solid music here, like the dreamy love song "Lady What's Tomorrow"; the wistful "Skyline Pigeon", with a tinkly harpsichord introduction that almost ruins it; "The Scaffold", one of the John/Taupin duo's handful of genuinely frightening songs (also see "Madman Across the Water" and "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"); and the Viking themed "Valhalla", which predates hair-metal and such by a decade or so. And Taupin stays away from misogyny for a change. So cool.
An overlooked gem
2006-11-11 - Just got this recently and I have to tell you that is one of the best Elton John albums I own. Anybody familiar with his 90's post output may be put off by this one, but anyone who loves his work from the 70's should definitely check this one out. Personally I don't think there is a weak track on here. Highly recommended for someone looking to dig deeper than just the hits.
