Elton John

The One (1992)

1.Simple Life
2.The One
3.Sweat it Out
4.Runaway Train
5.Whitewash County
6.The North
7.When a Woman Doesn't Want You
8.Emily
9.On Dark Street
10.Understanding Women
11.The Last Song

With The One, Elton John ushered in what he himself described as the "second part" of his career. It marked a quiet but momentous turning point: his first studio album recorded entirely clean and sober. No longer at war with himself, Elton approached the sessions with a steadier hand, a clearer head, and, arguably, a deeper emotional palette. Though the album doesn't break dramatic new ground, it offers something far rarer—stability.

The music here is polished, professional, and remarkably cohesive. Perhaps too cohesive. While Sleeping with the Past was rich in stylistic shifts and soul-soaked variety, The One stays in its lane—a mid-tempo landscape of introspection and elegant restraint. It may lack the surprises of earlier work, but it makes up for it with an unmistakable sense of sincerity.

The album opens strongly with Simple Life and the title track, two pieces that would become live staples for much of the decade. Simple Life is the more muscular of the two—six and a half minutes of rhythmic propulsion, built around a percussive piano riff that clatters like train wheels on a midnight run. The One is the emotional centerpiece—a sweeping ballad with a lyric from Bernie Taupin that is equal parts confession and comfort. In the hands of another artist, it might have tipped into sentimentality. Elton gives it dignity.

Elsewhere, there are standout moments that deserve more attention than they received. The Last Song is one such track—a hushed, moving story of a father reconciling with his dying son. It was one of the first mainstream pop songs to address the AIDS crisis directly, and it does so with grace, avoiding melodrama in favour of intimacy. That it remains relatively underappreciated is something of a mystery. There’s also Runaway Train, a duet with Eric Clapton that should have made more noise than it did. It’s lean and unfussy, driven by Clapton’s guitar and Elton’s understated vocals. When a Woman Doesn’t Want You is another low-key gem, a ballad that signals Elton’s shift toward subtler emotional textures in his later years. Less grand gesture, more quiet ache.

The remainder of the album, while perfectly listenable, suffers slightly from tonal similarity. The production—glossy, warm, and safe—leaves little room for risk, and several tracks blur together even after repeated listens. There are no real missteps, but also few stylistic diversions.

Visually, the album marked another transformation. The cover featured a newly conservative Elton—slick tailoring, subdued palette, and, notably, a rather conspicuous hair weave. The image evoked his late-’60s self, albeit with the hard-earned wisdom of someone who had survived fame, addiction, and reinvention.

Touring behind The One, Elton embarked on a massive world tour, and for the first time in years, he seemed genuinely energized. No longer battling his demons nightly, he was able to play shows that regularly exceeded two and a half hours. The audience response was overwhelmingly positive—not just because the music was strong, but because Elton himself appeared renewed.

The One is not a reinvention, nor is it a return. It is a settling—an artist, for the first time in a long while, at peace with his past and cautiously optimistic about what lies ahead. A very good new beginning, indeed.

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