| REVIEWER | RATING & REVIEW |
 | FranksWildYears (48)
07/04/2007 | The album made when Elton John was at or at least near the peak of his monster hit making period, it lacks the warmth and grit of his early work like Tumbleweed Connection or the brilliantly loose and raucus live album 11-17-70. There are some classic tracks and a few cuts like Grey Seal and Harmony that stand up better than the singles. But a judicous record company could have pared a half dozen songs out and made a better single disc package.
(2 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | GreggOrange (17)
04/18/2007 | I find all of Elton John's material to be irritating, unsubstantial, pretentious, phony, dull, condescending and ingenuine. I don't care if the guy is a flaming poof or not, his music is nothing more than pop fluff piano crap for the masses. Not my cup of tea. I hear his music on the stereo and I leave the room. I hear his music on the radio and I flip the dial. End of story.
(2 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | MDStewart (10)
02/13/2007 | THis album was the radio's dream machine. It was a plethora of hits, one after the other, all uniquely qualified to become a classic. Yet this album misses something. If one listens to Elton's previous albums, one can easily see that John was not always aiming specifically for the commerial side of things. He and Bernie were definitely at the top of their game, and no one can argue with the lyrical content and the melodies with which John delivered them. What's missing here is a maturity that John had prior to this album, and some sort of adolescant awakening to re-invent the 60's.
(2 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | MedgarEvers (14)
07/20/2006 | Canonically considered the greatest of Elton John's albums, the more interested and educated fans know something more. This might represent the commercial peak in Elton John's career, yielding a lot of top singles, but for all its glitziness and variety of songs and popularity, it lacks the emotional magic of so many of his earlier albums. Certain songs on "Yellow Brick Road" still have their freshness and have not been played out, "Grey Seal" and "Love Lies Bleeding" for example. But overall, I would rather hear "The Tumbleweed Connection" or the self-titled album that followed. Or even one of the albums leading up to the commercial apex of "Yellow Brick Road," such as "Don't Shoot Me I'm the Piano Player." Still, four stars because it is an impressive album.
(2 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 1 agree) |
 | cwschl (0)
03/29/2006 | One of the greatest albums ever recorded. This work captures every aspect of Elton's amazing musical talent and Bernie's writing. Just the amount of airplay of the hits from this album confirms its timeless material.
....can anyone else imagine using the sexual orientation of the artist as a measure of thier talent?
(3 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | doobiesNhof (21)
03/15/2006 | One of the top albums of the 70s and maybe Elton's best (but that's debatable). Includes: 'Funeral For A Friend', 'Bennie and The Jets' and
'Saturday's Alright For Fighting'.
(1 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | edt4 (99)
11/11/2005 | Of course, I was a lot younger when this came out, and a lot less discriminating, but there were some beautiful and emotionally evocative compositions contained in this collection, as well as some diversity and experimentation with (for the time, at least) exotic musical genres, and was really the last time that John did anything that I would describe as "great". Certainly, it was the last time I bought any of his records. Not to say that he didn't produce an interesting song or 2 after this, but the bulk of his material seemed to become bland and boring. Maybe it was the cocaine...
(4 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | Kairho (11)
10/12/2005 | Another magnificent album from a composer and performer who is to be "worshipped" or not based on his music, not because he is gay.
(3 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | 2xtrm (0)
03/19/2005 | I think Elton John is one of the stupidest singers in the music scene. I think that a person as gay as he is should not have the life that he lives. Why should we worship such a person for their music if they are gay.
(1 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | ChristByNameOnly (0)
11/21/2004 | This is my favorite album of all time. Bernie's lyrics really conveyed to me what the social scene in UK was like at that time. From bulldogs, waves crashing and hoofbeats, the special effect sounds framed the songs well.
Davey Johnstone played a Les Paul on some of the songs, which by far is the best sounding guitar. This is the album that put Elton over the top. The art work and lyrics printed inside the vinyl album cover were unique. A semi-remake of Candle in the Wind called Goodbye Egland's Rose recorded 20 or so years later became the largest selling single of all time.
Could someone inform SmileyFace that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is the title track of a two disc album containing many more great songs.
(2 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | frogger20190 (3)
07/26/2004 | Some tracks are among the best Elton ever recorded (my favorite is Harmony, the album closer that should have been a big hit, but wasn't a single). Other songs annoy me, but not enough to take away from the pleasure of this album. Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting and Bennie and the Jets were killed from overexposure. And the mood jumps around a bit. Then again, not every album can be Madman Across the Water (Elton's best, in my opinion).
(1 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | VirileVagabond (32)
12/03/2003 | Released in 1973, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road could be considered Elton John's best full-length effort (and is his best in my opinion). (Though with four original vinyl sides with which to work, Elton and Taupin had plenty of opportunity to get a lot right.) The release starts with the slowing climaxing Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding and continues to include some of Elton's most well known work including the (often recycled) Candle In The Wind, Bennie And The Jets, Saturday's Alright For Fighting, and the title track. Of course the fun does not stop there as this release also includes some of his better, though lesser known songs, most notably Grey Seal, All The Girls Love Alice, and Harmony, (The first two of these lesser known tracks being my personal favorites.)
(4 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
 | lauren33 (0)
07/05/2003 | This is a great album. I love Funeral for a Friend/Loves lies bleeding and The title track... This is a great show of Elton and Bernie's song writing ability and the ability to churn out great hits. One of the best classic albums.
(1 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
| the transgressors (0)
06/09/2003 | four and a half stars. This and Honkey Chateau are Elton & Bernie Taupin's best work.
(3 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
| john davies (2)
02/06/2002 | I'm both surprised and disappointed to find this quite magnificent album so low in the ratings here.It recently returned to the British top 50 charts,after 28 years,and is still a classic reminder of why Elton came to be so phenomenally successful;full of superb melodies and pop-rock standards-Candle in the Wind(The beautiful original,to Marilyn Monroe),Goodbye Yellow Brick Road,Bennie and the Jets,Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting,Roy Rogers,The Ballad of Danny Bailey,the quite tremendous,atmospheric Funeral for a Friend..and others.The soaring quality of the music is maintained through its double album length.I know Elton isn't for all tastes,but for those of you unfamiliar with his early work,it's definitely well worth discovering.
(7 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
| SmileyFace (0)
06/11/2001 | For some unforseen reason, this song really irks me
(6 voted this helpful, 0 funny and 0 agree) |
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