Customer Reviews

Dream Ticket

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I sometimes wonder when artists really seem to make a very good play at selling a item only at a exclusive shop. It sometimes seems to be a good idea, but otherwise it isn't that good to know that other stores don't actually sell it. That really is the case with Elton John. He recently pulled that jester off with Best Buy recently, as a way to promote his DVD box set Dream Ticket. It is unfortunate especially when other stores are only selling his Peachtree Road record. Only in their stores, not this DVD collection. Yet, many people really don't seem to know what is missing from the man who sang Take Me To The Pilot.

Elton John Dream Ticket is a four disc DVD box set, which fatures a series of different concerts Elton John performed in, throught many diferent areas around the world. The first disc was the live concert One Night Only: The Greatest Hits. This was the only concert released before. The songs here really stand out very well, and the performances also capture Elton in his highlights with so many great performances including Can You Feel The Love Tonight, Don't Go Breakin' My Heart with Kiki Dee, Candle In The Wind, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road with Billy Joel, and other landmark performances.

Disc 2: Live at The Royal Opera House is one of the 2 exclusive concerts highlighted here. The concert has a feel similar to his legendary 1986 live performance in Austrailia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. This concert film has that same passionate feel. The songs here are just as rich and bold here as if you're in the studio with Elton. The perfformance pays tribute to Gus Dudgeon, Elton's longtime producer who tragically died at the time. The highlights here include great pop songs like Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Tonight, This Train Don't Stop There Anymore, and his classic Sixty Years On.

Disc 3, is really the radical departure of all of the live performances that Elton John recorded. The performance was recorded at the Great Amhitheatre in Turkey. The live concert only features Elton without a band to backup, or a orchestra. Only by himself. This concert really is very bold and rich enough to show Elton's songs in a different light. The songs here sound much more different on this disc, especially tracks like Philadelphia Freedom, Burn Down The Mission, Crocodile Rock, and Circle Of Life. Yet, on this disc, some of the songs here are also performed more bautifully without any backup, especially tracks like Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Mona Lisas & Mad Hatters, Sacrifice and Daniel.

The last disc: Elton in Four Decades is a reflection of Elton's career through his 35 years in the spotlight, with rare performances, and music videos finally being released on DVD for the first time. The DVD includes interviews from Elton, several producers and music video directors as well. The collection also includes some great music videos including the black & white masterpiece Believe, Are You Ready For Love, which was recently released as a hit in England, I Want Love, and Elton's first music video, I'm Still Standing.

All in all, Elton John's Dream Ticket is a remarkable DVD collection. Sadly, it really is unfortunate that only Best Buy is able to sell this exclusively, rather than other music and video stores. This is one exciting and dynamic DVD collections ever made, that really is worth it in the purchase and the performances here.

Packaging: A-

Performances and highlights: A-

Remastering: A

Overall: A-

Elton John's release of Dream Ticket is truly an Elton John Fan's Dream. Even though I already own Elton John's "Greatest Hits -One Night Only" (Live at Madison Square Garden)DVD, "Dream Ticket" allows me to have a back-up copy of a great concert should I need to replace my very worn original.

I honestly believed that the London Royal Opera House DVD would turn out to be my favorite disc of the set (I have surround sound and couldn't wait to hear the Royal Academy orchestra backing Elton's arrangements). The orchestral arrangements along with Elton John's piano are truly magical. I thought that this was the ultimate - until - I heard his performance in Turkey.

Now,I have to say that my favorite disc is Elton's performance at the "Ephesus Amphitheatre" in Turkey. Here, you are invited to experience a very personal trip with Elton and his piano. The setting in the Ephesus Amphitheatre is very intimate and almost "other worldly". What you will see and hear is Elton at his best having a "love affair" with his piano. Here, you will see a man performing, who's music clearly comes from his soul. I would challange anyone to listen to "Rocket Man" on this disc and not come away with goose-bumps.

