Elton John

Greatest Hits Volume 2 (1977)

1.The Bitch is Back
2.Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
3.Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word (#)
4.Don't Go Breaking My Heart (#)
5.Someone Saved My Life Tonight
6.Philadelphia Freedom
7.Island Girl
8.Grow Some Funk of Your Own
9.Levon
10.Pinball Wizard

# These 2 songs were taken off, added to another greatest hits album, and replaced by "Tiny Dancer" and "I Feel Like A Bullet" sometime during the early 1990s.

How do you get another Greatest Hits package less than three years after the last one? Not as difficult as it may sound. Since Elton was temporarily "retired" when this compilation came out, it seemed to be a smart move. Since there was still a wealth of material to choose from, the overall standard didn't suffer as one may have feared.

First of all, two songs that were "missed" on the first greatest hits package found their way on here: The Bitch is Back from Caribou and the beautiful Levon from Madman Across the Water. Then you throw in several singles that were never included on any album, Philadelphia Freedom, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Don't Go Breaking My Heart (his latest number one, a duet with Kiki Dee) and the great remake of The Who's Pinball Wizard from the Rock Opera Tommy. It was then remarkably easy to add the hits from the three years since the first compilation. These songs were Someone Saved My Life Tonight from Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy , Island Girl and Grow Some Funk Of Your Own from Rock of the Westies and Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word from Blue Moves. This package, along with the first Greatest Hits release made these the prime choice for any fan of Elton John in the 1970s.

It should also be pointed out that contract disputes forced the album to change somewhat in the early nineties. For whatever reason, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word and Don't Go Breaking My Heart were taken off and added to a third greatest hits record and in its place were now I Feel Like A Bullet from Rock of the Westies and Tiny Dancer from Madman Across the Water. This change actually made a more well rounded out selection since these two songs should have been included somewhere on one of the first two Greatest Hits packages in the first place.

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