Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy

Order now fulfilled. Great quality. Great cd.

Elton John is a musician that I have always admired but never quite got into. I'm admittedly more of a rock guitar kind of guy, especially with more blues overtones etc. But I have always had respect for Elton, especially for albums like Goodbye Yellow Brick Road and Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy. These two albums alone are (in my opinion) two of the finest '70s albums out there and this remaster hasn't convinced me otherwise.It seems that the ranking of Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy depends whether or not you prefer the previously mentioned Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Both albums are suitably epic, have their fair share of classics and don't have a single dud track on it. For me personally, I would rate them both as Elton John's finest work but would easily consider Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy to be his best. Not because the songs are better (my favourites are on the other record) but because of the overall pacing.For me personally, I feel that this album is a lot easier to listen to. The songs are considerably more up beat for the most part with each one coming and going in a faster, more energetic fashion. It's one thing having the better songs but the way Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy sort of zooms on by makes for a better listening experience. There is also the fact that Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is a staggering seventeen songs long, it's no wonder this one flows better.I was a bit hesitant to try this CD when I saw it was the 1995 remaster. So many of these re-releases sound absolutely awful after all (Genesis?). But after having a good go at it, I was pleasantly surprised. The sound is very clear and there's plenty of dynamics through out. I love hearing the way Elton's piano booms over Davey Johnstone's guitar and the bass from Dee Murray. It's a very well put together great sounding record, no doubt helped by the production from Gus Dudgeon.I'm not one for picking a favourite song from the album. I think Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy is stronger as a whole than as separate pieces. There's no Candle in the Wind or Tiny Dancer to latch onto. It's just one good solid forty five minute rock n roll record. Folks looking for that hit single might be a bit put off by that but this is not a greatest hits package. It's a great album that deserves to be treated as such and I couldn't recommend it more.

Like many others here, I think this is one of Elton's best early albums, certainly one of his most cohesive. Apparently, the tracks were pretty much written in the order they appear, and the whole enterprise smacks of care and attention to detail.I didn't know most of these songs, other than the musically and lyrically wonderful Someone Saved My Life Tonight, the someone being, as we learn in John Tobler's excellent booklet notes {bring a magnifying glass!} fellow singer Long John Baldry, who is the song's 'sugar bear', and extra track Philadelphia Freedom, which I never used to like much but it's grown on me a lot, especially in such superb remastered sound.The rest of this fine album is sung and played with such obvious enjoyment ~ Elton's singing at its exhilarating best ~ that I was captivated by it. It's definitely up there with Madman Across the Water and Don't Shoot Me . . .It's easy to forget that in the early seventies Elton was simply another distinctive singer-songwriter, often well-reviewed, and it wasn't until a few LPs into his career that he became the big star he remains today.With its kaleidoscopic cover art, and some of Bernie Taupin's most personal lyrics, this is one of the gems in Elton's crown. Took me a while to 'get' it, but I'm so glad I did.

Elton's golden era of music

After the somewhat patchy 'Caribou', our hero is back on fine form on this 1975 concept album which is, essentially, an autobiographical tale of the period from 1967 to 1969 when Elton John (Captain Fantastic) and Bernie Taupin (The Brown Dirt Cowboy) were struggling to establish their music careers as well as battle against their own insecurities in their personal lives.The first half of the album - which actually takes up around 30 minutes of the 46 minutes running time - is particularly strong, culminating in the classic 'Someone Saved My Life Tonight' which concerns a suicide attempt made in 1969 by Elton and is powerful both lyrically and musically. The second half has much to live up to, but, eventually delivers the goods on 'Curtains' ~ another superb 6 minute song which rounds off proceedings. With some great bonus tracks including the bouncy 'Philadelphia Freedom' (which didn't make the album simply because it didn't fit the storyline), the listener gets a highly satisfying 62.5 minutes of high quality music [1995 reissue]. Highly recommended.

Decided this album was missing from my collection. Was a big Elton John fan during the 'classic years' and have most of the other classics, but needed to rectify this omission from the collectionGlad I did. Whilst I have been recently concentrating on buying vinyl, I've been becoming increasingly perturbed by the poor quality control seen in new vinyl, and so recently have been buying cd's again (not bothered about streaming hardware) and it has to be said, that in terms of sound quality, this remastered cd is a gem. The dynamic range on Nigel's drum, and general musicianship and production is first class. Highly recommended, but best played loud on a good audio system!

You tend to forget just how good EJ'S music is and this CD is just as good as the vinyl LP I had. It also has an interesting booklet with it explaining the tracks and lyrics. Very pleased with this rendition and the new enhanced recording sounds just great. Glad I bought it.