Great lists! It always pains me when I hear someone say they think Elton is a Greatest Hits act. His catalog is rich and deep and they are missing out on so much wonderful music. Picking just ten was agony. Here are my picks today. 10. Blue for Baby and Me 09. Tiny Dancer 08. Chameleon 07. This Train Don't Stop There Anymore 06. Amoreena 05. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 04. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding 03. Madman Across the Water 02. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 01. Daniel I think Daniel is magnificent. It's one of the most perfect pop songs ever for me. I like it as an album opener too. :) - Shannon
"Daniel" also made my top ten (unranked after my number one choice, "Tiny Dancer"). "Daniel" is such a poignant song of love, and there's a fascinating ambiguity in what kind of love is being expressed here.
10 - It ain't gonna be easy 09 - Chloe 08 - Latitude 07 - You gotta love someone 06 - Salvation 05 - Amoreena 04 - Indian sunset 03 - Have mercy on the criminal 02 - We all fall in love sometimes 01 - High Flying bird
My favorites: 1. Come Down in Time 2. So Sad the Renegade 3. Ego 4. The Greatest Discovery 5. Harmony 6. Sugar on the Floor 7. Flames of Paradise 8. It Ain't Gonna Be Easy 9. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 10. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy 11. All the Nasties 12. Snowed in at Wheeler Street 13. We All Fall in Love Sometime/Curtains 14. I Need You to Turn To 15. Blues for Baby and Me 16. Carla/Etude - Fanfare - Chloe 17. I Stop and I Breathe 18. Idol 19. Blue Avenue 20. Paris
Absolutely! Was blown away (ehh, poor choice of words!) when I first heard it after buying Caribou new. I've never understood why it doesn't get massive love
1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 2. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 3. Rocket Man 4. Harmony 5. Pinky 6. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 7. Ego 8. Philadelphia Freedom 9. Your Song 10. Original Sin
Congratulations gentlemen; so great to have the three of you back covering an artist you all actually enjoy and respect. As always, I appreciate the way you review and uncover the distinct elements of song writing, band recording, production/sound, and Elton’s voice through the years. All distinct, important components, and when it all comes together, wow! Great job on both the huge album catalog, and again on the songs. Particularly appreciate Jason’s inclusion of Chloe, which I love (and named my cat after) and the respect for Caribou…but all choices were worthy. Great fun. Cheers, JPE
1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 2. Ticking 3. Tiny Dancer 4. Candle In The Wind 5. Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters 6. Madman Across The Water 7. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues 8. Your Song 9. I Want Love 10. Amoreena
My Top 10 Elton John .. # 10 Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me # 9 Crocodile Rock # 8 Bennie & The Jets # 7 Funeral For A Friend # 6 Saturday Nights Alright .. # 5 Your Song # 4 I'm Still Standing # 3 Someone Saved My Life Tonight # 2 Tiny Dancer & # 1 Love Song ✌️
1. Levon 2. My Father’s Gun 3. Mellow 4. Chameleon 5. Chloe 6. Blues for My Baby and Me 7. Tell Me When the Whistle Blows 8. Ballad of a Well-Known Gun 9. High Flying Bird 10. (Tie) Razor Face & Western Ford Gateway
🤠 It was the love of playing pinball as a kid that connected me to Elton John. The movie clip of him and The Who in Tommy on TH-cam, where he is playing Buckaroo, one of my favorite tables, is glam-friggin-tastic. The video for Don't go Breaking My Heart was broadcast the weekend before my first day at elementary school, on which I fell in love with a girl with a Kiki Dee haircut. So many of his non-lp singles are essential, like when Philadelphia Freedom dropped In 1976. Next stop...KISS! ❤
Did a top 50 :) 1. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Honky Chateau, 1972) 2. Amoreena (Tumbleweed Connection, 1970) 3. Levon (Madman Across the Water, 1971) 4. Take Me to the Pilot (Elton John, 1970) 5. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, 1975) 6. Daniel (Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only The Piano Player, 1973) 7. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 8. Salvation (Honky Chateau, 1972) 9. Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 10. Ticking (Caribou, 1974) (SET) 11. Madman Across the Water(Madman Across the Water, 1971) 12. Texan Love Song (Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player, 1973) 13. Hercules (Honky Chateau, 1972) 14. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word (Blue Moves, 1976) 15. This Song Has No Title (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 16. The Bitch Is Back (Caribou, 1974) 17. Rocketman (Honky Chateau, 1972) 18. I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun of Robert Ford) (Rock of the Westies, 1975) 19. Honky Cat (Honky Chateau, 1972) 20. Country Comfort (Tumbleweed Connection, 1970) 21. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 22. Have Mercy on the Criminal (Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player, 1973) 23. Slave (Honky Chateau, 1972) 24. I’ve Seen That Movie Too (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 25. Grey Seal (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 26. Madness (A Single Man, 1978) 27. Made In England (Made In England, 1995) 28. I Think I’m Gonna Kill Myself (Honky Chateau, 1972) 29. I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues (Too Low For Zero, 1983) 30. Mellow (Honky Chateau, 1972) 31. Curtains (Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, 1975) 32. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me (Caribou, 1974) 33. Dan Dare (Rock of the Westies, 1975) 34. Philadelphia Freedom (bonus track) 35. Susie (Dramas) (Honky Chateau, 1972) 36. Candle in The Wind (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 37. Razor Face (Madman Across the Water, 1971) 38. The Balled of Danny Bailey (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 39. Empty Garden (Jump Up, 1982) 40. Island Girl (Rock of the Westies, 1975) 41. Tiny Dancer (Madman Across the Water, 1973) 42. Where to Now, St Peter? (Tumbleweed Connection, 1970) 43. Amy (Honky Chateau, 1972) 44. Indian Sunset (Madman Across the Water, 1971) 45. Medley Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly (Rock of the Westies, 1975 46. Your Song (Elton John, 1970) 47. Bennie and the Jets (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973 48. Tower of Babel (Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, 1975) 49. Your Sister Can’t Twist (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 50. L’il Frigerater (Breaking Hearts, 1984)
10 I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues 9 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word 8 Tiny Dancer 7 Someone Saved My Life Tonite 6 Elderberry Wine 5 Don't Go Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee) 4 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 3 Your Song 2 Rocket Man NUMBER ONE: Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
I might not be familiar with many of Elton’s albums but his incredible catalogue of singles is right up there among the all time greats: 10. Sacrifice 9. I’m Still Standing 8. Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting 7. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 6. Rocket Man 5. Tiny Dancer 4. I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues 3. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 2. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me 1. Your Song
@@keithjones7390 The guys clearly agree with you, Keith. The album rankings are particularly helpful with artists like Elton, who have released a large number of albums over a long career - it certainly helps to highlight the ones to check out and those to avoid.
10. “Blues for Baby and Me” - In the final analysis, there was no way I could leave this masterpiece album cut out of the top ten. Elton is at his best when he and Bernie tap into something cinematic, and this is that. It has an ache that harks back to the best material on the first three albums, helped greatly by Buckmaster’s arrangement and Davey’s inspired electric sitar. 9. “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” - A fantastically ballsy rocker (weaker live), with Johnstone’s best guitar work in the original period (no cheese in this performance!), Elton’s bracingly bratty reverbed screams in the coda, and plenty of piano brimstone in the post-coda. It’s an insult to all taste to suggest that the glitzy, Vegas-y “Bitch is Back” can hold a candle to this. Been listening to this for 48 freaking years and it’s never grown old. 8. “Amoreena” - The second-best song on Tumbleweed, with great swag and character. A huge influence on modern reads on Americana. 7. “Pinky” - Elton breaks up the cheese-fest of side one of Caribou with this perfectly-sheened ballad. Ear candy. Silly that it wasn’t a single. 6. “Teacher I Need You” - The second-most underrated Elton song, with those great piano rolls, the fantastic “whoa-oh-oh” and “Teacher-I, teacher-I” vocal hooks, a kick-ass drumming performance, and mellotron. Mellotron makes everything better. This song strikes me of having a sleek lightness that prefigures new wave in the best way. 5. “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)” - Yeah, I heard those douchey disses of this song in two of you all’s commentaries. Break out the diarrhea hose to douse and chastise that pathetic take. No question this is the best thing he did post-‘70s. Melodically euphonious throughout, majestic and moving, brought over the top with those backing vocals and wordless vocal cries at the end. 4. “Madman across the Water” - It wasn’t Davey Johnstone, Caleb Quaye, or Mick Ronson who played that memorizingly ominous, sluicing electric guitar, but Chris Spedding. Davey did play the acoustic, though, if I remember rightly. A cinematic masterpiece of dramatic dynamic contrasts. Love the Daphnis and Chloe string shrieks and Elton’s passionate vocal howls. This, not the two openers, is the touchstone of the masterpiece that is the Madman album. 3. “Rocket Man” - Get lost, Jason. That surging slide guitar is Davey’s true ‘70s claim to fame, even if it does directly musically (not just lyrically) rip off “A Space Oddity.” The backing vocals, the synth on the coda, and Elton reverbing out into the cosmos. Achingly catchy, and it’s deservedly the song (after what must have seemed to be a fluke given the gap, in “Your Song”) that made Elton a star. Wonderfully melds his cinematic and pop sides. And the match of music and lyrics is excellent. 2. “Come Down in Time” - This is indeed the most underrated Elton song. Once again, those lyrics and Elton’s music for them and delivery of them ache with loss and disappointment, and that arrangement! The oboe, the harp, the French horn, the bass, the strings… Nailed home by that jazzy chord toward the end of chorus. This is as monumentally great as anything my beloved Nick Drake ever did. I have no higher praise I can give a singer-songwriter. 1. “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” - Yes, it’s too long, but from the majestic main piano riff onward, it just plain holds forth in grandeur. Dramatically powerful, and Joe is right, this is Nigel’s best drum performance. But the reason it’s the best thing Elton ever did is absolutely that breathtaking coda, with his urgent falsetto leading that angelic choir of Davey-Dee-Nigel backing vocals. Taken even farther over the top by that last fantastic change-up in the harmonies as it fades. I love that coda even more than the long coda of “Hey Jude.” Once again, no higher praise possible.
Honorable mentions: 11. “Island Girl” - One of his most aggressively catchy singles, with a killer chorus, and a good, tough backbeat. Although it was illiterate of Elton to affix a Hawaiian riff onto a song that was lyrically about a Jamaican woman. 12. “Tiny Dancer” - Once again, cinematic! Oh, wait, that describes the whole Madman album, but nooooo, it’s just not as good as the cheese quartet, is it? No, no, don’t mind me, I’m not bitter or anything. Well, actually, yes I am, but it isn’t the first and won’t be the last time following this channel. Love the slide guitar, the romantic lyrics, the string arrangement, the falsetto on the chorus, the backing vocals… Elton at his best is one of the best. 13. “Levon” - This is the most compact, timeless, and glossy song and arrangement from the murky melancholia of Madman. Given how “Tiny Dancer” stretches its legs, this is the most obvious single here. I have no idea what possessed Bernie to write this thing, but Elton spun it into a beautifully timeless piece of gold. 14. “Grey Seal” (the GYBR version, of course) - Rocks like nobody’s business (kick it, Nigel!), serving as an assertion of Elton’s peerage with the Stones, Bowie, and other legit rockers of the time. Wonderfully oblique and psychedelic. Great piano and drum work. And more mellotron! 15. “Skyline Pigeon” (Empty Sky version) - Nothing more than words and melody, and that’s all it needs. So gorgeous, so moving. 16. “Burn Down the Mission” - The dramatically - wait for it - cinematic closer to Tumbleweed. 17. “When I Was Tealby Abbey” - Yes! A great piece of psychedelic pop that reminds me a bit of “Pictures of Matchstick Men,” but it’s clearly better melodically than that. I love Elton’s heliumed vocals here. 18. “I’ve Seen the Saucers” - Yes, this is absolutely the second-best thing on Caribou. A harmonically-awesome chorus with great backing vocals. 19. “Philadelphia Freedom” - Elton’s first wonderful dip into Philly soul, where he crushes it with wonderfully catchy melodies. 20. “Blue Eyes” - Only (some of) you clowns could hear this mature, beautifully-sung jazzy torch song, the most resonant thing he did in his entire career post-Blue Moves aside from “Empty Garden,” and hear a piece of fluff. Shame! More also-rans: 21. “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” 22. “Curtains” 23. “Holiday Inn” 24. “Honky Cat” 25. “All the Nasties” 26. “Harmony” 27. “Sugar on the Floor” 28. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me” 29. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” 30. “Goodbye” 31. “Little Jeannie” 32. “High Flying Bird” 33. “Bad Side of the Moon” 34. “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” 35. “Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock and Roll)” - I know most folks diss it as one of his cheesiest moments, but it does rock, and his double-timed vocals kick it. 36. “Mama Can’t Buy You Love” 37. “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters” 38. “Razorface” 39. “Your Song” 40. “The Ballad of Danny Bailey”
@@TastesLikeMusic I know right? How dare I disagree with the fecal parts of you all’s comments? I had lots I agreed with and a few things I vehemently disagreed with. I loved Jason’s comments about Come Down in Time and Sugar on the Floor, even though I disagreed with some of the things he had to say. Love you too, Joe. Be nice to us patreons.
