Gary Smaby
Elton John has enjoyed immense success over the decades since the UK debut of Empty Sky in 1969 (Empty Sky was not released in the US until 1975, well after Elton John had successfully established himself as a singer-songwriter). With well over 30 album releases (studio, live) and a rare, enviable collection of Top 20 hits that required three volumes of greatest hits issues to accommodate most of them, it's safe to safe to say that Elton John has a bit of our attention.
It's legitimately arguable as to which album in Elton John's catalog is his most satisfying. If you were to ask me, I consider those to be Madman Across the Water (1971), and its followup, Honky Chateau (1972). But if you asked most people, you would hear Goodbye Yellow Brick Road selected most often. With two LPs filled with 17 songs, four of them Top 20 hits, it's certainly his most successful, having sold well over seven million units.
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road has been revisited several times over the years, most recently as a high resolution Deluxe Edition SACD reissued back in 2003 (impossible to find). On the title's initial 1973 release, the double LP package contained yellow vinyl (collectors, try and find a copy of that one), with all subsequent pressings in standard black vinyl.
On Elton John's official website, there is an explanatory request for memorabilia surrounding the six-month period of the essential Goodbye Yellow Brick Road October 1973 release. The explanation is simple. There will be a 40th Anniversary Edition of the essential classic, which DOES turn 40 this year.
The small piece goes on to say that there is plenty of music material, film, pictures, etc to create a definitive version of the well-loved double album. All of that points to a damn fine chance that Universal is on track to roll out a 40th Anniversary Edition although, apart from the request at EJ's website, there are no official announcements.
With a little bit of speculation easily formulated from the "...wealth of exciting music, film, and pictures..." statement in the post, I'd have to say that there will likely be a DVD included with the release. I'm also sure that a reissue of this stature will be newly remastered.
A definitive version of GoodbyeYellow Brick Road will certainly be welcome.
