ELTON JOHN

Rock Off The Westies

(MCA)

Elton’s not really a moody guy, so perhaps this is a reaction to Captain Fantastic, his somewhat moody and introspective autobiographical album of this past summer. This set is straight-ahead rock'n’roll that stops for barely a moment. While the album doesn’t contain a classic, such as “Benny and the Jets,” nor even a more transitory Elton notable, such as “Someone Saved My Life Tonight,” it also doesn’t have any of the filler songs that marred the pre-Fantastic albums. Everything here has some hook or some nuance of delivery that makes for at least pleasant listening at home, if not a downright inspiring experience when it’s coming out of those radio speakers, as much of this will be doing in the next few months.