The Show
Considering that Elton John hasn't had a major hit in some time, and is better known for yelling about Madonna and her lip-syncing, perhaps this is a good time to release a set like "Dream Ticket," to remind people that he is one of the top musicians of the past 35 years. In choosing the concerts with which to make this statement, it seems like the DVD producers picked three different versions of the man, namely the arena-filling rock star (New York), the classically-trained performer (London) and the pianist (Turkey). Each has the requisite hits that have made him a worldwide superstar, but as they cover only three years of his career, 2000 to 2002, they are all essentially the same man. Some range in years would have put his stardom in context.

The New York concert, performed at MSG in 2000, is a live taping for release of John's biggest songs. With flashy set design, a full band and an arsenal full of Top-40 singles, this is the performer most know him as, though in an outfit well toned down from his heydays. Unfortunately, his voice is hardly in the best condition it's ever been in, and at times, he sounds like he's struggling to hit notes. He has some help though, in the form of guest vocalists Bryan Adams, Ronan Keating, Mary J. Blige, Anastacia, Billy Joel and Kiki Dee. Listening to Blige, I have to wonder what she did to become so well-respected. Her performance on "I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues" did nothing to compliment the song. The rest were very good in their one-song cameos, though Anastacia looked ridiculous prancing around the stage like Mick Jagger.

Watching the disc, I have to ask for a new rule regarding concert DVDs. When a performer has a career over 20 years long, there should be no crowd shots. The fans rarely, if ever, age as gracefully as the artist, resulting in visions of people too old to be acting the way they are. DVD studios, please respect this new rule and the world will thank you. Aside from that, the show presents the best of Elton John, in his most digestible form, that of the pop star he once was.

Disc Two brings Elton John home to London, and the music school he studied at as a child. Backed by the student choir and orchestra, he delivers a short 12-song set, mixing his hits with some more eclectic choices like "Sixty Years On" and "Carla Etude." The orchestra isn't utilized quite as much as I expected, but it's intro on "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" is a lot of fun. There's not much to go on in this brief performance, but it's interesting nonetheless.

The third stop is Turkey, where John performs solo, with just his piano, delivering 21 tracks of sheer musical bliss. Unleashed from the expectations of the average concert-goer, he's able to stretch his legs, and rely on a voice that's full and healthy and piano skills that create sounds of pure beauty. While just about every song sounds great, his stunning performances of "Rocket Man" and "The One" are examples of the kind of musical magic that girls hope to lose their virginity to. If only the video was able to keep up (see The Quality.) Listening to this concert makes me realize just how bad his voice is during the New York show.

The fourth DVD is not a concert, but a 12-part featurette covering three songs from each of his four decades of music. Each part covers a different song from John's career, each holding a specific importance. Sit-down interviews with John, his band members and other industry people are melded with archival footage, as well as a full-length performance of the song in question. Among the highlights are a minimalist video for "I Want Love," directed by artist Sam Taylor-Wood and starring Robert Downey, Jr., and an excellent LaChappelle video for "This Train Don't Stop There Anymore," featuring Justin Timberlake as Elton John. It's funny that these stand out, as they were the two songs I didn't know heading into the disc.

Though the music is fantastic, and the stories on disc four are intriguing (including one about drinking with Duran Duran in France), there are a couple of things that bother me. Why not include the Las Vegas show that is referred to often on Disc Four? Including this wild stage show would have made this set a must-have. Another thing I really didn't like was how the package says there are more than 70 songs. I counted the tracks in this set, and there are just 70 performances, and with several songs performed three times, there are truly only 41 songs included. There aren't any egregious omissions from John's catalog (though I enjoy "Blessed") but the package isn't very truthful. That bothers me.

The DVDs
I never checked out Best Buy's "Four Flicks" exclusive, but from reading about it, I would imagine it was done in a similar way to this set in terms of the packaging. "Elton John: Dream Ticket" is presented on four DVDs, which come packaged in a one-piece, four-tray box. The four trays fold out of the gold-foil stamped, hard cardboard cover, revealing an extensive 22-page booklet, with the most ass-kissing-est liner notes ever, from British music journalist Paul Flynn. Describing Bryan Adam, Ronan Keating and Anastacia as having "brush[ed] shoulders with genius and come good on their lucky strike" and having been "touched by the hand of Elton" comes off particularly galling, but when he describes Billy Joel as the closest John has to a piano man peer, it's just ridiculous. Joel IS "The Piano Man." It's not just a clever name. The booklet is an entertaining read though, despite, or perhaps because of Flynn's insane bravado. Plenty of photos, as well as track listings and credits populate the remainder of the booklet.

The menu design for the three live shows is the same for each disc (though the third disc's menu is in full-screen), with a classy and minimalist format that features audio options (English 5.1 and 2.0) and song selections, as well as a "Play All" option. The fourth disc has a bit more Elton-styled menu, with trippy colors, animation and designs. Here, you can choose to look at the sections for each of the four decades, a set-up menu, and a "Play All" feature. In each decade, a menu option for the costumes section is available. The costumes area links to all four decades. Below are the track listings for each disc.

