Album Reviews

When MCA's UNI division originally issued this album in 1970, it became an immediate hit. Though it was Elton's second album (Empty Skies came first), but was issued later in the United States), it was his first produced by Gus Dudgeon and arranged by the brilliant Paul Buckmaster.

In order to make the record a guaranteed play on kiddie phonographs, UNI lopped off all the prodigious bass found on the master tape—a fact I only discovered when I got a hold of a UK DJM (Dick James Music) original in the mid-seventies. Now that was a sonic shock to the system, because not only was there subterranean bass encoded on the slab of UK vinyl, but everything from the strings to the piano, to Elton's voice and especially the acoustic bass, gained a level of clarity, transparency and pristine beauty not even hinted at on the UNI original.

When MCA issued the first CD version in the late 1980's the clod in charge used the LP master because the bass was lopped off on that edition as well. I'm sure somewhere along the line the original full frequency response master was used for a CD reissue, and it's been used for this SACD.

I've got little to add to what's been said about this album by music critics and the public for the past 30 plus years. I was working in Minuteman Records in Harvard Square back in 1970 when it first came out and it took less than half a side to realize that Elton John was going to be huge and that I would gag every time I heard him sing “your thighs were the cushions of my love…”

The lush, atmospheric production does well on SACD but there are a few oddities: for instance on my original LP, Elton's voice is properly centered between the speakers. Somehow in the re-mastering his voice got skewed slightly right. There's a bit of “mooshing” at the very top, with the LP stillhaving more pristine extension, instrumental separation and detail even though I've played it hundreds of times.

Nonetheless, it's a very high quality digital transfer and if you're a fan of this album you can't go wrong here. Three bonus tracks, “Bad Side of the Moon,” “Grey Seal,” and “Rock n Roll Madonna” add value to the package. These were recorded during the album sessions but left off the final release, though “Rock n Roll Madonna/”Grey Seal” was issued as a single in the UK.

As for the 5.1 re-mix, I just don't care to hear stuff coming from the sides or behind me. You may feel otherwise. Since most pop recordings are really multi-channel mono to begin with, when you divide the tracks among 5 channels instead of 2, you simply pull apart further what works better, in my opinion, split between two channels instead of 5.

Finally, if you're going to look for an original DJM pressing, be careful: an original will have a yellow/black/silver DJM label and the numbers stamped in the lead out groove will be typeface. The jacket will have a pebbly surface. I've picked up two more copies with smooth jacket surfaces and hand written numbers in the lead out groove area and if you hold those up to the light, the vinyl is actually red-tinged and transparent. These don't sound nearly as good. Finding an original DJM is difficult to impossible, which makes this outstanding SACD all the more desirable.