Dom Robinson reviews

Cert: E

Cat.no: 780 332 2

Running time: 89 minutes

Year: 1990

Pressing: 2000

Region(s): 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 (UK PAL)

Chapters: 20

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Stereo)

Languages: English

Subtitles: None

Fullscreen: 4:3

16:9-enhanced: No

Macrovision: Yes

Disc Format: DVD 5

Price: £17.99

Extras : Scene index

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It stems from a double-CD release that also came out around the same time which includes a lot more tracks and if you already have that then you'll know what a great listen it is. A full compilation would have made a perfect partner to the CD, but what's on show is still worthy of a purchase.

It was in mid-1990 when Elton (real name Reg Dwight) announced that he would no longer profit from singles releases and all such profits would go to charity (hmm.. just after the 1989 releases of Sacrifice and Healing Hands completely stiffed under the Top 40) and came back with... yes, you guessed it - a double-A side of Sacrifice / Healing Hands. It made No.1.

Another No.1 charridee hit was his rewritten Candle in the Wind in 1997, in tribute to the late Princess Diana, who died after a car crash in August of that year. Amazingly, the coroner's final report read that the driver, Henri Paul, bodyguard to Mohammed Al-Fayed, was pissed as a fart as he piled into a stone pillar. Yep, that'll do it every time.

His second single, Rocket Man, made No.2 in April 1972. Kate Bush's remake was a load of "No.2"s !

Elton scored a No.3 hit in 1985 with Nikita, showing his love for a Russian female guard while the cold war was still on. However, Nikita is a boy's name.

Live Like Horses (No.9, Dec 96) was a single released from Pavarotti's album for Warchild's charity. The song was promoted on The National Lottery show which turned into a double disaster when the machine wouldn't start because John Willen hadn't shut the drum properly and a 'random' woman chosen from the audience turned out to be the producer's Mum. Elt or Pav couldn't start the balls rolling because their segment was prerecorded. "Live" like horses? "Eat" like horses, more like.

Elton John's single releases to date (September 2000) are as follows :

Jan 71	No. 7	Your Song
Apr 72	No. 2	Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be a Long Long Time)
Sep 72	No.31	Honky Cat
Nov 72	No. 5	Crocodile Rock
Jan 73	No. 4	Daniel
Jul 73	No. 7	Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
Sep 73	No. 6	Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
Dec 73	No.24	Step Into Christmas
Mar 74	No.11	Candle in the Wind
Jun 74	No.16	Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me
Sep 74	No.15	The Bitch is Back
Nov 74	No.10	Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Mar 75	No.12	Philadelphia Freedom
Jun 75	No.22	Someone Saved My Life Tonight
Oct 75	No.14	Island Girl
Mar 76	No. 7	Pinball Wizard
Jul 76	No. 1	Don't Go Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee)
Sep 76	No.37	Bennie and the Jets
Nov 76	No.11	Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word
Feb 77	No.27	Crazy Water
Jun 77	No.28	Bite Your Lip (Get Up and Dance)
Apr 78	No.34	Ego
Oct 78	No.15	Part Time Love
Dec 78	No. 4	Song for Guy
May 79	No.42	Are You Ready For Love
May 80	No.33	Little Jeannie
Aug 80	No.44	Sartorial Eloquence
Mar 81	No.40	I Saw Her Standing There
May 81	No.42	Nobody Wins
Mar 82	No. 8	Blue Eyes
Jun 82	No.51	Empty Garden
Apr 83	No. 5	I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues
Jul 83	No. 4	I'm Still Standing
Oct 83	No.20	Kiss the Bride
Dec 83	No.33	Cold as Christmas
May 84	No. 7	Sad Songs (Say So Much)
Aug 84	No. 5	Passengers
Oct 84	No.50	Who Wears These Shoes
Mar 85	No.59	Breaking Hearts (Ain't What It Used to Be)
Jun 85	No.32	Act of War (with Millie Jackson)
Oct 85	No. 3	Nikita
Nov 85	No.16	That's What Friends are For (with Dionne Warwick & others)
Dec 85	No.12	Wrap Her Up (with George Michael - uncredited)
May 86	No.47	Cry to Heaven
Oct 86	No.45	Heartache All Over the World
Nov 86	No.44	Slow Rivers (with Cliff Richard)
Jun 87	No.59	Flames of Paradise (with Jennifer Rush)
Jan 88	No. 5	Candle in the Wind (Live)
Jun 88	No.30	I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That
Sep 88	No.74	Town of Plenty
May 89	No.41	Through the Storm (with Aretha Franklin)
Aug 89	No.45	Healing Hands
Nov 89	No.55	Sacrifice
Jun 90	No. 1	Sacrifice / Healing Hands
Aug 90	No.47	Club at the End of the Street
Oct 90	No.33	You Gotta Love Someone
Dec 90	No.63	Easier to Walk Away
Dec 91	No. 1	Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me (with George Michael)
Jun 92	No.10	The One
Aug 92	No.31	Runaway Train (with Eric Clapton)
Nov 92	No.21	The Last Song
May 93	No.44	Simple Life
Nov 93	No. 2	True Love (with Kiki Dee)
Feb 94	No. 7	Don't Go Breaking My Heart (with RuPaul)
May 94	No.24	Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing (with Marcella Detroit)
Jul 94	No.14	Can You Feel the Love Tonight
Oct 94	No.11	Circle of Life
Mar 95	No.15	Believe
May 95	No.18	Made in England
Feb 96	No.33	Please
Dec 96	No. 9	Live Like Horses
Sep 97	No. 1	Candle in the Wind 1997 /
		 Something About the Way You Look Tonight
Feb 98	No.16	Recover Your Soul
Jun 98	No.32	If the River Can Bend
Mar 99	No.10	Written in the Stars (with LeAnn Rimes)

