Elton John

I firmly believe that at his peak (1970-1975) this man was the greatest pop-rock melody writer of all time. His ability to create remarkable songs with such long winded choruses, jam packed with memorable hook after memorable hook, essentially choruses within choruses, and never overstuff or distract from the flow of the song is beyond anyone’s capability in the modern pop world; even his own at a certain point. Those chord progressions he created within his songs were so full of such rich nuance and emotion, truly exceptional for even the most satisfying of pop songs. And that voice… unlike any other. Being backed by one of the greatest backing bands and gifted lyricists ever doesn’t hurt either.

What a catalog of great music, but what an amazing run of LPs in his prime. Those 7-9 albums still stand up against anyone’s best.

Singles artist? I think not.

I reckon the reason why Elton's artist rank may not seem right could be that he was a lot more well known for his singles than albums (same with Elvis and Queen on here). But his early 70s albums are definitely worth your time and you can't deny the huge impact he has had on music and popular culture for over five decades now

So underrated on the site, one of the best musicians OAT, not to mention his live performances

From Caesar01 04/03/2021 16:29

For all the below comments on Elton John\'s artist rating: the problem is this site is called \'BestEverAlbums,\' not \'BestEverSingles.\' Imo, excepting Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (which itself suffers from the typical double-album bloat), Elton never put out full album experiences at the levels of other great artists. His ridiculous stretch of singles throughout the 70s made his legacy what it is today. This is to say, I agree he should be ranked higher, but his current ranking is the logical outcome of basing rankings on albums (he\'d probably be right up near the top if this was BestSinglesEver.com - I can think of very few other artists on this site whose twentieth highest rated song is an 86/100).\r\n\r\nWhen you have two Greatest Hits Albums full of classics that could each probably be doubled in length with little quality loss, you are a truly great artist. I have been listening to Elton John since I was a kid using my parents\' Greatest Hits CDs, and he still regularly features in my playlist rotation. He and Billy Joel are the gods of piano-based pop-rock, and I am sure I will still be listening to both of them when I am an old man myself.

Laughable that he's ranked as the 130th-best artist. I probably can't think of 30 better than him.

From Brandon8 11/03/2019 13:41

It’s been said in many comments already but bears repeating that Elton is underrated on this site. He was one of the great artists of the 1970s his run that decade rivals David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Stevie Wonder, Pink Floyd and maybe a few others. His best songs rival even The Beatles. The rest of his career is nothing to sneeze at either still plenty of classic singles.

From Goliath 10/01/2019 17:18

Painfully under-rated on this site, 130 in the artist rankings? How many other artists can release a double CD of greatest hits and there's not room for all of his hits? He could release a triple greatest hits album and there still would be no filler. There are 129 artists better than Elton John, the Egyptians built the great pyramid and the easter bunny is real.

I don't understand why Elton John is not rated in the top 20 on the BEA list. His volume of excellent and outstanding work should qualify him for something higher. He excels as singer, songwriter and musician. A true all-around talent.

From Liedzeit 09/02/2018 14:03

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Elton John is has released so much material in his lifetime that he has managed to become a favourite artist of mine even though I only really like/listen to 20% of his music (his 70s albums plus a few other songs). It always intrigued me why he relied on Bernie Taupin, Tim Rice and others for his lyrics, as often it's the music I'm in love with while the lyrics seem neither here nor there (e.g. Levon, Tiny Dancer). I'm sure he could have done just as good a job himself.
Elton John is a prolific talent whose music will always be memorable and hold special value.