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List Price: $29.98 | | Label: Island
Salesrank: 27530
Released: October 20, 1992 |
| Our Price: $17.97 |
| Used Price: $9.52 |
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| Media: Audio CD |
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Editorial Review:
During Elton John's most commercially successful period, between 1970 and 1975, he was also at his most prolific. Usually producing two albums a year, he also knocked off a dozen or so non-LP B-sides, a handful of demos for other artists, and even a soundtrack album for 1971's obscure Friends. Rare Masters, which brings much of this work together with a handful of other odds and ends (an alternate version of "Madman Across the Water," John's debut single, "I've Been Loving You"), is hardly a substitute for Greatest Hits, but its generally high quality is impressive. --Rickey Wright
Rare Masters Reviews:
LOVE "Elton John: Rare Masters!" 
2009-05-22 - This two CD set is awesome! Some of these songs were "B" sides to singles that I listened to growing up--I thought I would never get to hear them again. I loved the "Friends" soundtrack, but only had that on vinyl, too. And then getting to hear the early U.K. singles and different versions of some favorite songs has been SO enjoyable. It's a must-have for any true Elton John fan...as I have been for more than 30 years.
great Elton John 
2009-05-16 - This Elton John complilation is a must have....some of his best efforts from before the 'stage' struck them....
Friends Soundtrack by Elton John 
2009-03-18 - I wanted the soundtrack to the movie "Friends". The music was done by Elton John and includes some great songs. The original album is hard to find and because it is a bit of a collectors' item can be expensive. Rare Masters provides the entire Friends soundtrack and includes much more of his early music. I am very pleased with my purchase.
Old friends with Elton John
2009-02-26 - I found this album when looking for Elton John's Friends, which I loved in high school. This double CD set has all the Friends tracks, plus other lesser-known songs. I enjoyed most of the tracks, but since they were not bit hits when they came out, I am not familiar with them, and I find that I listen only to the Friends tracks. If you like listening to unusual, 'B-side' tracks, this is a great album, but if like me you are looking for Friends, consider purchasing just the Friends album if you can find it.
Still relevant? Well, perhaps ...
2009-02-22 - 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.
