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Elton John / Diamonds SDE-exclusive blu-ray

48 tracks in Dolby Atmos

By Paul Sinclair

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96

Elton John / Diamonds SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio

Region-free blu-ray audio • 51-tracks, in total • Greg Penny Dolby Atmos Mixes • Hi-Res Stereo • Quick pre-order

The next release in the ongoing SDE Surround Series of blu-ray audios is Elton John’s Diamonds: The Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection. This best-selling, career-spanning compilation was released back in 2017, to mark 50 years of Elton’s phenomenal songwriting partnership with Bernie Taupin.

Kicking off with ‘Your Song’, this definitive collection brings together all the landmark hits of one of the greatest songbooks of all time, including ‘Tiny Dancer’, ‘Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time)’, ‘Crocodile Rock’, ‘Daniel’, ‘Candle In The Wind’, ‘Bennie And The Jets’, ‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’, ‘I’m Still Standing’, ‘Sacrifice’, ‘Can You Feel The Love Tonight’ and many more.

The Diamonds blu-ray contains 51 tracks in hi-res stereo (the same track listing as on the deluxe 3CD set) with 48 of those songs mixed in immersive Dolby Atmos by Greg Penny.

Audio streams summary:

  • Dolby Atmos (48 tracks) 48 kHz / 24 bit
  • Hi-Res Stereo (51 tracks) 48 kHz / 24 bit

If you do not have an Atmos set-up just yet, the Dolby Atmos mixes will ‘fold down’ to 5.1 for the next best surround sound experience.

This Diamonds blu-ray audio is #31 in the exclusive SDE Surround Series and will be packaged similarly to previous editions, shipping with a free, collectible SDE Surround Series slipcase.

Do not miss out! This product is a limited edition and has a 10 day pre-order window, which closes on Saturday 16 November 2024. Availability cannot be guaranteed after that date. The blu-ray is available exclusively via the SDE shop. You can pre-order only via the SDE shop either by heading to the SDE shop website or by using the button below.

This Diamonds blu-ray audio is released on 27 December 2024 via UMR.

TECHNICAL NOTES: This blu-ray audio requires a blu-ray player. Decoding the Dolby Atmos mix requires a Dolby Atmos-certified soundbar or a Dolby Atmos-compatible AV Receiver/Amp. The Dolby Atmos mix will ‘fold down’ to 5.1 or stereo if a Dolby Atmos decoder is not detected. This product contains no video.

Tracklisting

Diamonds Elton John / SDE-exclusive blu-ray audio

    • Diamonds : The Ultimate Greatest Hits Collection
      Dolby Atmos and 48/24 hi-res stereo
      1. Your Song
      2. Tiny Dancer
      3. Rocket Man (I Think It’s Going To Be A Long, Long Time)
      4. Honky Cat
      5. Crocodile Rock
      6. Daniel
      7. Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)
      8. Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
      9. Candle In The Wind
      10. Bennie And The Jets
      11. The Bitch Is Back
      12. Philadelphia Freedom
      13. Island Girl
      14. Someone Saved My Life Tonight
      15. Don’t Go Breaking My Heart
      16. Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
      17. Little Jeannie
      18. Song For Guy
      19. Blue Eyes
      20. I’m Still Standing
      21. I Guess That’s Why They Call It The Blues
      22. Sad Songs (Say So Much)
      23. Nikita
      24. I Don’t Wanna Go On With You Like That
      25. Sacrifice
      26. Something About The Way You Look Tonight
      27. I Want Love
      28. Can You Feel The Love Tonight
      29. Are You Ready For Love?
      30. Electricity
      31. Home Again
      32. Looking Up
      33. Circle Of Life
      34. Skyline Pigeon
      35. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
      36. Pinball Wizard
      37. Mama Can’t Buy You Love
      38. Part-Time Love
      39. Empty Garden (Hey Hey Johnny)
      40. Kiss The Bride
      41. The One
      42. True Love [with Kiki Dee]
      43. Believe
      44. Live Like Horses [with Pavarotti]
      45. Written In The Stars [with LeAnn Rimes]
      46. This Train Don’t Stop There Anymore
      47. Good Morning To The Night [Elton vs Pnau]
      48. Step Into Christmas
      Stereo Only
      1. Don’t Let The Sun Go Down On Me [with George Michael]
      2. That’s What Friends Are For [with Dionne Warwick, Stevie Wonder and Gladys Knight]
      3. Victim of Love

1 Tears For Fears / The Tipping Point

2 xPropaganda / The Heart is Strange

3 Gilbert O’Sullivan / Driven

4 Shakespears Sister / Hormonally Yours

5 Brian Eno / ForeverAndEverNoMore

6. Orbital / Optical Delusion

6.5 Various Artists / Concert For George

7 Ten Years After / A Space in Time

8 Bob Dylan / Time Out Of Mind (2022 Remix)

9 Tears For Fears / The Hurting

10 Mike Oldfield / Tubular Bells

11 Suede

12 ABC / The Lexicon of Love

13 Duran Duran / Danse Macabre

13a Duran Duran / Danse Macabre De Luxe

14 Trevor Horn / Echoes – Ancient and Modern

15 Soft Cell / Non-Stop Erotic Cabaret

16 Def Leppard / Diamond Star Halos

17 Paul Young / No Parlez

18 Mark Knopfler / One Deep River

19 Wham! / Fantastic

20 Wham! / Make It Big

21 Keane / Hopes and Fears

22 Luther Vandross / Never Too Much

23 Crowded House / Gravity Stairs

24 Ultravox / Lament

25 Tori Amos / Unrepentant Geraldines

26 Bronski Beat / The Age of Consent

27 Thin Lizzy / 1976

28 Tears For Fears / Songs For A Nervous Planet

29 Thompson Twins / Into The Gap

30 The Who / Who’s Next

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96 Comments

96 thoughts on “Elton John / Diamonds SDE-exclusive blu-ray”

