Released 8 November 1974 Label DJMMCAPolydor Release date 8 November 1974 | Length 47:40 | |
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Recorded January 1970 – January 1974 Awards Juno Award for International Album of the Year Similar Elton John albums, Rock music albums | ||
Greatest Hits (often referred to as Elton John Greatest Hits in North America) is the eleventh official album release for Elton John, and the first compilation. Released in November 1974, it spans the years 1970 to 1974, compiling ten of John's singles, with one track variation for releases in North America and for Europe and Australia. It topped the album chart in both the United States and the United Kingdom, staying at number one for ten consecutive weeks in the former nation and eleven weeks in the latter. It is his best-selling album to date, being his first to have received an RIAA Diamond certification for US sales of more than 10 million copies – as of April 2016 the album has been certified as selling in excess of 17 million copies in the US.
Contents
Contents
The single "Bennie and the Jets", which had topped the charts in both the US and Canada but which had not been released a single in the United Kingdom at that point, appeared on the American and Canadian edition of the album. It was replaced by "Candle in the Wind" for the UK and Australian edition, having been a hit in both of those countries but never released as a single in the US and Canada. The 1992 reissue contains eleven tracks, with both songs included.
"Border Song," an album track on Elton John outside of the US and Canada, went to No. 92 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and to No. 34 on the Canadian RPM national singles chart as a single in 1970. All other songs made the Top 40 in the UK and the US, most also making the top ten, with "Bennie and the Jets" and "Crocodile Rock" topping the chart in the States. John would wait until 1976 to top the singles chart in the UK, via his duet with Kiki Dee, "Don't Go Breaking My Heart."
With only ten tracks total, the compilers left off several other hit singles from the time period. "Tiny Dancer" and "Levon" from the Madman Across the Water album made it to No. 41 and No. 24 respectively as singles in the US, and "The Bitch Is Back," his most recent single, was a No. 4 in the US and topped the chart in Canada. Although all of these charted higher than "Border Song," it may have been included because it was the first Elton John single to chart in any market. Of the ten selections for the North American album, two ("Crocodile Rock" and "Bennie and the Jets") had been US No. 1 hits; in Canada, five (these two plus "Daniel", "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me") had been chart-toppers.
In 2003, Greatest Hits was ranked at number 136 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.
Track listing
All music composed by Elton John, all lyrics written by Bernie Taupin.
On the international releases, "Bennie and the Jets" was replaced by "Candle in the Wind" (3:41, taken from the album Goodbye Yellow Brick Road).
The compact disc version of Greatest Hits, issued in the 1990s, features both "Bennie and the Jets" (track 7) and "Candle in the Wind" (track 8).
The expanded edition released by Nippon PolyGram/Mercury Music Entertainment (subtitled Your Song) has a different running order, excluding "Bennie and the Jets" instead of five additional tracks. In 2000, Universal Music Japan reissued the album under the alternative title Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. The track listing is as follows:
Songs
1Your Song4:02
2Daniel3:54
3Honky Cat5:13