The Big Picture

The Big Picture is the 26th studio album by British singer/songwriter Elton John, released in 1997. It includes four worldwide singles: "Live Like Horses" (a duet with Luciano Pavarotti only for the single version), "Something About the Way You Look Tonight" (released later also as a double A-side with "Candle in the Wind 1997"), "Recover Your Soul", and "If the River Can Bend". The album has a strong orchestral emphasis with string arrangements written by Anne Dudley and John's then backup keyboardist Guy Babylon. In 2006, John revealed in an interview that Bernie Taupin, his longtime friend and lyricist, considers this his least favourite album they have created, while John believes that to be Leather Jackets from 1986. Taupin dislikes this album because "the production is abysmally cold and technical".
The album was dedicated to John's friend, popular fashion designer Gianni Versace, who was murdered a few months before the album's release. This was the last album to date to be produced by Chris Thomas, who had worked with John almost nonstop since 1981's The Fox. This is the only album in which neither Davey Johnstone nor bassist Bob Birch provide backing vocals. Drummer Charlie Morgan was let go from the band shortly after the album's release and soon replaced by Curt Bisquera and John's old drummer Nigel Olsson, who remains in the lineup to this day.