I agonized over this for days, just had to finally make the list based on my gut. So maybe it's not perfect but this is where I am landing. 10. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 9. Bitter Fingers 8. Roy Rogers 7. We All Fall in Love Sometimes 6. Love Song 5. I’ve Seen the Saucers 4. I’ve Seen that Movie Too 3. Come Down in Time 2. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Great list, great inclusions of underrated gems "Roy Rogers" and "I've See That Movie Too," and we share a number 1, all from the magnificent Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album.
Great stuff. Here's my top 10: 10. Love Song 9. Holiday Inn 8. Burn Down the Mission 7. Susie 6. Tiny Dancer 5. Come Down in Time 4. Your Song 3. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 2. Madman Across the Water 1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding Almost all of my most favorites come from those first 4 albums (s/t through Honky Chateau), but there's only one song that could have topped Madman for #1, and that is the incredible FFaF/LLB masterpiece.
Back when CD players first were a thing, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was one of the first 5 CDs I bought. It remains my favorite Elton John album: 10. Saturday's Alright For Fighting 9. Take Me To The Pilot 8. Tiny Dancer 7. Burn Down The Mission 6. Honky Cat 5. All The Girls Love Alice 4. Rocket Man 3. Your Song 2. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding 1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
1: Ticking 2: Daniel 3: Pinky 4: Sweet Painted Lady 5: Grey Seal 6: I've Seen that Movie Too 7: Border Song 8: All the Young Girls Love Alice 9: Tiny Dancer 10: Someone Saved My Life Tonight
The best week on the channel. An artist that it took me some time to appreciate. The awful mid-period of his career, both the tabloid life and the music made it easy to dismiss him. Slowly found my way into his catalogue and all the early gems, this week has helped me delve even deeper. Side note: I did see him in concert during the awful 80s and assessed him just another 70s burnout desperately trying to cling to relevancy. All my predictions amount to nothing though. My daughter, a huge Elton John fan saw him on his endless farewell tour 40 years after my teenage dismissal of him.
10. Mona Lisa's and Mad Hatters 9. Amoreena 8. Levon 7. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 6. Rocket Man 5. I Guess That's Why... 4. Bennie and the Jets 3. Your Song 2. Tiny Dancer 1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Some of his songs that rarely get a mention are some of my favourites. Tower of Babel Cage the Songbird The Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes Holiday Inn Sweat it Out Razor Face The Ballad of Danny Bailey I've Seen the Saucers Take Me to the Pilot Amy Religion If There's a God in Heaven OK this one does get a mention now and again, Ticking, my favourite Elton song.
10) Western Ford Gateway (Empty Sky) 09) Amoreena (Tumbleweed Connection) 08) I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues (Too Low for Zero) 07) Honky Cat (Honky Château) 06) Your Song (Elton John) 05) Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy) 04) Bennie and the Jets (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road) 03) Tiny Dancer (Madman Across the Water) 02) Rocket Man (Honky Château) 01) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road)
10. Rocket Man 9. My Father's Gun 8. Roy Rogers 7. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting 6. Son of Your Father 5. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 4. Philadelphia Freedom 3. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 2. The Bitch is Back 1. Tiny Dancer (first song I ever purchased)
10. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 9. Amoreena 8. Levon 7. Rocket Man 6. Bennie and the Jets 5. Guess that's why they calll it the Blues 4. Your Song 3. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 2. Tiny Dancer 1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
1. Indian Sunset 2. Burn Down The Mission 3. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 4. Funeral for a friend/love lies bleeding 5. Madman across the water (Mick Ronson on guitar) 6. Levon 7. Susie 8. Tiny Dancer 9. Take Me To The Pilot 10. Amoreena
Tumbleweed was always his best album for me but Elton and Bernie have written so many great songs. I'll just go for one song so it'll have to be off Tumbleweed. Come Down in Time is so gentle and peaceful, almost like a painting. Wonderful moody vocal from Elton and fantastic acoustic instrumentation with strings and oboe. One of Bernie's best lyrics too.
Top ten Elton tunes 1, Capt’ fantastic 2,Tower of Babel 3,funeral for a friend/ Love lies 4,Tiny Dancer 5, Danny Bailey 6, Someone Saved my life 7, Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters 8, Lady Samantha 9, Honkey Cat 10, My Fathers gun.
All good choices. Great variety! For what it's worth, here's my choices 1) Goodbye yellow brick road 2) Curtains 3) Someone saved my life tonight 4) Tonight 5) Roy Rogers 6) Mona Lisas and mad hatters 7) Tiny dancer 8) Rocket man 9) Guess that's why they call it the blues 10) Skyline pigeon I think that Elton is one of the great melody writers of the 20th century!
Just last week i started listening to more Elton John, was thinking that I have been neglecting the music because I heard so much of it on radio growing up, really glad you guys did this one gonna get deeper myself now, groovy
My top ten hit songs by Sir Elton John: 10. Crocodile Rock 9. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 8. Kiss the Bride 7. I'm Still Standing 6. Levon 5. The Bitch is Back 4. Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting 3. Amoreena 2. Tiny Dancer and 1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
My #1 and #2 flipped back and forth the last couple of weeks. I decided that #1 will be the song I had the most history with. 25. Circle of Life 24. Border Song 23. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) 22. Believe 21. Your Song 20. Candle in the Wind 19. Lies 18. Pinball Wizard 17. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me 16. Rocket Man 15. I'm Still Standing - for personal reasons 14. Burning Down the Mission 13. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 12. The Bitch is Back 11. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 10. Amoreena 9. Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny) 8. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 7. Funeral for a Frien/ Love Lies Bleeding 6. Take Me to the Pilot 5. Levon 4. Grey Seal 3. Curtains 2. Ticking 1. Tiny Dancer
good list sweetie, glad to see curtains so high, i will have to relisten to ticking , with you and jason having it so high, i think we had 11 matches , nice job💜💜
01 Sweet Painted Lady 02 Love Song 03 We All Fall In Love Sometimes 04 Daniel 05 Country Comfort 06 Bennie And The Jets 07 I’m Still Standing 08 Crocodile Rock 09 White Lady White Powder 10 Your Song
1. Bennie and the Jets One of the best singles ever released, and a huge #1 hit. The mock-live production, impeccable piano parts and out of this world vocals made this worthy of playing on the radio in 1974 over and over again. 2. Tiny Dancer Graduate-level piano playing, with amazing songwriting. Don’t forget Sneeky Pete helped out on this. 3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds I can’t believe this didn’t get mentioned. One of the best cover songs ever, even besting the Sgt. Pepper version. Some great Davey Johnstone here… 4. Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding Elton plays prog, and does it very well. The band kicks ass on this. 5. Philadelphia Freedom A huge hit single that didn’t get a mention from these guys. Huge Philly-soul horns that sound great, and a feel-good gay-pride anthem put out in 1975 that even straight guys can love. This single ended up as a Captain Fantastic bonus track. 6. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road A stark yet beautiful ballad that I remember hearing on AM radio with my Mom in 1974. Key changes add to the suspense. Holds up to repeated plays. 7. Grey Seal Manic piano and bass parts and sudden stop/start changes that keep it interesting. Great stuff from his best album. 8. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me Rivals GYBR as his best stark ballad. Another Gus Dudgeon triumph, with Carl Wilson helping to make this even better. Among his best lead vocal performances . 9. Honky Cat Irresistable New Orleans flavor here. Sounds like a really good Dr. John song. 10. Levon Gus Dudgeon’s mastery is most apparent here. Outstanding lead vocals, and killer songwriting.
Herculian task, gentlemen. Kudos! Nice list Kramzer: note that "Love Song" is Elton's cover of a Lesley Duncan song. His arrangement pretty much follows her own version (so, it's etherial yet intimate). Love the deep cuts from Jason: "Danny Bailey" has always been my fave from the double. Great balance between the rockers and the ballads, Joe: note that "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" predates Elton's failed marriage by about a decade. However, he was previously rescued from an unhappy engagement. The "someone" was musical colleague Long John Baldry, who inspired Taupin's lyric. Your survey has bee notable for highlighting the incredible rhythm section of the EJ Band. I'd highly recommend Elton's first live album, 17-11-70 featuring just the original trio of Murray, Olsen and John ripping through some pre-hit deep cuts and spirited covers. This was what all the excitement was about, early in Elton's career.
"Tiny Dancer" is my single favorite Elton John song. It's so delicate and lovely, and emotionally registers on the perfect bittersweet note. My other top nine are (in rough chronological order): --"Your Song" --"Country Comfort" --"Burn Down the Mission" --"Levon" --"Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)" (despite its sometimes clunky lyrics) --"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" --"Daniel" --"Candle in the Wind" (the original version) --"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" (remarkable how such an angry song can also be so beautiful) I think Sir Elton tends to be at his best when he's in melancholy mood; he's one of the most exquisite musical interpreters of sadness I know.
@@weirddebbiem1619 For sure, with "Tiny Dancer" placing at number one for us both. I had thought at first to include "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" in my selection, but thought upon reflection that Elton's strongest period was from the close of the Sixties through the mid-Seventies, and all my very favorite songs of his date from those years.
Tiny Dancer is one of the most perfect songs to every grace pop/rock radio. It can be played in so many different formats-top 40, classic rock, album rock, even on a local station that is advertised as "80s to now".
THANK YOU!!! Somebody else finally sees the genius in TICKING..an absolute masterpiece with some of the best and dramatic piano playing I have ever heard. And judging when it was made...pretty prophetic...keep em.coming guys...another GREAT long discography is JOE JACKSON. Give it some thought. I think you guys will be pleasantly surprised
1. Someone saved my life tonight 2. Goodbye yellow brick road 3. The ballad of Danny Bailey 4. Tiny dancer 5. Curtains 6. Rocket man 7. Ticking 8. Salvation 9. Street kids 10. My father's gun
My list: 1. Tiny Dancer 2. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 3. Rocket Man 4. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting 5. Amoreena 6. The Ballad of Danny Bailey 7. We All Fall in Love Sometimes 8. Burn Down The Mission 9. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 10. Holiday Inn Elton's later material simply doesn't measure up. Honourable mentions: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road I guess, although the melody reminds me too much of Arthur's Theme (not Elton's fault), as well as the 1977 Rainbow Rock live version of Idol, which is heart-achingly beautiful.
Great list, but I disagree, Elton and Bernie still wrote excellent songs in the 2000s. "Songs From The West Coast", "Peachtree Road" and "The Captain And The Kid" had at least 3 truly great songs each, the only problem was, that his voice has deteriorated, I think, that's why they get overlooked.
