Elton John
Reuniting with longtime songwriting partner Bernie Taupin for his first new album in seven years, the Bitch gets comfortable behind the piano and dives into a pool of cool, laid-back songs without the indulgent frou-frous of a big backing band. It does expose the 66 year-old's voice as sounding like an unravaged Tom Waits, particularly on Oceans and the sombre My Quicksand, meaning fans chasing more sumptuous hits to add to his formidable menu will be left peckish. That's not such a bad thing, though, for this Diving Board provides more clean re-entries than belly-flops.
