Greatest Hits 1970-2002 (3CD) [Original recording remastered] [Limited Edition] [Extra tracks] [Special Edition]

After meeting through an advert in the New Musical Express in the late sixties, Elton and Bernie Taupin started writing and carried on for three decades, and still haven't stopped. Taupin wrote the songs, and Elton wrote the music, and together they kept realing off hit after hit, album after album. This is a collection of the best, on three discs and with over forty tracks this CD really is a must-have for any Elton fan.

It features hit songs such as: Rocket Man which apparently, is about a man who is sent to live in space as part of a scientific experiment. However, according to some, it is a symbol of how rock stars are isolated from their friends, family and from the real world. However, in an interview Bernie Taupin revealed that this song was about a cocaine user; "burning out a fuse up here alone".

Crocodile Rock, which is about a guy in the 50's and 60's who goes to a restaurant where the patrons, especially him, loved an obscure dance called the Crocodile Rock. However it never caught on and was soon forgotten about it. If you look deeper into the lyrics you can see that they are actually quite sad. He also performed it on the Muppet Show which is quite cool, and most kids like it.

Daniel, which was written by Taupin however when Elton came to write the music he chopped off the last verse because he thought the song was already too long. This completely changed the meaning of the song, as the deleted verse explained that "Daniel" was in fact a Vietnam Vet who returned home after the war and decided to leave America and go to Spain. The missing verse left the song open to missinterpretation. Both the lyrics and the music for Daniel were written on the same day as part of a mad writing fase.

An lets not forget the unforgetable Candle In The Wind originally written in 1973 as a tribute to Marilyn Monroe however Taupin rewrote the lyrics in 1997 so the song could be performed by Elton at Princess Diana's funeral. Over night it became the best selling single in history and still is. The rewritten version was only sold for a month and all the proceeds went to charity. Elton promised that he would not use the lyrics after that, and on this CD there is the original.

For the really Elton John fan there is a really nice booklet inside which charts the life of one of the greatest British artists ever and also includes lots of nice pictures of Elton both in the earlier years and the latter ones.

So as you can see this really is a wonderful CD with all of Elton Johns greatest hits including the ones mentioned and many, many more. This is an essential CD for anyone who calls themselves an Elton John fan, and it means that there no tracks which you want to skip becuase they are all good, and there is a nice mixture of fast and slow ones. Long live Elton and here to many more years of hits.

There's something else, that is worth mentioning: the book inside. It contains Elton's history, since the 70's, summarized into a dozen pages full with interesting stories!
Did you know that in the early 70's Elton and Bernie released two albums a year? That they had fifteen hit albums from 1970-76, including 7 consecutive US number ones? And that one of these number ones was a double album? Interesting, at least!!
The book inside is definitely one more reason to buy the album.

I got the feeling that I have all the essential. In one buy.

I wish the same will be done for other artists...