Most of the music promos here are in 4:3 fullscreen, while the ratios for I'm Still Standing and Passengers vary considerably throughout the songs. The picture is much better for the later tracks, while the earlier ones are mostly studio-based performances and of lesser quality, looking a bit soft-focused. The average bitrate is 5.96Mb/s, creeping close towards 8Mb/s.

The sound is excellent and the quality of the tunes cannot be faulted. Generally, the audio print of choice is Dolby Digital 2.0 (Stereo).

Three of the songs, Your Song, Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word and Rocket Man are in mono, but I'm using the 'Arena' setting on my Sony STRDB-930 which gives the entire DVD a 'live' feel.

Extras :

Chapters :

There are 22 chapters, one for each song, plus an intro and end credits sequence, the latter featuring most of Song for Guy, a tune that doesn't feature on the DVD elsewhere. The track listing is as follows :

1. Your Song

2. Daniel

3. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

4. Don't Go Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee)

5. Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word

6. Rocket Man (Live)

7. Blue Eyes

8. I Guess That's Why They Call it the Blues

9. I'm Still Standing

10. Kiss the Bride

11. Sad Songs (Say So Much)

12. Passengers

13. Nikita

14. Wrap Her Up (with George Michael)

15. Candle in the Wind (Live)

16. Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting) (Live)

17. I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That

18. Philadelphia Freedom (Live)

19. Sacrifice

20. You Gotta Love Someone

Languages & Subtitles :

English only, with no lyrics.

Menu :

Silent with some animation in the form of Elton's name "signed" onscreen like the aforementioned track names.

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Overall, as is the way with all music DVDs, the only people to buy them will be fans of the artist.

I am, but it's a shame that (a) not all of his greatest hits are to be found here and, (b) it's unforgivable that the intro to each track can't be seen because of the elongated title sequence for each song, which is just the title being 'written' out on a blue background. It's nice to see it introduced, but that should really fade out and then let the song begin from the start. Hey, I'm just a completist, ok?

And there's no extras too.

Now, let's have a second DVD release please containing the rest of his best hits as well as a selection of non-Disney tracks from the last ten years.

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Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.