@@ursula3438 I don't think we necessarily disagree, Ursula. I think that Elton's later songs don't "measure up." But this doesn't mean they're bad. I agree that these are solid albums and Elton showed remarkable longevity.
@@JD-jc8gp He was definitely at his peak in the early to mid-Seventies. But artistically that's just fine, as he produced some of the greatest rock classics ever in those years.
Funeral for a Friend was arranged and the synthesizer was played by David Henschel who produced Genesis Trick of the Tail album. It sounds like Genesis. Love it.
There’s a relatively obscure Elton tribute album that came out around 1988ish called Two Rooms:Celebrating the Songs of Bernie Taupin that actually turned me on to some of the songs on your lists. Some of it is cheesy (Wilson Phillips) but Sting’s version of Come Down in Time is the first place I heard that song and made me love it before hearing the original. Other covers of note were Bruce Hornsby Madman Across the Water, Kate Bush Rocket Man, Tina Turner The Bitch is Back. Phil Collins Burn Down the Mission is respectable and George Michael’s version of Tonight is haunting. Recommend if you can find it.
Great episode! Still have my Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds single:) Someone Saved my life tonite, Philly Freedom, Your Song, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Daniel would be tops for me.
Pretty much love all your choices, Rocket Man is my favorite song of all time, I've played the studio version and various live versions on TH-cam thousands of times. Other songs I've played alot over the years that are not the usuals In Neon Tonight It's Me that you Need Planes Princess Believe Shine On Through Elderberry Wine and yes I Am Your Robot. Thanks for the videos guys.
My Top 10 EJ tracks. (Could choose a different 10 tomorrow and the day after that) 10. This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore 9. Tell Me When The Whistle Blows 8. Candle In The Wind 7. Mona Lisa's And Mad Hatter's 6. Your Song 5. Madman Across The Water 4. Ticking 3. Levon 2. Tiny Dancer 1. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
I can't argue with any of your choices. Elton is second only to The Beatles for me. A deep track that I love is My Father's Gun, off of Tumbleweed Connection. The repetition of the chorus at the end is very powerful.
I would love to have 10 deep cuts here to show off just how much I know about Elton John, but that's just not realistic. 1) Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters 2) Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding 3) Curtains 4) Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me 5) I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues 6) Someone Saved My Life Tonight 7) Your Song 8) Tiny Dancer 9) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 10) Grey Seal Honorable Mention: (because I heard it for the first time yesterday) Street Kids, I'm Still Standing, Harmony, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Burn Down The Mission, Rocket Man, Cage The Songbird (heard that one for the first time yesterday, as well)
10. Levon (Madman Across The Water) 9. I've Seen Sources (Caribou) 8. Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters (Honky Château) 7. Blues For Me And My Baby (Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player) 6. Country Comfort (Tumbleweed Conection) 5. Honky Cat (Honky Château) 4. Razor Face (Madman Across The Water) 3. My Father's Gun (Tumbleweed Conection) 2. I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself (Honky Château) 1. Rocket Man (I Thinks It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time) (Honky Château)
10. One more arrow 9. Ballad of the boy in the red shoes 8. The king must die 7. All the girls love Alice 6. Madman across the water (Mick Ronson) 5. Don’t let the sun go down on me 4. I’ve seen that movie too 3. Levon 2. I feel like a bullet 1. Someone saved my life tonight
15. Street Kids 14. Amoreena 13. Nobody Wins 12. Burning Buildings 11. Ego 10. Cage the Songbird 09. Grow some Funk of Your Own 08. Where to Now St. Peter 07. Empty Sky 06. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 05. Indian Sunset 04. Levon 03. Tiny Dancer 02. Ticking 01. Rocket Man
No order, Someone saved my life tonight, Rocket Man, Your Song, Can you feel the Love tonight, Madman across the water, Burn Down the Mission, Funeral For a Friend/Love lies Bleeding, The One, Empty Garden, and Goodbye Yellowbrick Road, honorable mention, I’m Still Standing. Love just about everything he does.
1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 2. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 3. Rocket Man (Honky Chateau, 1972) 4. Your Song (Elton John, 1970) 5. This Song Has No Title (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 6. Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Captain Fantastic, 1975) 7. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (Captain Fantastic, 1975) 8. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Honky Chateau, 1972) 9. Harmony (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973) 10. Where to Now St. Peter? (Tumbleweed Connection, 1970)
10. Daniel 9. Grey Seal 8. Honky Cat 7. Captain Fantastic and the Dirt Brown Cowboy 6. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 5. Roy Rogers 4. Rocket Man 3. Tiny Dancer 2. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Great job on the albums and songs. I haven't been excited about listening to Elton John in many years, but I am very much looking forward to re-listening (and in some cases first time listening) to your top rated albums. Your collective enthusiasm for these songs is infectious.
10. Sixty Years On 9. I Think I’m Gonna Kill Myself 8. Tiny Dancer 7. Roy Rogers 6. I’m Still Standing 5. I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues 4. Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding 3. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 2. I Want Love - I am aware that a song from 2001 is a very unusual choice, especially at the #2 slot, but this song is a masterpiece. I’m convinced that this as a few others from more recent times (Tinderbox, This Train Don’t Stop There Any More, The Bridge) would be stone cold classics if they were recorded in the 70s. 1. Goodbye Yellowbrick Road
I totally agree, "I Want Love" is a masterpiece, "The Bridge" is also brilliant, if only his vocals were better on "The Bridge", maybe more of his fans would have noticed. They sound very rough and reveal his vocal decline quite harshly, but the songwriting is peak Elton/Bernie. "Tinderbox", "My Elusive Drug", "This Train Don't Stop", "Blues Never Fades Away", "Original Sin", "Something About The Way You Look Tonight", "Turn The Lights Out When You Leave" are all very well written songs as well, that period of Elton is definitely underrated.
@@JarrettMehldau I'm so glad that someone agrees. Elton had a very good late career resurgence. Bernie remains a great lyricist. I agree that Elton's vocals are a bit rough as he ages, and "The Bridge" is a good example of that. But "I Want Love" is a brilliant song, brutally honest lyrics, the piano and guitar sound so good, and its sung wonderfully. I actually wanted to place it at #1 but "Goodbye Yellowbrick Road" is just too damn perfect.
Here are my Top 10 BEST and Top 10 WORST BEST: 1. We All Fall in Love Sometimes 2. Your Song 3. Funeral for A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding 4. Come Down in Time 5. I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues 6. Madman Across the Water 7. Candle in the Wind ('1987 Single' Version) 8. Healing Hands 9. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 10. Empty Garden Honorable Mentions: Rocket Man, Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me, Burn Down the Mission, Skyline Pigeon (Piano Version), Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Tonight, Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, The New Fever Waltz WORST: 1. THE ENTIRE "VICTIM OF LOVE" ALBUM 2. I Am Your Robot 3. Go It Alone 4. Tell Me What the Papers Say 5. Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future) 6. Angeline 7. The Scaffold 8. Take Me Back 9. Big Dipper 10. Solar Prestige A Gammon
Nice lists! But I like Dan Dare and have to say that I really enjoy Solar Prestige A Gammon, a song where Elton is clearly just having fun and creating something a little absurd. It doesn't strike me as bad, as opposed to so many of the songs Elton wrote later in his career where you can tell he was trying to squeeze water from a stone.
I kind of like "Thunder in the Night" from the Victim of Love album. I also think "I'm Your Robot" is okay. It didn't make my top 100, but I don't skip the song when I listen to that album (Jump Up!). I agree with your other "worsts," though.
They are the most appealing, for sure. Stevie Wonder hits have been covered a billion times .. then you hear the original and think, oh yeah, that's why.
Your lists are utterly great: Deepest Elton cuts would make a killer double album (new to casual fans). 15. Take Me Back (21@33) 14. Breaking Down Barriers (Fox) 13. The Retreat (B-side) 12. One More Arrow (2L4-0) 11. Breaking Hearts (Breaking Hearts) 10. Hoop of Fire (Leather Jackets) 9. Blue Avenue (Sleeping with the Past) 8. You Gotta Love Someone (To Be C...) 7. Long Way From Happiness (Big Picture) 6. Mansfield (West C) 5. Amneris Letter (Aida) 4. El Dorado (Soundtrack) 3. Ocean's Away (Diving Board) 2. Believe (Made in England) 1. Cold Highway (B-side)
I had two on my list that didn't make any of your lists. Skyline Pigeon (7), High Flying Bird (8) 1 Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 2 Rocket Man 3 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 4 Harmony 5 Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding 6 Your Song 7 Skyline Pigeon 8 High Flying Bird 9 Grey Seal 10 Tiny Dancer
Honorable Mentions (9) Sacrifice Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me Meal Ticket Come Down In Time Country Comfort Roy Rogers Philadelphia Freedom Bitter Fingers Someone Saved My Life Tonight Fun project and like you all said, very tough to make the cut at 10
Once again, Joe saves this video with the inclusion of "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" But no one including the title track to Madman Across the Water is bothersome. Awesome week, though, guys. Tackling Elton is no small feat.
@@ursula3438 And "Levon". I was shocked that it didn't make anyone's list! "Levon" is my second favorite Elton John song just behind "Someone Saved My Life Tonight".
Ten is far too few to include with an artist as primo as EJ, so here is a top 25 list, which was hard enough to pare down to: 1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (Elton shows off his classical training, then song explodes into one of the best rock epics of all-time) 2. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (a pop standard likely to remain in the public consciousness into multiple future generations) 3. Rocket Man (see GYBR) 4. Tiny Dancer (see GYBR) 5. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (EJ and band rocking-out about as hard as any Who song) 6. Amoreena (one of EJ's most beautiful ballads with an extra country flavor) 7. Levon (somewhat obscure yet great lyrical content, incredibly emotional vocal, one of best use of strings ever) 8. Someone Saved My Life Tonight (perhaps EJ's most emotional vocals ever, best drum sound ever on a pop song?) 9. Honky Cat (one of EJ's most fun songs, musicianship/arrangement is absolutely top notch) 10. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (relatable lyrics, masterfully sung with great arrangement/use of horns) 11. Your Song (see GYBR) 12. Philadelphia Freedom (one of the most uplifting positive feeling songs ever -- great homage to the Philly Soul sound) 13. Pinball Wizard (has anyone done a better "Who" cover?/great addition of piano to the guitar-focused original) 14. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (intimate storytelling at its finest with fantastic EJ vocal and addition of mandolin) 15. The B*tch is Back (absolutely killer riff, one of EJ's best rock vocal performances, love the added Stones-like sax) 16. Burn Down the Mission (great gospel influenced tune with wonderful Buckmaster string arrangement) 17. All the Young Girls Love Alice (love the chaotic/menacing tone of this hard rock track--fitting for the dark subject matter) 18. I Feel Like a Bullet (in the Gun of Robert Ford) (relatively obscure, but one of EJ's best ballads, which is saying a lot) 19. Come Down in Time (early classically-influenced EJ masterpiece) 20. Country Comfort (wonderful merging of Taupin's Americana obsession with EJ and company's country/western arrangement) 21. I've Seen that Movie Too (downbeat vengeful song with amazing arrangement) 22. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (shows off Gus Dudgeon's production wizardry to make such a well-known song sound fresh) 23. Friends (one of EJ's simplest arrangements, but fantastic lyrics captivatingly sung by EJ) 24. Step into Christmas (one of the most joyful pop Christmas tunes ever) 25. Border Song (Taupin's most important lyrics ever?)
