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Elton John - Live in Barcelona

Rhino // Unrated // November 2, 2002
List Price: $24.99 [Buy now and save at Amazon]

Review by Phillip Duncan | posted April 25, 2003 | E-mail the Author
Set to make a comeback after a creative break, Elton John filmed one of the final performances on his tour in Spain in July of 1992. Featuring the best of his songs, costumes and stage performance, it's a welcome addition to the DVD collection.

Even from a young age, I remember hearing John's songs and recognizing them. One of my favorite episodes of the Muppet show is his and the performance of Crocodile Rock. So, I eagerly snapped this disc up expecting a great sounding performance by a great musician.

Oddly enough, I don't own one of his CDs and I' really don't consider myself a fan of his music, but there is something about his songs that there's no denying the talent behind them and the catchiness that always lasts after it's over.

After a six-year absence, John performs most of his famous songs, they include:
Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
I'm Still Standing
I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
Tiny Dancer
Philadelphia Freedom
Burn Down The Mission
Simple Life
The One
Mona Lisa And Mad Hatters 1 & 2
Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
Daniel
Blue Avenue
The Last Song
Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding
Sad Songs Say So Much
The Show Must Go On
Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting
Sacrifice
Song For Guy/Your Song

As you can see, it's a wonderful show with Elton in top shape and not missing a single beat. His performance is enhanced amazingly by his band: Davey Johnstone (guitars and Musical Director); Charlie Morgan (drums); Guy Babylon and mark Taylor (keyboards); Bob Birch (bass); Natalie Jackson, Mortonette Jenkins, and Marlena Jeter (backing vocals).

Even if you're a casual fan like me, this disc is worth picking up. Much like I remember his music, it nice to put this on and go about your day and occasionally hear a song that makes you smile or remember the first time you heard it.

Video: The full frame video is very soft looking and it's probably a combination of the age of the video and the concert lighting. To be honest, the visuals are the least important thing on this set.

Audio: This discs shines in this area and offers both a Dolby Digital Surround track and an uncompressed PCM track. Both have their advantages, with the Surround being my favorite. The PCM track is warm and full, but the music fills the surrounds perfectly and enhances the listening experience perfectly, without overwhelming.

Extras: There is a 50-minute documentary that's inter-cut with concert footage. It's a mix of Elton, designer Gianni Versacce, and other writers and musicians involved with the tour. It's an overly long look at the process that went into developing the tour that would mark Elton's comeback.

Overall: This is everything a concert DVD should be. The focus is on the music and although the video suffers slightly, it's still more enjoyable than any audio CD. They full sound that the extra space of DVD offers the audio is perfectly warm and room filling when combined with this timeless, talented artist.

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