‘Victim of Love’ was Elton John’s 13th album which was released in 1979. The title of the track album was considered somewhat a successful stand alone as it hit top charts in various countries such as the United States, Canada, and Australia. However, it was deemed as an album that tanked as it was considered as John’s third lowest ranking album in his whole career. John himself stated in an interview with Rolling Stones that it was “one of the most anemic records” they had made.
Others speculated that the cause of the demise of John’s album was not him, but a friend that approached him. Pete Bellotte approached John with the proposal of collaborating. The singer agreed as long as he would simply sing and leave the rest of the work to the producer. They had recorded the album in a single session that lasted for 8 hours. What made this album different from John’s previous works were that he did not promote the album to his fans and did not perform any of the songs on the record live. There was not a trace of Elton John in the making of the record, just his vocals with music, backing, and lyrics made by others.
The album was meant to be a disco record for dancing the night away with confidence supplied by liquor and drugs but felt like a garble of electronic music and instruments gone wrong.
It lacked all the right notes to become a hit amongst Elton John fans and disco club goers. It would have been better with the great skill Bernie Taupin had who was John’s longtime collaborator. It was simply lacing the oomph that every Elton John album had. It did not feel passionate or exciting– it was plain boring, something Elton John was not.