Customer Reviews

Elton John - One Night Only: The Greatest Hits Live at Madison Square Garden

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First, this concert was aired on broadcast TV. Then, an abbreviated version of the concert was released on VHS. Finally, "Elton John: One Night Only - The Greatest Hits" was released on DVD. The two condensed versions made the concert feel like a "Duets" tour, given the number of duets compared to the number of solo songs. The DVD version, which contains 27 songs, truly feels like a "Greatest Hits" concert, with the occasional guest vocalist joining in here and there. Since the concert was performed in Madison Square Garden, Elton dedicated one of the songs to his dear, departed friend John Lennon. This is the only concert performance I've ever seen of Elton doing the Beatles' classic "Come Together." Elton is in top form throughout the entire show. The concert ends on an emotional high point, his duet with Kiki Dee on the #1 song "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." The song plays to the end and then the picture fades to black, without the end credits crawling along to ruin the mood. You have to click on an option to see the end credits, as Elton's "Song For Guy" plays in the background. As if that wasn't enough, the DVD has the bonus video of "I Want Love" featuring Robert Downey, Jr. Finally, a full-length concert worthy of Elton John's talents is available on DVD. I highly recommend it to all Elton John fans and to all fans of great music.

There are 27 ... yes count em 27 tracks of Elton's greatest hits including the full side one of his biggest selling disc 'Yellow Brick Road' .... The tech specs on the disc state that there are 240 minutes of music, and although I didn't time it myself there's enough time to practically have a baby and Elton's still pounding out his music .... The Dolby 5.1 tracks at the video shots were excellent, crystal clear and clearly a benchmark for concert videaos.....

Ironically, the name of the DVD is 'One Night Only' while in actuality it was shot over a two night perion in October 2000. With the energy and absolute electricty that Elton John puts into his performances it's amazing he did it in only two nights. His singing was clear crisp and strong showing none of the age that other rockers his age may suffer. The back up as well was fab and the songs were so well mixed that the back up didn't drown out Elton Johns honkey tonk piano man skills at the ivories ....

Fleetwood Mack's concert DVD the 'Dance' now has a partner on the top shelf of my favorites!

"One Night Only" 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, but in the exact order that the songs were played plus nearly an hour more of additional music. Without question this is a triumphant recording of Elton playing at one of his favorite venues, Madison Square Garden. However, 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", and a spellbinding cover of the Lennon-McCarthy song "Come Together". The rest of the band includes percussionist John Mahan, drummer Curt Bisquera, bassist Bob Birch, keyboard player Guy Babylon, guitarist (and singer) Ken Stacey, singer Billy Trudel, guitarist John Jorgensen, and last, but not least, long-time faithful sidekick and music director, guitarist Davey Johnstone.

This is the complete concer that was the basis of the live album and CBS tv special, "One Night Only". This dvd has 27 tracks, whereas the tv show and video had 12 tracks, and the cd had seventeen tracks. Elton revived several of his lesser-known hits, as well as the usual concert warhorses.

The concert's energy is evident right from the evening's first song, a blazing "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding", on which Elton's piano solo sounds fresh and energetic. Elton revives many of his hits, most notably the stellar "Little Jeannie" and the breezy "Club At The End Of The Street". I also delighted in Elton's stellar performance of "Tiny Dancer", which never sounded better than it does here. The biggest surprise of the evening is Elton's scorching cover of "Come Together", a tribute to John Lennon. Elton gives emotional performances of "Blue Eyes" and "Someone Saved My Life Tonight", and his vocal performances on "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" and "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word" shine. Elton's piano talents are emphasized on his wild solos on "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" and "Crocodile Rock".

The only bad thing about this dvd is the abundance of terrifyingly bad guest stars. While Billy Joel, Kiki Dee and Mary J. Blige are fine on their duets, Ronan Keating sounds horrible on "Your Song". And Bryan Adams sounds like he trying to kill himself on "Sad Songs", ans Anatascia seems to not know what she's doing on "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting". Still, Elton does redeem himself by giving stellar solo performances. All in all, "One Night Only" is a brilliant dvd.

This will be my shortest review I've ever writen for Amazon. ANYONE WHO LIKES ELTON JOHN WILL BE DELIGHTED!!!

Unlike the CD version, you're going to get every song that was recorded that night. Elton has so many hits over the years, they probably could have done even more, but the audience (and the DVD buyers) will be completely satisfied. Hit the play button and enjoy!

Elton John remains as the legend he is today. One Night Only, was recorded originally at Madison Garden in October 2000. For a popular tourist site, Elton John has performed at Madison Square Garden more times than any other artist.