1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight (EJ's masterpiece, his Tour de Force) 2. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 3. Can you Feel the Love Tonight? 4. Philadelphia Freedom 5. Your Song 6. Border Song 7. Island Girl 8. Don't let the Sun Go Down on Me 9. Candle in the Wind 10. Tiny Dancer
I really like Kramzer's selection of Mellow , Jason's selection of Pinky , and Joe's selection of Harmony , all of which are great songs . This was really tough , as I had about 20 songs that I wanted to have in my top 10 . This is what I finished up with , in order of preference : Rocket Man. ( still my favourite since first hearing it on the radio in 1972 ) Skyline Pigeon ( the piano version from the bonus tracks of the Don't Shoot Me CD ) Levon Pinky Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy Razor Face. ( with killer keyboards ) Talking Old Soldiers. ( far & away my favourite from Tumbleweed Connection ) Blues For Baby & Me Mellow Feel Like a Bullet ( the live version from the To Be Continued Boxset , with just Elton & his piano . Sensational ) Just missing the cut : Madman Across the Water Mona Lisas & Madhatters Grey Seal We All Fall in Love Sometimes Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me Harmony Funeral for a Friend I Need You to Turn To This Song Has No Title Salvation Writing to name a few......
My top10 10. Levon 9. Rocket Man 8. Candle In The Wind 7. Madman Across The Water 6. The Bitch Is Back 5. Tiny Dancer 4. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues 3. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting 2. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 1. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
10. Cold As Christmas (In The Middle Of The Year) 9. Empty Sky 8. Between 17 & 20 7. I’m Gonna Be A Teenage Idol 6. Blues For Baby And Me 5. One Horse Town 4. Chameleon 3. High Flying Bird 2. The Wide-Eyed And Laughing 1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
My top ten changes frequently because there are at least 30 of his 1969-1978 (I love Empty Sky and A Single Man so that’s my primo period of his for me) songs I want to include. If I did it today, it’d have to include Tower Of Babel, Meal Ticket, Street Kids, and I Feel Like A Bullet which weren’t on my last top ten. So many killer songs!
I’m not the biggest Elton John fan, but 3 songs of his I’ve always loved are Amoreena,Elderberry Wine and All the Young Girls love Alice. And funeral for a friend is a banger for sure
Elton had a few women signed to his Rocket label, which made it easy to record a couple of their songs, Love song by Lesley Duncan and Sugar On The Floor by Kiki Dee.
Great lists, I was inspired to have an Elton John day yesterday and listened to quite a few albums I had never heard before like Blue Moves and The Fox which are both so great. In fact I would say that it would take a lot more time to create a top list of songs, because I am sure some of the new ones that I heard will slot in somewhere. I think I have generally underrated Elton in my view, or at least took him for granted because of the overplay of his hits.
Wonderful lists. Smarty comments to follow: Check the last twenty seconds of Zippo’s Turn To Me - from which Harmony was reverse engineered…both Curtains and Someone Saved My Life feature two of best mid-verse drum entrances ever (one sudden, one telegraphed)…the interlude on Grey Seal is the Onomatopoeic seal itself isn’t it? (Flopping around on a rock).
here goes and wow this was hard 26 believe 25 heart in the right place 24 take me to the pilot 23 empty sky 22 gypsy heart 21 screw you [young mans blues] 20 nikita 19 honky cat 18 crocadile rock 17 friends 16 sick city 15 eldeberry wine 14 rocket man 13 burn down the mission 12 i think im going to kill myself[ this was my fungus song] 11 dont let the sun go down on me 10 captain fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy 9 funeral for a friend 8 empty garden 7 step into christmas 🎄🎅 6 gotta get a meal ticket 5 goodbye yellow brick road 4 the bitch is back 3 saturday night is allright for fighting 2 someone saved my life tonight 1 curtains reading the top songs on my list it isnt hard to figure out my favorite album lets do more , for some HMs levon benny and the jets i feel like a bullet in the gun of robert ford philadelphia freedom pinball wizard madness faciest faces i guess why they call it the blues restless the wasteland just like noahs ark when i think about love[ with pm dawn] wow that was some journey with hills and valleys but a memorable trip down memory lane Cheers!!! 🐯🐯
The first video of yours I've watched for a while (together with the albums ranking) as I had no interest or no knowledge of the artists you've been reviewing. As a fan since 72 I think I hold Blue Moves much higher than anyone else seems to and the track Tonight would definitely be my number 1 song!
All three lists are great and included most of my favorites. I especially liked seeing Street Kids mentioned-just a killer song. A few other deep tracks I love are I've Seen the Saucers, High Flying Bird and The Greatest Discovery.
So many 'deep cuts' from Elton John, in fact its those lesser known tracks l love the most. Songs such as Holiday Inn, Grimsby, Amy, Cage the Songbird, No Shoestrings on Louise, The Ballad of Danny Bailey, Tower of Babel, Ticking and The Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes, plenty more of course including a couple you mentioned, I've Seen the Saucers and The Greatest Discovery.
Funeral ⚰️ for a Friend / Love 💗 Lies Bleeding 🩸, Grey Seal 🦭, Empty Garden 🪴, Lucy in the Sky 🌌 with Diamonds 💎 (my favorite cover song 🎧 of all time), All the Girls Love ❤️ Alice, Rocket 🚀 Man, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, All Quiet 🤫 on the Western Front, Mona Lisas and Mad 😠 Hatters, and Philadelphia 🔔 Freedom. Cheers 🍻 from Noo Yawk, ova heyah. Rock 🪨 Out & Prog 🎹 On! Frog 🐸 On, in every lexicon! ~ Chauncey Marwood Oglethorpe III
1. Ticking 2. Levon 3. Funeral For a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding 4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 5. Burn Down The Mission 6. Tiny Dancer 7. Rocket Man 8. Song for Guy 9. Grey Seal 10. Salvation / Cage The Songbird / Candle in the Wind / Tonight / Street Kids / Bullet in the Gun of RF/ Someone Saved My Life Tonight / Daniel
Seems to me that Joe provided a good honest list. I think the other two went into it thinking that they're going to stay away from the hits so that they come across as more enlightened than the rest of us. Joe just simply listed his favorite Elton John songs... which I really appreciate. I was shocked that "Levon" didn't make anyone's list! Anyway... I really enjoyed the video. I'm a long-time fan of your channel. Having said that... Your logo is horrible! 😊
1. Someone Saved my Life Tonight 2. Levon 3. Rocket Man 4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 5. Mona Lisa's and Mad Hatters 6. Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year) 7. Ticking 8. Your Song 9. I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues 10. Song for Guy This is indeed a revolving list for sure.
1. Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding 2. Tiny Dancer 3. Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters 4. Burn Down the Mission 5. High Flying Bird 6. Take Me to the Pilot 7. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 8. Madman Across the Water 9. I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself 10. Candle in the Wind 11. Levon 12. All the Girls Love Alice 13. Salvation 14. My Father's Gun 15. Love Song 16. (Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket 17. Border Song 18. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting 19. The King Must Die 20. Susie (Dramas) 21. Your Song 22. I'm Going to Be a Teenage Idol 23. Texan Love Song 24. Country Comfort 25. Grey Seal 26. Ticking 27. The Cage 28. Curtains 29. Have Mercy On the Criminal 30. Rock Me When He's Gone 31. Elderberry Wine 32. Pinky 33. Rocket Man 34. Come Down in Time 35. I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford) 36. Bad Side of the Moon 37. Hercules 38. Blues For My Baby & Me 39. Where to Now St. Peter? 40. Island Girl 41. Harmony 42. Grow Some Funk on Your Own 43. Amoreena 44. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me 45. Sixty Years On 46. Bennie & the Jets 47. The B*tch is Back 48. Mellow 49. Daniel 50. Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny) 51. Razor Face 52. I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues 53. Slave 54. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 55. Roy Rogers 56. Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy 57. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word 58. Feed Me 59. Honky Cat 60. Tower of Babel 61. Skyline Pigeon 62. Legal Boys 63. Holiday Inn 64. Bitter Fingers 65. Street Kids 66. Lady Samantha 67. I've Seen That Movie Too 68. Out of the Blue 69. The Ballad of Danny Bailey 70. Friends 71. Son of Your Father 72. Return to Paradise 73. Empty Sky 74. Social Disease 75. The Greatest Discovery 76. Tonight 77. Chloe 78. Better Off Dead 79. Princess 80. You're So Static 81. Michelle's Song 82. Spiteful Child 83. Sails 84. Blue Eyes 85. Mansfield 86. Act of War 87. I've Seen the Saucers 88. Between Seventeen and Twenty 89. Rock and Roll Madonna 90. Turn to Me 91. Sweet Painted Lady 92. I Need You to Turn To 93. Screw You (Young Man's Blues) 94. Little Jeannie 95. The Retreat 96. Sacrifice 97. No Shoe Strings on Louise 98. Cage the Songbird 99. Philadelphia Freedom 100. Give Me the Love
1. Ticking 2. Somebody Saved My Life Tonight 3. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding 4. The Bitch is Back 5. Come Down in Time 6. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 7. I’ve Seen That Movie Too 8. Your Song 9. Pinky 10. Crocodile Rock
10. I Don't Want To Go On With You Like That 9. Take Me To The Pilot 8. Slow Rivers 7. Dreamboat 6. Ticking 5. We All Fall In Love Sometimes 4. Empty Garden 3. Club At The End Of The Street 2. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters 1. Gulliver
Great lists! It always pains me when I hear someone say they think Elton is a Greatest Hits act. His catalog is rich and deep and they are missing out on so much wonderful music. Picking just ten was agony. Here are my picks today.
10. Blue for Baby and Me
09. Tiny Dancer
08. Chameleon
07. This Train Don't Stop There Anymore
06. Amoreena
05. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
04. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
03. Madman Across the Water
02. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
01. Daniel
I think Daniel is magnificent. It's one of the most perfect pop songs ever for me. I like it as an album opener too. :) - Shannon
"Daniel" also made my top ten (unranked after my number one choice, "Tiny Dancer"). "Daniel" is such a poignant song of love, and there's a fascinating ambiguity in what kind of love is being expressed here.
Great list, kudos for including underrated gems "Blues For Baby and Me" and "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore."
Chameleon is his most underrated song, great choice! Blue Moves is full of incredible deep cuts, so underrated. Love Blues For Baby And Me as well!
10 - It ain't gonna be easy
09 - Chloe
08 - Latitude
07 - You gotta love someone
06 - Salvation
05 - Amoreena
04 - Indian sunset
03 - Have mercy on the criminal
02 - We all fall in love sometimes
01 - High Flying bird
I love "Chloe"! Thanks for including it. I've been a die hard Elton fan since 1992, thank you guys for this and the EJ album video. Good stuff!
My favorites:
1. Come Down in Time
2. So Sad the Renegade
3. Ego
4. The Greatest Discovery
5. Harmony
6. Sugar on the Floor
7. Flames of Paradise
8. It Ain't Gonna Be Easy
9. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
10. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
11. All the Nasties
12. Snowed in at Wheeler Street
13. We All Fall in Love Sometime/Curtains
14. I Need You to Turn To
15. Blues for Baby and Me
16. Carla/Etude - Fanfare - Chloe
17. I Stop and I Breathe
18. Idol
19. Blue Avenue
20. Paris
I absolutely love the love for Ticking. Why do people not talk about this song.
Absolutely! Was blown away (ehh, poor choice of words!) when I first heard it after buying Caribou new. I've never understood why it doesn't get massive love
1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
3. Rocket Man
4. Harmony
5. Pinky
6. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
7. Ego
8. Philadelphia Freedom
9. Your Song
10. Original Sin
Original Sin is a great pick.