Even though a lot of songs are duplicated on the 3 discs (Madison Square, London and Turkey)the musical arrangements are all different. You will experience 3 very different concerts, with each performance working its own special brand of magic.

So sit back, have a glass of wine, turn the volume up and be present in the front row for one of the greatest performers and musicians of our time!!!! See which concert will turn out to be your favorite.

Enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are very few people in the music industry who can claim fact to of had such a career as Elton John. The longevity. The continued success with albums and hit singles and massive, sold out shows. There are even fewer people nowadays that will ever have such a career. They don't make superstars like this anymore. This 4 disc collection is a definite must for any devoted Elton fan who is looking to have a collection of great Elton performances. The problem that some may have with this disc is what's included. Why?. The first disc is Elton's 2000 New York show, "One Night Only", taped at Madison Square Garden. The show has been released and available already. It was released as a seperate DVD all on it's own, it was also released as a live CD, and aired as a television special. It's safe to say that this isn't anything new for the Elton fan, but if you do not own it, then it is nice to have. The concert is a great show tho. The stage is good, and Elton is in fine form. Like the live CD, the guest stars, with the exception of Billy Joel on the winning "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road", and Kiki Dee reuniting with her old partner on "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", didn't need to be there. We only need Elton to do these songs. Although Anastascia is pretty good on "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting". What's cool about it is that if you've only heard the shortened live CD, or the hour long TV special, then this will be great for you because there are another 10 songs on this full length concert. Some that are included are some 80's hits that he doesn't normally play. Songs like "Little Jeannie", "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" and "Club At The End Of The Street". The second concert, taped at The Royal Opera House, is very similar to a recent Elton concert at Radio City Music Hall, which just aired on Bravo a day or two after Thanksgiving. If you saw that, then you know what to expect. Still, it's a masterful performance. The concert is kind of like his orchestral performance with The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in Australia, back in the mid '80's or so. It's very good. So why the full five stars then?. Because the product and material is still great. And if you are an Elton fan, then these are performances and concerts to be included in your collection. And it's nice to have all in one nice little package. What is really good, are the other two discs. The third concert is one of Elton's solo shows where it is just him and the piano. It was taped at The Ephesus Ampitheater, an ancient ruin in Turkey. Lit by candles all around, it is a strikingly beautiful venue for a show, and the show itself is nothing but dazzling and brilliant. These solo shows with Elton and his piano laid things bare and showed what a brilliant performer and musician Elton really is. The 4th disc features a 90 minute docu with Elton narrating songs of his choice from his career, which is fun to watch and hear. People like Thom Bell, who had worked with Elton in the late 70's for an album which eventually became "The Thom Bell Sessions" is interviewed, as is writer/director Cameron Crowe who used Elton's "Tiny Dancer" so wonderfully in his movie, "Almost Famous". Director Dave LaChappelle shows his video montage he shot for "I'm Still Standing", which plays during that song's performance at Elton's recent Las Vegas shows. There is also a gallery of some of Elton's most memorable stage costumes, shown at different angles of the design. And there is a timeline of "Your Song", showing Sir Elton performing the song in every decade of his career. The videos for "Sacrifice", "Can You Feel The Love Tonight", "Believe", "I Want Love", "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore" and "Are You Ready For Love" are all also included. Real good stuff. All in all, there are 70 or so fantastic performances here, and a 4th disc filled with Elton history that is sure to satisfy Elton fans. Elton is still an amazing singer in these later years. Some say he has lost his voice, but he hasn't. Some say he doesn't sound like 70's Elton anymore. Well, of course not. He's older and things change. Nor does he need to. His voice nowadays carries more weight and authority. There is a grit to it and it brings more heft and poignancy to songs he sings. There are songs in these last number of years that he could never of sung back in the early 70's. He admits that himself. His voice is just fine. The breadth of these magnificent concerts, and the stuff on the 4th disc are only a smidgen of the history of this incredible performer. The solo performance, the performance with the orchestra, and the full out rock concert show that this is one versatile performer who can do no wrong. There is no one else out there like this. So, this is one dream ticket indeed.

