Captain Fantastic (Aniv) [Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, Deluxe Edition]

Elton John | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 13, 2005)
• Original Release Date: 1975
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: Extra tracks, Original recording remastered, Deluxe Edition
• Label: Island
• ASIN: B000AOF9UW
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #27,616 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Elton John has always liked having it both ways. He's flamboyant and vain, yet empathetic and sincere. He sits at his piano playing sentimental melodies, but the words come not from inside his soul but from friend Bernie Taupin. For Captain Fantastic, he and Taupin wrote a concept album which sketches their career together. "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is easily the strongest song outside of the concept. The addition of several songs "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" featuring John Lennon, "Philadelphia Freedom," and "One Day at a Time" blow the concept but up the entertainment value considerably. --Rob O'Connor

Product Description

ELTON JOHN Captain Fantastic & The Brown Dirt Cowboy (2005 US issue 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition 26-track 2-CD album set featuring the single Someone Saved My Life Tonight and 4 Bonus Tracks including his cover version of the Beatles classic Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds plus BONUS DISC featuring 12 tracks recorded Live at Wembley Stadium on 21st June 1975.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

68 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding collector's package, September 14, 2005

By 

Texas Brian "texasbrian" (Austin, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Captain Fantastic (Aniv) (Audio CD)

I own every EJ recording I can find; so plunking down more cash on something I already own several copies of wasn't my idea of fun, but it seemed necessary. After doing it, I can only say... worth EVERY cent!

First off, there are two discs, one of the original recording with extra tracks, and the other the Wembley performance of the tneire record front to back. Both feature the Captain Fantastic logo lending more authenticity than the "45-rpm" replica CDs offered last time.

Disc 1 apparently has been digitally sweetened or remastered -- I'm not exactly sure (I haven't read the liner notes yet) but it sounds even better than the remastered edition. It's crisp, clear, powerful; you'd swear this was recorded yesterday, not in 1975. It just blows out of my my speaks with unrivaled clarity and brilliance. Wonderful recording.

The concert is a gem for the second disc, because of its rarity and uniqueness. What's fun here is that Elton talks between tracks and gives some info on the writing behind the songs, as well as his trademark humor and raport with his audiences. You get to be part of the 1975 concert experience, which for me having been born in 1974, is pretty damned cool.

The other awesome, awesome, AWESOME part of this collection is the packing and other items. This disc set is presented as a "double album" treatment where the discs are in a box that unfolds, but slips neatly into a plastic case. Inside, in addition to the two discs, you'll be dlighted to find original artwork, original liner notes... the original Captain Fantastic poster (!)... printed interviews with Elton and Bernie several years on looking back, and notes on the reissue.

This is a classic recording -- the first album to EVER *ENTER* the Billboard charts at #1 -- and it gets the classic treatment it deserves here.

For an Elton fan, this is a must have, as I think it will be the definitive recording. As we've seen reissue after reissue, I think they have finally nailed it by giving you as complete a package as possible. Buy this, and let what Elton intended come from the end of the world... to your town.

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An extraordinary package: yes, you'll need to buy this..., October 7, 2005

By 

M J Heilbron Jr. "Dr. Mo" (Long Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Captain Fantastic (Aniv) (Audio CD)

"Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy" has aged "fantastically" well. It's one of those great albums, from days long gone by, that are an absolute pleasure to listen to, from beginning to end. All killer, no filler, as they used to say.

I'm biased, because way back in fifth grade, to me, this was the greatest album ever made since the invention of the phonograph. I loved Elton John, and loved this record.

Honestly, I don't think I've listened to this whole thing in decades, but a phenomenally scary thing happened. I sang right along in the car, without missing a syllable, to the opening title song. Every weird phrase I didn't understand, but I didn't care that I didn't understand, when I was young I still had locked somewhere in the vault of my skull. Words that I hadn't THOUGHT of in 20 years came flowing right out of my mouth. How on Earth did the phrase, "and the 68th summer festival wallflower is thinning..." stay intact in there this long? It was kinda weird. I still could "sing" the skip I uses to have on my old record. I remembered exactly where it was, and how I used to have to bump the record player to keep it going.

Anyways, the classic single, "Someone Saved My Life Tonight" is on here too, and pretty much every other song is filled with strong melodies, delightful arrangements...the album definitely has an overall flow to it.

The remastering is exquisite. Finely detailed and separated.

The folks at MCA have added four era-specific singles to the end of the album proper, like his classic take on "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", and the huge hit, "Philadelphia Freedom"

The second disc is given to an extraordinarily well-recorded concert back in 1975, where he played, mere weeks after the release of the album, the entirety of "Captain Fantastic" from first track to last. I was amazed at the sound quality.

His performance is superb; a young Elton John must have been a sight to see in those days. I hear he recently (September 2005) did this sort of thing, playing this whole album, in NYC. All I'm saying is that there BETTER be a DVD coming out...

The live album ends with a raucous "Pinball Wizard" and a wild, rollicking "Saturday Night's (Alright For Fighting)." The energy is positively nuclear in intensity, and the band borders on "punk" in their ferocity. Seriously, I could not have been more impressed.

Let's review: a remastered classic; additional essential singles; an entire concert recording including one of the best live performance you'll ever hear...all for one absurdly low price?

Oh yeah...you want this. Bad.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow! 30 years., September 28, 2005

By 

Peter V. Reynolds (Mahopac, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Captain Fantastic (Aniv) (Audio CD)

I purchased the lp the day it was released in '75, saw EJ at Madison Square Garden later that year. One of 7 (SEVEN!)sold-out shows. The album and the concert are two of the greatest experiences I've had with music. This re-issue is phenomenal.
Just last Friday, my wife & I saw Elton again at Madison Square Garden. The first 45 minutes or so were dedicated to his most recent studio disc "Peachtree Road", which we all politely listened to. After, he went straight into "Captain Fantastic", (all but 2 songs)and the place went crazy. He continued to play more greats from back in the day, but one thing that struck me was how great "Captain" was/is, and not nearly as appreciated as it should be.