Posted: 3/27/2009 10:57 PM
(Edited: 3/28/2009 11:43 PM)
Post subject: The Elton John Appreciation Thread
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Fabian
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Joined: 6/15/2005
Posts: 1711
Hi y'all, My favorite music artist in the whole wide world is Elton John. I believe he doesn't get anywhere near the credit he deserves nowadays, as a talented artist and an absolutely stellar live performer. Seriously, there are zero artists, ever, who can compare to Elton John in a live setting. This is just my opinion of course, but as you all know, my opinion counts for a lot! If you don't know Elton John at all, here's a brief summary to get you up to speed. Elton John is a pop/rock piano player/singer/songwriter who made fantastic music in the 70s, and occasionally some good stuff since then. In my opinion, he was super mega awesome for basically the entire 70's, 1970-1979. He's often looked down upon by the general public for just being "some gay guy" with flamboyant costumes, but that couldn't be further from the truth. I mean, yes, he did wear some pretty funky stuff in his day, but letting his public image get in the way of the music he made and performed would be a great mistake, imo. Here's my feeble attempt at getting a bunch of video game nerds to appreciate some awesome music you've probably never given much of a chance before. No offense to you all, of course, you know I kid. Below are my 10 favorite performances by Elton John, listed from super mega awesome to really extra super duper mega awesome. Every one of them is a live recording, with just Elton and his piano (in one or two songs, there's some additional backing by other instruments, but you can barely tell). A few of them are of pretty questionable sound quality, unfortunately, but most of them are good. I urge you all to give them a listen! If all you like is techno and trance, this might not be for you, but if you do like actual music, I bet most of you will appreciate at least some of these songs. Needless to say, there are many many more songs nearly as good as these ones: 10. Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Edinburgh, 1976) (the sound is prety quiet unfortunately) 9. Tiny Dancer (1971) 8. Grimsby (Old Grey Whistle Test, 1974) (Upbeat song) 7. Daniel (Edinburgh, 1976) (Upbeat song) 6. Don't Go Breaking My Heart (Edinburgh, 1976) (originally a duet, Elton sings both parts in this one. Upbeat song) 5. Ticking (Old Grey Whistle Test, 1974) 4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (The Muppet Show, 1978) Unfortunately a slightly truncated version of the original song, this is still so so good. This one isn't solo, by the way, it features plenty of instruments. 3. Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters (1972) 2. Sixty Years On (Edinburgh, 1976) This concert was indescribably good. The high point of music, ever. 1. Skyline Pigeon (Edinburgh, 1976) A version with even better sound (and video), can be found here. Watch/listen to this one. Best 1:53 minutes of music ever created. In my opinion. I hope most of you gave some of my links an honest shot. If you did, and you didn't like it, oh well, thanks for trying. If you did find some enjoyment from the links, I'm really glad. Please let me know what you think; flaming/discussion/praise/etc, it's all good. Thanks for reading.
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
Posted: 3/27/2009 11:11 PM
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alden
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IMO this song sampling Tiny Dancer is awesome: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iDDdpxEf9hM Sample starts around 1:45 if you want to skip some of the cussing.
I make a comic with no image files and you should read it. While there is a lower class, I am in it, and while there is a criminal element I am of it, and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free. -Eugene Debs
Posted: 3/27/2009 11:19 PM
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Fabian
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Joined: 6/15/2005
Posts: 1711
That particular performance of Tiny Dancer (which might be even better than the one I put in the links up there), can be found here (1971), for the interested.
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
Posted: 3/28/2009 12:13 AM
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pirate_sephiroth
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New systems TAS of 2009
ah, you'd better start a thread about Emma Watson and her eyebrows.
"Genuine self-esteem, however, consists not of causeless feelings, but of certain knowledge about yourself. It rests on the conviction that you — by your choices, effort and actions — have made yourself into the kind of person able to deal with reality. It is the conviction — based on the evidence of your own volitional functioning — that you are fundamentally able to succeed in life and, therefore, are deserving of that success." - Onkar Ghate
Bisqwit wrote:
Drama, too long, didn't read, lol.