Disc One
Madison Square Garden, NYC
One Night Only
October 21, 2000

1. Funeral For A Friend (Love Lies Bleeding)
2. Candle In The Wind
3. Bennie And The Jets
4. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (with Billy Joel)
5. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
6. Little Jeannie
7. Philadelphia Freedom
8. Tiny Dancer
9. Can You Feel The Love Tonight?
10. Daniel
11. Rocket Man (I Think It's Going To Be a Long, Long, Time)
12. Club At The End Of The Street
13. Blue Eyes
14. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues (with Mary J. Blige)
15. The One
16. I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That
17. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
18. Sacrifice
19. Come Together
20. Your Song (with Ronan Keating)
21. Sad Songs (Say So Much) (with Bryan Adams)
22. I'm Still Standing
23. Crocodile Rock
24. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting (with Anastacia)
25. The Bitch Is Back
26. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
27. Don't Go Breaking My Heart (with Kiki Dee)

Disc Two
The Royal Opera House - London
December 1, 2002

1. Rehearsals/Interviews
2. Sixty Years On
3. Take Me To The Pilot
4. This Train Don't Stop There Anymore
5. Carla Etude
6. Tonight
7. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
8. Philadelphia Freedom
9. Burn Down The Mission
10. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
11. Your Song
12. Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting

Disc Three
The Great Amphitheatre - Ephesus, Turkey
July 17, 2001

1. Introduction
2. Your Song
3. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
4. Daniel
5. Mona Lisa And Mad Hatters
6. Honky Cat
7. Rocket Man
8. Philadelphia Freedom
9. Nikita
10. Sacrifice
11. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
12. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
13. This Train Don't Stop There Anymore
14. Burn Down The Mission
15. The One
16. Blue Eyes
17. I'm Still Standing
18. Crocodile Rock
19. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
20. Circle of Life
21. Candle In The Wind

Disc Four
Elton In Four Decades
'70s
1. Your Song - with montage of video and concert footage
2. Rocket Man - with performance video
3. Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters - with clips from Almost Famous and 1972 live performance

'80s
4. I'm Still Standing - David LaChappelle video intro from Las Vegas show
5. I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues - video footage
6. Empty Garden - dramatic video

'90s
7. Sacrifice - with video
8. Can You Feel The Love Tonight? - with Lion King video
9. Believe - with video

'00s
10. I Want Love - with Sam Taylor-Wood video, featuring Robert Downey Jr.
11. This Train Don't Stop There Anymore - with David LaChappelle video, featuring Justin Timberlake
12. Are You Ready For Love - Animated video

The Quality
Sadly, the video quality for these discs is a mixed bag. The New York (widescreen) and Turkey (full-screen) shows are both soft and murky when not in direct light, while the colors bleed, the shadows intrude on the main stage and the whole concert looks like it was shot on a camcorder. The lack of detail in the video contributes to a highly disappointing look, as it seems that only one of the several camera used can achieve anything close to focus. It may just be a result of the location and lighting, but it doesn't look good.

The Royal Opera House concert (widescreen), produced by the BBC, is many times better that the other two, with a crisp, clear image that isn't affected by the light show, unlike the New York concert. "Elton in Four Decades" (full-screen) has beautiful video on the interviews, and a range of quality on the videos and concert clips.

While the video isn't the greatest, the audio department picks up the slack, delivering four discs of enveloping 5.1 music soundtracks, as well as 2.0 Stereo sound that's not half bad. Some music DVDs can be nearly identical from 5.1 to 2.0, due to a weak mix, but here, it's like night and day. With John's vocal isolated in the center channel and his echo, crowd noise and instruments spread out to the surrounds, the "you are there" experience is achieved on the 5.1 soundtracks. I've never heard these songs sound so good on disc.

That's probably because I never saw the previous DVD release of the New York show (which is still available.) That disc had a DTS soundtrack, which has disappointingly been dropped from this release.

The Extras
Unlike the extremely packed "Four Flicks" collection, there's a real lack of bonus material on "Dream Ticket." The first three discs have no extras at all, while the fourth disc features a costume gallery that presents the most audacious parts of John's well-known wardrobe, ready to click through, and organized by decade. Each costume has a short text background to inform the uninitiated, making for a neat little reference piece. That's all you get. That's quite a let-down, considering "Four Flicks" had multiple featurettes, bonus performances, commentaries, multi-angle options and more.

The Bottom Line
Let's see...the box lies, the booklet brags and the set disappoints. Perhaps "Forty Licks" set too high a standard, but such a massive name like Elton John deserved much better, and the fans who shell out the money to Best Buy to get this exclusive do as well. If the music wasn't so good this could easily be a skip job, but any Elton fan will enjoy listening to the great mixes and the info learned in "Elton in Four Decades." As a fan of Elton John's music, it doesn't feel good to say this, but as a DVD box set, "Dream Ticket" is a rental for the casual fan. On the other hand, as a musical time capsule, it's outstanding. It's too bad it couldn't fulfill both criteria.

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*The Reviewer's Bias section is an attempt to help readers use the review to its best effect. By knowing where the reviewer's biases lie on the film's subject matter, one can read the review with the right mindset.