In 2002, the album was repackaged as a special edition containing a bonus disc with remixes, B-sides and non-album singles from the time of its release. In an interview with Jon Wiederhorn in 2001, John revealed that the album was recorded using analogue tape, as he believes "the voice and instruments sound warmer".
John has said that the inspiration for many of the songs on this album came from when he listened to Heartbreaker by Ryan Adams. The album was dedicated to Shepard and Oliver Johnstone, band member Davey Johnstone's late son. Rufus Wainwright sings backing vocals on the track "American Triangle", which is about Matthew Shepard, a gay college student who was brutally murdered in 1998. It was the first non-soundtrack studio album from John to be released after PolyGram and Universal Music Group merged, consolidating distribution rights to his entire catalogue. Guy Babylon, Bob Birch and John Mahon, three of John's band members at the time, do not appear on this album. Stevie Wonder, who previously worked with John on the songs " I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" and " That's What Friends Are For", played harmonica and clavinet on " Dark Diamond". Drummer Nigel Olsson returned to the Elton John Band full-time and Tata Vega makes an early appearance as a backup vocalist, joining the band later. Patrick Leonard produced the album and played keyboards on several songs, as was the case for The Road to El Dorado soundtrack, released the year before. For this album, John once again collaborated with long-time lyricist Bernie Taupin, marking the first time the pair had written together in person.
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