Elton John Diamonds (SDE Blu-Ray #31) Dec. 27th, 2024

[bktouchstone]

Everyone has a different opinion on things but as far as the price I went to a mediocre restaurant I hadn’t gone to in a long time and for two it was over $100, no drinks. Hmmm. So to pay for this, I will put the disc in while eating a sandwich and it’s going to be the best damn sandwich ever!!

Thanks SDE for putting this out there.

 

[LennonCobain]

As this is a UMG title I wonder if this bodes well for other UMG Atmos titles such as Janet Jackson's hits collection which has already been mixed for this format...

Which hits collection? Design Of A Decade? Interesting to hear this as I don't believe any of Janet's hits are streaming in Atmos yet.

 

[califcab]

Most exciting new release since Who's Next for me.

 

[The Rang]

Yeah, I'm in the same boat. I just don't have the necessary love for Elton's post-1976 catalog (a few tracks aside), I'm not equipped for Atmos, and I already have all of the SACD 5.1 mixes. This is definitely a huge get for SDE, and I love how much excitement this is generating on the QQ board, but I can't share the excitement. I'm fine with listening to the fold-downs on Apple Music for Daniel, Blue Eyes, etc.

This describes my feelings to a “T”.
He was my favourite artist growing up and though I have all of his albums my interest tailed off after Blue Moves. The Atmos/5.1 thing isn’t a factor. I feel guilty not being more excited but there we are.

 

[skherbeck]

This is a great release from SDE… I hope it sells well so we continue to get high profile surround releases. And I love greatest hits releases! Greg Penny is a top tier surround engineer, so I have no doubt this is a great mix (especially given Fredblue’s remarks, a very reliable surround critic).

 

[JulesRules]

I'm not really a big fan of Elton John but he's definitely written and recorded a lot of great and enduring songs. And many of those are on this disc. So do I need this? Who knows.

Believe, Sacrifice, Circle of Life, Blue Eyes, The One

I dislike Sacrifice (and Nikita even more, but you didn't mention that), and would've liked A Word in Spanish, Healing Hands, Club at the End of the Street and Made in England. I don't think I've ever heard Believe or The One. Blue Eyes is OK but a bit on the schmaltzy side. Circle of Life is amazing.

While I can't say I remember any specific track, perhaps The Union with Leon Russell should also have been represented on this collection.

Here is an article I wrote about the streaming release of Diamonds in Atmos, including an interview with Greg Penny.

"stereo on steroids"

 

[ssully]

also, fwiw, the Atmos rendering of "Philadelphia Freedom" is an entirely new mix, quite distinct from the 5.1, with different panning and balances and it's also not as loud overall as the 5.1 bonus track on the "Captain Fantastic.." SACD either.

dang, good to know. Maybe it will show up on Apple Music....

 

[J. PUPSTER]

Couldn’t order this fast enough

Aside from any financial restrictions, if you can’t bring yourself to order this one, you must not be too hip for EJ or have gotten surround sound burn out!

Besides all that, I talk often about “digital Gold”; so since this is a time limited release for final output (so far) there’s a pretty good chance in a few years this one will be worth a lot more than you paid for it.

Thanks again Paul S. for keeping surround/Atmos relevant

Also, please read this excellent article if you haven’t already- might help convince you to pull the trigger!

https://www.quadraphonicquad.com/fo...ray-31-dec-27th-2024.36748/page-4#post-815411

 

[Blackwood]

I’ve only ever owned one Elton John song... I’m Still Standing. Bought it as an Amazon download years ago. In general, I’m indifferent to Elton... not really a fan, but don’t dislike him either.

However, I can’t deny the guy wrote a ton of songs that I can probably sing along to just due to constant radio exposure over the decades. So if I’m going to buy an Elton John release, this is the one... a bunch of songs I know, and in Atmos.

After a string of passes from me on SDE releases, I’m on roll lately... Elton, Thompson Twins, TFF live, Thin Lizzy, and The Who.

Speaking of I’m Still Standing, I still find this video amusing...

 

[fredblue]

dang, good to know. Maybe it will show up on Apple Music....

here it is

 

[Monkish]

Which hits collection? Design Of A Decade? Interesting to hear this as I don't believe any of Janet's hits are streaming in Atmos yet.

Yeah, there's no Janet Jackson in surround, although seeing this makes me *fervently* wish for a Steven Wilson or David Kosten mix of Control.

