Elton John's new album

[Liz Rosenthal]

For RSmyth and LincolnMan:

Well, the album is nothing like Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. What I mean by that is, GYBR was made by a 25-year-old man who in many ways still had a kid's outlook on life and music. Now, he's 66. Obviously, he's not going to be writing songs like Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting at his age. That would be a little weird.

Elton thinks that The Diving Board is the best album of his career. I think he may be right.

If you like his piano playing, The Diving Board has more of it than any other album of his career, period. (We're talking 46 years.) He runs the gamut of styles on this album, piano-wise and melody-wise. There are uptempo, midtempo and waltz numbers. There's jazz, classical, gospel, country, and boogie woogie. The lyrics, written by his longtime songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, are especially good here, and probably rank up there with their all-time best lyrics. There are great story-songs and really nifty turns of phrase.

Have you heard the first single off the album, Home Again? I think if you go to eltonjohn.com, you'll find the video for it there. It's a dark, mysterious song. Also, EJ will be on Live with Michael & Kelly tomorrow (Wednesday), and he will perform Home Again, and probably one other song, and will also be interviewed.

LincolnMan: How wonderful that you and your wife and daughter met EJ for a whole hour through the Make A Wish Foundation! That must have been something else. I've had the pleasure of meeting him, but definitely not for a whole hour, that's for sure! He does a lot of philanthropic work in many areas to this day, and is probably busier with it than ever.

I didn't know that your daughter had and has chronic health problems. I hope things are looking up.