Posted: 3/28/2009 8:43 AM
Post subject: Re: The Elton John Appreciation Thread
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Warp
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Joined: 3/10/2004
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Location: Finland
Fabian wrote:
If all you like is techno and trance, this might not be for you, but if you do like actual music
Define "actual music". What is it in techno and trance that isn't "actual music"? (And don't go with the BS that they use synthesized instruments, as if that was in any way related to the definition of "music".) Personally I found most of those Elton John songs you listed rather bland and uninteresting, if not even outright boring pop music, with nothing special going on. "Don't go breaking my heart" had a bit of groove in it, but not so much as to make it really interesting. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" is a more known song which can be heard often in radio, etc, and rather ok, but IMO otherwise not particularly special either. Personally I find most pop and rock music bland and boring. They all sound the same and they have nothing special. There are only few exceptions.
Posted: 3/28/2009 9:03 AM
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Bag_of_Magic_Food
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Hmm, I only knew Elton John as the guy who did those Lion King songs.
put yourself in my rocketpack if that poochie is one outrageous dude
Posted: 3/28/2009 2:49 PM
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Sticky
Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota
You have "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" but no "Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"? I love how he starts off sombre and slow and randomly transitions to badassery and quickness. Blows my load every time :3 Aside from The GYBR album, though, I am not too familiar with him... clicking links HO!
adelikat wrote:
I very much agree with this post.
Bobmario511 wrote:
Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.
Posted: 3/28/2009 5:49 PM
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Fabian
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Joined: 6/15/2005
Posts: 1711
You know Warp, when I wrote that, I was like "hahaha I bet Warp is going to be that guy who wants to confront me about this lolol". Do I know my audience. Sticky, FFAF is a great song, there's only so much room in a top 10 list though :) Here's a link to Funeral For A Friend. Unsurprisingly, it's a piano solo version, which is (imo) much better than the studio version :) It's an instrumental by the way, for those not familiar. It's the first song in the above link. Bag, Elton John is indeed that guy from the Lion King.
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
Posted: 3/28/2009 7:33 PM
(Edited: 3/28/2009 7:36 PM)
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BillBull
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You forgot about Rocket Man! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvQwXOCKNLY) Elton's got a lot of good songs, like you said Fabian. Some of my favorites that haven't been mentioned yet are Crockodile Rock, Bennie and the Jets, The Bitch is Back, Honkey Cat, etc. Another good one is from the 2001 Grammy Awards, where Eminem and Elton sing Stan. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ptx5UKAu8Fg) It's a little different style, but it's still really good. Elton's good, but to say he's the best live performer is a stretch. However, this is an Elton appreciation thread, so I'll leave it at that :)
Posted: 3/28/2009 7:35 PM
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Warp
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Fabian wrote:
You know Warp, when I wrote that, I was like "hahaha I bet Warp is going to be that guy who wants to confront me about this lolol". Do I know my audience.
I bet 90% of my posts show disagreement... Anyways, I was not confronting you. I was expressing my honest opinion. I do find 99.99% of pop and rock music out there rather bland and uninteresting. In the end they all sound the same and don't stand out from the crowd in any way.
Posted: 3/28/2009 8:22 PM
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BillBull
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Oh, and you can't forget about Bernie Taupin. Most of the words that Elton sang came from Bernie. He wrote the lyrics to a lot of Elton's songs, viz. Rocket Man, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Candle in the Wind, and many many more.
Posted: 3/28/2009 10:15 PM
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Rick
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I've enjoyed what I've heard from Elton John, though I'm much more familiar with his stuff from the 80s to early 2000s than I am with any of his older hits, which is kind of a shame on my end, I suppose.
http://wiki.rustedlogic.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor The Cutting Room Floor wiki.
Posted: 3/28/2009 11:02 PM
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Sticky
Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota
Correct me if I am wrong, but: IIRC Elton John was a Disney whore for a couple years... and then he popped out and said "I'm gay." I don't think he has worked with Disney since...
adelikat wrote:
I very much agree with this post.
