The Diving Board (Deluxe Version)

★荣获葛莱美奖、全英音乐奖、奥斯卡金像奖、东尼奖的乐坛传奇巨星第30张个人大碟

★专辑发行首週进驻英国金榜第3名，滚石杂志4颗星优质鑑赏，12座葛莱美奖肯定的製作人T-Bone Burnett掌舵製作

★精装加值盘额外收录创作曲"Candlelit Bedroom"，以及包括全美抒情榜TOP 14单曲"Home Again"在内的3首录音室现场演唱版

获颁大英帝国爵士勳章，荣膺全英音乐奖杰出音乐贡献奖、葛莱美奖传奇奖、奥斯卡金像奖、金球奖、东尼奖，入列摇滚名人殿堂，拥有2亿5000万张专辑销售，乐坛传奇巨星Elton John并不以这些成就自满，在2013年藉著与另类摇滚团Queens Of The Stone Age、流行庞克团Fall Out Boy的合作激发音乐能量；同年岁末，又与同获美国词曲创作名人殿堂贡献奖的搭档Bernie Taupin携手合作歌唱生涯的第30张个人录音室大碟【The Diving Board】，专辑发行首週长驱直入英国金榜第3名。

在【The Diving Board】专辑中，Elton John回归出道时的钢琴、贝斯、鼓创作架构，展现他身为杰出歌曲创作家与世界顶尖钢琴师的风范。专辑中的歌曲再度绽放Elton John与Bernie Taupin的快手创作默契，Bernie宛如电影情节般的歌词彷彿与Elton的键盘乐音灵犀相通，两人在2012年利用3天时间合写出11首歌，然后在5个录音室工作天之内完成歌曲录製，接著又在2013年利用两天录製了另外4首歌曲，效率飞快且成果惊人！本辑重现了Elton John在1970年与管弦乐团以现场伴奏方式灌录同名专辑『Elton John』时的冒险精神，Elton让2010年与谱写过The Carpenters名曲"Superstar"的传奇唱作歌手Leon Russell合作专辑「The Union」的葛莱美奖製作人T-Bone Burnett邀请吉他手Doyle Bramhall（*Eric Clapton）、贝斯手Raphael Saadiq（*John Legend）、键盘手Keefus Ciancia（*Lenka）、鼓手Jay Bellerose（*Diana Krall）等乐手组成伴奏乐团，随后，Elton就以现场伴奏录唱的方式完成专辑录製。专辑的乐风游走于流行、福音、乡村、蓝调之间，有引人入胜的叙事小品"The Ballad Of Blind Tom"，具有自省风格的抒情曲"My Quicksand"，朗朗上口的"Can`t Stay Alone Tonight"，经由电视实境节目风潮深思自己在成名过程中付出代价的动人大作"The Diving Board"。

The Diving Board, Elton's first solo album in seven years, will be released in the US on Tuesday, September 24, and the UK on September 16. 

Fans who pre-order The Diving Board right here in the EltonJohn.com Shop will receive an instant download of the album's premiere single, Home Again. 

Produced by T Bone Burnett, the album features 12 new songs written by Elton and his longtime lyricist Bernie Taupin, as well as three piano interludes composed by the artist. 

The Diving Board returns Elton to the piano, bass and drums lineup that marked the artist’s introduction to worldwide audiences more than 40 years ago. As Elton explains, “In many ways, I feel like I’m starting again, making records. Several years ago when beginning to work with T Bone and being in the studio with Leon Russell for The Union, I had to ask myself, ‘What kind of music do I really want to make?’, and I realized that I had to go back to go forward again. I needed to strip away the excesses and get back to the core of what I do as an artist. That’s what The Diving Board represents. I’m incredibly excited about every aspect of this album: The performances, T Bone’s production, Bernie’s lyrics and the songs we’ve created. The Diving Board is the album I’ve been waiting to make for decades.” 

According to T Bone Burnett, The Diving Board also evokes memories of the producer’s first exposure to Elton as a live performer, “I saw Elton at the Troubadour in 1970, in a legendary week of shows. Those shows never left me. A three piece band — piano, bass, and drums like one enormous instrument — just killing it. So we started from there. I wanted to be able to superimpose this recording over my memory of the sound and the wild intelligence of those shows. From that perspective, 40 years down the road, The Diving Board is an album of music by a master at the peak of his artistic powers.” 

The American release of The Diving Board will be Elton's first album on the esteemed Capitol Records label. Capitol Music Group Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett commented, “The Diving Board is simply a masterpiece. It is rare for an artist of Elton’s stature — one who has experienced decades of success and has sold literally hundreds of millions of records — to re-evaluate his artistic ambitions, to push himself and dig so deeply to create one of the strongest albums of his storied career. Yet, Elton has done exactly that. All of us at the company are incredibly proud to be presenting The Diving Board to the public, and we couldn’t be more thrilled that Capitol Records is now home to Elton John.”