Congratulations gentlemen; so great to have the three of you back covering an artist you all actually enjoy and respect. As always, I appreciate the way you review and uncover the distinct elements of song writing, band recording, production/sound, and Elton’s voice through the years. All distinct, important components, and when it all comes together, wow! Great job on both the huge album catalog, and again on the songs. Particularly appreciate Jason’s inclusion of Chloe, which I love (and named my cat after) and the respect for Caribou…but all choices were worthy. Great fun. Cheers, JPE
1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
2. Ticking
3. Tiny Dancer
4. Candle In The Wind
5. Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters
6. Madman Across The Water
7. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
8. Your Song
9. I Want Love
10. Amoreena
My Top 10 Elton John .. # 10 Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me # 9 Crocodile Rock # 8 Bennie & The Jets # 7 Funeral For A Friend # 6 Saturday Nights Alright .. # 5 Your Song # 4 I'm Still Standing # 3 Someone Saved My Life Tonight # 2 Tiny Dancer & # 1 Love Song ✌️
Tiny dancer
1. Levon
2. My Father’s Gun
3. Mellow
4. Chameleon
5. Chloe
6. Blues for My Baby and Me
7. Tell Me When the Whistle Blows
8. Ballad of a Well-Known Gun
9. High Flying Bird
10. (Tie) Razor Face & Western Ford Gateway
🤠 It was the love of playing pinball as a kid that connected me to Elton John. The movie clip of him and The Who in Tommy on TH-cam, where he is playing Buckaroo, one of my favorite tables, is glam-friggin-tastic. The video for Don't go Breaking My Heart was broadcast the weekend before my first day at elementary school, on which I fell in love with a girl with a Kiki Dee haircut. So many of his non-lp singles are essential, like when Philadelphia Freedom dropped In 1976.
Next stop...KISS! ❤
Elton's version of Pinball Wizard is sublime. It is the definitive version of the song. Just wow.
@@JD-jc8gp 🤠 Sublime is the word for that track. The movie clip is such a blast. What a ham. 🐷♥️
Did a top 50 :)
1. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Honky Chateau, 1972)
2. Amoreena (Tumbleweed Connection, 1970)
3. Levon (Madman Across the Water, 1971)
4. Take Me to the Pilot (Elton John, 1970)
5. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, 1975)
6. Daniel (Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only The Piano Player, 1973)
7. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
8. Salvation (Honky Chateau, 1972)
9. Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting) (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
10. Ticking (Caribou, 1974) (SET)
11. Madman Across the Water(Madman Across the Water, 1971)
12. Texan Love Song (Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player, 1973)
13. Hercules (Honky Chateau, 1972)
14. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word (Blue Moves, 1976)
15. This Song Has No Title (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
16. The Bitch Is Back (Caribou, 1974)
17. Rocketman (Honky Chateau, 1972)
18. I Feel Like A Bullet (In The Gun of Robert Ford) (Rock of the Westies, 1975)
19. Honky Cat (Honky Chateau, 1972)
20. Country Comfort (Tumbleweed Connection, 1970)
21. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
22. Have Mercy on the Criminal (Don’t Shoot Me, I’m Only the Piano Player, 1973)
23. Slave (Honky Chateau, 1972)
24. I’ve Seen That Movie Too (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
25. Grey Seal (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
26. Madness (A Single Man, 1978)
27. Made In England (Made In England, 1995)
28. I Think I’m Gonna Kill Myself (Honky Chateau, 1972)
29. I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues (Too Low For Zero, 1983)
30. Mellow (Honky Chateau, 1972)
31. Curtains (Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, 1975)
32. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me (Caribou, 1974)
33. Dan Dare (Rock of the Westies, 1975)
34. Philadelphia Freedom (bonus track)
35. Susie (Dramas) (Honky Chateau, 1972)
36. Candle in The Wind (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
37. Razor Face (Madman Across the Water, 1971)
38. The Balled of Danny Bailey (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
39. Empty Garden (Jump Up, 1982)
40. Island Girl (Rock of the Westies, 1975)
41. Tiny Dancer (Madman Across the Water, 1973)
42. Where to Now, St Peter? (Tumbleweed Connection, 1970)
43. Amy (Honky Chateau, 1972)
44. Indian Sunset (Madman Across the Water, 1971)
45. Medley Yell Help/Wednesday Night/Ugly (Rock of the Westies, 1975
46. Your Song (Elton John, 1970)
47. Bennie and the Jets (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973
48. Tower of Babel (Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, 1975)
49. Your Sister Can’t Twist (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
50. L’il Frigerater (Breaking Hearts, 1984)
I just want to make sure I’m not missing something…Someone Saved My Life Tonight isn’t in your top 50 Elton John songs?
@@josejones the song is crunchy sorry
@@claytonkelley4921 Crunchy?
10 I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
9 Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
8 Tiny Dancer
7 Someone Saved My Life Tonite
6 Elderberry Wine
5 Don't Go Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee)
4 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
3 Your Song
2 Rocket Man
NUMBER ONE: Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
I might not be familiar with many of Elton’s albums but his incredible catalogue of singles is right up there among the all time greats:
10. Sacrifice
9. I’m Still Standing
8. Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting
7. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
6. Rocket Man
5. Tiny Dancer
4. I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues
3. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me
1. Your Song
His album tracks aren't that shabby either! In fact a lot of them are as good or better than his singles.
@@keithjones7390 The guys clearly agree with you, Keith. The album rankings are particularly helpful with artists like Elton, who have released a large number of albums over a long career - it certainly helps to highlight the ones to check out and those to avoid.
Tremendous variety on these lists, but I guess that's not too shocking considering how many great songs Elton has.
10. “Blues for Baby and Me” - In the final analysis, there was no way I could leave this masterpiece album cut out of the top ten. Elton is at his best when he and Bernie tap into something cinematic, and this is that. It has an ache that harks back to the best material on the first three albums, helped greatly by Buckmaster’s arrangement and Davey’s inspired electric sitar.
9. “Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting” - A fantastically ballsy rocker (weaker live), with Johnstone’s best guitar work in the original period (no cheese in this performance!), Elton’s bracingly bratty reverbed screams in the coda, and plenty of piano brimstone in the post-coda. It’s an insult to all taste to suggest that the glitzy, Vegas-y “Bitch is Back” can hold a candle to this. Been listening to this for 48 freaking years and it’s never grown old.
8. “Amoreena” - The second-best song on Tumbleweed, with great swag and character. A huge influence on modern reads on Americana.
7. “Pinky” - Elton breaks up the cheese-fest of side one of Caribou with this perfectly-sheened ballad. Ear candy. Silly that it wasn’t a single.
6. “Teacher I Need You” - The second-most underrated Elton song, with those great piano rolls, the fantastic “whoa-oh-oh” and “Teacher-I, teacher-I” vocal hooks, a kick-ass drumming performance, and mellotron. Mellotron makes everything better. This song strikes me of having a sleek lightness that prefigures new wave in the best way.
5. “Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)” - Yeah, I heard those douchey disses of this song in two of you all’s commentaries. Break out the diarrhea hose to douse and chastise that pathetic take. No question this is the best thing he did post-‘70s. Melodically euphonious throughout, majestic and moving, brought over the top with those backing vocals and wordless vocal cries at the end.
4. “Madman across the Water” - It wasn’t Davey Johnstone, Caleb Quaye, or Mick Ronson who played that memorizingly ominous, sluicing electric guitar, but Chris Spedding. Davey did play the acoustic, though, if I remember rightly. A cinematic masterpiece of dramatic dynamic contrasts. Love the Daphnis and Chloe string shrieks and Elton’s passionate vocal howls. This, not the two openers, is the touchstone of the masterpiece that is the Madman album.
3. “Rocket Man” - Get lost, Jason. That surging slide guitar is Davey’s true ‘70s claim to fame, even if it does directly musically (not just lyrically) rip off “A Space Oddity.” The backing vocals, the synth on the coda, and Elton reverbing out into the cosmos. Achingly catchy, and it’s deservedly the song (after what must have seemed to be a fluke given the gap, in “Your Song”) that made Elton a star. Wonderfully melds his cinematic and pop sides. And the match of music and lyrics is excellent.
2. “Come Down in Time” - This is indeed the most underrated Elton song. Once again, those lyrics and Elton’s music for them and delivery of them ache with loss and disappointment, and that arrangement! The oboe, the harp, the French horn, the bass, the strings… Nailed home by that jazzy chord toward the end of chorus. This is as monumentally great as anything my beloved Nick Drake ever did. I have no higher praise I can give a singer-songwriter.
1. “Someone Saved My Life Tonight” - Yes, it’s too long, but from the majestic main piano riff onward, it just plain holds forth in grandeur. Dramatically powerful, and Joe is right, this is Nigel’s best drum performance. But the reason it’s the best thing Elton ever did is absolutely that breathtaking coda, with his urgent falsetto leading that angelic choir of Davey-Dee-Nigel backing vocals. Taken even farther over the top by that last fantastic change-up in the harmonies as it fades. I love that coda even more than the long coda of “Hey Jude.” Once again, no higher praise possible.
Honorable mentions:
11. “Island Girl” - One of his most aggressively catchy singles, with a killer chorus, and a good, tough backbeat. Although it was illiterate of Elton to affix a Hawaiian riff onto a song that was lyrically about a Jamaican woman.
12. “Tiny Dancer” - Once again, cinematic! Oh, wait, that describes the whole Madman album, but nooooo, it’s just not as good as the cheese quartet, is it? No, no, don’t mind me, I’m not bitter or anything. Well, actually, yes I am, but it isn’t the first and won’t be the last time following this channel. Love the slide guitar, the romantic lyrics, the string arrangement, the falsetto on the chorus, the backing vocals… Elton at his best is one of the best.
13. “Levon” - This is the most compact, timeless, and glossy song and arrangement from the murky melancholia of Madman. Given how “Tiny Dancer” stretches its legs, this is the most obvious single here. I have no idea what possessed Bernie to write this thing, but Elton spun it into a beautifully timeless piece of gold.
14. “Grey Seal” (the GYBR version, of course) - Rocks like nobody’s business (kick it, Nigel!), serving as an assertion of Elton’s peerage with the Stones, Bowie, and other legit rockers of the time. Wonderfully oblique and psychedelic. Great piano and drum work. And more mellotron!
15. “Skyline Pigeon” (Empty Sky version) - Nothing more than words and melody, and that’s all it needs. So gorgeous, so moving.
16. “Burn Down the Mission” - The dramatically - wait for it - cinematic closer to Tumbleweed.
17. “When I Was Tealby Abbey” - Yes! A great piece of psychedelic pop that reminds me a bit of “Pictures of Matchstick Men,” but it’s clearly better melodically than that. I love Elton’s heliumed vocals here.
18. “I’ve Seen the Saucers” - Yes, this is absolutely the second-best thing on Caribou. A harmonically-awesome chorus with great backing vocals.
19. “Philadelphia Freedom” - Elton’s first wonderful dip into Philly soul, where he crushes it with wonderfully catchy melodies.
20. “Blue Eyes” - Only (some of) you clowns could hear this mature, beautifully-sung jazzy torch song, the most resonant thing he did in his entire career post-Blue Moves aside from “Empty Garden,” and hear a piece of fluff. Shame!
More also-rans:
21. “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding”
22. “Curtains”
23. “Holiday Inn”
24. “Honky Cat”
25. “All the Nasties”
26. “Harmony”
27. “Sugar on the Floor”
28. “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me”
29. “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road”
30. “Goodbye”
31. “Little Jeannie”
32. “High Flying Bird”
33. “Bad Side of the Moon”
34. “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word”
35. “Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock and Roll)” - I know most folks diss it as one of his cheesiest moments, but it does rock, and his double-timed vocals kick it.
36. “Mama Can’t Buy You Love”
37. “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”
38. “Razorface”
39. “Your Song”
40. “The Ballad of Danny Bailey”
Pretty good list. Your number 1 is right, unfortunately your stupid comments and self-righteous attitude ruin the overall experience. C+
@@TastesLikeMusic I know right? How dare I disagree with the fecal parts of you all’s comments? I had lots I agreed with and a few things I vehemently disagreed with. I loved Jason’s comments about Come Down in Time and Sugar on the Floor, even though I disagreed with some of the things he had to say. Love you too, Joe. Be nice to us patreons.
Jason, I had Ticking as my #2. Amazing song.
I agonized over this for days, just had to finally make the list based on my gut. So maybe it's not perfect but this is where I am landing.
10. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
9. Bitter Fingers
8. Roy Rogers
7. We All Fall in Love Sometimes
6. Love Song
5. I’ve Seen the Saucers
4. I’ve Seen that Movie Too
3. Come Down in Time
2. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
great list my deep track comrade🐯🐯
@@bengalgangster Yours too, lots of great picks!
Great list, great inclusions of underrated gems "Roy Rogers" and "I've See That Movie Too," and we share a number 1, all from the magnificent Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album.
@@robharrison8139 thanks, a great album indeed 🙂. There was never any doubt what my #1 was.
Great stuff. Here's my top 10:
10. Love Song
9. Holiday Inn
8. Burn Down the Mission
7. Susie
6. Tiny Dancer
5. Come Down in Time
4. Your Song
3. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
2. Madman Across the Water
1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Almost all of my most favorites come from those first 4 albums (s/t through Honky Chateau), but there's only one song that could have topped Madman for #1, and that is the incredible FFaF/LLB masterpiece.
Back when CD players first were a thing, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was one of the first 5 CDs I bought. It remains my favorite Elton John album:
10. Saturday's Alright For Fighting
9. Take Me To The Pilot
8. Tiny Dancer
7. Burn Down The Mission
6. Honky Cat
5. All The Girls Love Alice
4. Rocket Man
3. Your Song
2. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Thank you for including Street kids. My fave from ROTW's along with I feel like a bullet, a song no one talks about.
1: Ticking
2: Daniel
3: Pinky
4: Sweet Painted Lady
5: Grey Seal
6: I've Seen that Movie Too
7: Border Song
8: All the Young Girls Love Alice
9: Tiny Dancer
10: Someone Saved My Life Tonight
It's so good to see Ticking getting a little love. I had this song as my #2. Amazing song.
The best week on the channel.
An artist that it took me some time to appreciate. The awful mid-period of his career, both the tabloid life and the music made it easy to dismiss him.
Slowly found my way into his catalogue and all the early gems, this week has helped me delve even deeper.
Side note: I did see him in concert during the awful 80s and assessed him just another 70s burnout desperately trying to cling to relevancy. All my predictions amount to nothing though. My daughter, a huge Elton John fan saw him on his endless farewell tour 40 years after my teenage dismissal of him.
10. Mona Lisa's and Mad Hatters
9. Amoreena
8. Levon
7. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
6. Rocket Man
5. I Guess That's Why...
4. Bennie and the Jets
3. Your Song
2. Tiny Dancer
1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Some of his songs that rarely get a mention are some of my favourites.
Tower of Babel
Cage the Songbird
The Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes
Holiday Inn
Sweat it Out
Razor Face
The Ballad of Danny Bailey
I've Seen the Saucers
Take Me to the Pilot
Amy
Religion
If There's a God in Heaven
OK this one does get a mention now and again, Ticking, my favourite Elton song.
Come Down in Time is amazing! Happy to see it show up here.
10) Western Ford Gateway (Empty Sky)
09) Amoreena (Tumbleweed Connection)
08) I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues (Too Low for Zero)
07) Honky Cat (Honky Château)
06) Your Song (Elton John)
05) Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy)
04) Bennie and the Jets (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road)
03) Tiny Dancer (Madman Across the Water)
02) Rocket Man (Honky Château)
01) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road)
10. Rocket Man
9. My Father's Gun
8. Roy Rogers
7. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
6. Son of Your Father
5. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
4. Philadelphia Freedom
3. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2. The Bitch is Back
1. Tiny Dancer (first song I ever purchased)
10. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
9. Amoreena
8. Levon
7. Rocket Man
6. Bennie and the Jets
5. Guess that's why they calll it the Blues
4. Your Song
3. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2. Tiny Dancer
1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
1. Indian Sunset
2. Burn Down The Mission
3. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
4. Funeral for a friend/love lies bleeding
5. Madman across the water (Mick Ronson on guitar)
6. Levon
7. Susie
8. Tiny Dancer
9. Take Me To The Pilot
10. Amoreena
Indian Sunset. Nice. That whole side 2 of Madman is underrated, great album throughout.
Tumbleweed was always his best album for me but Elton and Bernie have written so many great songs. I'll just go for one song so it'll have to be off Tumbleweed. Come Down in Time is so gentle and peaceful, almost like a painting. Wonderful moody vocal from Elton and fantastic acoustic instrumentation with strings and oboe. One of Bernie's best lyrics too.
Top ten Elton tunes
1, Capt’ fantastic
2,Tower of Babel
3,funeral for a friend/ Love lies
4,Tiny Dancer
5, Danny Bailey
6, Someone Saved my life
7, Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters
8, Lady Samantha
9, Honkey Cat
10, My Fathers gun.
All good choices. Great variety!
For what it's worth, here's my choices
1) Goodbye yellow brick road
2) Curtains
3) Someone saved my life tonight
4) Tonight
5) Roy Rogers
6) Mona Lisas and mad hatters
7) Tiny dancer
8) Rocket man
9) Guess that's why they call it the blues
10) Skyline pigeon
I think that Elton is one of the great melody writers of the 20th century!
Massive thanks Mr Jason....never heard Chloe before, fantastic track!
Just last week i started listening to more Elton John, was thinking that I have been neglecting the music because I heard so much of it on radio growing up, really glad you guys did this one gonna get deeper myself now, groovy
My top ten hit songs by Sir Elton John:
10. Crocodile Rock
9. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
8. Kiss the Bride
7. I'm Still Standing
6. Levon
5. The Bitch is Back
4. Saturday Night's All Right for Fighting
3. Amoreena
2. Tiny Dancer
and
1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Boy, such a hard choice. What a amazing back catalogue of songs.
Fan of the show. I have a show too. Just getting started though. Request Little Feat for albums and songs.
Great lists and I definitely like that there are songs that not all hits, thanks, I’m a huge Elton John fan and I’m so glad I have seen him in concert
My #1 and #2 flipped back and forth the last couple of weeks. I decided that #1 will be the song I had the most history with.
25. Circle of Life
24. Border Song
23. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
22. Believe
21. Your Song
20. Candle in the Wind
19. Lies
18. Pinball Wizard
17. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
16. Rocket Man
15. I'm Still Standing - for personal reasons
14. Burning Down the Mission
13. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
12. The Bitch is Back
11. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
10. Amoreena
9. Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny)
8. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
7. Funeral for a Frien/ Love Lies Bleeding
6. Take Me to the Pilot
5. Levon
4. Grey Seal
3. Curtains
2. Ticking
1. Tiny Dancer
good list sweetie, glad to see curtains so high, i will have to relisten to ticking , with you and jason having it so high, i think we had 11 matches , nice job💜💜
@@bengalgangsterThanks, bengal! Love Curtains. I was so happy to see Ticking on Jason's list. 💜💜🎶🎶
"Tiny Dancer" was my number one selection as well (out of ten songs).
@@barrymoore4470 It's definitely an amazing song.
01 Sweet Painted Lady
02 Love Song
03 We All Fall In Love Sometimes
04 Daniel
05 Country Comfort
06 Bennie And The Jets
07 I’m Still Standing
08 Crocodile Rock
09 White Lady White Powder
10 Your Song
1. Bennie and the Jets
One of the best singles ever released, and a huge #1 hit. The mock-live production, impeccable piano parts and out of this world vocals made this worthy of playing on the radio in 1974 over and over again.
2. Tiny Dancer
Graduate-level piano playing, with amazing songwriting. Don’t forget Sneeky Pete helped out on this.
3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
I can’t believe this didn’t get mentioned. One of the best cover songs ever, even besting the Sgt. Pepper version. Some great Davey Johnstone here…
4. Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Elton plays prog, and does it very well. The band kicks ass on this.
5. Philadelphia Freedom
A huge hit single that didn’t get a mention from these guys. Huge Philly-soul horns that sound great, and a feel-good gay-pride anthem put out in 1975 that even straight guys can love. This single ended up as a Captain Fantastic bonus track.
6. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
A stark yet beautiful ballad that I remember hearing on AM radio with my Mom in 1974. Key changes add to the suspense. Holds up to repeated plays.
7. Grey Seal
Manic piano and bass parts and sudden stop/start changes that keep it interesting. Great stuff from his best album.
8. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down On Me
Rivals GYBR as his best stark ballad. Another Gus Dudgeon triumph, with Carl Wilson helping to make this even better. Among his best lead vocal performances
.
9. Honky Cat
Irresistable New Orleans flavor here. Sounds like a really good Dr. John song.
10. Levon
Gus Dudgeon’s mastery is most apparent here. Outstanding lead vocals, and killer songwriting.
Herculian task, gentlemen. Kudos!
Nice list Kramzer: note that "Love Song" is Elton's cover of a Lesley Duncan song. His arrangement pretty much follows her own version (so, it's etherial yet intimate).
Love the deep cuts from Jason: "Danny Bailey" has always been my fave from the double.
Great balance between the rockers and the ballads, Joe: note that "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" predates Elton's failed marriage by about a decade. However, he was previously rescued from an unhappy engagement. The "someone" was musical colleague Long John Baldry, who inspired Taupin's lyric.
Your survey has bee notable for highlighting the incredible rhythm section of the EJ Band. I'd highly recommend Elton's first live album, 17-11-70 featuring just the original trio of Murray, Olsen and John ripping through some pre-hit deep cuts and spirited covers. This was what all the excitement was about, early in Elton's career.
"Tiny Dancer" is my single favorite Elton John song. It's so delicate and lovely, and emotionally registers on the perfect bittersweet note.
My other top nine are (in rough chronological order):
--"Your Song"
--"Country Comfort"
--"Burn Down the Mission"
--"Levon"
--"Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)" (despite its sometimes clunky lyrics)
--"Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters"
--"Daniel"
--"Candle in the Wind" (the original version)
--"Someone Saved My Life Tonight" (remarkable how such an angry song can also be so beautiful)
I think Sir Elton tends to be at his best when he's in melancholy mood; he's one of the most exquisite musical interpreters of sadness I know.
Barry, we have a lot of similarities with our lists.
@@weirddebbiem1619 For sure, with "Tiny Dancer" placing at number one for us both. I had thought at first to include "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)" in my selection, but thought upon reflection that Elton's strongest period was from the close of the Sixties through the mid-Seventies, and all my very favorite songs of his date from those years.
Tiny Dancer is one of the most perfect songs to every grace pop/rock radio. It can be played in so many different formats-top 40, classic rock, album rock, even on a local station that is advertised as "80s to now".
THANK YOU!!! Somebody else finally sees the genius in TICKING..an absolute masterpiece with some of the best and dramatic piano playing I have ever heard. And judging when it was made...pretty prophetic...keep em.coming guys...another GREAT long discography is JOE JACKSON. Give it some thought. I think you guys will be pleasantly surprised
1. Someone saved my life tonight
2. Goodbye yellow brick road
3. The ballad of Danny Bailey
4. Tiny dancer
5. Curtains
6. Rocket man
7. Ticking
8. Salvation
9. Street kids
10. My father's gun
My list:
1. Tiny Dancer
2. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
3. Rocket Man
4. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
5. Amoreena
6. The Ballad of Danny Bailey
7. We All Fall in Love Sometimes
8. Burn Down The Mission
9. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
10. Holiday Inn
Elton's later material simply doesn't measure up.
Honourable mentions: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road I guess, although the melody reminds me too much of Arthur's Theme (not Elton's fault), as well as the 1977 Rainbow Rock live version of Idol, which is heart-achingly beautiful.
Great list, but I disagree, Elton and Bernie still wrote excellent songs in the 2000s. "Songs From The West Coast", "Peachtree Road" and "The Captain And The Kid" had at least 3 truly great songs each, the only problem was, that his voice has deteriorated, I think, that's why they get overlooked.
@@ursula3438 I don't think we necessarily disagree, Ursula. I think that Elton's later songs don't "measure up." But this doesn't mean they're bad. I agree that these are solid albums and Elton showed remarkable longevity.
@@JD-jc8gp He was definitely at his peak in the early to mid-Seventies. But artistically that's just fine, as he produced some of the greatest rock classics ever in those years.