Bobmario511 wrote:
Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.
Posted: 3/28/2009 11:06 PM
(Edited: 3/28/2009 11:51 PM)
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Fabian
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Joined: 6/15/2005
Posts: 1711
Sticky wrote:
Correct me if I am wrong, but: IIRC Elton John was a Disney whore for a couple years... and then he popped out and said "I'm gay." I don't think he has worked with Disney since...
I shall correct you :) Elton John came out as a bisexual in 1976. In 1987, he came out as gay. In 1994, he made The Lion King. As far as I know, he hasn't made anything else with/for Disney. He's made a couple for musicals in the late 90s/early 00's, but I don't think they're Disney related (Aida/The Road to El Dorado). Again, I believe the only Disney related thing Elton ever did was the Lion King, a solid 5+ years after he came out as gay. Dan, that Stan link is indeed pretty cool imo. When you say Elton isn't a world class live performer, I hope you're talking about Elton in his prime (mid'ish 70's), and not modern day Elton, who's obviously not what he once was. Otherwise, to each his own, rock on. Also, my favorite Rocket Man (Edinburgh, 1976) performance, though I'm not a big fan of this song in general, to be honest. Rick, I'm glad to hear that. Elton's definitely made some very good stuff during that time period, but if you like that, I bet you'd like quite a bit of his early stuff too. Edit: Actually, speaking of the "newer" Elton John of the 2000's, there's this particular concert from Ephesus, Turkey from 2001 which I think is really good. Below are a bunch of links to really good performances from that particular concert, if you want to check out what Elton is like as a 50+ year old: This Train Don't Stop There Anymore (This is my personal favorite of these. It's very good, and pretty close to cracking the top 10 of the overall list, imo) Circle of Life Nikita Sacrifice Burn Down the Mission (some quite neat piano solos in this one) I also feel obligated to include Elton's single greatest hit, Your Song. This is a very early song of his, from his second studio album, from 1970. This particular version, is of course solo piano: Your Song (1970)
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
Posted: 3/28/2009 11:15 PM
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Rick
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I do know of a few scattered songs of Elton John's before the 80s. I think Crocodile Rock was one of them, yes? Recommend me a few good ones and I'll give 'em a listen next time I'm using YouTube for a jukebox.
http://wiki.rustedlogic.net/The_Cutting_Room_Floor The Cutting Room Floor wiki.
Posted: 3/28/2009 11:26 PM
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Fabian
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Well Rick, the entire top 10 list I posted in the original post, is of course 1970's Elton, and pretty much the best links I can come up with. There's more, though! Crocodile Rock (1973) Crocodile Rock (1978, The Muppet Show) Bennie And The Jets (Edinburgh, 1976) (another one amongst his very greatest hits). Sweet Painted Lady (Edinburgh, 1976) (Just a beautiful song, also quite close to the top 10 list) Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word (Edinburgh, 1976) (another quite popular one, famously covered like 5 years ago by Blue) I Think I'm Going To Kill Myself (Edinburgh, 1976) (This one is just awesomely swingy :)) I Need You To Turn To (1976, Edinburgh) If you want even more, I'd be more than happy to find some more good stuff for you :) Edit: A few more! Don't Go Breaking My Heart (The Muppet Show, 1978)(Duet with none other than Miss Piggy) Bennie And The Jets (The Muppet Show, 1978) (Very truncated version of the actual song. Still, very very good. Plus, you know, muppets)
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
Posted: 3/29/2009 12:44 AM
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Sticky
Joined: 2/26/2007
Posts: 1365
Location: Minnesota
Well shit. Thought I had legit random/useless knowledge about Elton John... guess I was wrong. Thanks for the correction, though ;P I had no clue Crocodile Rock was by him... in fact, most of the songs he sang I had no clue it was him ^_^;
adelikat wrote:
I very much agree with this post.
Bobmario511 wrote:
Forget party hats, Christmas tree hats all the way man.
