By: Elton John Average Rating: Binding: Audio CD Format: Original recording remastered Label: Island / Mercury Number of Discs: 1 Release Date: June 03, 2008
Album Description: 2008 digitally remastered deluxe two CD edition of Elton's self titled album featuring an additional eight bonus tracks on the first disc plus a second CD containing 12 additional bonus tracks. Originally released in 1970, Elton John was his second album which spawned the classics 'Your Song', 'Take Me To The Pilot' and 'Border Song' and launched his musical career into the stratosphere. This deluxe edition features piano demos of eight of the album's tracks plus piano demos for five tracks that never made the album. Also included are non-album cuts, BBC sessions and more. Universal.
"Elton John" by ELTON JOHN 2CD DELUXE EDITION - The "Your Song" Album Gets AN AWESOME REMASTER!! Reginald Dwight's 2nd album proper was recorded in a week in January 1970 at Trident Studios in London and then released in the spring of 1970. It included the monster hit "Your Song" and after years of soul-destroying session work and an underachieving debut album "Empty Sky", both the single and album finally kick-started Elton John's extraordinary career - which is still strong nearly 40 years after the event. This 2 June 2008 DELUXE EDITION 2CD set is a fully upgraded version of that forgotten album and along with the 2CD DELUXE EDITION of the LP that followed it, "Tumbleweed Connection" (see my separate review) these two beauties are in my books already up there as REISSUES OF THE YEAR.
Here's the layout: DISC 1 is the 10-track album originally released in the UK in April 1970 on DJM Records DJLPS 406 and in the USA on Uni Records 73090 (39:29 minutes)
DISC 2 is the BONUS DISC with a primo haul of 20 tracks, 17 of which are PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED DEMO, PIANO and BBC VERSIONS. The other 3 tracks are NON-ALBUM SINGLES from the period (69:53 minutes)
PACKAGING: The LP originally sported a matt gatefold sleeve, which has been faithfully reproduced in the upgraded 28-page booklet that accompanies this set. Along with period photos of Elton, there's a very informative new essay by noted writer JOHN TOBLER, session details on the bonus tracks, both CDs are picture discs and the booklet reflects both the rear sleeve ensemble photo and the lyrics on the inner spread in the same way they were on the gatefold of the original album - all very nice touches indeed. But the big news is the SOUND....
SOUND: Sourcing the first generation original masters tapes from the Universal Archives, GIOVANNI SCATOLA and TONY COUSINS at Metropolis Mastering in London have carried out the remastering - and surely an EMMY awaits each of them! As the owner of way too many re-issue CDs, this (and Tumbleweed Connection) are simply the best remaster of old albums that I've ever heard! Twenty seconds into the overly familiar "Your Song", with its brand new piano and acoustic guitar clarity and its string-arranged beauty fully renewed, I was already writing a review and picking my jaw up off the table as I went!
So what's changed? When GUS DUDGEON replaced the useless 1980s CDs with the excellent 1995 remasters, he got the best sound out of the tapes that he could at the time (he sadly passed away a few years ago). But 13 years on to 2008 and that's a lifetime in remastering techniques. These 2008 versions BREATHE - you can hear everything - and clearly too. Songs like "First Episode At Hienton", "Sixty Years On" and "The King Must Die" heavily feature the fantastic string arrangements of PAUL BUCKMASTER (who did "Space Oddity" for Bowie) - well now you can hear how good they are! The sound is so clean, it makes you double take on almost every track - a TRULY BEAUTIFUL JOB DONE and easy to see why Elton would want these new versions out in the marketplace as soon as possible.
BAND/GUESTS: FRANK CLARK and COLIN GREEN provide sweet guitar work on "Your Song" and "Sixty Years On", while guest vocalists MADELINE BELL, TONY HAZZARD, LESLIE DUNCAN and ROGER COOK feature especially well on the brilliant "No Strings For Louise" and "The Cage". DIANA LEWIS plays Moog on the sparse "First Episode At Hienton". CALEB QUAYE of HOOKFOOT provides Lead Guitar on "Take Me To The Pilot" while TONY COX of PENTANGLE drums on "The Greatest Discovery" and the epic album closer "The King Must Die".
DISC 2 gives us 12 excellent PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED Piano Demos in a row (1-12) along with two separate BBC sessions - the "Dave Lee Travis Show" from April 1970 and the "Sounds Of The Seventies Show" from July 1970 (tracks 18, 19 and 20). They vary in sound quality, but are more than pleasantly good. It should be noted that Track 1, the demo version of "Your Song" did turn up on the "To Be Continued" box set years back, but that was only briefly available. "Bad Side Of The Moon" is the non-album B-side of the 7" single "Border Song" issued March 1970 in the UK on DJM Records DJS 217, while "Rock & Roll Madonna" and "Grey Seal" are the A&B sides of the non-album 7" single DJS 222 issued in the UK in June 1970. "Grey Seal" was re-recorded and turned up on "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" - the version on this disc is often referred to as "Version 1970". These 3 were originally bonus tracks on the 1995 reissue CD of the album; here they've upgraded sound quality.
Then comes a genuine sensation; recorded for the Radio 1 DJ Dave Lee Travis for his "Sound Of The Seventies" Sessions in July 1970 is an almost note-perfect rendition of "YOUR SONG" which frankly rivals the issued version. Luckily the sound is BEAUTIFUL, his performance heartfelt and not wearied by 38 years of playing the same song. It's FANTASTIC STUFF and a reminder of what initially drew so many music lovers to Elton in the first place - his great song-writing and vocal delivery. Whatever way you cut it, this version is an absolute gem and will thrill fans to the core!
