Click to return to Dave’s Music Database home page.

Greatest Hits

Greatest Hits Volume II

Greatest Hits 1976-1986

Very Best of

* compilation *

Recorded: 1970-1990 VB
Released: October 1990 VB

Notes:
G1 Greatest Hits (1970-1974)

G2 Greatest Hits Volume II (1971-1976)

G3 Greatest Hits 1976-1986 (1976-1986)

VB Very Best of

Rating: 4.250 (average of 2 ratings) for ‘The Very Best of

Genre: pop

Quotable: --

Album Tracks, Disc 1: VB

  1. Your Song G1, G4
  2. Rocket Man G1, G4
  3. Honky Cat G1, G4
  4. Crocodile Rock G1, G4
  5. Daniel G1, G4
  6. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road G1, G4
  7. Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting G1, G4
  8. Candle in the Wind G1, G4
  9. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me G1, G4
  10. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds G2
  11. Philadelphia Freedom G2, G4
  12. Someone Saved My Life Tonight G2, G4
  13. Pinball Wizard G2
  14. The Bitch Is Back G2, G4

Album Tracks, Disc 2: VB

  1. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee) G3, G4
  2. Bennie and the Jets G1, G4
  3. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word G3, G4
  4. Song for Guy
  5. Part-Time Love
  6. Blue Eyes G3, G4
  7. I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues G3, G4
  8. I’m Still Standing G3, G4
  9. Kiss the Bride G3, G4
  10. Sad Songs Say So Much G3, G4
  11. Passengers
  12. Nikita G3, G4
  13. I Don’t Want to Go on with You Like That G4
  14. Sacrifice G4
  15. Easier to Walk Away
  16. You Gotta Love Someone

Here’s the track listing for the other greatest hits albums referenced:

Album Tracks: G1 1. Your Song 2. Daniel 3. Honky Cat 4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road 5. Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting 6. Rocket Man 7. Bennie and the Jets * 8. Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me 9. Border Song 10. Crocodile Rock

* “Bennie and the Jets” was on the original US version; “Candle in the Wind” was on the UK version. Both were included on the 1990 Polydor reissue.

Album Tracks: G2 1. The Bitch Is Back 2. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds 3. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word ** 4. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart ** 5. Someone Saved My Life Tonight 6. Philadelphia Freedom 7. Island Girl 8. Grow Some Funk of Your Own 9. Levon * 10. Pinball Wizard

* “Levon” was on the original US version; “Bennie and the Jets” was on the original UK version.
** The 1986 Polygram reissue replaced these songs with “Tiny Dancer” and “I Feel Like a Bullet in the Gun of Robert Ford.”

Album Tracks: G3 1. I’m Still Standing 2. Mama Can’t Buy You Love 3. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word * 4. Little Jeannie 5. Blue Eyes 6. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart * 7. Empty Garden 8. Kiss the Bride 9. I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues 10. Who Wears These Shoes? * 11. Sad Songs Say So Much 12. Wrap Her Up 13. Nikita

* This album replaced the 1987 Greatest Hits Volume III album in 1992. That album also featured “Heartache All Over the World” and “Too Low for Zero” which were bumped here in favor of “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word,” “Don’t Go Breaking My Heart,” and “Who Wears These Shoes?”

Sales (in millions):

sales in U.S. only 16.0 G1, -- VB
sales in U.K. only - estimated 0.3 G1, 2.13 VB
sales in all of Europe as determined by IFPI – click here to go to their site. --
sales worldwide - estimated 23.0 G1, 15.0 VB

Peak:

peak on U.S. Billboard album chart 1 10 - GH, -- VB
peak on U.K. album chart 1 11 - G1, 1 2 - VB

Singles/Hit Songs:

  • Border Song G1 (3/70) #92 US
  • Your Song (11/28/70) #8 US, #7 UK, #9 AC
  • Levon G2 (12/18/71) #24 US
  • Tiny Dancer G2 (3/4/72) #41 US, #35 AC, sales: 0.5 m
  • Rocket Man (4/22/72) #6 US, #3 UK, #39 AC
  • Honky Cat (8/12/72) #8 US, #31 UK, #6 AC
  • Crocodile Rock (11/4/72) #1 US, #5 UK, #11 AC, sales: 1.0 m
  • Daniel (1/20/73) #2 US, #4 UK, #1 AC, sales: 0.5 m
  • Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting (7/7/73) #12 US, #7 UK
  • Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (9/29/73) #2 US, #6 UK, #7 AC, sales: 1.0 m
  • Bennie and the Jets (2/16/74) #1 US, #37 UK, #15 RB, sales: 1.0 m
  • Candle in the Wind (3/2/74) #6 US, #5 UK, #2 AC
  • Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me (6/1/74) #2 US, #16 UK, #3 AC, sales: 0.5 m
  • The Bitch Is Back (9/7/74) #4 US, #15 UK, sales: 0.5 m
  • Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (11/23/74) #1 US, #10 UK, sales: 0.5 m
  • Philadelphia Freedom (3/7/75) #1 US, #12 UK, #32 RB, sales: 1.0 m
  • Someone Saved My Life Tonight (6/23/75) #4 US, #22 UK, #36 AC, sales: 0.5 m
  • Island Girl G2 (10/4/75) #1 US, #14 UK, #27 AC, sales: 1.0 m
  • Grow Some Funk of Your Own G2 (1/24/76) #14 US
  • Pinball Wizard (3/20/76) #7 UK
  • Don’t Go Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee) (7/3/76) #1 US, #1 UK, #1 AC, sales: 0.5 m
  • Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word (11/13/76) #6 US, #11 UK, #1 AC, sales: 0.5 m
  • Mama Can’t Buy You Love G3 (6/9/79) #9 US, #1 AC, #36 RB, sales: 0.5 m
  • Part-Time Love (10/21/78) #22 US, #15 UK, #40 AC
  • Song for Guy (12/16/78) #4 UK
  • Little Jeannie G3 (5/3/80) #3 US, #33 UK, #1 AC, sales: 0.5 m
  • Empty Garden G3 (3/20/82) #13 US, #51 UK, #18 AC
  • Blue Eyes (3/27/82) #12 US, #8 UK, #1 AC
  • I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues (4/30/83) #4 US, #5 UK, #2 AC, #22 AR
  • I’m Still Standing (5/7/83) #12 US, #4 UK, #28 AC, #34 AR
  • Kiss the Bride (8/6/83) #25 US, #20 UK
  • Sad Songs Say So Much (5/26/84) #5 US, #7 UK, #2 AC, #24 AR
  • Passengers (8/11/84) #5 UK
  • Who Wears These Shoes? G3 (9/8/84) #16 US, #50 UK, #11 AC, #18 AR
  • Nikita (10/12/85) #7 US, #3 UK, #3 AC
  • Wrap Her Up G3 (10/26/85) #20 US, #12 UK
  • Heartache All Over the World G3 (10/4/86) #55 US, #45 UK
  • I Don’t Want to Go on with You Like That (6/4/88) #2 US, #30 UK, #1 AC, #13 AR
  • Sacrifice (11/18/89) #18 US, #1 UK, #3 AC
  • You Gotta Love Someone (10/20/90) #43 US, #33 UK, #1 AC
  • Easier to Walk Away (12/15/90) #63 UK

