Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin

Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Compilation album by
various artists
Released14 October 1991 (1991-10-14)
RecordedVarious
GenreRock
Length78:54
Label
ProducerVarious
Singles from Two Rooms
  1. "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"
    Released: September 1991
  2. "Rocket Man" b/w "Candle in the Wind"
    Released: November 1991
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Chicago Tribune[2]
Philadelphia Inquirer[3]

Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin is a tribute album consisting of interpretations of sixteen songs written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin, released on 14 October 1991[4] by Mercury Records in the UK and on 22 October by Polydor Records in the US.[5] The title refers to a song on John's album 21 at 33, "Two Rooms at the End of the World", and to the duo's unusual collaborative style; it is also the title of a 1991 film of the same title documenting their collaboration.

Critical reception

The album gained an uneven reception,[6] though some performances were singled out for praise, including Sinéad O'Connor's interpretation of "Sacrifice",[7] Kate Bush's reggae-inflected version of "Rocket Man" (which won The Observer readers' award for greatest cover of all time in 2007),[8][9] and Tina Turner's version of "The Bitch Is Back", which was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 35th Annual Grammy Awards.[10]

Singles

Two singles were released from the album: Oleta Adams' version of "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" peaked at number 33 on the UK singles chart and Kate Bush's "Rocket Man" peaked at number 12 in the UK and number two in Australia (where it beat the original version's chart position by several places). The B-side of Bush's single was her version of "Candle in the Wind". The CD single added an instrumental version of the same song. Wilson Phillips' cover of "Daniel", while not released as a single, peaked at number seven in the US Adult Contemporary chart due to strong radio airplay.[11]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Elton John & Bernie Taupin.

Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin track listing
No.TitlePerforming artistLength
1."Border Song"Eric Clapton4:21
2."Rocket Man (I Think It's Going to Be a Long, Long Time)"Kate Bush4:57
3."Come Down in Time"Sting3:38
4."Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" ([a])The Who4:32
5."Crocodile Rock"The Beach Boys4:21
6."Daniel"Wilson Phillips4:03
7."Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word"Joe Cocker3:57
8."Levon"Jon Bon Jovi5:27
9."The Bitch Is Back"Tina Turner3:38
10."Philadelphia Freedom"Hall & Oates5:12
11."Your Song"Rod Stewart4:49
12."Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me"Oleta Adams6:02
13."Madman Across the Water"Bruce Hornsby6:10
14."Sacrifice"Sinéad O'Connor5:12
15."Burn Down the Mission"Phil Collins6:11
16."Tonight"George Michael7:23
Total length:79:53

Companion film

Two versions of a documentary, also titled Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin, exist. The first was released internationally on VHS video with a running time of ninety minutes. The other aired on ABC television in 1992 as a one-hour special and featured a slightly different edit and contents. The television version was hosted by Sylvester Stallone. Stallone does not appear on the VHS version. Bruce Hornsby, George Michael, Hall & Oates and Oleta Adams appear in the television version but not the VHS version.

Charts

Certifications

Certifications for Two Rooms
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)[20] Platinum 70,000^
Canada (Music Canada)[21] Platinum 100,000^
France (SNEP)[22] Gold 100,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)[23] Platinum 15,000^
Spain (Promusicae)[24] Gold 50,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[25] Platinum 300,000^
United States (RIAA)[26] Platinum 1,000,000^

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ The Who include a passage of "Take Me to the Pilot" in their cover of the song.

References

  1. ^ Cater, Evan. "Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin – Various Artists". AllMusic.
  2. ^ Caro, Mark (31 October 1991). "Various artists: Two Rooms: Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin". Chicago Tribune. p. 7.
  3. ^ Moon, Tom (10 November 1991). "N.Y. Rock and Soul Revue, Von Weber, Johnny Shines". Philadelphia Inquirer. p. 10-G.
  4. ^ "Autumn Product Special" (PDF). Music Week. 12 October 1991. p. 30. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
  5. ^ Kerner, Kenny (14 October 1991). "Chart Activity" (PDF). Music Connection. p. 11. Retrieved 28 November 2025.
  6. ^ "Elton by Others is an Uneven Enterprise". Rolling Stone. 2 October 1991.
  7. ^ "Two Rooms But One Great Songbook". People. 23 September 1991.
  8. ^ "The top 50 greatest covers as voted by you". The Observer. Archived from the original on 11 August 2013.
  9. ^ Linskey, Dorian (25 August 2014). "The 10 best Kate Bush moments". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 December 2018.
  10. ^ "Tina Turner | Artist". GRAMMY.com. The Recording Academy. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  11. ^ "Wilson Phillips Chart History (Adult Contemporary)". Billboard. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  12. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Two Rooms – Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin". Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  13. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Two Rooms – Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  14. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Two Rooms – Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  15. ^ "Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste – Elton JOHN & Bernie TAUPIN" (in French). Institut français d'opinion publique. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  16. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Two Rooms – Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin" (in Swedish). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  17. ^ "Hitparade.ch – Two Rooms – Celebrating the Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 3 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Billboard 200 Chart – Week of May 2, 1992". Billboard. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 3 January 2021.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  19. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1992". Billboard. Retrieved 10 May 2021.
  20. ^ "Lot 98 – Bernie Taupin Elton John "Two Rooms" Australian "Platinum" CD Record Award – Julien's Auctions". Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  21. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Various Artists – 2 Rooms - Celebrating Songs of Elton John & Bernie Taupin". Music Canada. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
  22. ^ "French album certifications – Elton John & Bernie Taupin" (in French). InfoDisc. Select ELTON JOHN & BERNIE TAUPIN and click OK. 
  23. ^ "Lot 86 – Bernie Taupin Elton John "Two Rooms" and "The One" New Zealand "Platinum" CD Award Display – Julien's Auctions". Archived from the original on 1 January 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  24. ^ Fernando Salaverri (September 2005). Sólo éxitos: año a año, 1959–2002 (1st ed.). Spain: Fundación Autor-SGAE. p. 929. ISBN 84-8048-639-2.
  25. ^ "British album certifications – Various Artists – Two Rooms - Elton John And Bernie Taupin". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 1 January 2021. Select albums in the Formats field. Type Two Rooms - Elton John And Bernie Taupin Various Artists in the "Search:" field.
  26. ^ "American album certifications – TWO ROOMS: CELEB. THE SONGS OF E. JOHN & B. TAUPIN". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
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