Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player
by Elton John

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player by Elton John
Year: 1973
Release date: 1973-01-26
Overall rank: 3,745th   Overall chart history
Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 245 votes)
  Ratings distribution   Average rating history
Accolades:
Award Top albums of 1973 (66th)
Award Top albums of of the 1970s (630th)
Award Best albums of all time (3,745th)

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Elton John Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player LP MCA-2100 1973 1stPR EX/VG
Condition: Used


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Elton John Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player 1973 US Press + booklet VG+
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ELTON JOHN Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only The Piano Player 1973 LP NM Vinyl
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Elton John bestography

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player is ranked 6th best out of 56 albums by Elton John on BestEverAlbums.com.

The best album by Elton John is Goodbye Yellow Brick Road which is ranked number 208 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 7,370.

Elton John album bestography « Higher ranked (1,530th)
Honky Château
This album (3,745th)
Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player
Lower ranked (4,077th) »
Greatest Hits

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

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Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player track list

  Track ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 80 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 3,745th | 1970s rank: 630th | 1973 rank: 66th

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player collection

Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player ratings

Average Rating: 
75/100 (from 245 votes)
  Ratings distribution Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album.  | Show all 245 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
80/100
 !
06/23/2026 20:43 juanr1096  Ratings distribution  6,20378/100
 
65/100
 !
05/10/2026 12:00 Adhura  Ratings distribution  1,68277/100
 
85/100
 !
04/24/2026 13:40 VictorVale  Ratings distribution  3,85481/100
 
70/100
 !
01/01/2026 23:52 Exist-en-ciel  Ratings distribution  13,79870/100
 
75/100
 !
11/08/2025 10:49 Imaybeparanoid  Ratings distribution  7,39671/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 7% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 75.4/100, a mean average of 74.7/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 75.5/100. The standard deviation for this album is 13.4.

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Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player favourites

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Don't Shoot Me I'm Only The Piano Player comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 12 comments |
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Rating:  
80/100
From 09/23/2025 17:48 | #311028
Some really great tracks here but, for some reason it’s never grabbed me quite like madman…., honky chateau or blues moves have. Probably due a reappraisal
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/21/2025 06:09 | #310995
Favorite tracks: Daniel, Blues For My Baby And Me, High Flying Bird.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
This could have been one of his best with some absolute concentration and care. A couple of fillers...
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 07/27/2020 15:34 | #256285
Please Don't Shoot Elton. Rating (75.50)
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
Another in that incredible run of LP's Elton John released in the seventies. Great songs as always including, Daniel, eldebery wine, and, crocodile rock. I don't think it's as good as some of his other albums around this time but it's stil a good record. Elton really was on a roll at this time.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 02/01/2015 22:29 | #133682
Amazing top tracks, but it drops off. He always seems to have 75% of a brillian album.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (3 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
From 01/31/2015 15:33 | #133371
Best Track: Crocodile Rock
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (2 helpful | 3 unhelpful)
"This is a largely melody-based album- Its purpose is to find its way into your brain and stick there. There are piano hooks, lush vocal harmonies, and easily-clappable drum beats. There are cheesy lyrics, dated 70s moments, and clean production. Here on BEA we typically see those aspects as detriments to an album's quality, but that view is largely ignorant of albums that use those aspects to their advantage. Don't Shoot Me takes those attributes and utilizes them better than any album before or after."
^From my chart description of the album

I probably give Don't Shoot Me a bit too much credit…but I have a great emotional connection to the record and truly love it on every level.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +4 votes (4 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
More piano pop goodness from Elton, continuing the embellished groove he and his band team found on "Honky Chateau", he apes his musical heros well, especially on "crocodile rock".
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
Fifth high quality album in a row by Elton John. The bonus tracks on the CD release are also great.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +2 votes (3 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
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