John K Young

It was designed to be a blockbuster and it was. Prior to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Elton John had hits – his second album, Elton John, went Top Ten in the U.S. and U.K., and he had smash singles in "Crocodile Rock" and "Daniel" – but this 1973 album was a statement of purpose spilling over two LPs, which was all the better to showcase every element of John's spangled personality…

As well as recording for, and eventually publicly falling out with, Deutsche Grammophon, John Eliot Gardiner made a series of recordings for Erato, which Warner Classics are now bundling together at bargain price. Pairing the opera Tamerlano with the joyously exuberant choral setting of Milton (with a disc of ballet music from the operas too) makes no obvious sense, except that both rank among Gardiner's finest Handel performances; and his versions of each (L'Allegro from 1981, Tamerlano from five years later) arguably remain the most recommendable in the current catalogue. The cast in Tamerlano is led by a pair of outstanding counter tenors, Derek Ragin and Michael Chance, then both at the start of their careers, with tenor Nigel Robson as Bajazet, while the soloists in L'Allegro include Marie McLaughlin, Jennifer Smith and Martyn Hill; dramatic energy and vitality course through both performances.

Japanese edition of 2000 solo release for the former U.K. and Asia vocalist. Additional artists include Robert Fripp and Ian McDonald (King Crimson), Steve Hackett (Genesis), John Young (Asia/Qango), Martin Orford (IQ/Jadis) and John Mitchell (Arena). Tracks include, 'Heart of Darkness', 'No Ordinary Miracle' and 'Second Best'. Japanese edition includes two bonus tracks, 'Love Is' and 'Space And Time'. It was re-released in 2001 under the title Sinister without the bonus tracks but with a different cover.