The Hardest Word
Elton John released Blue Moves, his second double album, the year I started college. The previous year he had fired his long-time bassist and drummer, taken on an unknown keyboardist by the name of James Newton-Howard1, formed his own record company, and simply grown weary of fame and touring. The results were less guitars and more keyboards, less rock and more pop, less fun and more depression.
The album was promptly crucified by critics and fans alike. A friend (and fellow Elton fan) from high school and I car-pooled to UTA our freshman year, and I remember several conversations revolving around the horridness of Blue Moves.