Another reason why "The Bridge" was a poor choice for lead single...

If the rumors are true and Elton is planning to release a piano & vocal only album to coincide with his 60th birthday celebrations in March 2007, then that makes "The Bridge" even bigger blunder on Universal's part than I originally thought it was.

With all of the fantastic songs on "The Captain & The Kid" Universal chose to release an Elton ballad, no surprise, and the worst track on the album. A good song, just not a great song. They could have gone the uptempo route, they had a few to choose from. They could have chose a power ballad like "Tinderbox" or country tinged track like the title cut, which would have been good promotion for the album too.

But no, we get a typical Elton ballad that happens to be a piano and vocal only track. It does moderately well on the charts barely reaching the Top 20. And it also happens to be the same style music that Elton is rumored to be working for his next album. So when and if a single is released from the next album it will have a very familiar sound. It will also be ignored by radio and listeners as "another Elton ballad." So Universal has killed "The Captain & The Kid" with no promotion and are now working on destroying the next album before its even out. Way to go!

It's been suggested in Elton discussion forums that he needs to leave Universal and start his own label. I agree 100% Universal is doing nothing for him. He couldn't do any worse himself. So how about it Elton?

UPDATE: It appears that Mercury (Universal) has not given up yet, Tinderbox is slated to be the second single in the UK with a released date of 12/12. Is the US next? Hello, Universal!!!! ????