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The Very Best of Elton John
Compilation album by Elton John
Released	1 October 1990
Recorded	1970–1990
Genre	Rock, pop
Length	137:56
Label	Polygram
Producer	Gus Dudgeon, Clive Franks, Chris Thomas, Don Was
Elton John chronology
Sleeping with the Past (1989) The Very Best of Elton John (1990) To Be Continued... (1990)
Singles from The Very Best of Elton John
"You Gotta Love Someone" Released: 8 October 1990 "Easier to Walk Away" Released: November 1990

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music

The Very Best of Elton John is a greatest hits compilation album by English musician Elton John, released in October 1990. His first career-retrospective compilation album, and fourth official greatest-hits album overall, it was released in the United Kingdom and throughout Europe, and in other countries such as Japan and Australia, but not in the United States, where the box set To Be Continued... was released the following month instead.

The compilation spans his second album Elton John in 1970 to Sleeping with the Past in 1989. After the double A-sided "Sacrifice/Healing Hands" single became a hit and the third best-selling single of 1990 in the United Kingdom, the album became an instant smash in that country. It spent its first two weeks at #1 on the UK Albums Chart followed by nine weeks at #2, kept there by Madonna's Immaculate Collection. In all, the compilation spent 145 weeks inside the UK top 200 album chart, making a total of 11 re-entries, and it was certified 9× Platinum by the BPI on 1 March 1995.

It includes a total of 28 hit singles plus the new songs "Easier to Walk Away" and "You Gotta Love Someone", both of which also made the charts between 1990 and 1991. The release also spawned a music video compilation, which was originally released on both laserdisc and VHS, and reissued on DVD.

Track listing

Disc one

Disc two

• Track 25 is different on European version of the album. "Whispers" from Sleeping with the Past takes the place of "Passengers".
• "Pinball Wizard", "The Bitch Is Back", "I Don't Wanna Go on With You Like That" and "Easier to Walk Away" are excised from the vinyl version of the compilation.
• The timings are different on the back cover and the actual CD. On Disc 1, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is listed as 6:12, while the actual song runs at 5:38 and "Philadelphia Freedom" runs at 5:42, rather at 5:19. On Disc 2, the back cover shows Song For Guy running at 5:02, but the actual track runs at 6:40 (the album length of the song). The same applies for "Nikita", which the back cover states for 4:53 but the actual song plays at 5:44. "I Don't Wanna Go on With You Like That" is the radio single edit on the CD (4:00) instead of the back cover's album cut listing of 4:33.

B-sides

Music video compilation

1. "Your Song" (Top of the Pops 1971 live version)
2. "Daniel" (Top of the Pops 1973 live version)
3. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (Top of the Pops 1973 live version)
4. "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" (with Kiki Dee)
5. "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" (BBC Live Christmas Show version)
6. "Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long Long Time)" (live at Wembley 1977 version)
7. "Blue Eyes"
8. "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues"
9. "I'm Still Standing"
10. "Kiss the Bride"
11. "Sad Songs (Say So Much)"
12. "Passengers"
13. "Nikita"
14. "Wrap Her Up"
15. "Candle in the Wind" (live in Australia 1986 version)
16. "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" (live in Prince's Trust 1987 version)
17. "I Don't Wanna Go on with You Like That"
18. "Philadelphia Freedom" (live in Verona 1989 version)
19. "Sacrifice"
20. "You Gotta Love Someone"

Charts

Certifications and sales

References

1. https://www.allmusic.com/album/r471536
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5. "Austriancharts.at – Elton John – The Very Best of Elton John" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
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7. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
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13. Music & Media, vol. 7, issue 51; December 22, 1990.
14. Salaverri, Fernando (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
15. "Swedishcharts.com – Elton John – The Very Best of Elton John". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
16. "Swisscharts.com – Elton John – The Very Best of Elton John". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
17. "Elton John | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
18. "Ultratop.be – Elton John – The Very Best Of Elton John" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
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21. "ARIA Top 100 Albums for 1991". Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
22. "Jahreshitparade Alben 1991". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
23. "Jaaroverzichten – Album 1991". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
24. "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
25. "Top Selling Albums of 1991". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
26. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1991". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
27. "Jaaroverzichten 1995". Ultratop. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
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29. "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 1997 Albums" (PDF). Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
30. "Austrian album certifications – Elton John – Very Best of" (in German). IFPI Austria. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
31. "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – albums 1995". Ultratop. Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
32. "Brazilian album certifications – Elton John – The Very Best of Elton John" (in Portuguese). Pro-Música Brasil.
33. ^ "Elton John" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 14 October 2012.
34. "Elton John - 30 Years of Music". Billboard. 4 October 1997. p. EJ-34.
35. "French album certifications – Elton John – The Very Best of" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
36. "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Elton John; 'The Very Best of Elton John')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
37. ^ "Elton Racks 'Em Up" (PDF). Music & Media. 23 March 1991. p. 10. Retrieved 4 January 2020 – via American Radio History.
38. "Dutch album certifications – Elton John – The Very Best of Elton John" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Enter The Very Best of Elton John in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 1995 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
39. "New Zealand album certifications – Elton John – The Very Best of Elton John". Recorded Music NZ. Retrieved 20 November 2024.
40. ^ "Bernie Taupin Elton John The Very Best of Elton John Norwegian "Platinum" Record Award". 27 February 2023.
41. Fernando Salaverri (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. p. 931. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
42. "Guld- och Platinacertifikat − År 1987−1998" (PDF) (in Swedish). IFPI Sweden. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 May 2011.
43. "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Very Best of Elton John')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien. Retrieved 5 January 2022.

• 1990 greatest hits albums
• Elton John compilation albums
• Albums produced by Gus Dudgeon
• Albums recorded at Trident Studios
• Albums produced by Chris Thomas (record producer)
• Albums produced by Don Was