 

[sjcorne]

Yeah, there's no Janet Jackson in surround, although seeing this makes me *fervently* wish for a Steven Wilson or David Kosten mix of Control.

At the MixLA immersive event in Santa Monica earlier this year, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis said they were working on Atmos mixes of her back catalog.

 

[Todd 987]

Everyone has a different opinion on things but as far as the price I went to a mediocre restaurant I hadn’t gone to in a long time and for two it was over $100, no drinks. Hmmm. So to pay for this, I will put the disc in while eating a sandwich and it’s going to be the best damn sandwich ever!!

Thanks SDE for putting this out there.

I’m going to skip our weekly pizza order twice and turn that into Diamonds. Delicious.

 

[barfle]

I’m in on this one, too. SDE usually doesn’t thrill me with their artists (I’m too old for a lot of the stuff they put out), but Elton has about a dozen songs that I like a lot.

 

[bamamusicfan]

Like many here, was a huge Elton fan in the late 60's, 70's, even early 80's. Then ... he lost me. Just didn't like what he was putting out ... until "Made In England" and especially "Songs From The West Coast". That album was outstanding.
I'll buy it just to hear Penny's mix in Atmos.

 

[Suffolk David]

Here is an article I wrote about the streaming release of Diamonds in Atmos, including an interview with Greg Penny.

What a great article. I’ve enjoyed listening to Diamonds in Atmos via Tidal, so looking forward to the physical release

 

[Bobby Martini]

Like many here, was a huge Elton fan in the late 60's, 70's, even early 80's. Then ... he lost me. Just didn't like what he was putting out ... until "Made In England" and especially "Songs From The West Coast". That album was outstanding.
I'll buy it just to hear Penny's mix in Atmos.

I found Elton's output deteriorated when he stopped taking drugs (mid 80's).

I'm not saying drugs are good but they sure made Elton creative during that period

 

[bamamusicfan]

I'd ask. On this Diamonds release, are the songs based on the number of album sales? On some of these later songs I'm very unfamiliar with some of those tracks.
I would have loved if some of his earlier songs were included here.
Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy
Madman Across the Water
Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleading
Tower of Babel
.... many others

 

[madscot]

I found Elton's output deteriorated when he stopped taking drugs (mid 80's).

I'm not saying drugs are good but they sure made Elton creative during that period

Lol, have you seen the late comedian Bill Hicks (my comedy hero) talking about drugs and music, very funny talking about how some modern artists could do with taking drugs, he loved the beatles and says “The Beatles were so high they even let Ringo sing a couple of tunes”

 

[fredblue]

I found Elton's output deteriorated when he stopped taking drugs (mid 80's).

I'm not saying drugs are good but they sure made Elton creative during that period

fwiw he didn't go into rehab and get clean until July 1990, idk about the effects of boozing and drug taking etc on his music but to this day (and from first hearing them ) i find his output from when he was anecdotally at the peak/nadir of his substance abuse and general debauchery/indulgence, between 1985 to 1991, covering the albums "Ice On Fire", "Leather Jackets", "Live In Australia", "Reg Strikes Back" and "Sleeping With The Past" to be mostly mediocre and one LP in particular ("Leather Jackets") absolutely awful with barely a track to salvage it

mercifully there's precious little from those 'wilderness years' records on "Diamonds", just 3 tracks out of 51 and they are at least bona fide singles and recognisable hits ("Nikita", "I Don't Wanna Go On With You Like That", "Sacrifice") that were arguably highlights of their parent albums.

the rest of the compilation is a healthy mix of almost all of the established 70's hits which are pretty much now Standards and noteworthy tracks from the rest of his career, with some interesting choices, including "Part Time Love", "Mama Can't Buy You Love", "Little Jeannie", "Blue Eyes", "Skyline Pigeon", "Empty Garden", "Believe" and "Island Girl" which have seldom popped up on his compilations despite their past popularity.

i think the main track i consider an egregious omission is the original 1974 studio version of Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me”, instead there's the 90's duet version with George Michael and it's only in Stereo.

other than that i feel they did a great job, it's a better balanced compilation than most of his others which were either too skewed towards the time they were originally released in or had major omissions.

so so so looking forward to this SDE Atmos Diamonds release i can hardly contain myself.

so i won't

wooooo ---- ooohhhhh!!!! nobody knows it!!! nobody knowwwwwsssss!!