To sum up: I've loved coming back to this album - the great sound quality - actual tunes with thought-provoking lyrics - the attention to detail in the well-thought out packaging - the bonuses you'll play more than once - all of it...
For fans of this unduly forgotten album, this is an absolute MUST BUY! For the casual buyer or just vaguely interesested, I urge you to try to get to hear just how good this re-issue really is. I know it's pricey, but it's worth it.
A job well done by all at Universal - and roll on the same deluxe treatment for "Madman Across The Water" and "Honky Chateau".
Another Notch Up For Elton When Elton John's catalogue was remixed previously, the sound quality improved and bonus tracks were added, making the purchase well worth it. The new Deluxe Edition version of the Elton John Album has the previously mentioned bonuses -- plus! Gems include three live tracks from BBC Radio appearances (Border Song, Your Song and Take Me To the Pilot) plus Elton's demo and/or piano only versions of the other tracks on the disc.
It's a must for Elton fans. . .and for those who want a look at the genesis of some of these classic songs.
Elton John's Breakthrough Gets The "Deluxe" Treatment "Elton John"(aka The Black Album)was the one that brought him to the big time,hitting #4 on the Billboard chart and gave him and his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin their first major hit "Your Song",which remains one of Sir Elton's signature songs.It was first to be produced by Gus Dudgeon and to include Paul Buckmaster's string arrangements.It contains great classic songs ranging from the R&B and gospel-influenced "Take Me To The Pilot","The Cage" and "Border Song"(which was covered by Aretha Franklin),to the dramatic,heavily orchestrated "The King Must Die","The Greatest Discovery","I Need You To Turn To" and "Sixty Years On".This Deluxe Edition contains a stunning 2008 remastering of the original album(done by Giovanna Scatola and Tony Cousins at Metropolis Mastering)which surpasses all the previous masters,plus a second disc containing superb piano demos,singles and BBC sessions from the period including 3 previous unreleased songs "Thank You Mama","All The Way From El Paso" and "I'm Going Home".For EJ fans,this is truly essential stuff.
Very, very interesting... Disc 1 -
The album itself is one of his finest. I always enjoyed it more than the more popular Tumbleweed Connection and Captain Fantastic. I feel the melodies are among his strongest and the production with the orchestra was awesome. It's too bad "First Episode at Hienton" never got proper attention. It's really a gorgeous ballad and the lyrics are powerful. I don't even think EJ ever played it live. I think it's one of the gems of the album. Obviously "Sixty Years On", "The Greatest Discovery" and "The King Must Die" are standouts. As played out as "Your Song" is it's still great especially within the context of this album. A few lackluster tracks like "The Cage" and "No Shoestrings on Louise" don't take away from the 8 excellent ones. His voice is very pure here....EJ was still developing as a singer. This remaster is only slightly better than the '95 remaster. But as others have noted, this deluxe release is memorable for disc 2.
Disc 2 - This is the draw. If you buy this edition, chances are you have the '95 remaster. But for 20 demos and unreleased tracks it's absolutely worth it. It's so cool to hear these tracks in a solo format. Just Elton and the piano...it doesn't get much better. What makes it even more interesting is that the phrasing and delivery of the vocals are quite different from the performances on the album. So the demos are overall excellent. Some of the unreleased material doesn't measure up, but they are as a whole, enjoyable. The few live tracks are very good. So to sum up, it is all very, very interesting. For the huge Elton fans I would certainly recommend it wholeheartedly. For casual fans, the '95 remaster is all you need, and at a very fair price.
Elton John Deluxe! Another remaster,another addition to Universal's very successful "Deluxe Edition" series.Some of which have been excellent value.We have already seen "Captain Fantastic" and "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" given very lavish deluxe treatment.According to the extensive essay by John Tobler contained within the booklet of this double cd reissue of one of Sir Elton's career defining early 70's albums for DJM records,it has been released(along with "Tumbleweed Connection")to commemerate 40 years of recording.And what a wealth of material it contains.It's not so much how good the album sounds,it's all the extra material contained on the second disc,most of which is previously unreleased,that make these new deluxe editions a must have for any fan of Mr.John! It's not the first remaster of course.Almost all his classic 70's back catalogue was first given a clean up in 1995 by the late Gus Dudgeon,Elton's longtime producer and collaborator.The remainder of the 70's albums and most of the 80's and 90's were finished by 2003. And for those us who were quick enough to snap them up,six of his classic 70's albums were reissued in Hybrid SACD 5.1 by Universal America's excellent "Chronicles" series a few years back.If you have an SACD player,they are pretty nice sounding surround remixes though the Stereo layer,I believe,was the 1995 remaster(track down the deluxe edition of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and you'll understand what I'm talking about). So onto the 2008 clean up.The albums themselves sound like they were recorded yesterday,very nice indeed.Universal,along with Sony use single bit technology(DSD or direct steam digital)that they created for archiving all their aging analogue back catalogue,so any remasters they have released since 2001 sound as close to the original master as possible. The bonus tracks that were on the 1995 remasters are included on the second disc along with almost all of the album in demo form or alternate versions and some previously unreleased live radio performances.Worth the price of admission for the second disc alone. I hope that all his classic albums get the same treatment as each one passes the big 40 anniversary.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
