91) Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

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When John compared himself to the Beatles, it wasn't just a delusion of grandeur. "Revolver lifted them onto a higher plane, and Honky Chateau did the same for us," he said in 1973. "Then they did the White Album, and now we'll have a double, too." Everything about Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is supersonically huge, from the Wagnerian-opera-like combo of "Funeral for a Friend" and "Love Lies Bleeding" to the electric boots and mohair suit of "Bennie and the Jets." On the title track, John and his songwriting partner, Bernie Taupin, harnessed the fantastical imagery of glam to a Gershwin-sweet melody.

Total album sales: 7 million

Peak chart position: 1

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