What's in your CDP tonight? the minority report

@ghosthouse - I owned some of the EJ albums on 8-Track (sorry, analog again!) back in the day and they were hugely popular, so I'm familiar with all of them. Haven't heard any of them in a while. Just saw Nutty's post about Tumbleweed Connection and picked them up during my weekly record store jaunt. Getting ready to put them on now for a first listen in this century.

@reubent
Hello there. Wow...8 Track tape. Sounds like we might be contemporaries, or at least near-contemporaries, age-wise. I certainly hope you enjoy those Elton John LPs you picked up. Can’t speak to Captain Fantastic. Never owned or listened to that one extensively (after my early dismissal) but I think the other two are great and have held up well. His self-titled LP (color photo of him in profile against black background) and Honky Chateau are very good too. Some striking arrangements played by the accompanying chamber ensemble on the S/T. They too might be worth hunting for in your record store jaunts. I’m thinking I might have to get the re-masters that Nutty is talking about if what I heard of T’weed via Tidal is representative.

FWIW on this Elton John topic.  Here's a great review posted on Amazon July 15 2013  by one, "Jacktavish" for the Honky Chateau remaster.  

"Forget Elton John's Greatest Hits part one. Just buy Madman Across the Water, Tumbleweed Connection, & Honky Chateau to understand why Elton John is a legend. He cranked these three albums out in 2 years!!

It's a blast to hear EJ at the peak of his phenomenal singing: soulful, poppy, but with a rock edge. During this stage, he & Taupin were in love with The Band & Leon Russell, so there is a funkiness, a backbeat, a gospel soul that totally disappears when he becomes a jet-set popstar. For people who hate all the excess & drama that EJ has come to represent, it's a joy to hear him when it was all about the music."

Great comments.  Explains for me why I like these and not so much of his later output.  I'd include that self-titled, so a "quad" of albums worth having.  

WHEN IT WAS ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC - words to live by.

ghosthouse...

Spot-on appraisal of Elton John's earlier and by any measure best output. Only album left out could be "11/17/70", an excellent live in studio recording that I had written a review for my 8th grade English class. (Great record, and one gawd-awful attempt at a record review.)

Personally, I stopped at Madman. After that...well,  I lost interest altogether as his stardom exploded. 

Thanks everyone for their interest and comments regarding Tumbleweed Connection and other Elton John music and bio. arcam88 recommended this dics while I visited his home a few weeks ago. I've actually been spinning his copy - but was fortunate to pickup my own yesterday at my local shop, Phil's Records. He had the remastered disc in stock. 

I like all forms of music media, however the best thing about owning CD's (or LP's) is the cover art and the liner notes. Tumbleweed Connection comes with a 12 page sepia colour book chock full of lyrics, liner notes. In fact, some songs from this albumn have been covered by some well known artist. James Taylor's sister Kate, Rod Stweart, Phil Collins and Sting. This compilation was released in 1995. 

"...Gus Dudgeon: All of the  tapes used to create these new masters are the original mixes. However, due to the fact that many of the tapes are at least 25 years old, they have "softened up" to varying degrees. So, the sound has been passed the most up to date digital processing equipment, at 20 bit Resolution: namely The Sadie Digital System and Prism Super Noise Shaper. The effects purely to "enhance" rather than "colour" the sound. 
As the original producer, I would have used this equipment at the time, had it been available for mastering. The very nature of analogue recordings being transfered to vinyl demanded major compromises. With the benefits of digital sound these constraints are removed, and the recordings can be heard much closer to the reproduction we had originally intended..."

Elton has said of 'Tumbleweed Connection' : "Lyrically and melodically, that's one of our most perfect albumns". 

(ghosthouse, sorry if I hijacked your thread) 

N