They’ve omitted pretty much anything already on the cd remasters and that track turns up on A Single Man
It looks lovely, but I’m only really interested in the B-sides.. Which leaves 6 CDs I’ll probably never play!
Very few releases are a must-buy for me anymore, but this is one of them. That said, I could have done without the padding of discs 1, 2, and 8. The rest of the box is geared towards die-hards, so why include 3 discs of material they'll aleady have?
Earn While You Learn Dreamboat The Man Who Never Died also, no Act Of War or singles from The Very Best Of Elton John. I think there are a few later b-sides that are missing too, but I havent checked and they may just be leaked tracks that Im thinking of.
Another cool thing about this set is that Elton admits that he's had downtime due to Covid and decided to look back and compile this. I'm hoping we see a host of new boxes/reissues by artists in the same position. It does seem like this is the year of the box set, hopefully many more to come from more unlikely candidates like Elton (looking at you Stevie Wonder! no pun intended).
Thanks! If anyone has a comprehensive list of b-sides missing from this upcoming set, that would be great. I’ll see if I can track those down from iTunes or something.
The first three of those are on the relevant remasters. So I get why they aren’t there. Although it would be nice if they were totally comprehensive sets.
I would have preferred a BBC set covering the early years and some different deep cuts. And there are probably too many early songwriting demos from 67/68–many of these are on YouTube and while some are interesting, many are really not going to be played a lot- I’ll probably pick this up.
And only one from The Captain and The Kid which for me is his best album since 1983. Disappointing not to get Across the River Thanes either.
A fantastic collection - now just hoping the mastering is more like the 2019 Japanese early album remasters and a lot less like Diamonds. A b-side like "Lord of the Flies" needs to retain its original dynamics to recapture that quirky mood on CD. Great set of songs here, been hoping for two sets like this for years - DJM demos and the later b-sides on CD - now both are in one! Instant purchase
Yeah, that was my point in my original post. Those b-sides were already available on CD so it was nice that they didnt waste space including them potentially denying space to things that were not on CD before.
Apologies. Yes I agree completely. It’s good to focus on the uncompiled stuff. Seem to be one or two others missing. Made For Me? Not sure I see that anywhere else or No Valentines now I think about it, I expect there are a few more be nice to have Red on there as well
Im guessing this still leaves the way clear for a comprehensive BBC set by not including them here. The deep cuts are always going to be contentious. Everyone will want different deep cuts. As for the songwriting demos, Im happy to have them in good quality rather than on YouTube. Its a little more permanent
No worries. Yes, Made For Me should be on there I think. It would have been nice to have all the tracks from The Very Best Of all in one place, but I guess they are on CD already. A complete B-Sides collection would have been cool, although this makes it largely redundant now.
Yeah, would’ve been nice to maybe get a disc or two of soundtrack/tribute/various artist material. The Drover’s Ballad, stuff like that. And River Thames omission is a disappointment. But I’m pretty thrilled with the rest of it. Figured he was too embarrassed by those Dick James songs. If he does commentary on that, it could be hilarious!
Yea. Very nice. I think the literature by Elton will be half the reason for getting this. Now I can get rid of Caribou since Ticking is the first song on d2.
Looking closer at the set, it's an interesting collection: - Two discs of songs chosen by Elton. While not 'new,' it's interesting to listen to a setlist of songs that he has some attachment too - especially since his shows are mostly greatest hits nowadays. Seeing something like "Hoop of Fire" means he has even gone back and listened to "Leather Jackets." - The rarities, which are quite comprehensive. I mean, "Scarecrow" - very nice selection. And I'm sure they'll sound better than the DJ DEMOS CDs. - B-Sides - as mentioned, they appear to be those never put on CD before. The final batch of Elton CD remasters from '03 lacked B-sides for some reason, so nice to have them here. - A Disc of fluff - The vinyl options are nicely broken out, because in some cases, this is the first time some of these songs are officially available on vinyl in a widespread release. So I suppose the Universal fire didn't damage all his 80s material. While this set was very unexpected, it's a shame it didn't include more rarities from the 80s/90s. He was just as prolific in the 90s, e.g. "Made in England" spawned many outtakes.
I was gobsmacked when I got this message (working in a record shop we got an advance e-mail with this announcement) and I have for years and years hoped that something like this would happen. All the B-sides previously unavailable on CD... Absolutely amazing... The missing stuff is only missing because it already appears on CD somehow (talking b-sides here)... Sure there are still some loose ends... There is a magnificent outtake called Hell from the MiE sessions that is brilliant but I don't give a toss about that now... 80's B-sides on CD!!! Who'd have thunk. And the early demos I am really looking forward to. Taking the Sun From My Eyes is one I remember as being good goofy fun... And Mr. Frantic at long last... So much brilliance here... My faith in Elton has been reinstated... The first box set I actually really, really, really look forward to, definitely a hole-patcher in my collection. About time. Love it.
Glad for all of you who enjoy the Dick James demos and his post-classic b-sides, but with a few important exceptions (“River Thames” would’ve been one of them), I won’t visit these often. What I’d really like are the missing 5.1’s and outtakes or unusual remixes from the classic years (e.g. the acoustic remix of Candle in the Wind”)—live from that time period would be nice, too. I’m sort of surprised he’s releasing the early stuff. Curios, to be sure, but not up to his standards. Oh well, you can’t please everyone with these things and most of you seem stoked so I’m glad he’s putting it out. The lack of rare classic material made me think, ah, he’s planning on deluxe boxes! Great! But upon reconsideration, I think he’s just avoiding overlap with Rare Masters.
Any experts here who can comment on whether anything on the unreleased CDs hasn't previously been booted? Or has all this previously appeared on Dick James Demos boots? I wish they'd jettisoned the deep tracks and used those two CDs to mop up the b-sides that have previously been issued either on Rare Tracks or as bonus tracks, to make this more complete one-stop shopping. But I'll live. What is the last CD, exactly?
I believe the last CD is made up of songs that feature prominently in his autobiography. It does seem to be oddly sequenced.
I’m very excited for this release. I’d prefer to have a comprehensive b-side collection instead of the deep cuts or that final disc. But this is still great.