Awards:

Rated one of the top 1000 albums of all time by Dave’s Music Database. Click to learn more. One of the Top 100 All-Time World’s Best-Selling Albums (both collections) The World’s Best Selling Album of the Year (Greatest Hits). Click to go to awards page. Billboard Magazine’s Album of the Year (Greatest Hits)

The Very Best of/
Greatest Hits/ Greatest Hits Volume II/ Greatest Hits 1976-1986
Elton John
Review:
The Very Best of Elton John was a double-CD anthology released in the U.K. that essentially consolidated three previous single disc compilations into one collection. Most represented is Greatest Hits. “Rarely has a greatest-hits collection been as effective;” E1 “Greatest Hits is a nearly flawless collection, offering a perfect introduction to Elton John and providing casual fans with almost all the hits they need.” E1

“Released at the end of 1974, after Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Caribou had effectively established him as a superstar, Greatest Hits is exactly what it says it is – it features every one of his Top Ten singles (Your Song, Rocket Man, Honky Cat, Crocodile Rock, Daniel, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Bennie and the Jets, Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me), plus the number 12 Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting and radio and concert favorites ‘Border Song’ and Candle in the Wind.” E1 Only “Border Song” is absent from The Very Best of.

That collection did skip over “a couple of lesser hits from this era, most notably Levon and Tiny Dancer,” E1 but added them to Elton’s next greatest hits collection, although those same two songs are notable omissions from The Very Best of.

Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 also “adds…The Bitch Is Back, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, ‘Island Girl’, [and] ‘Grow Some Funk of Your Own,’” E1 leaving the last two off The Very Best of.

The second hits collection also had “two non-LP hit singles (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, Philadelphia Freedom) and John’s version of Pinball Wizard, taken from the soundtrack to Tommy. In short, it’s an excellent continuation of the first collection, and taken together, they function as an ideal singles retrospective of the most successful singles artist of the early ‘70s.” E1

“Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 (1979-1987) is a 12-track overview that compiles the bulk of Elton John’s biggest hits from the ‘80s, including such classic tracks as Little Jeannie, I Guess That’s Why They Call It the Blues, Empty Garden, Blue Eyes, I’m Still Standing, and Sad Songs (Say So Much). It also includes…‘Heartache All Over the World’…[and] ‘Too Low for Zero’, which never was a single.” E3

“Greatest Hits, Vol. 3 went out of print after John left Geffen for MCA, who issued a replacement package, Greatest Hits 1976-1986, which eliminates those two songs [as does The Very Best of] and adds Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word, Don’t Go Breaking My Heart, and ‘Who Wears These Shoes?’ to the remaining ten songs.” E3

Again, The Very Best of falls short of covering everything from this collection. In addition to the aforementioned omissions, ‘Mama Can’t Buy Me Love,’ ‘Little Jeannie,’ ‘Empty Garden,’ ‘Who Wears These Shoes?,’ and ‘Wrap Her Up’ are not included. All were top twenty U.S. hits but had minor impact, if any, on the UK charts, for whom this collection was created.

Another alternative to this collection is the 2-disc Greatest Hits 1970-2002. Omitted are “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” “Pinball Wizard,” “Song for Guy,” “Part-Time Love,” “Blue Eyes,” “Kiss the Bride,” “Passengers,” “Easier to Walk Away,” and “You Gotta Love Someone.”

That collection adds “Levon,” “Tiny Dancer,” “Island Girl,” and “Little Jeannie” from the 1970-1990 era. The next decade plus is represented by songs “The One,” “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” “Circle of Life,” “Believe,” “Blessed,” “Something about the Way You Look Tonight,” “I Want Love,” “Written in the Stars,” and “This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore.”

Review Source(s):

Related DMDB Links:

Elton John’s DMDB page

Click on box above to check out the DMDB on Facebook.

Last updated February 1, 2011.