The DVD contains well over 2 hours of live performing. Each song in fuller detail than the original. Even dynamic performance with Billy Joel, Bryan Adams, and Kiki Dee.

Also included is the bonus video of I Want Love featuring Robert Downey Jr. from Songs From Of The West Coast. A understandable video reflecting a recluse of a promising actor.

Elton John has kept the music going for over 30 years. Still, his music remains a staple of the music that is out there today, and that is truly our song.

This is he complete concert that was the basis for the CBS special "One Night Only. This is the complete 27 - song concert. The tv special and video cassette had just 12 songs. The cd had a little more with I think 17 or 18 songs. But this dvd shows the whole show. What it is is possibly Elton's best concert ever.

Elton was clearly in top form this evening. He is energetic, his keyboard playing is robust, and his voice is as powerful as it was thirty years ago. The show kicks off with Elton doing side one of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". The best of these performances is the opening "Funeral For A Friend"/"Love Lies Bleeding" (this is one of the many songs I was surprised he did) and "Bennie And The Jets". "Candle In The Wind" is also well. "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" with Billy Joel is good, but I prefer if Elton had done it alone. What I really liked about this concert is in additon to doing the familliar classics like "Philadelphia Freedom", "Daniel" and "Rocket Man", he does many of the less successful and therefore less popular hits. These include "Blue Eyes", "Club At The End Of The Street" and "Sacrifice". He also shys away from the hits concept and does a blistering cover of The Beatles classic "Come Together" (in tribute to John Lennon).

The guest stars are a mixed bag. Like everybody else, I was glad to know that Elton had Kiki Dee come on to the stage to do "Don't Go Breaking My Heart" with him for the first time since Live Aid in 1985. Mary. J. Blige gives a soulful flare to "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues". As I said earlier, Billy Joel was okay on "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road". Bryan Adams was a nice surprise on "Sad Songs (Say So Much)". On the other hand, Ronan Keaing was unncessary for "Your Song" and Anastacia could've been cut out on "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting".

Overall, a great dvd. As I said many times, this is Elton at his best. I just wish they made an accompanying documenetary. The only extra is the video for the (then) new single "I Want Love". Elton doesn't even appear in it. Instead, Robert Downey, Jr. lipsynchs to the song. But still, you must get this dvd. Also, get the "Live In Barcelona" dvd.

Well, what can I say, the greatest hits of one of the greatest musicians of modern times, in this stunningly visual DVD, Elton sings the favorite songs of many generations that lived and loved under his magical music. Daniel, Candle in the Wind, Rocket Man, Sacrifice, Don't let the Sun Go Down on Me, Can You Feel the Love Tonight, Good Bye Yellow Brick Road, Come Together and Don't Go Breaking my Heart... in all 27 of the best songs of this musical legend, sharing the stage with Billy Joel, Bryan Adams, Kike Dee, Mary J. Blige and Anastasia. Two and a half hours of living performance in 5.1 stereo surround sound! A winner of TV Guide Award "Musical Special of the Year" this DVD has also a bonus track video featuring Robert Downey Jr. singging "I want love" a song taken from Elton's "Songs from the West Coast" Album. The concert was filmed on two consecutive nights on October 2000 at the famous New York Madison Square Garden , a must see, and a must have for any Elton fan and for anyone who enjoys music.

Elton John used one of the most state-of-the-art audio recording equipment during this concert, and you can definitely hear the difference, especially in DTS 5.1. I use a Bose Acoustimass 15 speaker system, and it produces very rich and vibrant audio from this DVD. The video looks sketchy at best. The close-ups were relatively clear (you can see the dust particle flying about on stage), but the longer shots are a bit blurry. So you've got som inconsistencies with the video.
Elton plays 27 hits on this DVD, with some definitely rarer hits that he doesn't play normally: "Club at the End of the Street," "Little Jeannie," "Don't Go Breaking My Heart." Some true gems are "Funeral for a Friend" (with an extended solo at the end), "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That" (with an awesome piano solo), "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" (with a huge standing ovation for Billy Joel, and "Sad Songs" (with Brian Adams).
This DVD is a wonderful addition to any DVD collection, and for any casual or rabid Elton John fan.

Elton John's newest video, One Night Only, is a must for any Elton John fan. It far surpasses the network special which was infested with commercials and bad editing. The solo performances, as well as duets with Billy Joel, Kiki Dee, Bryan Adams, etc. are, as usual, well done. The energetic audience and Elton's usual banter are a definite plus. Elton is backed by original band members Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson as well as his newer bandmaters. The set takes us down memory lane with songs from his self titled album, Elton John, to a few from Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, and others. I do miss not having any of his most recent recordings included, but, since Elton has not visited my hometown in a couple of years it's nice to see him again, even if it is on video.