Elton John's imperial phase captured on vinyl, this double album sprawls across glam stompers, piano balladry and theatrical pomp with the confidence of an artist who knows he's untouchable. Bernie Taupin's lyrics chart escape fantasies and Hollywood mythology whilst the Château d'Hérouville sessions yielded both the proto-punk snarl of Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting and the delicate mortality of Candle in the Wind.

The sprawl never sags. Funeral for a Friend bleeds into Love Lies Bleeding with proggy ambition, Bennie and the Jets funks unexpectedly, and the title track's rejection of stardom feels genuinely conflicted rather than merely performative.