вЂњCaribouвЂќ feels like the rush job it was, with John and his band banging out the basic tracks in a little over a week and then launching a tour of Japan while producer Gus Dudgeon overdubbed horns and backing vocals. The country leanings are most evident in вЂњTurn the Lights Out When You Leave.вЂќ It would have been nice to hear George Jones tackle that one. JohnвЂ™s only self-produced album, it is about contentment and where to find it, whether itвЂ™s while sitting on a вЂњPorch Swing in TupeloвЂќ or while pondering an вЂњAnswer in the SkyвЂќ that sounds suspiciously like вЂњPhiladelphia FreedomвЂќ slowed way down. As such, вЂњPeachtree RoadвЂќ is a mostly quiet treat. It is more like his Small-Sunday-Morning-Cup-of-Coffee-Thankful-for-the-Little-Things Album. вЂњPeachtree RoadвЂќ is not JohnвЂ™s Big Dumb Rock Album (that would be вЂњRock of the WestiesвЂќ stay tuned). Highlights include the long, rocking title track and the ballad, вЂњSkyline Pigeon,вЂќ which was a favorite, years later, of Ryan White, a young man suffering from AIDS who John befriended in the late 1980s. Featuring its share of obscure lyrics and knotty music, вЂњEmpty SkyвЂќ shows John and Taupin making the initial move away from the songs-for-hire they had been writing and toward a more personal style. It was not released in the United States until the height of Eltonmania in 1975. release 1975)ДЄ portrait of the John/Bernie Taupin songwriting team as very young men, вЂњEmpty SkyвЂќ was the British debut album and made little impact upon its 1969 release. True to its title, вЂњBlue MovesвЂќ is a melancholy set, typified by the only big hit single to emerge from it, вЂњSorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word.вЂќ In addition to вЂњSorry,вЂќ вЂњBlue MovesвЂќ is highlighted by a soaring orchestral ballad, вЂњTonightвЂќ and the atypically hard-rocking вЂњOne Horse Town.вЂќ Also, fans of Elton oddities might want to check out the instrumental вЂњOut of the Blue,вЂќ in which the band stretches out in an Allmanesque kind of way. Jackson Browne had already laid the groundwork for what is now called вЂњemoвЂќ music by 1977, but John made his contribution to the oh-so-sensitive genre with вЂњBlue Moves,вЂќ the second double album in his discography. In retrospect, вЂњBreaking HeartsвЂќ was JohnвЂ™s last decent record before a 15-year period that would include both success - the man won an Oscar during this time, after all - and failure, but would be an era conspicuously lacking any one consistently good John album. вЂњBreaking Hearts,вЂќ the follow-up to the critically and commercially successful вЂњcomebackвЂќ LP, вЂњToo Low For Zero,вЂќ was also a hit, led by вЂњSad Songs (Say So Much).вЂќ вЂњBreaking HeartsвЂќ isnвЂ™t a masterwork, but itвЂ™s a decent 1980s-style pop rock album, with rockers (вЂњRestlessвЂќ) and the by-now patented ballads (вЂњBurning BuildingsвЂќ). The following list includes the classics, along with a few albums that, while flawed or forgotten, contain moments that rank with Elton JohnвЂ™s best and/or most interesting work.

Elton john albums discography