When "Here And There" was originally released in 1976, it was obviously a rush job released to help Elton get out of his contract with Dick James Music. There were only 10 performances on a two sided lp spanning two great shows, possibly the best of Elton's career.

Fortunately, in 1995, a team of producers rectified the album by turning it into a two cd collection including all the songs that were on the original version as well as adding many more. If the album had been released this way in 1976, it would no doubt have been dubbed a classic.

Disc One is from his 1974 performance at The Royal Albert Hall in London. This set has Elton, along with his band of Davey Johnstone (guitar), Dee Murray (bass), Nigel Olsson (drums) and Ray Cooper (percussion), revisiting several lesser known gems, including a dazzling "Skyline Pigeon", "Border Song", "Country Comfort", "Love Song", "Take Me To The Pilot" and "Bad Side Of The Moon". You also get a lot of the standard live fare, including "Your Song", "Candle In The Wind", "Crocodile Rock", "Honky Cat", "Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting" and a blistering "Burn Down The Mission".

Disc Two contains his Thanksgiving of '74 performance at Madison Sqaure Garden. This cd is more hits heavy, which isn't a bad thing, especially when these hits include excellent performances of "Rocket Man", "Bennie And The Jets", "Daniel", "Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me" (Elton's best song ever), "Your Song" (in a version better than the one on disc one) and "The Bitch Is Back". And here too does Elton dust off some forgotten gems. Elton performs a thrilling version of the "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" epic "Funeral For A Friend/Love Lies Bleeding". And the version they include of "Take Me To The Pilot" is much better than the one on the first disc. But the real highlight is when Elton is joined by a certain Liverpudlian from a certain 1960s' band to perform three songs with Elton: "Whatever Gets You Through The Night", "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" and "I Saw Her Standing There". (For those of you who haven't guessed who it is, it's John Lennon).

The bottom line, "Here In There" has been made into one of the finest live albums of all time, even if took nineteen years to actually release it rightfully. This is a must have.

This CD is absolutely essential for any true Elton John fan. In fact, this may be the greatest live record that Elton has ever released. Listeners get two different perspectives: The rather stuffy, reserved concert in London that took place in front of a British Princess v.s. the rowdy, incomparable American Madison Square Garden crowd. Both CD's offer some of Elton's rare songs (Skyline Pigeon, Border Song, Burn Down the Mission, You're So Static, etc.) None of these, though, compare with the electricity present when John Lennon takes the stage for what would be his final live performance. Lennon's appearance is reason enough to buy the CD but there are plenty of other reasons too. This album paints a picture of Elton on his way to the top, the rising of a rock legend.

This is compelling because of the inclusion of John Lennon singing two duets with Elton, neither of which were included on the original vinyl album. It's a shame, though, that the producers chose to eliminate John speaking at the beginning of the track, "We'd like to sing an old song from an old estranged fiancee of mine called Paul. This is one I never sang and we just about know it." Then EJ's band launches into the 1963 Beatles classic, "I Saw her Standing There."

The highlight of this collection is the hauntingly lovely early EJ ballad, "Skyline Pidgeon." This is one of Elton's most under-rated songs in his entire catalogue and he rarely has performed this live.

Unfortunately, the sad fact is that Elton's live performances from the 70's concentrated on flamboyance and not the music. Unlike other performers like Paul McCartney, Elton does not replicate the recorded versions of his songs on stage. Some people prefer this, others yearn to him sing "Daniel" as closely as possible as the standard recorded version from 1972. This live album shows his vocal limitations and also the fact he doesn't replicate the studio versions of his songs. This is an uneven double album, but essential for understanding the pop phenomenon of Elton John in the mid-70's.

The original version of Here and There, issued in 1976, was very brief, with just a few songs from each of the two concerts featured, and I regarded it as an unimpressive album, apparently put together only to fulfil Elton's DJM Records contract . This remastered and expanded edition is a tremendous improvement, with a full 16 additional songs, and much clearer sound than the original LP. As such it gives a much more realistic impression of Elton and his classic 5-piece band live at the peak of their mid-70s success, and because of the length of the performances listening to it is much more of an `experience' than the original LP. There is a good selection of songs, including many hits but also some interesting and less well known Elton album tracks, and there are alternate versions of Your song and Take me to the pilot. You also get the 3 historically very important performances by Elton with John Lennon at Madison Square Garden. An essential album for committed Elton aficionados.

A very good CD, with There (CD2, New York) being slightly more enthusiastic than Here (CD1, England). But, for those only pursuing a live Elton record vice everything Elton, I would strongly strongly recommend Live In Australia (with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra) rather than Here & There. Live In Australia is incredibly powerful all the way through with beautiful songs & outright rock'n'roll. Your choice.