Elton John Diamonds (SDE Blu-Ray #31) Dec. 27th, 2024

[Bobby Martini]

You’re lucky! I’ve been hacked a couple of times and don’t want to be again

I was once the victim of identity theft but once they realised what a crap life I had, they gave it back

 

[humprof]

Will Hermes just wrote a massive piece for Rolling Stone with his own (annotated) picks of 50 "diamonds" from the EJ catalog:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-elton-john-songs-1235139127/

Backstory and (for paid subscribers) playlists on his Substack:

https://newmusicoldmusic.substack.com/p/elton-johns-50-best-songs-and-51

 

[fredblue]

Will Hermes just wrote a massive piece for Rolling Stone with his own (annotated) picks of 50 "diamonds" from the EJ catalog:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-elton-john-songs-1235139127/

Backstory and (for paid subscribers) playlists on his Substack:

https://newmusicoldmusic.substack.com/p/elton-johns-50-best-songs-and-51

some interesting choices.. and some surprising ones bold of them to include anything from 1993's "Duets" album in a Top 50 and they bravely plumped for more more than one track from "Duets", including "Teardrops" with kd lang and "Born To Lose" with Leonard Cohen, the whole project was almost universally savaged by the music press at the time.. say no more, say no more..

if i had to include something from "Duets" i'd go for one of the EJ/BT originals first like "The Power" with Little Richard or "A Woman's Needs" with Tammy Wynette.

if a track from "The Lion King" were a must, i'd put "Circle Of Life" in a Top 50 before "Can You Feel The Love Tonight".

if a Thom Bell Sessions track were similarly mandatory i'd choose "Are You Ready For Love" over "Mama Can't Buy You Love".

however, there's far greater omissions of big Hits from that list that just feel too important and pivotal in Elton's catalogue not to include like "Sacrifice", "Nikita", "The One", "Little Jeannie", "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" and "I Want Love".

my own Top 50 would likely include songs that relatively few folks probably care about like "Holiday Inn", "Writing", "We All Fall In Love Sometimes", "Better Off Dead", "Bitter Fingers", "Gotta Get A Meal Ticket", "Harmony", "High Flying Bird", "I've Seen That Movie Too", "Ticking", "Pinky", "Sixty Years On", "Sweet Painted Lady", "I Must Have Lost It On The Wind", "Crazy Water", "One Horse Town", "Cage The Songbird", "Idol", "Chameleon", "Tonight", "American Triangle", "Ballad Of The Boy In The Red Shoes", "Turn The Lights Out When You Leave", "Come Down In Time", "Where To Now, St. Peter" "Breaking Hearts (Ain't What It Used To Be)", "Cry To Heaven", "Blues For Baby And Me", "It Ain't Gonna Be Easy", "Street Kids", "Easy As Life", "Feed Me", "Believe", "Blessed", "The Last Song", "Blue Avenue", "Breaking Down Barriers", "Two Rooms At The End Of The World", "Chasing The Crown", "White Lady, White Powder", "Take Me Down To The Ocean", "Love So Cold", "Donner Pour Donner", "White Man Danger", "Hey Papa Legba", "A Good Heart", "Never Too Old To Hold Somebody", "Conquer The Sun", "God Never Came Here", "So Sad The Renegade", "The Retreat", "One More Arrow"... oops couldn't stop at 50!

 

[elroy]

Just for some more EJ rankings while we are awaiting the disc, Vulture ran an article last year ranking all (as of then) 378 Elton songs with commentaries on most.

Spoiler Alert: They share @fredblue's opinion of Leather Jackets, by the way...

https://www.vulture.com/article/elton-john-songs-ranked-from-worst-to-best.html

 

[ar surround]

Just for some more EJ rankings while we are awaiting the disc, Vulture ran an article last year ranking all (as of then) 378 Elton songs with commentaries on most.

Spoiler Alert: They share @fredblue's opinion of Leather Jackets, by the way...

https://www.vulture.com/article/elton-john-songs-ranked-from-worst-to-best.html

Border Song at #26. I never liked that song for whatever reason. WARNING, Will Robinson! WARNING! Incoming ear worm alert!!!

 

[Willie Wilson]

Border Song at #26. I never liked that song for whatever reason. WARNING, Will Robinson! WARNING! Incoming ear worm alert!!!

“Let us…let us live in peace.”

Earworm pressure raised…

 

[JonUrban]

Will Hermes just wrote a massive piece for Rolling Stone with his own (annotated) picks of 50 "diamonds" from the EJ catalog:

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-elton-john-songs-1235139127/

Backstory and (for paid subscribers) playlists on his Substack:

https://newmusicoldmusic.substack.com/p/elton-johns-50-best-songs-and-51

I would omit the Kiki Dee duet and put in "Restless" from "Breaking Hearts"

 

[dobyblue]

I like Sleeping With The Past and Reg Strikes Back, I would have picked up SACDs of those two without hesitation.

I would love to hear a surround mix of Word in Spanish, for me the standout track from RSB.