Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy (studio album)
by Elton John

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John
Year: 1975
Overall rank: 1,124th   Overall chart historyOverall chart history
Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 440 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution   Average rating historyAverage rating history
Accolades:
Award Top 20 albums of 1975 (19th)
Award Top albums of the 1970s (232nd)
Award Best albums of all time (1,124th)

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Elton John - Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy [Multi-Color Vinyl]
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Elton John, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Live! Sealed
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ELTON JOHN CAPTAIN FANTASTIC AND THE BROWN DIRT COWBOY [50TH ANNIVERSARY] [2 LP]
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Elton John bestography

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy is ranked 3rd 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 212 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 7,438.

Elton John album bestography « Higher ranked (1,026th)
Madman Across The Water
This album (1,124th)
Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy
Lower ranked (1,186th) »
Tumbleweed Connection

(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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Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy track list

  Track ratingsTrack ratings The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy rankings

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy collection

Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy ratings

Average Rating: 
78/100 (from 440 votes)
  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 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 440 ratings for this album.

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RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
60/100
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4 days ago NYAndreas  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 91955/100
 
75/100
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11/09/2025 21:26 BurndenAce  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 99377/100
 
70/100
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10/29/2025 19:14 machiaj  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 76771/100
 
50/100
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08/09/2025 11:22 solunastra  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 21080/100
 
70/100
 Report rating
07/13/2025 10:33 Imaybeparanoid  Ratings distributionRatings distribution 7,28071/100

Rating metrics: 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 3% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 77.5/100, a mean average of 76.6/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 77.7/100. The standard deviation for this album is 15.1.

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Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 31 comments |
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Rating:  
75/100
From 03/09/2025 12:18
Shortlisted at the Grammy's in 1976 for album of the year. the winner was Still Crazy After All These Years by Paul Simon
#307939 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
70/100
From 07/15/2023 14:49
This album exposes a flaw in the site’s ranking methodology. It’s a fine record, but not one with any business ranking ahead of the far superior Tumbleweed Connection. While the ratings are strangely close, the community narrowly prefers TC, but CFatBDC tacks on loads of points from best-of-the-year lists because it arrived in a lackluster year, while TC competes with dozens of all-time classics.
#298124 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 09/06/2022 15:44
My personal favorite from EJ
#289310 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/23/2022 15:27
I have totally missed this album. 87&100
#284533 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 04/03/2022 21:19
An interesting album to explore in terms of its concept and it is very enjoyable to look into the lyrics behind each song. Elton John's vocal is brilliant all the way through and he really delivers the lyrics with a passion on this release. Songs like the Title Track and the ballad Someone Saved My Life Tonight really emphasise this. It is quite a complex album with its instrumentation as well which gives us lots of reasons to come back and discover more on later listens. However, what lets this album down is the lack of really good songs. Every song is decent but there are not many which truly push the limits of the music. This makes the record feel quite repetitive due to the high level of filler. Overall, a consistent release that lacks that edge to propel it to the next level but I feel like if I was a mega fan of Elton John this would probably be my favourite release of his.
#283784 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 03/28/2021 18:55
Foi um clássico imediato por uma boa razão, não tem uma música ruim!
#267892 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 07/28/2020 20:04
This grew on my quick. Rating (79.00)
#256373 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 03/22/2020 16:20
I'll never forget listening to this album while waiting in line to get tickets for Elton's 1975 Tour Shows in Oakland. They sold out just before I get to the door, but luckily a high school friend got two! Amazing show with Elton at his peak. This album along with Physical Graffiti, Wish You Were Here, One of These Nights and Venus & Mars (Wings) take me right back to my Junior Year of High School here in S.F.

Favorites: the entire Album!!!
#249011 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +1 votes (1 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 01/28/2020 01:28
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirty Cowboy has a cool concept. The songs on the album aren't really to be consumed on their own, Only as part of the story. With the exception of Someone Saved My Life Tonight and possibly the title track. I also like the first half a bit more than the second. I'd probably rank at least 3 Elton John albums higher than this one.

Key tracks: Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy, Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Bitter Fingers and Tower of Babel.
#247240 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 05/06/2018 08:25
Mayhaps I only think so highly of this album because of nostalgia. Regardless, I think this is Elton's best, im in love with that title track. But also nearly every other song is jammy and catchy too. yeah this all might just be nostalgic drivel. Oh well, it's all the same to me, I love it.
#214270 | Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | +3 votes (3 helpful | 0 unhelpful)

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Best Albums of 1975
1. Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd
2. Blood On The Tracks by Bob Dylan
3. Born To Run by Bruce Springsteen
4. Physical Graffiti by Led Zeppelin
5. A Night At The Opera by Queen
6. Another Green World by Eno
7. Horses by Patti Smith
8. Tonight's The Night by Neil Young
9. Fleetwood Mac by Fleetwood Mac
10. The Hissing Of Summer Lawns by Joni Mitchell
11. Mothership Connection by Parliament
12. Toys In The Attic by Aerosmith
13. The Köln Concert by Keith Jarrett
14. Zuma by Neil Young & Crazy Horse
15. Young Americans by David Bowie
16. The Basement Tapes by Bob Dylan & The Band
17. Expensive Shit by Fela Kuti & Africa 70
18. Sabotage by Black Sabbath
19. Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy by Elton John
20. Ommadawn by Mike Oldfield
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