Review of Elton John: Greatest Hits One Night Only

Introduction

I don`t really need to say much about Sir Elton John do I? Born Reginald Kenneth Dwight, a stalwart of the British music industry for something like the last 38 years, although he never had a number one single until 1990`s double A side of Sacrifice and Healing Hands. Not having a number one single doesn`t mean that you`re not very good and in today`s musical climate it seems that only dross gets to number one (with some exceptions). And of course Sir Elton`s biggest number one single, his reworking of Candle In The Wind, is currently the biggest-selling single in the world, with sales of more than 35 million.

So, bearing all that in mind here`s a DVD which attempts to span most of the last 38 years by presenting you with just your 27 tracks, lasting about two and a half hours. The songs were performed over 2 nights in October 2000 at Madison Square Garden (even though the DVD is called One Night Only).

Here`s what you get:-

Funeral For A Friend (Love Lies Bleeding), Candle In The Wind, Bennie And The Jets, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (with Billy Joel), Someone Saved My Life Tonight, Little Jeannie , Philadelphia Freedom, Tiny Dancer, Can You Feel The Love Tonight?, Daniel, Rocket Man, Club At The End Of The Street, Blue Eyes, I Guess That`s Why They Call It The Blues (with Mary J. Blige), The One, I Don`t Wanna Go On With You Like That, Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word, Sacrifice, Come Together, Your Song (with Ronan Keating), Sad Songs (Say So Much) (with Bryan Adams), I`m Still Standing, Crocodile Rock, Saturday Night`s Alright (For Fighting) (with Anastacia), The Bitch Is Back, Don`t Let The Sun Go Down On Me, Don`t Go Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee).

Video

The good news is that the concert is transferred in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen (or thereabouts). The bad news is that it has a very nasty, washed out NTSC kind of look to it. It`s not unwatchable, but it could really have been a whole lot better. It seems that the close up cameras have transferred ok, but shots from cameras further away don`t look so good.

I wouldn`t let it put you off purchasing the DVD, just don`t get your hopes up.

Audio

No such complaints with the sound though. A choice of DD2.0 stereo (it sounds ok, but you wouldn`t listen to it unless you had no choice), DD5.1 and dts. I sampled the DD5.1 and dts tracks and was happy to hear them both sounding very good indeed. Instruments, vocals and the crowd are all placed nicely around the soundstage, and this is a very good live concert mix. The dts just edges the DD5.1 mix.

I don`t think it`s up to the reference standard that is The Eagles` Hell Freezes Over, but it`s somewhere in the top 10 music DVDs that I`ve heard.

Features

We do get a few extras, in the form of music videos. These are presented in full frame and stereo only. You can watch:-

I Want Love
The Train Don`t Stop There Anymore
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word (with Blue)
Original Sin (2 versions)

Conclusion

A very reasonable way to cover a career of nearly 40 years. Whenever there`s a concert around you always get the inevitable "why did they perform that but not that, why didn`t they perform anything from the (insert album name here) album". But with 27 songs there must be something here for Elton fans old and new.

The guests may be rather questionable (Bryan Adams is the only one I would pick, and he doesn`t really acquit himself well here), but at the end of the day it`s all about Elton. If it were up to me I would have invited Eric Clapton to come and play Runaway Train (from The One album). Or to recreate his little solos and fills on Sacrifice (as performed at Knebworth in 1990).

The bottom line is, if you`re an Elton fan, you`ll probably be wanting to pick this DVD up. Although it`s let down by the poor picture, the crucial element (the sound) is definitely up to scratch, with a good choice of nicely mixed audio. The extras are rather throwaway in nature (I wouldn`t watch any of them again), but some people might enjoy the videos.

Good for both casual and more ardent fans.