Don't quite understand why they included the Madison Square Garden concert, which is fairly recent and still selling as a single concert (I already own it). The 4th DVD is nice, but mostly music videos. It was hyped as something more archival and it would have been nice to have seen more classic footage of Elton performing through the years instead of music videos. I would have welcomed more performances of youthful Elton, in his prime, rockin' and poundin' those ivories! (And I did enjoy viewing the evolution of Elton's stage costumes over the years.)

Having said that, the Ephesus concert is worth the price of admission all by itself. My husband, who likes some of the music but is NOT an EJ fan by any stretch of the imagination, ended up viewing almost the entire Ephesus concert with me, as astounded as I was by the visual embodiment of Elton's mastery of the keyboard. He is an absolutely awesome pianist -- something for which you don't really get an appreciation because he's usually backed by his band. But this is just Elton, his voice and his piano and, boy, does he make that piano rock! My favourite Ephesus performance is "Honky Cat".

All in all, I'm definitely glad that I own this set.

Elton John is one of my all time favorite artists, and I jump whenever he releases something new. He is an amazing live performer (I know, I've seen him), and when I hear about the four disc dvd boxed set "Dream Ticket", which had three Elton concerts and a documentary, I knew it had to be in my collection.

This is a great collection of live shows and a documentary. The first dvd is the live televised concert from 2000, "One Night Only: Greatest Hits Live", which had been available separately for quite a while, so, despite being an incredible show, its inclusion is questionable.

The second disc is from Elton's show at The Royal Opera House, which is a truly special show, as Elton performs with a live orchestra for the first time since his legendary concerts in Australia back in 1986. This is an amazing show, and Elton, the band and the orchestar (London's Royal Academy of Music Orchestra and Choir) are on fire. They run through an energetic set of some of Elton's biggest hits, and throw in a few surprises ("Sixty Years On", "Burn Down The Mission").

The show at Ephesus, the Greek amphitheatre, is the best show of them all. Elton generally does his best shows when he's alone, without a band or any supporting muscians, and this show is no exception. Elton has rarely been better than at this show. Alone, with no one else except a lively audience, he performs nearly 30 songs (who else can honestly go through that many songs in one show?), including "Honky Cat", "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters", "Rocket Man", "Your Song" and many other classics.

"Elton In Four Decades" is a 90 minute documentatry of Elton detailing twelve of Elton's songs from the 1970s', 1980s', 1990s' and 2000s', from "Your Song" to "Are You Ready For Love". This is a fun documentary and a nice trip through time.

This is an excellent dvd that I recommend to all fans of Elton's music.

I'm a big EJ fan and was excited to hear that there was a 4 dvd box set of Elton coming out,but was disappointed to find out that the 4th disc didn't really have any rare clips of him from the 70's.There's a few though,but not enough.Like for Your Song for instance,it showed some early 70's performances,but then went into the early 80's and 90's..Why?? Why not show clips from that year and that's it??? Also,there was no costume gallery(if there was one,I couldn't find it!)either....Plus,the 1st disc is already out on dvd,so why have it in the set???? They should've had the following:To Russia from Elton,The Breaking Hearts tour(both volumes),the concert with the Australian Orchestra and the doc Elton John and Bernie Taupin Say Goodbye to Norman Jean and Other Things..Plus,have early tv appearances,too....We EJ fans demand more!!!!

I'm a huge Elton fan. If you really want to discover (or rediscover) his genius, this box set is exactly what you're looking for.

The first DVD features a tremendous and legendary Elton concert in Madison Square Garden, in 2000. It's like a Live Best Of. Elton sings all his hits with Anastacia, Bryan Adams, Billy Joel, Kiki Dee, Ronan Keating, Mary J. Blige, and, of course, the big Elton John Band. This concert was a great commercial success, having regard to the astonishing number of people that were there, and having regard to the success of its live album, "One Night Only".

We're now flying over the second DVD. Elton is being more and more interesting. Now, could a great mediatic pop star sing with a symphonic orchestra? It sounds weird, but yes, because Elton did it in the 80's, and it's an important event in pop music today. Nearly fifteen years later, in 2002, Elton meets the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and creates a breathtaking mix of extraordinary piano, perfect classical orchestral arrangement, and guitars and drums... Featuring less-known Elton songs, such as the beautiful " Sixty years on", and "Tonight". Elton John also performs one of his new songs of the time, "This train don't stop there anymore". Imagine "Saturday Nigh's Alright For Fighting" performed with a huge orchestra... What a night to pass!

The concert on the third DVD is my favorite, because it really shows Elton's powerful piano-playing and charismatic performance: he is alone on stage. No, you aren't having any view problems. However you're gonna live the two best musical hours of your life. Elton sings and plays piano. No guitars, no drums, no orchestra, nothing! It's just that "Rocket man" lasts three times longer because of Sir's improvisations on his keyboard, that "Burn Down The Mission" makes you think you're listening to the biggest soul band on earth, and that the studio effects created on the original versions of "The One" and "Circle of life" are replaced by two sacred hands. I bought it in May 2005. I write this review in August 2005. I think I saw this Elton concert in Turkey more than 30 times... Hope the DVD's gonna last, beacause it isn't available separately. It's much like the two concerts he gave in Lebanon, in 2001. It's great we have this one commercialized because I was too little in 2001.

The fourth DVD is a retrospective on Elton John's brilliant career. You have 3 songs for each decade. Some feature live performances, some feature their original videos, and some feature new images by David Lachappelle. Great. The problem with this DVD is that you're so excited that you want more. But there aren't any other songs! And why that? Why did Elton prefer inserting images of his costumes? And why did Elton waste the space of his DVD with two 2001 songs that aren't even hits and put them in the "00's" category (half a decade)? This fourth DVD is unfortunately dissapointing.

I can't help watching those DVD's (even the fourth one) again and again. Why is Elton so amazing? Why is he nearly perfect? Why do we feel like crying when we hear his name? Just because he's the only singer who can entertain a public sitting in an antique amphitheatre all by himself.

Personaly, I'm addicted to Elton. "And why that?", you're gonna tell me. Well, I've told too much. This DVD speaks for itself. I don't tell words like Elton does...

To prove my case just check the DVD that has the concert with the London Philarmonic Orchestra, now this is a great 5.1 surround mix, much better than many other DVD concerts I've heard. You can listen to the whole orchestra throughout your five speakers and subwoofer while Elton John's voice will come from the center one and the piano through your front speakers...this is an excellent DVD to show off your 5.1 System to friends. Just put "Saturday Nights is alright for fighting" and you'll hear what I am talking about...

My complain with other 5.1 surround music DVDs is that you would only listen to your surround speakers at the end of songs with the audience' applause or if there is an extraneous sound but that's it.

I won't comment about the content, many reviewers have covered that extensively. However, regarding audio sound..THUMBS UP for this one. BTW, the other DVDs 5.1 surround sound is awesome as well.

The collection is worth it for 2 reasons: 1 is the Royal Opera House with orchestra and the second is for the Ephesus show solo..they both look and sound great.

Elton Across Four Decades has Elton talking about the songs and showing footage from live and videos over the years. Two Rooms released in the early 90s goes into detail about their writing, as does Classic Albums: Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

One Night Only is going into repackage overkill, the second package with the 1970-2002 Hits cover came off as misleading... it's a good show, but I know I'm not the only one who wondered what the point was in including this.

I would have loved to have seen Elton put out all the promo videos from 1970 to 2002 (or up to Peachtree Road) and "Tantrums and Tiaras", which has yet to be released in the US but has been on cable, capturing a side of Elton rarely seen but talked about.

