Friday 4 March 2011

Elton John single review

CD cover of the single
Picture courtesy of Eltonography: The Illustrated Elton John Discography

A few weeks ago, my brother Beau went out for the day and came home with a CD for me which he'd spotted in a secondhand shop.  Thanks, Beau! It was the single of Elton John's "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" and this single was released without "Candle In The Wind 1997" as one of the tracks.  "Candle In The Wind 1997" had been released prior which was due to the tragic death of Diana, Princess of Wales.  I feel they coupled "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" and "Candle In The Wind 1997" on a single together hoping it would give "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" some attention.  I guess after all the sadness of Princess Diana's death had died down, it was time to re-release "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" as a single in its own right and I now have it!

My new-to-me CD (released in Australia) has 4 songs:
  1. Something About The Way You Look Tonight (Single Edit)
  2. I Know Why I'm In Love
  3. No Valentines
  4. Something About The Way You Look Tonight (Album Version)
I've always loved "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" when I heard it on the radio for the first time.  Radio stations always play the shorter version of the song for obvious reasons of time restrictions, but if I was a radio station, I'd say ditch the time restraints and play the full version, but then again, that is my own feelings!

I've never heard "I Know Why I'm In Love" until I got this single and I really like it!  One thing I've always loved about Elton when he released singles is you always got those rare treats that aren't on the album and, when you don't get a studio recorded song not on the album, you get a song or two (or even more) recorded live at a recent concert.  You rarely find an Elton John single that contains a remix of the song, which is what I like!  I'm not a fan of remixes of songs.

I like the fact that "No Valentines" is on the CD as I don't think it was available in Australia until this single came out.  It's a great song and I liked it the moment I heard it on "Love Songs".  "No Valentines" doesn't appear on the UK/World version of "Love Songs" because that version of the CD was already released, therefore "No Valentines" and "You Can Make History (Young Again)" don't appear on it, even though they are on the US version.  Unless Australians have this single, they'll have to order the US version of "Love Songs".

Over all, the "Something About The Way You Look Tonight" single is very good! I'd never tire the songs on it as I never get sick of listening to Elton, simple as that!  This single was released 14 years ago but, regardless, the CD is still in excellent condition despite the card sleeve showing some signs of wear.  I love it all the same. Usually I'm very picky about getting second hand things but, when it comes to singles, CDs, records and cassettes, and you can't get them anymore, so they're definitely worth holding on to!

Have you found some great secondhand CDs of late?