Nice lists guys, he’s got many deep tracks as well!
Funeral for a Friend was arranged and the synthesizer was played by David Henschel who produced Genesis Trick of the Tail album. It sounds like Genesis. Love it.
This was definitely Elton's nod to prog rock.
3 solid lists of tracks. Great job Joe. We have the same numbers 1 and 2.
There’s a relatively obscure Elton tribute album that came out around 1988ish called Two Rooms:Celebrating the Songs of Bernie Taupin that actually turned me on to some of the songs on your lists. Some of it is cheesy (Wilson Phillips) but Sting’s version of Come Down in Time is the first place I heard that song and made me love it before hearing the original. Other covers of note were Bruce Hornsby Madman Across the Water, Kate Bush Rocket Man, Tina Turner The Bitch is Back. Phil Collins Burn Down the Mission is respectable and George Michael’s version of Tonight is haunting. Recommend if you can find it.
My dad had that CD -Jason
I enjoyed hearing everyone give their list and was very impressed with the k 'n knowledge you have of eltons catalogue. Impressive.
Great episode! Still have my Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds single:) Someone Saved my life tonite, Philly Freedom, Your Song, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Daniel would be tops for me.
Pretty much love all your choices, Rocket Man is my favorite song of all time, I've played the studio version and various live versions on TH-cam thousands of times. Other songs I've played alot over the years that are not the usuals
In Neon
Tonight
It's Me that you Need
Planes
Princess
Believe
Shine On Through
Elderberry Wine
and yes I Am Your Robot.
Thanks for the videos guys.
Elton has soooo many good songs!
My Top 10 EJ tracks. (Could choose a different 10 tomorrow and the day after that)
10. This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore
9. Tell Me When The Whistle Blows
8. Candle In The Wind
7. Mona Lisa's And Mad Hatter's
6. Your Song
5. Madman Across The Water
4. Ticking
3. Levon
2. Tiny Dancer
1. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Interesting lists. No surprise that Joe's list most closely matched my faves. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is without a doubt my #1 Elton John song.
I can't argue with any of your choices. Elton is second only to The Beatles for me. A deep track that I love is My Father's Gun, off of Tumbleweed Connection. The repetition of the chorus at the end is very powerful.
I would love to have 10 deep cuts here to show off just how much I know about Elton John, but that's just not realistic.
1) Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters
2) Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding
3) Curtains
4) Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
5) I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
6) Someone Saved My Life Tonight
7) Your Song
8) Tiny Dancer
9) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
10) Grey Seal
Honorable Mention: (because I heard it for the first time yesterday) Street Kids, I'm Still Standing, Harmony, Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Burn Down The Mission, Rocket Man, Cage The Songbird (heard that one for the first time yesterday, as well)
10. Levon (Madman Across The Water)
9. I've Seen Sources (Caribou)
8. Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters (Honky Château)
7. Blues For Me And My Baby (Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player)
6. Country Comfort (Tumbleweed Conection)
5. Honky Cat (Honky Château)
4. Razor Face (Madman Across The Water)
3. My Father's Gun (Tumbleweed Conection)
2. I Think I'm Gonna Kill Myself (Honky Château)
1. Rocket Man (I Thinks It's Going To Be A Long, Long Time) (Honky Château)
Someone else who loves "My Father's Gun." Sweet!
10. One more arrow
9. Ballad of the boy in the red shoes
8. The king must die
7. All the girls love Alice
6. Madman across the water (Mick Ronson)
5. Don’t let the sun go down on me
4. I’ve seen that movie too
3. Levon
2. I feel like a bullet
1. Someone saved my life tonight
Had to revisit this; Elton = Piano, Ticking, Seen that movie too, Harmony, Curtains, Don’t let the Sun Go Down, one of best Love ❤️songs EVER
15. Street Kids
14. Amoreena
13. Nobody Wins
12. Burning Buildings
11. Ego
10. Cage the Songbird
09. Grow some Funk of Your Own
08. Where to Now St. Peter
07. Empty Sky
06. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
05. Indian Sunset
04. Levon
03. Tiny Dancer
02. Ticking
01. Rocket Man
No order, Someone saved my life tonight, Rocket Man, Your Song, Can you feel the Love tonight, Madman across the water, Burn Down the Mission, Funeral For a Friend/Love lies Bleeding, The One, Empty Garden, and Goodbye Yellowbrick Road, honorable mention, I’m Still Standing. Love just about everything he does.
1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
2. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
3. Rocket Man (Honky Chateau, 1972)
4. Your Song (Elton John, 1970)
5. This Song Has No Title (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
6. Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Captain Fantastic, 1975)
7. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (Captain Fantastic, 1975)
8. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (Honky Chateau, 1972)
9. Harmony (Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, 1973)
10. Where to Now St. Peter? (Tumbleweed Connection, 1970)
10. Daniel
9. Grey Seal
8. Honky Cat
7. Captain Fantastic and the Dirt Brown Cowboy
6. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
5. Roy Rogers
4. Rocket Man
3. Tiny Dancer
2. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
1. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Great job on the albums and songs. I haven't been excited about listening to Elton John in many years, but I am very much looking forward to re-listening (and in some cases first time listening) to your top rated albums. Your collective enthusiasm for these songs is infectious.
10. Sixty Years On
9. I Think I’m Gonna Kill Myself
8. Tiny Dancer
7. Roy Rogers
6. I’m Still Standing
5. I Guess That’s Why They Call it the Blues
4. Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
3. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
2. I Want Love - I am aware that a song from 2001 is a very unusual choice, especially at the #2 slot, but this song is a masterpiece. I’m convinced that this as a few others from more recent times (Tinderbox, This Train Don’t Stop There Any More, The Bridge) would be stone cold classics if they were recorded in the 70s.
1. Goodbye Yellowbrick Road
I totally agree, "I Want Love" is a masterpiece, "The Bridge" is also brilliant, if only his vocals were better on "The Bridge", maybe more of his fans would have noticed. They sound very rough and reveal his vocal decline quite harshly, but the songwriting is peak Elton/Bernie. "Tinderbox", "My Elusive Drug", "This Train Don't Stop", "Blues Never Fades Away", "Original Sin", "Something About The Way You Look Tonight", "Turn The Lights Out When You Leave" are all very well written songs as well, that period of Elton is definitely underrated.
@@JarrettMehldau I'm so glad that someone agrees. Elton had a very good late career resurgence. Bernie remains a great lyricist. I agree that Elton's vocals are a bit rough as he ages, and "The Bridge" is a good example of that. But "I Want Love" is a brilliant song, brutally honest lyrics, the piano and guitar sound so good, and its sung wonderfully. I actually wanted to place it at #1 but "Goodbye Yellowbrick Road" is just too damn perfect.
I forgot about I want love. Very heartfelt sing.
@@robharrison8139Agree, I want love is his best song of the last thirty years.
Question for Kram: Which version of Candle in the Wind do you prefer? The original or England’s Rose?
Empty Garden is an epic ...IMHO
Here are my Top 10 BEST and Top 10 WORST
BEST:
1. We All Fall in Love Sometimes
2. Your Song
3. Funeral for A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding
4. Come Down in Time
5. I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
6. Madman Across the Water
7. Candle in the Wind ('1987 Single' Version)
8. Healing Hands
9. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
10. Empty Garden
Honorable Mentions: Rocket Man, Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me, Burn Down the Mission, Skyline Pigeon (Piano Version), Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, Tonight, Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, The New Fever Waltz
WORST:
1. THE ENTIRE "VICTIM OF LOVE" ALBUM
2. I Am Your Robot
3. Go It Alone
4. Tell Me What the Papers Say
5. Dan Dare (Pilot of the Future)
6. Angeline
7. The Scaffold
8. Take Me Back
9. Big Dipper
10. Solar Prestige A Gammon
Nice lists! But I like Dan Dare and have to say that I really enjoy Solar Prestige A Gammon, a song where Elton is clearly just having fun and creating something a little absurd. It doesn't strike me as bad, as opposed to so many of the songs Elton wrote later in his career where you can tell he was trying to squeeze water from a stone.
I kind of like "Thunder in the Night" from the Victim of Love album. I also think "I'm Your Robot" is okay. It didn't make my top 100, but I don't skip the song when I listen to that album (Jump Up!).
I agree with your other "worsts," though.
Absolutely agree with your number 2 and 3. Would add Poor Cow.
I think there are a bunch of songs on the Reg Strikes Back album that would qualify for a worst list.
Sometimes there's a reason why hit songs are hit songs. They're the best.
Meh. Six of my top ten were album cuts.
They are the most appealing, for sure. Stevie Wonder hits have been covered a billion times .. then you hear the original and think, oh yeah, that's why.
In the case of Elton I totally disagree. He's got so many tremendous deep cuts, but you're correct... The hits are great too.
Your lists are utterly great: Deepest Elton cuts would make a killer double album (new to casual fans).
15. Take Me Back (21@33)
14. Breaking Down Barriers (Fox)
13. The Retreat (B-side)
12. One More Arrow (2L4-0)
11. Breaking Hearts (Breaking Hearts)
10. Hoop of Fire (Leather Jackets)
9. Blue Avenue (Sleeping with the Past)
8. You Gotta Love Someone (To Be C...)
7. Long Way From Happiness (Big Picture)
6. Mansfield (West C)
5. Amneris Letter (Aida)
4. El Dorado (Soundtrack)
3. Ocean's Away (Diving Board)
2. Believe (Made in England)
1. Cold Highway (B-side)
Jason good call on ticking, most overlooked song in his catalog. Elton doing his best Bob Dylan on that one ☝️
I had two on my list that didn't make any of your lists. Skyline Pigeon (7), High Flying Bird (8)
1 Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
2 Rocket Man
3 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
4 Harmony
5 Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
6 Your Song
7 Skyline Pigeon
8 High Flying Bird
9 Grey Seal
10 Tiny Dancer
Honorable Mentions (9)
Sacrifice
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
Meal Ticket
Come Down In Time
Country Comfort
Roy Rogers
Philadelphia Freedom
Bitter Fingers
Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Fun project and like you all said, very tough to make the cut at 10
High Flying Bird! 🕊 👏💯
Once again, Joe saves this video with the inclusion of "Someone Saved My Life Tonight"
But no one including the title track to Madman Across the Water is bothersome.
Awesome week, though, guys. Tackling Elton is no small feat.
I wholeheartedly agree. Someone Saved My Life Tonight and Madman Across The Water are 2 of the best songs ever written by any artist.
@@ursula3438 And "Levon". I was shocked that it didn't make anyone's list! "Levon" is my second favorite Elton John song just behind "Someone Saved My Life Tonight".
