Elton John’s classic 1971 album ‘Madman Across The Water’ to get deluxe box set treatment

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Elton John’s fourth album ‘Madman Across The Water’ is something of a fan favourite. The 1971 release didn’t score Elton any UK hits at the time, and beyond ‘Tiny Dancer’, most of its songs are largely unknown outside of his fan base, and yet the album has endured the decades. If anything, it’s found itself sounding better with each passing year.

When ‘Elton John’, ‘Tumbleweed Connection’ and ‘Captain Fantastic’ were released as expanded two disc editions back in the 00’s, ‘Madman’ got left behind, much to the disappointment of the fans. It was well known that the era spawned extra material – including TV footage of Elton promoting the whole LP, solo at the piano – but neither the record label nor Elton seemed that keen to raid the vaults. Instead, a few years later, ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ was afforded the box set treatment instead. A safer bet in terms of quick revenue, maybe, but did the world need yet another deluxe set of an album that had already seen a brilliant 2CD/DVD reissue?

Perhaps inspired by the good press his ‘Jewel Box’ rarities set received, Elton has relented and – finally – ‘Madman’ gets the deluxe treatment it so much deserves with a choice of 3CD/blu ray, or 4LP set for the full experience, or a scaled down 2CD edition for the more casual fan.  The final tracklisting is good, without being comprehensive (maybe we’ll get those Japanese live shows as a separate release sometime, and just maybe, the Royal Albert Hall show from the tail end of the ‘Madman’ promotion cycle is being held back for a ‘Honky Chateau’ box, but who knows?).  As well as several unreleased demos, the real treat within the confirmed box set is the release of the full ‘Sounds For Sunday’ performance on both CD and blu ray.

The full tracklisting for the 3CD/blu ray box set can be found below.
The box set can be bought here: ELTON JOHN – Madman Across The Water 3CD/blu ray box set

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CD 1: Original album + bonus tracks

  1. Tiny Dancer
  2. Levon
  3. Razor Face
  4. Madman Across the Water
  5. Indian Sunset
  6. Holiday Inn
  7. Rotten Peaches
  8. All the Nasties
  9. Goodbye
  10. Indian Sunset (Live Radio Broadcast)
  11. Madman Across the Water (Original Version feat. Mick Ronson)
  12. Rock Me When He’s Gone
  13. Levon (Mono Single Version)
  14. Razor Face (Extended Version)

CD 2: Demos (previously unreleased except *)

  1. Madman Across the Water (1970 Piano Demo)
  2. Tiny Dancer (Piano Demo)
  3. Levon (Piano Demo)
  4. Razor Face (Piano Demo) *
  5. Madman Across the Water (1971 Piano Demo) *
  6. Indian Sunset (Piano Demo)
  7. Holiday Inn (Piano Demo) *
  8. Rotten Peaches (Piano Demo)
  9. All the Nasties (Piano Demo) *
  10. Goodbye (Piano Demo)
  11. Rock Me When He’s Gone (Piano Demo)
  12. Rock Me When He’s Gone (Full Version)

CD 3: BBC’s Sounds for Saturday (previously unreleased)

  1. Tiny Dancer
  2. Rotten Peaches
  3. Razor Face
  4. Holiday Inn
  5. Indian Sunset
  6. Levon
  7. Madman Across the Water
  8. Goodbye

Blu-ray

  • Greg Penny 5.1 surround mix of original album and “Madman Across the Water” (Original Version feat. Mick Ronson)
  • Sounds for Saturday video footage
  • Tiny Dancer/All the Nasties (The Old Grey Whistle Test – 11/17/1971