  1. I’m a very casual Elton fan, so I’ve decided this would be the perfect package for me, so I’ve finally bit the bullet and preordered. My only wish was that it included the PNAU remix of Cold Heart like on the Digital Deluxe, since that was huge a couple of years ago and it hung around the charts for a very long time.

  2. Very excited about the release-ordered one for myself and one for a family member for Christmas. I have enjoyed all the discs I’ve ordered from SDE, and now I am wondering if this means we might get the Revolver and the Red/Blue Beatles records as physical releases. Paul, I don’t know if you monitor these comments, but do you have any thoughts on those Beatles releases? I ask mostly because when Elton John released “Diamonds” in Atmos for streaming only, it was heavily implied it was for streaming only! It seemed like a physical release was not in the cards, but now, perhaps there is hope.

  4. Another fantastic physical release from SDE. Cheers Paul and the team. If the quality of Greg Penny’s E.J. 5.1 SACD mixes are anything to go by this will be amazing. Praised be to SDE!

  7. Well done getting this Paul.
    I wonder if you could get the Greg Penny unrealised 5.1 mixes of “don’t shoot me I’m only the piano player” “ Caribou” “ rock of the Westies” and “ blue moves”- these all done but unreleased. Just sitting there waiting !!!

    2. I totally agree with you on those selections, especially ‘Don’t Shoot Me and ‘Blue Moves’. I love Greg’s 5.1 mixes on the 6 SACD that have been released.

    1. I was never keen on this compilation simply because of the version of Don’t Let The Sun Go Down on Me. Why didn’t they put the original version on instead of the duet with George Michael?

  10. Congratulations Paul on another outstanding release. You must be very proud, especially to make inroads with Universal for such an iconic artist.
    I’m probably nit picking here but I wish Diamonds had included more of his early 70s music from Elton John (Sixty Years On, Border Song, First Episode at Hienton), Tumbleweed Connection (Amoreena, Where to Now St. Peter, Come Down in Time), Madman (Levon, Indian Sunset). These albums had beautiful string arrangements by Paul Buckmaster. The music on these 3 albums would really suit an Atmos mix and as others have rightly pointed out, already sound fantastic on the 2004 5.1 SACDs.

  11. OK, Paul, you can stop with the amazing exclusives now ;) I justified this one as a birthday gift to myself as the release date is the day after my b-day. I have to know how you got this! I have 4 of Elton’s SACDs and the DVD-Audio of GYBR but I’m also a big fan of his post 70’s material and I’ve never heard any of it in surround so… what’s a guy to do. Ordered :)

  12. Just like the Thompson Twins blu-ray release, this is a box set on one blu-ray. 51 tracks no less. Absolutely brilliant and a total no-brainer. Thank you!!

  15. What a coup this release is. At least 40 great tracks. My absolute favourite Elton track is actually Ego, though I think that was only a minor hit.

  16. 1st off, Paul continue to enjoy your vacation stateside, but get some rest because we need more greatest hit type Atmos Blu-Ray Titles like this one.
    I consider this release a top 5 of the SDE Surround Series so far, maybe I can get a 10 straight run again…. this is just 15 titles purchased for me..
    Don’t forget Paul, Las Vegas = Lost Wages…..
    Your visit during a crazy election cycle planned ? Or just a happy coincidence ?

  17. I think i’ll pass this. Only 19 tracks from 48 are my favorites. Shame this wasn’t Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. I’ll stay waiting something from the 70’s.

    2. I personally think the Greatest Hits 1970-2002 (The 3CD version with the bonus disc) was an overall better compilation especially for 70s exposure however having Diamonds in 5.1 and Atmos will do nicely.

      1. In terms of later songs I rather like, it includes “Made in England”, which is missing on Diamonds, but also doesn’t have the lovely “A Word in Spanish” or “Club at the End of the Street”.

  18. Paul it would be interesting to know how this project evolved. So many titles in the SDE Surround collection seem to be your personal favorite legacy releases (Paul Young, Wham, ABC) or favorite artists with a new release (PSB, DD). While I’m sure that EJ ranks on the favorite artists list, I would have thought any SDE Surround release would have been from his incredible 1970 – 1975 run or a commercially successful album from the 80s/90s. Diamonds is neither of those. Greatest Hits collections seem to rarely get the special reissue treatment (Beatles Blue and Red exceptions noted). How did this one work out? Might be a nice future SDE article to draw back the curtain on the inner workings of the recording industry.

  19. Cheers Paul, another classic artist after The Who. What’s next, The Beatles Red & Blue?
    Anyone who has the six 5.1 SACD’s that were released in 2003/4 knows Greg Penny did a stellar job with these releases and they sounded great.

      1. DiscoDave is likely going by the fact that a number of the previous SDE Surround series titles have some video content, even though they are housed in a Pure Audio case.

        1. