Track Listing

1. Sixty Years On
2. I Need You To Turn To
3. The Greatest Discovery
4. Tonight
5. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
6. The King Must Die
7. Take Me To The Pilot
8. Tiny Dancer
9. Have Mercy On The Criminal
10. Madman Across The Water
11. Candle In The Wind
12. Burn Down The Mission
13. Your Song
14. Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4770 in Music
• Released on: 1998-06-01
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Live, Original recording reissued, Original recording remastered, Import
• Dimensions: .23 pounds
• Running time: 72 minutes

CD Description
Elton John spent much of the '80s in a whirlwind of personal upheaval and his musical unevenness included working with lyricists besides Bernie Taupin (an unthinkable notion during their run at the top of the charts during the '70s). EJ went for a fresh start by auctioning off all the costumes and props that he'd become renowned for during his over-the-top live shows. Right before doing this, the flamboyant entertainer revisited the past one more time by recreating his greatest hits live using orchestral accompaniment.
The resulting LIVE IN AUSTRALIA found the John donning a powdered wig and 17th century garb to lead this ensemble, along with members of his regular touring band. Older material such as "BurnDown The Mission", "Madman Across The Water" and "Take Me To The Pilot" is particularly breathtaking as presented in all its symphonic splendour while more obscure numbers such as"Have Mercy On The Criminal" and "The Greatest Discovery" remain odd yet interesting choices. The oddest result of thisalbum's release was that "Candle In The Wind" unexpectedly became a hit 14 years after its original release. A slightlyrewritten version dedicated to the late Princess Diana repeated this trick a decade later.
-IMPORT NOTES:
In England, this has so far only been released as a limited, numbered (5,000) edition, in a 12 X 12 box with deluxe booklet andother goodies.

Customer Reviews

One of Elton's finest moments. Best live album ever???
With his new 13-piece band, augmented by a brass section, Elton toured the world during 1985/86 (one of the memorable highlights being his over-the-top stage costumes, the likes of which had out-matched his 70s gear!!). Following the rather abysmal and uninspired "Leather Jackets" recording sessions, Elton began a 27 concert tour of Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. Rock concerts with orchestras was nothing new but a full tour of a country was something else, and few artists with the professionalism Elton has could pull it off.
Elton expressed a wish for this unique event to be recorded and televised, and on the 14th December (the last night of the tour) this album is the result. Live albums are notoriously difficult to sound good, and the logistics of combining the dynamics of a rock band and an eighty-eight piece orchestra have always been fraught with problems. With the help of Gus Dudgeon and engineer Clive Franks, experiments were made with new microphones placed in certain locations on the instruments to get the best possible sound. The album's depth, clarity and precision is a testament to the sound crew and is certainly one of the best live albums by anyone in popular music.
That year (and the following year after the tour) was probably Elton's worst time in his career in terms of his personal life. His drug addictions and marriage took its toll, and during the concerts in Australia his voice broke down which, at the time of this recording, was feared to be throat cancer and a career end.
His voice is ragged, raw and broken but determined. The courage and professionalism of the man to see these performances to the end is astonishing (5 days before, on December 9th, he even collapsed onstage!)
The songs performed are predominately from his early work, 6 of them from the "Elton John" album which is his most orchestral studio album. It was a great opportunity to revisit songs that had long been forgotten and performed..."Sixty Years On", "The Greatest Discovery" and "Have Mercy On The Criminal". "Take Me To The Pilot" and "Burn Down The Mission" are just cooking with gas! The classics are here too: "Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word", "Tiny Dancer" "Your Song"...all songs which are meant to be played live with an orchestra! Not forgetting "Candle In the Wind"...a version which was released as a single in 1987.
Because the album's duration was just short of 80minutes, there's no room for the performances of "Carla/Etude" and "Saturday Nights Alright" which are released elsewhere ("To be continued" 1992 boxset, and "Live In Australia" video respectively). But this is still the great live album that was released in 1987, and now newly remastered it is even better.
For one album that is the epitome of Elton John the artist...this is it. BUY IT!

Elton John gets back to his early classics down under
The best thing about Elton John doing a live album with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra is that it made him choose songs from his earlier albums, when strings were more important than electric guitars. Consequently this album begins with the oldies "Sixty Years On," "I Need You To Turn To" and "The Greatest Discovery" before moving to more contemporary works. This is just fine with me because I have always preferred "The King Must Die," "Have Mercy on a Criminal" (the best track on the album), "Madman Across the Water" and "Burn Down the Mission" to "Bennie and the Jets" and a lot of the songs that ended up on Elton John's Greatest Hits albums. These new versions of those old songs just prove my point. Of course, one of the common denominator with a lot of these songs are the original arragements by Paul Buckmaster on which these orchestrations are based. So, for those of us who were into Elton John before he became a giant pop star, this album is a great reminder of how good things were in the early days.

Captain fantastic does it again!
If you have been to see Elton live, you will know why it is so important to have a "Live" album. this one is also available on video and is of the best sound quality ever heard - I only wish I could have been there - and if you close your eyes when listening - you cn imagine that you are!