| Too Low for Zero | |
| Type: | studio |
| Artist: | Elton John |
| Cover: | Too_low_for_zero.JPG |
| Border: | yes |
| Released: | 31 May 1983 |
| Recorded: | September 1982 – January 1983 |
| Studio: |
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| Genre: | Pop rock |
| Length: | 44:23 |
| Label: | Geffen (US) Rocket (UK) |
| Producer: | Chris Thomas |
| Prev Title: | Jump Up! |
| Prev Year: | 1982 |
| Next Title: | Breaking Hearts |
| Next Year: | 1984 |
Too Low for Zero (stylised as 2 ▼ 4 0) is the seventeenth studio album by English musician Elton John, released in 1983. The album marked a comeback for John, whose previous four albums had failed to yield many enduring international hit singles, and had disappointing sales compared to his string of hit records released during the first half of the 1970s.
It is his second-best-selling album of the 1980s (after Sleeping with the Past), earning Platinum certification by both the RIAA and the BPI. It produced several hit songs, each accompanied by successful MTV music videos, and it spent over a year on the Billboard album chart.
For the first time since Blue Moves in 1976, all lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin. John also reunited with the core of his backing band of the early 1970s: Dee Murray, Nigel Olsson and Davey Johnstone as well as Ray Cooper, Kiki Dee and Skaila Kanga (who played harp on John's self-titled album and Tumbleweed Connection).
John played synthesizers on the album in addition to piano (his first since A Single Man), as James Newton Howard left the band. John felt that synths allowed him to write better fast rock songs, having not been entirely happy with such compositions performed on piano.[1]
The album was written and recorded in approximately two weeks, with overdubs completed in a week.[2] It was produced by Chris Thomas and recorded at AIR Studios in Montserrat (the same studio for Jump Up!) and Sunset Sound Recorders in Hollywood.
The original LP issue of the album featured a die-cut cover with a special inner sleeve. The four shapes shown on the cover were cut out, with the colours (shown as ink smears on the inner sleeve) showing through the holes. The 2010 Japanese SHM CD release of the album is the only CD version to replicate the packaging of the original LP with the die-cut design.
All B-sides released on US singles from this time originate from his 1978 album A Single Man and the 21 at 33 sessions from 1980. They were also previously released on European singles. In the US, Too Low for Zero was certified gold in January 1984 and platinum in October 1995 by the RIAA.
Reviewing the album in Rolling Stone, Don Shewey commented, "Elton John and Bernie Taupin have written some great hit singles, but since the early Elton John LP, they have never produced an album of consistently first-rate material. And although Too Low for Zero is a big step up from losers like Blue Moves and A Single Man, it doesn't hang together, either." He praised the catchy energy of "I'm Still Standing", "Kiss the Bride", "Crystal", and "Too Low for Zero", and approved of the way those four songs synthesized the styles of popular artists such as The Pointer Sisters and Joe Jackson. However, he felt the rest of the album suffered from poor lyrics, finding the morbidity of "Cold as Christmas" and "One More Arrow" to be especially distasteful.[3]
Track numbering refers to CD and digital releases of the album.
| Chart (1983–1984) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[4] | 2 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[5] | 71 |
| Spanish Albums (AFYVE)[6] | 7 |
| Chart (1983) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)[7] | 3 | |
| German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[8] | 35 | |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[9] | 11 | |
| UK Albums (OCC[10] | 16 |
| Chart (1984) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report) | 8 | |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[11] | 19 | |
| UK Albums (OCC | 74 |