Help me to get Elton John!

202-555-0144, ext. 14

 

I like everything up to and including Captain Fantastic. After that there are still great tracks to be found, but he stopped writing albums that were great from start to finish, IMO.

 

I think Elton because too self-conscious and rock press-oriented after "Rock of the Westies." I'm not a fan of that album, but I think he really veered off after that.

 

Start with one of the best albums ever made, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Then move on to Honky Chateau and Don't Shoot Me ..., then Madman Across The Water and Tumbleweed Connection. If you like the 2nd side of Madman ... you might like his first album, but I think it's a little boring. Capt. Fantastic & Brown Dirt Cowboy is the next stop.

If you're diggin' everything so far, you'll want Caribou because there are some great tracks on it. But half of it is a bit weak.

If you absolutely have to have another Elton John album go for Rock of the Westies, but be warned the quality is really starting to slip.

I would get off the bus at this point.

 

i dunno, maybe a bear trap baited with a bottle of wine?

 

His most accessible records are "Honky Chateau" and "Yellow Brick Road". Start with those. After that if you want to delve deeper try "Tumbleweed Connection" and "Captain Fantastic". If your tastes run toward harder rocking Elton John, "Rock of the Westies" is an excellent hard rock album. If you prefer softer side of Elton John his self titled 1970 album is also excellent. After that I just stick to the best of collections to mop up the rest.

Elton John and Bernie Taupin put out 11 albums between 1969-1976 and sometimes the material ran a little thin. There are good songs scattered across "Madman Across the Water", "Don't shoot me", "Caribou" and "Blue Moves" but to me the cream was released as singles so a good best of picks up what you would want to hear from those.

After "Blue Moves" Elton John and Bernie Taupin (temporarily) split up their songwriting partnership and the quality control took a nose dive (drugs and alcohol contributed). 2001's "Songs from the West Coast" was a nifty attempt by Elton and Bernie to return to their early 70's style circa "Tumbleweed" and is worth a listen.

 

Start with ‘Elton John’ (the Black Album) and continue up to Blue Moves. After that, things get spotty.

 

This is one of the most easily answered questions I’ve seen in these forums. Just start with the first one and work your way up.

And don’t skip the excellent live album 17-11-70!

 

1-900-909-JEFF

 

you like the songs or you dont. dont overthink it

 

You help me get into Elton John’s bank account, and I’ll help you get into his music.

 

1970-1976. Those ones. But get Self-titled and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road first, if you like those, you probably will like the rest of that era.

 

If those are the songs that stand out to you, I would guess you'll enjoy most of the albums from Elton John through to perhaps Blue Moves....
Definitely Elton John through to Caribou.

If those are your two stand out songs. It would make sense to start with Don't Shoot Me, I'm only the Piano Player and Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.
I'd say Elton John, Honky Chateau and Madman Across The Water are pretty much essential though.....

 

You want us to help you kidnap him? That's illegal.

 

Everything up until Captain Fantastic and I actually think that is his peak. After that you get a gradual decline with Rock Of the Westies and Blue Moves. Then he falls off a cliff. Maybe a few more decent tunes for the next 45 years, but nothing to match that 1970-1975 run.

I'm reading his book now. Only about 50 pages left. It's a great read for anyone interested in Elton. He is very likable and funny. It will have you checking out some of his later albums, but I still don't connect with much after Blue Moves.

 

I’d go with The Fox. And Simple Man. Or Leather Jackets.

 

Help me to get Elton John!

Why are you after him?

 

Don't Shoot Me...is loaded with brilliant songs and gorgeous production.

 

He’s always been Liberace Junior.

 

I agree with this. The way I hear it is that in his "heyday", in desperate lack of a better term, there was a "difference" about Elton John's music. While this applied most heavily to his early 70's material, that sense of individualistic identity still shone thorough when he got more mainstream Pop/Rock roughly starting with Don't Shoot Me and onward. As the seventies started to wrap up, the unique musical qualities which made us love him for much of the decade had pretty much come full circle. As the eighties come on, he was still putting out some very good music but for me, the magic(another lack of a better term) had concluded.

 

So many views posted above - all correct for those who posted them.

IMHO, Mr. Dwight is a world - class artist. Like most every artist in that top - tier class, he has morphed his styles and varied projects. There are a few of his albums which I believe are essential or worth playing through (Tumbleweed, Madman, ..Piano Player, ...Yellow Brick Road, & Sleeping With the Past, which has become my personal favorite EJ album). The Blue Avenue album closer is exceptional, and rivals Harmony that finishes GYBR as his best.

I find his Anthology (2002) and Hits packages I, II, III to be more enjoyable than the majority of his individual albums. YMMV.

 

Great list on the essentials; I’d only add Captain Fantastic because besides loving the music, I always felt it combined his earlier, more progressively stylistic elements with the more “poppier” stuff that followed.

 

Yeah. Nobody else shares in this opinion. Looking through this thread it appears to be a common opinion. Sorry, I don’t like much in the last 45 years and believe me I have tried.

 

You're welcome to your opinion just like everyone else, even if you're wrong.