Style: Country-rock; compare to John’s Tumbleweed Connection or The Captain and the Kid
Top tracks: “Hearts Have Turned to Stone,” “I Should Have Sent Roses,” “If It Wasn’t for Bad”
A lot of records could be termed “labors of love,” but it may never have been truer than with The Union. Elton John conceived the album as a platform for him to re-introduce his longtime idol, ’70s rock and roller Leon Russell, to the music-listening public, and the result is a full-on duets album, complete with dueling pianos and traded vocal duties, the genuine warmth between the two men emanating from every note. John called in T-Bone Burnett to produce, and the result is a rootsy but still mainstream effort—half ballads and half rockers, with heavy leanings into country, gospel, and blues.
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