Elton John, Greatest Hits 1970-2002

We can’t help but feel silly admitting our fondness for the music of Elton John. But dammit, we won’t let our admiration for his stellar 1970s work be overshadowed by the syrupy Lion King and the crap, Lady Di-inspired reworking of “Candle in the Wind.” (For crying out loud, lyricist Bernie Taupin did all the work! Couldn’t Elton be bothered to whip up something original?) Sure, he was shucking out the soft-rock even back in the day, but at their peak, he and Taupin perfectly nailed balladry that was sensitive without being squishy. Indeed, the first of this two-disc set is a rock-solid overview of that period, capturing the Taupin/John mastery of the plaintive ballad (“Your Song”), the uptempo rocker (“Saturday Night’s Alright [For Fighting]”) and the effervescent pop ditty (“Crocodile Rock”). If anything, it could be twice as long. The problem here is that even though he’s firmly back to popular prominence after his 1980s slump, Elton still hasn’t come up with as much decent material in the last 27 years as he did between 1970 and 1975, and any set that weights the two periods equally will be unbalanced. There’s a valid case for collecting all 22 top-10 hits in one place—but we’d rather listen to our favorite songs than a valid case. Leaving off the brilliant “Funeral For a Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)” in favor of unmemorable fare like “The One” is a letdown, and never mind which charted higher.