Posted: 5/8/2009 10:09 PM
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Fabian
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Posts: 1711
Bump! I just found a version of Your Song, arguably Elton's most famous hit, I've never heard before, and it's probably my favorite version to date. Here it is, don't know where it's from. The youtube video says 1976, but based on how he sounds and looks (yes, I'm that big of a geek), it looks like it's from 1971 or 1972. Most definitely not 1976, anyway. Really cool, either way.
Zoey Ridin' High <Fabian_> I prett much never drunk
Posted: 5/10/2009 6:48 PM
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Dada
Joined: 11/22/2004
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Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Fabian wrote:
You know Warp, when I wrote that, I was like "hahaha I bet Warp is going to be that guy who wants to confront me about this lolol". Do I know my audience.
What did you expect, really? By saying "my favorite music is so much better than the crap that <random other music culture> listens to" you guaranteed it would happen. Not that I listen to trance, but... you know. That's how arguments get started. By saying provocative things. Anyway, I kind of like Eric Clapton but I actually know very little about him. I can tell he's within range of my musical sweet spot, though[1]. I guess I'll check out those links later. [1]: Dylan, Cale, Leonard Cohen, Ramones, Buckley, Young, Lowe, plus about a thousand other relevant artists and a slew of old to very old blues players...
Posted: 5/10/2009 7:04 PM
(Edited: 5/10/2009 7:09 PM)
Post subject: Re: The Elton John Appreciation Thread
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Kuwaga
Joined: 10/20/2006
Posts: 1248
Fabian wrote:
My favorite music artist in the whole wide world is Elton John. .... This is just my opinion of course, but as you all know, my opinion counts for a lot!
I've interpreted this as a fake display of narcism to come off as funny. And as an excuse for creating this topic.
Fabian wrote:
If all you like is techno and trance, this might not be for you, but if you do like actual music...
I've taken this as seriously as the first quote. And as a potential lure so that somebody who took the whole thing literally will make an honest reply to it making Fabian feel superior. ;)
Posted: 5/10/2009 7:07 PM
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sixofour
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Who listens to music with words in 2009 anyways? Its either pitiful dramatism, garbage, or propaganda. Though Trance today is also horrible, DNB, Jungle, Goa for the win.
[00:31:12] <stickie> by the way, thanks for the sig sixofour [00:31:23] <sixofour> dejavu [00:31:25] <sixofour> what sig? [00:31:55] <stickie> you will just have to find out *insert mystical music*
Posted: 5/10/2009 7:15 PM
(Edited: 5/10/2009 7:18 PM)
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Kuwaga
Joined: 10/20/2006
Posts: 1248
I listen to music with words, but in a language I don't understand. I only look up the song meanings if I'm bored. Lots of those I've looked up have quite philosophical meanings. (Probably what you refer to as garbage?)
Posted: 5/10/2009 7:15 PM
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sixofour
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Hah, actually I do have music in arabic. And i think a few chinese songs. Nah garbage words to me are: "Yeah, boi, smack dat bitch den hop in may 36 inch rimed up, chromed up dobuled up domed up..mother cfuk...etc etc" "my wife left me, my dog bit me [country chords] my children hate me and i'm a drunk" "oops i did it again!!"
[00:31:12] <stickie> by the way, thanks for the sig sixofour [00:31:23] <sixofour> dejavu [00:31:25] <sixofour> what sig? [00:31:55] <stickie> you will just have to find out *insert mystical music*
Posted: 5/10/2009 7:22 PM
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Kuwaga
Joined: 10/20/2006
Posts: 1248
Elton John seems to be quite enjoyable. Not for me though, there's too little going on in the songs to make me interested in them. His voice is quite versatile, soulful and interesting to listen to. But just that and a piano, plus very ordinary and simple structuring of the songs just isn't enough for me.
Posted: 5/12/2009 3:16 PM
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inichi
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TAS of 2009 SNES TAS of 2009 Glitchy TAS of 2009
This is my favorite. Elton John In His Living Room