A Thread About Elton John

Sheena

Sheena

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I'll be honest. I hated Elton John for many years. The epitome of BORING OLD MAN MUSIC. And then I became a BORING OLD MAN and suddenly things have changed. I've been gradually collecting the albums on vinyl as I spot them second hand and the 70s work is really top notch and the 80s stuff has the odd gem amongst some true rot, before it truly goes to dreary shite. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road really is a fantastic album, I've discovered, and I am QUITE partial to his silly stab at disco, Victim Of Love.

So, ANY ELTON THOUGHTS to impart?

(And let's not talk about what a HIDEOUS OLD CUNT he may or may not be, let's just discuss the MUSIC. For once).
 
I think my Elton journey has followed a very similar path. I can't say I've investigated him that much but I've come to appreciate the peak material. The film which was brilliant, was a turning point.
 
Ag said:
I think my Elton journey has followed a very similar path. I can't say I've investigated him that much but I've come to appreciate the peak material. The film which was brilliant, was a turning point.
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I think it was the turning point for me too. It made me appreciate the early stuff so much more than I ever had bothered before.
 
Sheena said:
I'll be honest. I hated Elton John for many years. The epitome of BORING OLD MAN MUSIC. And then I became a BORING OLD MAN and suddenly things have changed. I've been gradually collecting the albums on vinyl as I spot them second hand and the 70s work is really top notch and the 80s stuff has the odd gem amongst some true rot, before it truly goes to dreary shite. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road really is a fantastic album, I've discovered, and I am QUITE partial to his silly stab at disco, Victim Of Love.

So, ANY ELTON THOUGHTS to impart?

(And let's not talk about what a HIDEOUS OLD CUNT he may or may not be, let's just discuss the MUSIC. For once).
Click to expand...
Not much in way of additional thoughts apart from to say that I pretty much agree with everything here except I'm not familiar with his disco stuff. I do love Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Songs From The West Coast was also pretty good.

I'm open minded to discovering more of his stuff though so I'll be happy to see what others have to contribute. I wonder what @octophone makes of Elton..
 
And yes, like Ag, I found myself in an EJ mood after the film.. I think I spent ages on Wikipedia reading up his individual album entries..
 
I knew most the hits, my parents used to rinse the 1990 GH to death on long journeys.
 
I’m Still Standing always gives me a few goosebumps but I think that’s always tied in with it being used for montages at the end of Olympic Games competitions from when I was a kid.

I’ve always felt him to be an 8-10 track hits playlist will do kind of artist but maybe should investigate more.
 
I've never done a deep dive into his discography but I like a lot of his hits, even if I'm not wild on HIM.

Tiny Dancer has been my fave since I watched Almost Famous.
 
ELTON TOP TEN

1. Funeral For A Friend/ Love Lies Bleeding
2. I'm Still Standing
3. Your Song
4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
5. Don't Go Breaking My Heart
6. Honky Cat
7. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
8. Too Low For Zero
9. Victim Of Love
10.Tiny Dancer
 
Suedey said:
I wonder what @octophone makes of Elton..
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I've never been a fan but I've also felt no real need to criticise him. He's one of these artists whose musical orbit is totally different from mine but he's not a sell-out, he's not an irritant, he seems completely sincere and also appears to be in possession of a decent sense of humour.

Fine by me.
 
1. Tiny Dancer
2. Daniel
3. Sacrifice
4. Your Song
5. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
6. I'm Still Standing
7. This Train Don't Stop There Anymore
8. Rocket Man
9. Circle Of Life
10. Someone Saved My Life Tonight

BUBBLING UNDER
I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
 
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I could happily do a Top 50, but I won't. Might stretch to a 20, though.

I've got very vague childhood memories of Don't Go Breaking My Heart, but only really became aware of him in the early 80s, when I remember mum buying the 'Blue Eyes' single. I didn't but anything personally until that double greatest hits which The Immaculate Collection kept at #2 for 7 weeks, or whatever it was.

I definitely skew more to the early 70s stuff.
 
Actually no, I think I'd struggle with 50. Or at least I'd be going down to 6 or 7.
 
Suedey said:
And yes, like Ag, I found myself in an EJ mood after the film.. I think I spent ages on Wikipedia reading up his individual album entries..
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I love a Wikipedia discography deep dive on artists with an extensive back catalogue. I got Elton's book for Christmas, and it is highly entertaining and delightfully gossipy. It was interesting reading the album pages alongside the book.

I have the 2002 GH and haven't delved into the full albums, aside from the odd song here or there. The classics from the first half of the seventies are hard to top, and my favourite probably is Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters, though Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Tiny Dancer and Someone Saved My Life Tonight are up there.

Victim of Love is also fabulous, and I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues and I'm Still Standing are the obvious eighties picks. I do have a soft spot for I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That, I think because it was on Now 12 despite being kind of a flop here (though a big US hit).

This Train Don't Stop There Anymore was the last song I heard from him that I really liked.
 
Yes, the autobiography was top notch as well and warmed me to him as a character. It was rather revealing and certainly didn’t just paint himself in a good light.

Of the real later stuff, I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That is my favourite too. I hated it at the time, but I can concede now that Sacrifice is a great single, though I still maintain it’s quite dull.
 
The film was a game changer for me. Until then I knew mostly the big hits but was never tempted to dig deeper. “Honky Cat” was the big revelation and of course I’ve always loved “Tiny Dancer” since “Almost Famous”.

The same thing happened with the Springsteen film but strangely not with “Bohemian Rhapsody”.
 
IMG_9920.jpeg
 
I was reading about this over the summer. Apparently he had a really bad eye infection and it's left him with very limited vision in his good eye. His other eye was always weaker anyway so now he's got two bad eyes :(
 
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