"White Lady White Powder", an ode to cocaine, was written about the beginning of Elton's cocaine addiction and features Glen Frey and Don Henly of The Eagles, among others, singing back-up vocals and is guaranteed to be a sing-a-long favourite.

"Give me the love", written by Judie Tzuke, is an excellent track with superb piano, clear and happy trumpets, and a jazzy disposition that is asking for love. This is easily one of the better tracks on "21 at 33".

All in all, an excellent album. From this reviewer's point-of-view, this is one of Elton's best of the early '80's.

Dr. Sloane Towns


a testament to the superior songcraft of Elton John   January 12, 2006
Dave (United States)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

"21 at 33", originally released in 1980, is not usually considered to be one of Elton John's best albums. More precisely, it seems to be viewed as something of a transitional record for Elton following his notorious and commercially disastrous disco album "Victim of Love".

That said, "21 at 33" is an incredibly impressive achievement. Despite the personal problems Elton was going through during this period, including his increasing drug dependency, absolutely none of the songs here fail to display Elton's superior knack for songcraft. In other words, there's simply not a weak song on the disc. And the production, by Elton and Clive Franks, is mostly very tasteful, and the performances are spirited.

Granted, Elton's reliance on other people to write the lyrics for his songs does give him a certain advantage in that he can focus solely on writing the music, and he can also use the lyrics he's been provided with as a vantage point for the type of song he's going to concoct. Bernie Taupin, following his songwriting absence on the previous two albums, returned here, co-writing three of the songs. Gary Osborne was also continuing to co-write songs with Elton, and there are additionally two co-writes from Tom Robinson, and one co-write from Judie Tzuke. The liner notes inform us that all of the songs here were written at the Cote d'Azur in Grasse, France in August of 1979, which inescapably brings to mind the thought that Elton can turn out great song after great song in his sleep--even if these tunes were all written quickly, they all seem carefully thought out musically, and none of them feel merely like album filler.

"Chasing The Crown" is a great, energetic album opener that rocks out quite nicely with super-cool guitar and piano licks. "Little Jeannie" is a supremely melodic ballad with a soaring chorus and an irresistible fade that's based on the instrumental intro. "Sartorial Eloquence" starts off with a lovely sequence of piano chords and again is splendidly melodic with an irresistibly catchy chorus. "Two Rooms At The End Of The World" is a toe-tappingly catchy horn-laden pop-rocker with neatly placed harmony vocals. The neatly-unpredictable "White Lady White Powder" is an extremely well-crafted and catchy uptempo pop-rocker. The 6/8 time "Dear God" is a gently-swaying, arrestingly tuneful ballad. "Never Gonna Fall In Love Again" is also a solid ballad with a nice sighing quality to it. "Take Me Back" is a fun, musically upbeat song that shows just how comfortable Elton is a country-western setting. The album ends with the absolutely infectious grooving soft-rocker "Give Me The Love": unbelievably catchy vocal melody; irresistible syncopation; great horn and string arrangements; a really fun, spirited Elton vocal delivery; and great Elton piano fills.

"21 at 33" is an album that you can absolutely play straight through. On the other hand, you might have a hard time doing that due to a temptation to play certain tracks two or three times in a row. With a nice variety to the songs, and so much catchiness, this is a really great and underrated album from Elton, and I really can't fathom how any fan wouldn't love it.

(P.S. Further demonstrating what a roll Elton was on at this time, there are at least a couple songs from the "21 at 33" sessions that didn't make the album. One is the fine ballad "Conquer the Sun" which appeared as a b-side for the "Little Jeannie" single. Another is the irresistibly funky "Lonely Boy" which appeared as a b-side to the single for "Who Wears These Shoes?" in 1984. It would have made this album even sweeter had these two songs been added here as bonus tracks--fans won't regret tracking them down.)


The road to recovery.   March 3, 2005
The Doctor (Massachusetts)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

For Elton fan's, things started to fall apart in 1978 with the release of A Single Man and busted at the seams with the abysmal "disco" album Victim of Love.

With 21 at 33, (titled such, amazingly, because it was Elton's 21st album, released at age 33) Elton began righting the ship. Bernie Taupin had returned, after a four year absence, to write some of the tracks. Thus, parts of the album had a more solid feel and were more consistent with what people expected from Elton John. Although Bernie wrote the lyrics to three tunes ("Chasing the Crown," "White Lady, White Powder," and "Two Rooms"), it was the song "Little Jeannie" written by Elton and Gary Osborne which hit the charts.

Taupin's "White Lady, White Powder" is a strong rocker. Another Taupin composition, "Two Rooms" has a great hook and provides a fantastic lyrical description of the relationship between Elton and Bernie. The title would later be used for a tribute album and accompanying video. "Sartorial Eloquence" (not written by Bernie)is one of the strongest cuts on the album, recalling an earlier sound and sporting an unbelievable backing vocal line-up (Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Toni Tenille, and Peter Noone).

Elton's core band from the 70s, Nigel Olsson, Dee Murray, and Davey Johnstone, was briefly reassembed for a few cuts, though it is the studio musicians (foremost among them Steve Lukather from Toto), who really stand out.

Overall, 21 at 33, is a scattered album which, nonetheless started Elton down the road to really coming back. The two subsequent albums (The Fox and Jump Up!) would suffer a similar lack of cohesiveness, though 1983's Too Low for Zero would put Elton back on top of his game and start his "second coming."