''Love Songs'' is a

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

by English musician

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

. The album was first released on 6 November 1995 by John's own label

The Rocket Record Company The Rocket Record Company was a record label founded by Elton John, along with Bernie Taupin, Gus Dudgeon, Steve Brown and others, in 1973. The company was named after the hit song " Rocket Man". The label was originally distributed in the ...

, in conjunction with

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. In the United States, it is ...

. The album was released in North America by

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group. Pre-history MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...

almost a year after the European release, on 24 September 1996. In the US, it was certified gold in December 1996, platinum in March 1997, 2× platinum in December 1998 and 3× platinum in August 2000 by the RIAA. The album was a major success upon its release, topping the albums charts in three countries, was certified platinum in 11 countries and multi-platinum in 7. The album also spawned a music video compilation, which was originally released on laserdisc, VHS, and VCD.

Background

John had originally released an album called ''Love Songs'' in 1982 through his own label, The Rocket Record Company. It mostly concentrated on the period between 1976 and 1982, when John and Bernie Taupin took a break in their collaboration. John was mostly writing with other lyricists such as Gary Osborne and

Tim Rice Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ' ...

on that period. " Blue Eyes" and " Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" are the only two songs from that album are featured in this new collection. On the US version, ten of the fifteen tracks had been released in the period since the now-deleted '' Greatest Hits Volume 3'' collection, including John's second tenure on MCA and two songs from the then-recent '' Made in England''. (Two of these tracks, however, were live versions of old songs, namely " Candle in the Wind" and "

Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is a song written by English musician Elton John and his lyricist Bernie Taupin. It was originally recorded by John for his eighth studio album, '' Caribou'' (1974), and was released as a single that peaked a ...

"). " You Can Make History (Young Again)" and "No Valentines" were the two new songs made specifically for this release. The UK version saw an alternate track order with the inclusion of such songs as " I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues", "

Nikita Nikita may refer to: * Nikita (given name) * Nikita, Crimea, a town in Crimea * Nikita the Tanner, a character in East Slavic folklore Film and television *''Little Nikita'', a 1988 film * ''La Femme Nikita'' (film), also known as ''Nikita'', a 19 ...

", " True Love" (a

duet A duet is a musical composition for two performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a harmony, as the performers take turns performing a solo ...

with Kiki Dee), "Please", "

Song for Guy "Song for Guy" is a mainly instrumental piece of music by English musician Elton John. It is the closing track of his 1978 album, ''A Single Man''. Musical structure The song opens with an octaved solo piano, which is then accompanied by a loo ...

", and the original version of "Candle in the Wind". In addition, "Blessed" is represented as the single edit on both versions. "You Can Make History (Young Again)" and "No Valentines" do not appear on this version since they were recorded after its release.

Track listing

All songs written by

and

Bernie Taupin Bernard John Taupin (born 22 May 1950) is an English songwriter, singer and visual artist. He is best known for his long-term collaboration with musician Elton John, a songwriting partnership that is one of the most successful in history. Tau ...

, except where noted.

Notes

*Due to a production error, the US CD booklet and cassette lyric sheet provide the lyrics for "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" directly after "Candle in the Wind". *The phonographic copyright of the compilation is owned by William A. Bong Ltd. and is exclusively licensed to Mercury Records Ltd.

Music video compilation

# "Sacrifice" # "Candle in the Wind (Live in Australia, 1984)" # "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues" # "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" (Live duet with George Michael) # "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word (Live in Barcelona, 1992)" # "Blue Eyes" # "Daniel (Live in Australia, 1984)" # "Nikita" # "Your Song (Live at Wembley Stadium, 1984)" # "The One" # "Someone Saved My Life Tonight (Live in Edinburgh, 1976)" # "True Love" (Duet with Kiki Dee) # "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" # "Circle of Life" # "Blessed" # "Please" # "Song for Guy (Live in Australia, 1984)" # "Believe"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Lyrics for ''Love Songs'' at BernieTaupin.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Love Songs (Elton John Album) 1995 greatest hits albums Albums produced by Gus Dudgeon Albums produced by Chris Thomas (record producer) Elton John compilation albums Mercury Records compilation albums The Rocket Record Company compilation albums Albums recorded at Trident Studios