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List Price: $13.98 | | Label: Island
Salesrank: 20135
Released: May 15, 2001 |
| Our Price: $5.87 |
| Used Price: $4.19 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Reg Strikes Back Track Listing:
1. Town of Plenty
2. A Word in Spanish
3. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Pt. 2
4. I Don't Wanna Go on With You Like That
5. Japanese Hands
6. Goodbye Marlon Brando
7. The Camera Never Lies
8. Heavy Traffic
9. Poor Cow
10. Since God Invented Girls
Editorial Review:
Digit Remastered plus Bonus Track.
Reg Strikes Back Reviews:
Good songs (generally) 
2008-05-10 - Good "comeback" album/cd. Homage to Honky Chateau's ML&MH & some other songs revisit his better period, although it would be a while before he did a good song end-to-end. This is seen by most as hist first true step back up.
Average Elton 
2007-10-15 - This is a lot better than the dire Leather Jackets that preceded it by a few years, but I would say this is album for completists only. Some of the songs are quite good, noteably 'Heavy Traffic' and 'I don't wanna go on with you like that' which is the best track on the album by some margin. However for me the benchmark for Elton John albums is whether it has a great song on it. When I say a great song I mean a song that will stand the test of time like 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' 'Your Song' or 'Border Song' or more recently 'This Train don't stop there anymore'. Sadly the answer is no, although 'I don't wanna...' goes close.
Like a previous reviewer said the absence of real Piano is another sore point for me. If you get an Elton John album that has no real Piano on it, its like buying an Eric Clapton album with no Guitar on it. Sure this has some sythesized electronic Piano like sounds but not real Piano. The other major problem for me is that this being recorded in 1988 its horribly over-produced, full of droning uneccessary background keyboards and drums which were apparently played by Charlie Morgan, but frequently sound like a drum machine. Listen to the beginning of 'The camera never lies' - hideous....
So its not the worst by a long way, but before you buy this you should buy all the 70's albums (except for 'Victim of Love'), 'Two Low For Zero', 'Sleeping with the past', 'Songs from the West Coast' and 'The Captain and the kid'.
Reginald knocked me out with this one
2007-08-19 - Luis Mejia (son) - Reginald Dwight, better known as Elton John, mildly recovered from his strong life problems at the time of the album's release; he had a throat surgery and his bandmates and collaborators were back in his side, even though Elton still kept a serious drug and alcohol addiction, but I don't blame this for the foolishness of this album, so as far as I'm concerned the best rock and roll, hard rock and heavy metal were composed just under the same conditions. Also Bernie Taupin's life problems were slightly converted into the songs' composition. Anyway, the album still keeps some classic 80's sounds, not very potential though the album keeps a vague, nauseatic synthesized sounds structure, with some slight rock and roll, average balladries, slight rock and roll, it even contains some of the bastardized disco vibe. The album's moods are mellodic,enviromental, dance and mellow. I may sound tough, so why 3 stars? Well, there are a little set of songs that are saved from being terrible, like the undertaking, fine balladry A Word In Spanish, also a slight hit; I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That, which is a dance style song, possessing great mellodies and a great electric piano performance; Japanese Hands, although not an original or very creative tune, it stays apart from the heavily synthesized structure, its an ambient effort by Elton John. Heavy Traffic is the only song co-written by David Johnstone, being maybe the best song in the album, it keeps some of the catchy, 70's style that gave fame to Elton; Poor Cow, although still being a nauseatic synthesized song, it retains some nice mellodies but Bernie Taupin's lyrics seem to go nowhere. Finally, Since God Invented Girls is a tribute ballad with a touch of sensitivity. Elton John's keyboards domine the record, but spitefully, he didn't made an space for his fantastic piano performance. Also, I've always considerated that this album would had been a lot better, even if they didn't change the mellodies, but if synthesizers are gonna take place, James Newton Howard is the man. The only highlight in the album is the guitar presence of The Who Pete Townshend, although he only played, poorly by the way, in the uneven, common first track, Town Of Plenty. In conclussion I strongly agree that his real comeback was in The One, this albums keeps an 80's synthesized vibe unappreciateable for even strong Elton John's fans, well, like me for example.
Looking like a true survivor
2007-06-30 - The "Strikes Back" portion of this title was apt at the time. Elton had completed surgery on his vocal chords that - as he had been warned - could have resulted in his never being able to sing again. He'd also won a pair of important legal issues; He and Bernie Taupin had succeeded in their challenge to Dick James Music for royalty payments owed, and Elton's lawsuit against a tabloid for slander had been ruled in his favor. So it was a renewed and feisty Elton who was ready to record "Reg Strikes Back."
It shows the reinvigoration. While "Reg Strikes Back" is still very much an 80's album (heavy on synths and drum machines), the songs are uniformly strong. He even went as far as to update "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" from "Honky Chateau," and then perform the two as a medley in concert. Pete Townsend plays guitar on the peppy opener "Town Of Plenty," and the Beach Boys chime in on "When God Invented Girls." There are a couple mistakes here; "Poor Cow" is stupidly misogynistic and I never quite got the atmospheric "Japanese Hands."
With that in place, this was also the album with one of Elton's best mid-80's hits. His friendship with George Michael had clearly given his pop-sense a jolt of energy. The Wham-like "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" became his highest charting single of that decade. It was everything his 'recovery' embodied. It is an energetic, sassy and danable record, with an added irony that it was George Michael who held Elton out of the number one position.
This was the album where Elton decided to reclaim his personality, as the great Sothby's sell-off of his old gear on the cover shows. He and Bernie set out to craft songs that emphasized their resurgent popularity and succeeded here, and started the third chapter in Elton's illustrious career. The "Reg Strikes Back" bonus tracks are pretty slim pickens, consisting of one sub-par B-Side and three remixes. Get this because it is Elton's second best 80's album after "Too Low for Zero," and you'll be satisfied.
IT'S A GOOD ALBUM!!
2006-12-02 - Dispite there are some bad reviews in here, "Reg Strikes Back" is a good work, with some high points that deserves attention. "Word in Spanish" (hey, I'm listening it now!!!!!), "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (part tow)", "I Don't Wanna Go With You Like That" and "Goodbye Marlon Brando" are really good songs.
Concluding, "Reg Strikes Back" is a good album, however not excepcional like "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" or "Captain Fantastic" or "The Captain and the Kid". But much much much better than "Sleep With the Past", for example.
