Elton John - Rocket Man Number Ones (27 tracks) +Album Reviews

Love him or loathe him.

justmoi | New York,N.Y. | 05/23/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Good old Elton: spats with George Michael, agony aunt to the Beckhams, adopted daddy to Robbie Williams, songwriter on Billy Elliot's stage reinvention, not to mention his birthday's celebration.

It's a wonder the man, born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, has time for a pop career at all.

But what a colourful career it has been. Love him or loathe him, in terms of sales and lasting popularity the singer, with over three decades of back catalogue, has more than earned his superstar status.

Never a conventional looker with his Lily Savage specs and rug bouffant, John's ability to dip into soul, disco and country as well as classic pop and progressive rock on tracks such as "Tiny Dancer", "Rocket Man", "Your Song", "Sacrifice' and "I'm Still Standing", has made him a musical legend.

Through sales slumps and well-publicised fall-outs with lyricist Bernie Taupin, the music maestro has managed more comebacks than Cher's Farewell tour.

To mark the occasion of his 60th birthday, Elton John releases a special edition 2-disc edition that includes a bonus DVD featuring five promo videos spanning the last four decades and five prevously unreleased tracks from his legendary Red Piano Las Vegas show.

The main CD features 18 tracks of hits spanning the likes of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Candle In The Wind", including "Tiny Dancer" (the song that was immortalised by the filmmaker Cameron Crowe in his fictional rockumentary "Almost Famous").

The collection veers more towards his Seventies' work and mixes the ballads with the rowdier numbers such as "Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting") and "I'm Still Standing".

Some of the tracks are overly sentimental, particularly the latter stuff, but there's no getting away from the quality of recordings such as "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" and "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be A Long Long Time)".

Fans will lap it up as part of the birthday celebrations, even though there's been a better "greatest hits" collection only few years ago.

But it's hard to begrudge such an enduring and popular artist his place in the limelight, particularly now that he's reached 60 years of age.

On the whole this is as solid a compilation as anyone who lacks a bit of Elton in their collection could wish for."

Happy birthday, Reg !

Mr. R. J. Davidson | Edinburgh, Scotland. UK | 04/04/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Only in 2002 Elton John released a double CD best of which included the worst also, tracks like "Nikita" and "Made In England".

Since then, the man's career has not exactly been as buoyant as the hype suggests. So, following several underperforming albums - here is yet another greatest hits collection.

Cannily, or should I say blatantly, released to coincide with his 60th Birthday Party Concert - this definitive hits album excludes the tracks you wish to forget. It also includes the average new single "Tinderbox".

There is no doubting that our Reginald has made some great music. Tracks like "Your Song" and "Tiny Dancer" are classics and all here. But you if you are a fan, you have got them numerous times.

The TV appearances and concerts showed that the voice has weakened over the years as has the stage presence.

The only thing that this album proves is that there is more to Elton John than being a friend of Liz Hurley's or Victoria Beckham.

But if you cringed your way through the TV special as the plastic celebs danced in the aisles - this Emperor's New Clothes Collection will not sway you.

Your best bet is to dig out your dusty version of the brilliant classic "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and weep."

What's the Point?

Happy Chappy | Elk Grove, California | 04/23/2007

(1 out of 5 stars)

"I am starting to feel a little used with these aging musical stars like Tony Bennett and Elton John searching for any reason to release their umpteenth best of CDs. Happy Birthday Elton, thanks for Goodbye Yellow Brick Road version 25. The videos are nothing to get excited about either.

PS: I am an EJ fan, but don't need to buy the same songs every year or so."

Another "Best Of" Album!

David D. McFarland | Oceanside, California United States | 04/03/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I think this has been done before, there was a best of set released after "Songs From The West Coast" came out. Now we got another one, with a DVD as a additional item to get buyers to buy this set. Don't get me wrong, I'm a Big Elton fan but "another" "Best Of" collection. If your really serious on getting this album, take the DVD performances & burn them to CD/mp3. those really are the only tracks worth buying this collection for in which all these other songs have been re-released many times before ;-) Search "Judemac Forever" on msn."

Going Back to the Well Again

Thomas D. Ryan | New York | 04/05/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Elton John - Number Ones

The Beatles did it. Elvis Presley did it. Even Mariah Carey did it, so why not Elton John? Each of the above artists released compact career retrospectives containing nothing but `number one' hits, and each has sold remarkably well, so it is understandable why the Universal Group would want to apply the same logic to Elton John. His career spans decades, and his track record on the pop charts is up there with the best, so a collection of `number one' hits is bound to be a successful business venture, but is it valuable to consumers? That depends on a number of factors.

If you have been a fan of Elton John for any length of time, then the odds are good that you already own most of the songs on "Number Ones." There have been numerous opportunities to own virtually every song featured here. Elton John's "Greatest Hits, Vol. 1" already featured "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," "Bennie & the Jets," "Daniel," "Crocodile Rock," "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (less George Michael), "Your Song," "Rocket Man," "Candle in the Wind" and "Saturday Night's Alright (for Fighting). Greatest Hits Vol. 2 contains "Lucy in the Sky," Philadelphia Freedom" "Island Girl" and "Tiny Dancer". Between these two platinum-selling releases, all but four songs are covered. A later two-disk collection called "Greatest Hits 1970-2002" contains every track on "Number Ones" except the Beatles cover ("Lucy In the Sky with Diamonds"), and then goes on to include an additional seventeen tracks of hits, so the question really is, "Do we need this?"

A second point of consideration is the title itself. Calling an album "Number Ones" implies that every song peaked at the top of the charts, but a semi-bogus disclaimer appears after the first twelve songs that states "and other favorites". Apparently, John (or more accurately, Universal Records) didn't have enough number one hits to fill out a full-length disk, so they padded it with "other favorites." Among the twelve that are alleged to be "number ones", only seven of them topped the charts in the U.S., so they must be including European chart information as well. Unfortunately, I can't say for sure because the disk's booklet contains virtually no information or original artwork. My conclusion? If you somehow managed to get this far without buying any of the previous Elton John collections, then this is a succinct way to start. If you decide it's worthwhile, be sure to obtain the "Limited Edition" package, which contains a second disk of videos. Otherwise, "Number Ones" is redundant and perhaps a bit misleading as well. B Tom Ryan"

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