Ten is far too few to include with an artist as primo as EJ, so here is a top 25 list, which was hard enough to pare down to:
1. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding (Elton shows off his classical training, then song explodes into one of the best rock epics of all-time)
2. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (a pop standard likely to remain in the public consciousness into multiple future generations)
3. Rocket Man (see GYBR)
4. Tiny Dancer (see GYBR)
5. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting (EJ and band rocking-out about as hard as any Who song)
6. Amoreena (one of EJ's most beautiful ballads with an extra country flavor)
7. Levon (somewhat obscure yet great lyrical content, incredibly emotional vocal, one of best use of strings ever)
8. Someone Saved My Life Tonight (perhaps EJ's most emotional vocals ever, best drum sound ever on a pop song?)
9. Honky Cat (one of EJ's most fun songs, musicianship/arrangement is absolutely top notch)
10. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (relatable lyrics, masterfully sung with great arrangement/use of horns)
11. Your Song (see GYBR)
12. Philadelphia Freedom (one of the most uplifting positive feeling songs ever -- great homage to the Philly Soul sound)
13. Pinball Wizard (has anyone done a better "Who" cover?/great addition of piano to the guitar-focused original)
14. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (intimate storytelling at its finest with fantastic EJ vocal and addition of mandolin)
15. The B*tch is Back (absolutely killer riff, one of EJ's best rock vocal performances, love the added Stones-like sax)
16. Burn Down the Mission (great gospel influenced tune with wonderful Buckmaster string arrangement)
17. All the Young Girls Love Alice (love the chaotic/menacing tone of this hard rock track--fitting for the dark subject matter)
18. I Feel Like a Bullet (in the Gun of Robert Ford) (relatively obscure, but one of EJ's best ballads, which is saying a lot)
19. Come Down in Time (early classically-influenced EJ masterpiece)
20. Country Comfort (wonderful merging of Taupin's Americana obsession with EJ and company's country/western arrangement)
21. I've Seen that Movie Too (downbeat vengeful song with amazing arrangement)
22. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (shows off Gus Dudgeon's production wizardry to make such a well-known song sound fresh)
23. Friends (one of EJ's simplest arrangements, but fantastic lyrics captivatingly sung by EJ)
24. Step into Christmas (one of the most joyful pop Christmas tunes ever)
25. Border Song (Taupin's most important lyrics ever?)
Tiny dancer rocket man
1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight (EJ's masterpiece, his Tour de Force)
2. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
3. Can you Feel the Love Tonight?
4. Philadelphia Freedom
5. Your Song
6. Border Song
7. Island Girl
8. Don't let the Sun Go Down on Me
9. Candle in the Wind
10. Tiny Dancer
jason with curtains at #4 very nice🐯🐯
bengal, I agree. 🎶💜💜
It's unfortunate that, with all these recent mass shootings, the song "Ticking" is as relevant today as ever.
Ticking has been my favourite Elton John song for years.
I really like Kramzer's selection of Mellow , Jason's selection of Pinky , and Joe's selection of Harmony , all of which are great songs .
This was really tough , as I had about 20 songs that I wanted to have in my top 10 .
This is what I finished up with , in order of preference :
Rocket Man. ( still my favourite since first hearing it on the radio in 1972 )
Skyline Pigeon ( the piano version from the bonus tracks of the Don't Shoot Me CD )
Levon
Pinky
Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy
Razor Face. ( with killer keyboards )
Talking Old Soldiers. ( far & away my favourite from Tumbleweed Connection )
Blues For Baby & Me
Mellow
Feel Like a Bullet ( the live version from the To Be Continued Boxset , with just Elton & his piano . Sensational )
Just missing the cut :
Madman Across the Water
Mona Lisas & Madhatters
Grey Seal
We All Fall in Love Sometimes
Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
Harmony
Funeral for a Friend
I Need You to Turn To
This Song Has No Title
Salvation
Writing
to name a few......
My top10
10. Levon
9. Rocket Man
8. Candle In The Wind
7. Madman Across The Water
6. The Bitch Is Back
5. Tiny Dancer
4. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
3. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
2. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
1. Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
10. Cold As Christmas (In The Middle Of The Year)
9. Empty Sky
8. Between 17 & 20
7. I’m Gonna Be A Teenage Idol
6. Blues For Baby And Me
5. One Horse Town
4. Chameleon
3. High Flying Bird
2. The Wide-Eyed And Laughing
1. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
My top ten changes frequently because there are at least 30 of his 1969-1978 (I love Empty Sky and A Single Man so that’s my primo period of his for me) songs I want to include. If I did it today, it’d have to include Tower Of Babel, Meal Ticket, Street Kids, and I Feel Like A Bullet which weren’t on my last top ten. So many killer songs!
I’m not the biggest Elton John fan, but 3 songs of his I’ve always loved are Amoreena,Elderberry Wine and All the Young Girls love Alice. And funeral for a friend is a banger for sure
Elton had a few women signed to his Rocket label, which made it easy to record a couple of their songs, Love song by Lesley Duncan and Sugar On The Floor by Kiki Dee.
Great lists, I was inspired to have an Elton John day yesterday and listened to quite a few albums I had never heard before like Blue Moves and The Fox which are both so great. In fact I would say that it would take a lot more time to create a top list of songs, because I am sure some of the new ones that I heard will slot in somewhere. I think I have generally underrated Elton in my view, or at least took him for granted because of the overplay of his hits.
Wonderful lists. Smarty comments to follow: Check the last twenty seconds of Zippo’s Turn To Me - from which Harmony was reverse engineered…both Curtains and Someone Saved My Life feature two of best mid-verse drum entrances ever (one sudden, one telegraphed)…the interlude on Grey Seal is the Onomatopoeic seal itself isn’t it? (Flopping around on a rock).
Thank you Jason for getting "Bitter Fingers" in. Such a great bass line and an amazing turn around into the chorus.
That was Joe. Jason had Tower of Babel.
Absolutely love "Mama Can't Buy You Love"....that would be my favorite.
That is a fun song, and one that's relatively overlooked.
here goes and wow this was hard
26 believe
25 heart in the right place
24 take me to the pilot
23 empty sky
22 gypsy heart
21 screw you [young mans blues]
20 nikita
19 honky cat
18 crocadile rock
17 friends
16 sick city
15 eldeberry wine
14 rocket man
13 burn down the mission
12 i think im going to kill myself[ this was my fungus song]
11 dont let the sun go down on me
10 captain fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy
9 funeral for a friend
8 empty garden
7 step into christmas 🎄🎅
6 gotta get a meal ticket
5 goodbye yellow brick road
4 the bitch is back
3 saturday night is allright for fighting
2 someone saved my life tonight
1 curtains
reading the top songs on my list it isnt hard to figure out my favorite album
lets do more , for some HMs
levon
benny and the jets
i feel like a bullet in the gun of robert ford
philadelphia freedom
pinball wizard
madness
faciest faces
i guess why they call it the blues
restless
the wasteland
just like noahs ark
when i think about love[ with pm dawn]
wow that was some journey with hills and valleys but a memorable trip down memory lane
Cheers!!!
🐯🐯
Excellent list, bengal! I agree, this was difficult. I love your #1. Curtains was #3 for me. Amazing song. 🎶💜💜
@@weirddebbiem1619 thanx , like i said it was a long journey ,but one worth taking💜💜
@@bengalgangster bengal, it definitely was. It was nice to revisit Elton's songs/albums I haven't listened to in awhile. 🎶💜💜
The first video of yours I've watched for a while (together with the albums ranking) as I had no interest or no knowledge of the artists you've been reviewing.
As a fan since 72 I think I hold Blue Moves much higher than anyone else seems to and the track Tonight would definitely be my number 1 song!
All three lists are great and included most of my favorites. I especially liked seeing Street Kids mentioned-just a killer song. A few other deep tracks I love are I've Seen the Saucers, High Flying Bird and The Greatest Discovery.
So many 'deep cuts' from Elton John, in fact its those lesser known tracks l love the most. Songs such as Holiday Inn, Grimsby, Amy, Cage the Songbird, No Shoestrings on Louise, The Ballad of Danny Bailey, Tower of Babel, Ticking and The Ballad of the Boy in the Red Shoes, plenty more of course including a couple you mentioned, I've Seen the Saucers and The Greatest Discovery.
@@keithjones7390 I agree. They could have done Top 10 singles and Top 10 deep tracks.
Funeral ⚰️ for a Friend / Love 💗 Lies Bleeding 🩸, Grey Seal 🦭, Empty Garden 🪴, Lucy in the Sky 🌌 with Diamonds 💎 (my favorite cover song 🎧 of all time), All the Girls Love ❤️ Alice, Rocket 🚀 Man, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, All Quiet 🤫 on the Western Front, Mona Lisas and Mad 😠 Hatters, and Philadelphia 🔔 Freedom.
Cheers 🍻 from Noo Yawk, ova heyah.
Rock 🪨 Out & Prog 🎹 On!
Frog 🐸 On, in every lexicon!
~ Chauncey Marwood Oglethorpe III
1. Ticking
2. Levon
3. Funeral For a Friend / Love Lies Bleeding
4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
5. Burn Down The Mission
6. Tiny Dancer
7. Rocket Man
8. Song for Guy
9. Grey Seal
10. Salvation / Cage The Songbird / Candle in the Wind / Tonight / Street Kids / Bullet in the Gun of RF/ Someone Saved My Life Tonight / Daniel
Seems to me that Joe provided a good honest list. I think the other two went into it thinking that they're going to stay away from the hits so that they come across as more enlightened than the rest of us. Joe just simply listed his favorite Elton John songs... which I really appreciate. I was shocked that "Levon" didn't make anyone's list! Anyway... I really enjoyed the video. I'm a long-time fan of your channel. Having said that... Your logo is horrible! 😊
1. Someone Saved my Life Tonight
2. Levon
3. Rocket Man
4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
5. Mona Lisa's and Mad Hatters
6. Cold as Christmas (In the Middle of the Year)
7. Ticking
8. Your Song
9. I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues
10. Song for Guy
This is indeed a revolving list for sure.
1. Funeral For a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
2. Tiny Dancer
3. Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters
4. Burn Down the Mission
5. High Flying Bird
6. Take Me to the Pilot
7. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
8. Madman Across the Water
9. I Think I'm Going to Kill Myself
10. Candle in the Wind
11. Levon
12. All the Girls Love Alice
13. Salvation
14. My Father's Gun
15. Love Song
16. (Gotta Get a) Meal Ticket
17. Border Song
18. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting
19. The King Must Die
20. Susie (Dramas)
21. Your Song
22. I'm Going to Be a Teenage Idol
23. Texan Love Song
24. Country Comfort
25. Grey Seal
26. Ticking
27. The Cage
28. Curtains
29. Have Mercy On the Criminal
30. Rock Me When He's Gone
31. Elderberry Wine
32. Pinky
33. Rocket Man
34. Come Down in Time
35. I Feel Like a Bullet (In the Gun of Robert Ford)
36. Bad Side of the Moon
37. Hercules
38. Blues For My Baby & Me
39. Where to Now St. Peter?
40. Island Girl
41. Harmony
42. Grow Some Funk on Your Own
43. Amoreena
44. Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
45. Sixty Years On
46. Bennie & the Jets
47. The B*tch is Back
48. Mellow
49. Daniel
50. Empty Garden (Hey, Hey Johnny)
51. Razor Face
52. I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues
53. Slave
54. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
55. Roy Rogers
56. Captain Fantastic & the Brown Dirt Cowboy
57. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word
58. Feed Me
59. Honky Cat
60. Tower of Babel
61. Skyline Pigeon
62. Legal Boys
63. Holiday Inn
64. Bitter Fingers
65. Street Kids
66. Lady Samantha
67. I've Seen That Movie Too
68. Out of the Blue
69. The Ballad of Danny Bailey
70. Friends
71. Son of Your Father
72. Return to Paradise
73. Empty Sky
74. Social Disease
75. The Greatest Discovery
76. Tonight
77. Chloe
78. Better Off Dead
79. Princess
80. You're So Static
81. Michelle's Song
82. Spiteful Child
83. Sails
84. Blue Eyes
85. Mansfield
86. Act of War
87. I've Seen the Saucers
88. Between Seventeen and Twenty
89. Rock and Roll Madonna
90. Turn to Me
91. Sweet Painted Lady
92. I Need You to Turn To
93. Screw You (Young Man's Blues)
94. Little Jeannie
95. The Retreat
96. Sacrifice
97. No Shoe Strings on Louise
98. Cage the Songbird
99. Philadelphia Freedom
100. Give Me the Love
Levon is my #1. A couple of my faves that I didn’t see mentioned:
-In Neon
-The Last Song
1. Ticking
2. Somebody Saved My Life Tonight
3. Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
4. The Bitch is Back
5. Come Down in Time
6. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
7. I’ve Seen That Movie Too
8. Your Song
9. Pinky
10. Crocodile Rock
10. I Don't Want To Go On With You Like That
9. Take Me To The Pilot
8. Slow Rivers
7. Dreamboat
6. Ticking
5. We All Fall In Love Sometimes
4. Empty Garden
3. Club At The End Of The Street
2. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters
1. Gulliver