Elton John [ORIGINAL RECORDING REMASTERED]

Elton John

Product Details

• Audio CD (June 3, 2008)
• Original Release Date: June 3, 2008
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Island / Mercury
• ASIN: B0010NX2CE
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #35,610 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Your Song

2. I Need You to Turn To

3. Take Me to the Pilot

4. No Shoes Strings on Louise

5. First Episode at Hienton

6. Sixty Years On

7. Border Song

8. Greatest Discovery

9. Cage

10. King Must Die

Disc: 2

1. Your Song [#][*][Demo Version]

2. I Need You to Turn To [Piano Demo][#][*]

3. Take Me to the Pilot [Piano Demo][#][*]

4. No Shoes Strings on Louise [Piano Demo][#][*]

5. Sixty Years On [Piano Demo][#][*]

6. Greatest Discovery [Piano Demo][#][*]

7. Cage [#][*][Demo Version]

8. King Must Die [Piano Demo][#][*]

9. Rock and Roll Madonna [Piano Demo][#][*]

10. Thank You Mama [Piano Demo][#][*]

See all 20 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Product 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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Classic first album earns a fifth star for the second disc of unreleased demos and BBC performances makes this worth getting aga, June 4, 2008

By	Wayne Klein "If at first the idea is not absu... (My Little Blue Window, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)

First a couple of things up front--if you liked the previous remaster of this album you'll LOVE this one simply because it sounds very similar but with an extra disc of material. If you prefer the earliest edition on CD (The DJM or MCA editions), you'll probably want to keep those discs. It all comes down to preferences in sound.

Elton John's self titled second album is where the magic happened. Everything came together. That's not to slight "Empty Sky"--Elton needed a better producer and Steve Brown knew that so brought in the late Gus Dudgeon. The meat here is the original album which sounds extremely good in this remastered edition. It can't top the original DJM CD (or probably the vinyl for that matter)but the real reason you're probably buying this AGAIN is the second disc. Is it worth it? Yep.

We get Elton performing the entire album solo minus two songs ("First Episode at Hienton" and "Border Song" are missing. There are also two songs that have never been formally recorded or released in any form offically. Most of these performances have never been released and vary a bit in sound but on the whole sound extremely good given the age of the tapes, the recording environment and the fact that they were never meant to be released. . It's like sitting at a solo performance of Elton when this album was first released. We also get b-sides from the singles that were on the first remaster. Additionally, we get those piano demos as well.

One technical note to be aware of--during one song from the demo selections the original mastertape for the demos was damaged causing what sounds like a drop out and tape drag causing some distortion.

Elton does the melody for the strings vocally for the songs included on this including "The Greatest Discovery". This is essential for fans of Elton John. The BBC performances feature Elton backed by DJM labelmates Hookfoot (Caleb Quayle the guitarist in that band performed on the original album as well).

The packaging is in the digipak format used for all the Deluxe Edition CD releases. Highly recommended.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential Early Elton, October 15, 2008

By	Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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Though Elton John's eponymous album does not reach the creative heights achieved by the follow-up Tumbleweed Connection, it still makes the listener wonder how someone could achieve so much early on and survive shifting musical tastes to remain a superstar into his 60s. What brings this into five-star territory is the quality and value added by the inclusion of the bonus disc.
With this special edition, you get nearly two hours of music and an attractive, informative booklet containing pictures, album info, lyrics for the original ten songs, and commentary on the development of EJ's early career.
My favorite songs on the first disc are classics: Your Song, I Need You To Turn To, Sixty Years On, and The King Is Dead. I also like the idealistic Border Song and The Cage. On the bonus disc, my favorite rare cuts are both versions of Grey Seal. I also enjoyed demo versions of the same songs I most liked on the first disc. Like another reviewer, I noticed the tape wobble on The Greatest Discovery and wonder why it had not been noticed and fixed.
For some reason, I never bought this album in high school although I bought Empty Sky, Tumbleweed Connection, and Madman Across the Water. But as they say, better late than never. I am delighted to own this now and you will be too.

9 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Elton John Deluxe!, June 7, 2008

By	MC Control "mccontrol" (Australia) - See all my reviews

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).Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (w/ Bonus DVD).
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.