The second Elton John collection of Elton John hits is probably the second Elton John record I ever owned, though I had heard lots of his music from the other records many times over the years. This is a bizarre record because it includes some tracks that probably should have been on the first greatest hits record. There are also some questionable choices. A few different versions of this release were made, but I have the original Canadian pressing with the lyric booklet.
This record contains Elton's cover of The Who's Pinball Wizard, a song that I was sure Elton wrote, until I learned otherwise. I will also admit that I thought Elton had written Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. These were the days of innocent youth, and I only had a basic knowledge of the Beatles, being far too young to really know too much about them. The Beatles had ceased to be a band long before I had any interest in music.
I really wished that the record had excluded Don't Go Breaking My Heart because I detest that song. As previously mentioned, I am not a big fan of Island Girl. I suppose I should confess that I bought 7" singles of both songs, way back when. Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word is yet another track that leaves me cold. One other borderline song appears here, and that tune is Philadelphia Freedom. That's a miss for me, but I don't hate it. It had been released as a single, and was first collected here, though later bastardized CD copies of Captain Fantastic add it as a bonus track. I have no idea why, apart from the fact that they are from the same year.
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