Victim of Love (Elton John album)


Victim of Love is the thirteenth studio album by English singer-songwriter Elton John. It is a disco album, released in 1979 shortly after the peak of disco's popularity. It was not critically or commercially well-received, and is Elton John's third lowest charting album to date in the US, after 1986's Leather Jackets and 1985's Ice on Fire.
The title track of the album, however, was moderately successful as a single. It reached No. 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100, No. 38 in Australia and No. 46 in Canada. It also peaked at No. 11 on the Canadian Adult Contemporary chart. In addition, all the tracks on the album reached No. 55 on the US Billboard Disco Top 100 chart.

Background

At under 36 minutes, the album is the shortest of Elton John's career, and is atypical of his recording career in several respects. He neither wrote the songs nor played piano or keyboards, only providing the vocals. It was his first album without any of his original band members, which would not happen again until his 2010 collaboration with Leon Russell, The Union., it is also one of only two studio albums without lyricist Bernie Taupin. Apart from an appearance on the Australian television series Countdown, John did little marketing for Victim of Love. He did not tour to promote the album, and has never played any of its songs live. It is also the only studio album in John's discography from which none of the songs has been performed on stage.
"Strangers", the B-side of the single of the album's title track, appeared as a bonus track on the 1998 Mercury reissue of John's previous album, A Single Man, because it was recorded during those sessions.
When the album was released as a CD in the 1980s, the track breaks were incorrect. The first 45 seconds of "Spotlight" was part of the previous track, and similar errors occurred in other tracks. In 2003, the album was reissued in a digitally remastered format, with those problems corrected.

Critical reception

In ranking all of John's studio albums, Matt Springer of Ultimate Classic Rock placed the album at the bottom of the list.

Track listing

Side one

  1. "Johnny B. Goode" – 8:06
  2. "Warm Love in a Cold World" – 4:30
  3. "Born Bad" – 5:16

    Side two

  4. "Thunder in the Night" – 4:40
  5. "Spotlight" – 4:24
  6. "Street Boogie" – 3:56
  7. "Victim of Love" – 4:52

    B-sides

Personnel