UMe outdoes itself by topping the (reviewed) incredible 2016 Rush "2112" 40th Anniversary collector's edition with this year's "Elton John Diamonds." As exciting as it was to receive "2112" a year ago, opening the shipping box of the limited-edition 3-CD version of "Diamonds" was a true "wow" moment regarding which neither the photo above or any other two-D image can do justice.
The following YouTube clip of a John promo. for the release provides a good sense of the aforementioned magnificence.
The sturdy dark-blue gift box looks spectacular even without considering the bright sparkly letters that are highly apt both for this 50th anniversary celebration of the songwriting partnership of John and Bernie Taupin and for the trademark style of the former. Only having this set include cardboard replicas of his trademark '70s-era rhinestone glasses wold have improved this set.
The next nice surprise was discovering that the 72-page booklet with individual images and liner notes for John songs was a sturdy hard-cover tome. The quality of this publication (and the entire set) reflects the same trend as Millennials buying hardcover books; their inability to purchase many of the same things as us Xers prompts them to spend more on less-expensive items as a means to express their personalities. (A relatable personal experience regarding this is spending $60 on a bound collection of every Police album during my 20s.)
Removing the booklet leads to discovering the well-constructed envelope containing the five frame-worthy highly stylized cardboard prints of John from each stage in his career. Again, the above image does not do them justice.
Further excavating into this three gifts in one set that would take care of roughly one-half of Hanukkah (and has an apt color scheme for that holiday) unearths the three CDs that are the heart (in both senses of the word) of this treasure box. Disc One includes the 17 top John hits of the '70s; Disc Two takes us from the '80s starting with "Song for Guy" and brings us up to the Tim Rice era with "Circle of Life" from "The Lion King."
The best way to describe Disc 3 is to borrow the phrase "17 bonus tracks of personal favorites curated by Elton himself" from the press materials for "Diamonds." Highlights of this include a John and Luciano Pavarotti duet of "Live Like Horses" and John doing classics such as "Lucy in the Sky in the Diamonds" very proud. His take on "Pinball Wizard" is particularly notable for really putting his personal style on that one.
The bigger picture regarding all that is that the long career of John means that (especially considering the "The Lion King" connection) he has a large impact on fans literally from 70 to 7.
The reasons for John being near-and-dear to the heart of your not-so-humble reviewer date back to being a young child listening to his hits on AM radio and LOVING both being able to stay up late enough to see a holiday episode of the sitcom "One Day at A Time" and watching teen stars Valerie Bertinelli and MacKenzie Phillips dress up to perform the John/Kiki Dee duet "Don't Go Breaking My Heart," which is on Diamonds D1. (Any Gen Xer is challenged to not thing of Bertinelli wearing large sparkly glasses when listening to the song.)
The mid-80s bring college and repeatedly listening to a cassette copy of an album of John hits of the '70s.
The 1990s largely are a John-free era with the exception of a hilarious episode of the Britcom "The Vicar of Dibley." Confusion regarding the birth name of John leads an awesome variation of the sitcom plot regarding an unsubstantiated promise to have a celebrity appear at a charity event.
The 2000s bring resurrection in the form of learning that my American-born sister (a.k.a. The Wicked Witch of the West End) is a neighbor of John. Another aspect of this is a report that John is the featured entertainer at the 50th birthday party of the Master of the Universe/husband of the aforementioned sibling. The only disappointment regarding missing that alleged event is not hearing John sing "The Bitch Is Back" in that setting.
The 2010s begin with a more personal experience. Suffice it to say that sleeping in the same bed and luxuriating in the same massive soaking Jacuzzi (but not necessarily at the same time) is a perk of a recent fabulous hotel stay. Receiving "Diamonds" a couple of days ago is keeping this hot streak going,
Anyone with questions or comments regarding "Diamonds" or John in general is strongly encouraged to email me; you alternatively can connect on Twitter via @tvdvdguy.
No comments:
Post a Comment