Elton John has just released his best album in years — Songs from the West Coast (Rocket/Universal). And it’s no accident that the disc’s such a pleasantly solid surprise. For starters, Bernie Taupin, the lyricist who collaborated so closely with him on all those classic ’70s albums, is back, and so is that sly sense of melody that made "Daniel," "Your Song," and "Someone Save My Life Tonight" such enduring classics. And along with Taupin, John invited guitarist Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson — the two players who formed the core of Elton’s ’70s bands — to return to active duty, not just on the CD but also for the tour that brought them to the FleetCenter for five sold-out nights of performance, beginning a week ago Tuesday and finishing up this Saturday.

The bad news is that John has once again opted to share the spotlight with fellow piano man Billy Joel. The gimmick is simple — you get Elton John and Billy Joel, two mainstream heavyweights, "face to face" on one stage. What that amounted to a week ago Tuesday was an opening segment devoted, as Joel put it, to "mushy love ballads" in which John and Joel sat facing each other at giant grand pianos, Elton in an outlandish hot pink get-up that resembled pajamas turned into a formal suit, Joel in a cool and reserved black blazer. They duetted on "Your Song," "Just the Way You Are," and "Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me," with Elton letting Billy handle the lion’s share of the vocals. And then, poof, Joel and his piano were gone and Elton was left to lead his band through a full set of oldies peppered with a couple of tracks from the new disc. For all his flamboyance, John is an artist who — 20 years after writing a self-assertive anthem called "I’m Still Standing" — not only knows his limitations but is comfortable with them. So he didn’t even try to hit the high notes on the chorus of "Rocket Man," and he more or less let the songs he and Taupin have written together speak for themselves.

Joel, on the other hand, seemed determined to prove that age hasn’t taken anything away from him except, perhaps, a bit of hair. He showboated to no end at the piano, and he sang "Italian Restaurant" as if he were trying to impersonate Mariah Carey. It was embarrassing and, to my ears, unbearable. So I left. A full set of prime Elton John is what I’d come for, and a full set of prime Elton John is what I got.