Hopefully a lot of the older videos like Australia, Central Park, the BBC footage and Russia will make its way to DVD as well...

This is a splendid 4 DVD set which will be treasured by Elton John's numerous fans, of which I am proud to be one. It should also interest those curious in finding out why Elton John has remained popular since the early 1970s. And it might remind those critical of his music as to why he has become one of the most important composers of popular music of our time, and with lyricist Bernie Taupin, forming a legendary songwriting partnership equal to the best from Rodgers and Hammerstein, Lerner and Loewe, and of course, Lennon and McCartney.

The weakest of the DVDs is "One Night Only", the first in this collection, which was photographed over a two-day period at New York City's Madison Square Garden in October, 2000, and contains the entire concert featured in the CD version (It's not nearly photographed as well as the other two concert DVDs, and the image quality seems to have suffered somewhat.). I'm puzzled by Elton's choice of guest artists, such as Ronan Keating and Bryan Adams, in joining him to sing classics such as "Your Song" and "Sad Songs (Say So Much)", but there are also spellbinding performances from Billy Joel (who joins Elton in playing the piano and singing "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road") and the young American singer Anastacia ("Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting"). I also enjoyed Elton's duet with another young American singer, Mary J. Blige ("I Guess Why They Call It The Blues"). I was also especially impressed with hearing three little-played hits, "Little Jeannie", "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That", and "Club At The End Of The Street". Long-time Elton John fans will appreciate hearing that these Madison Square Garden concerts marked the return of long-time Elton John drummer Nigel Olsson, whose superb drumming can be heard on many of Elton's classic 1970s albums and hit singles ("Bennie And The Jets", "Candle In The Wind", "Daniel", "Rocket Man", "Tiny Dancer", "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting", "Crocodile Rock", "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me") and also, most notably, on Elton's early 1990s hit single "The One".

The second DVD, co-produced by the BBC and the Royal Academy of Music, is a fundraising concert for the Royal Academy of Music featuring Elton and the band playing many of his classic 1970s songs with a Royal Academy of Music student orchestra and choir conducted by distinguished American film composer (and former Elton John band member) James Newton Howard, using arrangements composed mainly by Paul Buckmaster and James Newton Howard. Highlights include riveting performances of "Burn Down The Mission", "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting", "Your Song", "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word", and "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore". The current Elton John Band led by music director and lead guitarist Davey Johnstone (who is the longest serving member of the band) is featured on most of the songs (In addition to Johnstone and drummer Nigel Olsson, it also includes bass guitarist Bob Birch, keyboardist Guy Babylon and percussonist John Mahan.). For Elton, this surely was a labor of love; a musical thank you and tribute to his alma mater.

My favorite DVD is the third, which is the live concert filmed during the summer of 2001 at the ancient Greek Ephesus Amphitheatre, in Ephesus, Turkey. Here we have the essential Elton John, with just the singer and his piano, playing enthusiastically for approximately two hours to a captivated audience. Anyone who has forgotten just how rich the melodies are in Elton's songs, or how fine a pianist he is will appreciate seeing this DVD. It features truly memorable performances of "Rocket Man", "Your Song", "Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters", "Honky Cat", "Candle In The Wind", "Circle of Life" (from "The Lion King" his Disney musical film collaboration with lyricist Tim Rice), "Sacrifice", "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" and "This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore".

The fourth DVD is a 90 minute collection of rare concert footage and music videos dating from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and today. Highlights include the original music videos for "Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)", "Sacrifice", "Believe", "I Want Love", and "This Train Don't Stop Here Anymore", and concert footage of "Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters" and "Your Song" (the latter as sung by Elton across the decades). There are also interviews with Davey Johnstone, Nigel Olsson, Tim Rice, photographers David LaChapelle and Sam Taylor-Wood and record producer Thom Bell, along with comments from Elton himself introducing each of the songs featured in this compilation.