I understand that apparently most (all?) of the rarities on this box set are available on the newly-remastered individual albums as bonuses. But even if that's true, who cares? The fact that the soundtrack to "Friends" has been re-released in ANY form is worth the price of admission in itself, as it is quite simply the loveliest soundtrack work Elton has ever done (forget "The Lion King"!), weaving light rock/pop and orchestrations into a distinctive whole of hippie innocence. As wonderful as this all is, there is one complaint I have--one which annoys me to no end and the only thing that keeps me from awarding this set five stars. The song sequence of the "Friends" soundtrack, for some weird reason, has been slightly juggled. Why, I don't know, as I can't think of any good reason for it. But this means that those of us who adored the vinyl version of it first won't be able to listen to it in the same order that was on our old records. Some probably won't notice this, but I found it annoying because I loved the original song sequence exactly as it was. I've actually gone through the trouble of using my CD-burner to make a backup of my own "Friends" CD with the songs in their original sequence. The box is otherwise perfect and the songs magnificent throughout, but be prepared to have to do at least some track-play programming every time you insert the CD if you want to hear "Friends" the same way you did all those tender years ago.

This 2-CD set is where you can obtain the "Friends" music from the movie, "Friends" (1971) on CD.

You will like this album. I have been a big Elton fan since 1970, and, though it sounds strange, this album has an outtake from the Tumbleweed Connection (my favorite album of all time)album that is now one of my top five EJ cuts: it is "Into The Old Man's Shoes". Other than time considerations, how could this possibly not have made it onto the original? You will recognize the old-West style immediately.

This album also encompasses the Friends soundtrack, which I also consider a tremendous piece of work (I'm sure I'm in the minority on this one). Unfortunately, they shorted one track from the original LP, but it does have my single favorite Elton cut ever, "Michelle's Song". This is a beautiful song that never saw the light on day as far as radio airplay went. It's made all the better if you've seen the movie (which I also loved -- see "minority" remark above).

When "Rare Masters" was first issued in 1992, CDs had solidified their place in pop culture, but the concept of bonus tracks on re-releases of re-releases of remasters of albums we'd already bought four times previously hadn't taken off quite yet. So, when this set, jammed with what were at the time hard-to-find singles and other obscure releases from Elton John, hit record stores, it was time to party! Elton fans had pretty nice CD versions of some great b-sides, rarities and, for the first (and still the only) time on CD, "Friends," previously only available on vinyl.

Cut to 15 or so years later and the set has lost some of its intrinsic value. All the tracks on Disc 2, for example, have since reappeared on the various updates of Elton's albums from his purple period as bonus tracks and so on. So has part of Disc 1, but what continues to make the set of any value at all are the first two tracks on Disc 1: "I've Been Loving You" and "Here's To The Next Time" have yet to surface on CD in any other form, and of course there's the "Friends" soundtrack, still only available cleaned up and on CD here and here alone.

Eventually even those appearances may be supplanted by other versions, but for now, if you don't have many of the songs on any other recordings, or just want to have all the Elton you can get your hands on (don't we all?), then pick up a copy. It does have a nice booklet as well, with notes from Taupin on the various recordings. That and the "Friends" set alone are easily worth it.

Long before anyone else was thinking in terms of boosting sales by including non-album b-sides, Elton was ahead of the game. That's what this collection summarizes, all those odds and ends. I'll admit to not having heard this entire collection, I'm commenting on just the b-sides, albums and rarities that I already have elsewhere in my collection which are compiled on this welcome collection. Compare track listings with the 4CD box set

and you'll find that there's some overlap of rarities. The latest round of reissues of individual albums also include many of these songs as bonus tracks.

The 1973 remake of the ballad "Skyline Pigeon", b-side of "Daniel", is more listenable than the primitive effort on Elton's debut,

and would win my vote for best Elton b-side ever. The 1974 cover of John Lennon's "One Day At A Time" cherry-picked the one strong album track from Lennon's otherwise disposable album

and wouldn't you know Elton recorded the best version of the song; It was originally Elton's b-side of another Lennon song, "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". The live "I Saw Her Standing There", b-side of "Philadelphia Freedom", was a gem and also turned out to be John Lennon's last live performance. It's not so much that it's the best recording of that song. It's just that you can feel the sense of fun that Elton and John are having in this performance. Both tracks are included on the box set.

The soundtrack to the film "Friends" had a strong rocker, "Can I Put You On", and a lovely if brief ballad, "Seasons (reprise)". The title track has been included in several compilations including Elton's box set but all three tracks are keepers. The album track and b-side of the single "Friends", "Honey Roll", is upbeat and adequate but unlikely to win over the otherwise unconvinced. "Can I Put You On" also appears in a compelling live version on the album

but I tend to give the studio version a slight edge.

The remainder of soundtrack numbers from "Friends" are pseudo-symphonic entries that as far as I know have nothing to do with Elton. "Michelle's Song", "Variations on Michelle's Song", "I Meant To Do My Work Today", "Variation on Friends", and "Four Moods" are just string-laden instrumentals that sometimes extend to eleven minutes per track. No singing, not even Elton's band as far as I can tell. Presumably included to have the entire soundtrack here.

Another rocker included here as a studio version is "Bad Side of the Moon". It's also performed in a barnburning live performance on

. This b-side could have done so much good for the 1970 release

had it replaced one of the more embarrassing or overwrought album tracks.

Although I'm not familiar with Elton's version of his own "Let Me Be Your Car", it was written for his friend Rod Stewart's album

. Unfortunately the "Smiler" album was so weak it pretty much stopped me from purchasing any further Rod Stewart solo albums. Rod's version of that song was nothing to write home about; the song itself wasn't one of Elton's better numbers.

1973's "Step Into Christmas" is on

, it's one of those rare holiday perennials. Its b-side "Ho Ho Ho" is a harmless throwaway. "Cold Highway", b-side of "The Bitch Is Back" is a throwaway, not making the cut for the album

. Just by checking the length of the song "Slave" you can tell it's not the same version that appears on the

album, I'm guessing that this must have been the version that appeared as the b-side of "Honky Cat".

All in all this collection does a good job of scooping all of Elton's classic collectibles in one place. I would expect that the era of being able to download individual tracks from Amazon in mp3 format would, in the long run, hurt the sales of collections like this that include the divine with the disposable.