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** "I'm Still Standing" had a very memorable music video of Elton galavanting on the beach.
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** "I'm Still Standing" had a very memorable music video of Elton galavanting on the beach. It would later inspire both Music/PhilCollins and Music/DavidLeeRoth.
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[[Side Two]]
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[/numlist]
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* MusicVideo:
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* MusicVideo:MusicVideo: One of the reasons Elton was introduced to TheEighties is because this album's music videos got big on Creator/{{MTV}}:
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/too_low_for_zero.png]]
[[caption-width-right:300:''Tied one on with a friend last night\\
And wound up losing my shirt'']]
->''You could never know what it's like\\
Your blood like winter freezes just like ice\\
And there's a cold lonely light that shines from you\\
You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use\\
\\
And did you think this fool could never win?\\
Well look at me, I'm a-coming back again\\
I got a taste of love in a simple way\\
And if you need to know while I'm still standing, you just fade away''
-->'''"I'm Still Standing"'''
''Too Low for Zero'' (stylized as ''2 ▼ 4 0'') is the seventeenth studio album recorded by English pop rock musician Music/EltonJohn. It was released through Rocket Records in the United Kingdom, and Creator/GeffenRecords in the United States, on 30 May 1983.
Elton was in an extended slump in his career. For his previous four albums, he'd scored only two Silver records from the BPI and two Gold records from the RIAA between them; and only one song, "Little Jeannie" from ''21 at 33'', has endured from that span. He decided to cut out the secondary writers and work on this album entirely with his long-time writing partner Bernie Taupin, going back to the basics.
It was a decent effort, though contemporary critics were skeptical. Don Shewey of ''Magazine/RollingStone'' rated the album 3 out of 5 stars, criticizing a lack of consistency in the output, but also noting the high energy of its singles. In hindsight, [=AllMusic=] would rate the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, showing the album would stand the test of time; [=AllMusic=] reviewer Bill Janovitz has said as much specifically about "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues", which remains one of Elton's most popular singles.
Commercially, it gave Elton's career the boost it needed to catch him back up to TheEighties. It went Platinum in both the United States (first since 1978) and the United Kingdom (first since 1973). It was his first album to hit the Top Ten on the UK album chart since ''A Single Man'' in 1978.
The album produced five singles: "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues", "I'm Still Standing", "Kiss the Bride", "Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year)", and the TitleTrack. The first two were Top Ten hits on the UK pop chart, and "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" would be Elton's first Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1980.
!!Tracklist
[[AC:Side One]]
# "Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year)" (4:19)
# "I'm Still Standing" (3:02)
# "Too Low for Zero" (5:46)
# "Religion" (4:05)
# "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" (4:41)
[[Side Two]]
[numlist:6]
# "Crystal" (5:05)
# "Kiss the Bride" (4:22)
# "Whipping Boy" (3:43)
# "Saint" (5:17)
# "One More Arrow" (3:34)
!!"And I guess that's why they call these the tropes:"
* MusicVideo:
** "I'm Still Standing" had a very memorable music video of Elton galavanting on the beach.
** "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" has a music video where a [[TheFifties 50s]]-era couple are separated when the man is drafted, and it shows their separate trials prior to their eventual reunion.
* OnTheRebound: "I'm Still Standing" is about the singer's recovery from the end of a bad relationship
* RockBottom: The TitleTrack describes the singer's descent toward this
* SpecialGuest: Music/StevieWonder plays the harmonica on "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues"
* TitleTrack: "Too Low for Zero"
[[caption-width-right:300:''Tied one on with a friend last night\\
And wound up losing my shirt'']]
->''You could never know what it's like\\
Your blood like winter freezes just like ice\\
And there's a cold lonely light that shines from you\\
You'll wind up like the wreck you hide behind that mask you use\\
\\
And did you think this fool could never win?\\
Well look at me, I'm a-coming back again\\
I got a taste of love in a simple way\\
And if you need to know while I'm still standing, you just fade away''
-->'''"I'm Still Standing"'''
''Too Low for Zero'' (stylized as ''2 ▼ 4 0'') is the seventeenth studio album recorded by English pop rock musician Music/EltonJohn. It was released through Rocket Records in the United Kingdom, and Creator/GeffenRecords in the United States, on 30 May 1983.
Elton was in an extended slump in his career. For his previous four albums, he'd scored only two Silver records from the BPI and two Gold records from the RIAA between them; and only one song, "Little Jeannie" from ''21 at 33'', has endured from that span. He decided to cut out the secondary writers and work on this album entirely with his long-time writing partner Bernie Taupin, going back to the basics.
It was a decent effort, though contemporary critics were skeptical. Don Shewey of ''Magazine/RollingStone'' rated the album 3 out of 5 stars, criticizing a lack of consistency in the output, but also noting the high energy of its singles. In hindsight, [=AllMusic=] would rate the album 4.5 out of 5 stars, showing the album would stand the test of time; [=AllMusic=] reviewer Bill Janovitz has said as much specifically about "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues", which remains one of Elton's most popular singles.
Commercially, it gave Elton's career the boost it needed to catch him back up to TheEighties. It went Platinum in both the United States (first since 1978) and the United Kingdom (first since 1973). It was his first album to hit the Top Ten on the UK album chart since ''A Single Man'' in 1978.
The album produced five singles: "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues", "I'm Still Standing", "Kiss the Bride", "Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year)", and the TitleTrack. The first two were Top Ten hits on the UK pop chart, and "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" would be Elton's first Top Ten on the Billboard Hot 100 since 1980.
!!Tracklist
[[AC:Side One]]
# "Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year)" (4:19)
# "I'm Still Standing" (3:02)
# "Too Low for Zero" (5:46)
# "Religion" (4:05)
# "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" (4:41)
[[Side Two]]
[numlist:6]
# "Crystal" (5:05)
# "Kiss the Bride" (4:22)
# "Whipping Boy" (3:43)
# "Saint" (5:17)
# "One More Arrow" (3:34)
!!"And I guess that's why they call these the tropes:"
* MusicVideo:
** "I'm Still Standing" had a very memorable music video of Elton galavanting on the beach.
** "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" has a music video where a [[TheFifties 50s]]-era couple are separated when the man is drafted, and it shows their separate trials prior to their eventual reunion.
* OnTheRebound: "I'm Still Standing" is about the singer's recovery from the end of a bad relationship
* RockBottom: The TitleTrack describes the singer's descent toward this
* SpecialGuest: Music/StevieWonder plays the harmonica on "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues"
* TitleTrack: "Too Low for Zero"
