To Be Continued

by

Elton John

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If you're on a tight budget, MCA's three Greatest hits CDs would provide you with most of the hits, but the box set with key album tracks and the occasional rarity is necessary to provide the listener with an accurate portrait of Elton John as one of the greatest pop artist of the past fifty years.

I passed on this sprawling 67-track collection when it first came out in 1990. [Hey, on a teacher's salary I simply couldn't afford it.] Then during the past year when I finally felt I could, I discover that MCA had let it go out of print! Searching online for used copies, I found that they were selling in excess of one hundred dollars. What a thrill it was to see it back in print. It contains every Top Ten hit (except "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" is represented in a live version--and not the 1991 duet with George Michael). Altogether, you get 30 of his 45 Top 40 hits. And what a rush to hear John Lennon on "I Saw Her Standing There" (the b-side to "Philadelphia Freedom") from 1975.

I have only two complaints: First, with a 4-disc box set, I would like to have seen more (if not all) of his lesser hits included. I especially would like to have seen the inclusion of "Grow Some Funk of Your Own" (No. 14, 1976), "Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance)" (No. 28, 1977), "Part-Time Love" (No. 22, 1978), "Who Wears These Shoes" (No. 16, 1984) and "Healing Hands" (No. 13, 1989). Second, It's been ten years since this box set was first released. Why not add a fifth disc? Elton had seven Top 40 hits in the Nineties, including the million-seller "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King.

That said, Elton John along with the Beatles, Elvis Presley and few others had as big an impact on the musical landscape as any other artist of the 20th Century. If you missed this the first time around (like me), don't pass it up this time. ESSENTIAL

I first became an Elton fan in 94, and I had to wait over six years for this collection to become available. To be truthful, I was slightly disappointed with this release. For starters, there seems to be a place for plenty of unnecessary material, while some key album cuts are missing. The first one I noticed was "Burn Down The Mission". While that particular song isn't one of my favorites, from what I understand, it was performed at shows for years, and has received plenty of airplay on rock radio, so where is it? I notice there is room for a handful of early, non-album singles, which are fine songs, but presently, not only available on "Rare Masters", but also all of the "Classic Years" releases. The next, which I can let slide a little easier is "Kiss The Bride", wasn't that an 80's favorite, worthy of being on this retrospective? Instead, there is a flopped single with Millie Jackson, "Act Of War", which up til most recently, was available on "Ice On Fire". In my opinion, an update before release, subsituting some of the tracks that have become irrelevant since the original issue, and possibly adding a fifth disc of 90's material, would have made this package so much more worthwhile. Now you might be wondering, what are the highlights of this collection, that earned my three star rating...Well, you do get all of the big hits(up til 1990) in one place(except for a remix of "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That", and a live version of "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me"). Despite what is missing, you do get plenty of important album tracks, "Madman Across The Water", "Take Me To The Pilot", "All The Girls Love Alice and "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding"; you also get a few obscurities, the demo of "Your Song", "Come Back Baby", a single with "Bluesology" and a live version of "I Feel Like A Bullet". Overall, I would say, going with the three greatest hits albums, and picking up the necessary classic years albums is the best way to go, however, this does offer a good chronological overview to the casual fan, and the die-hard fan, like myself, will pick it up for the rarities.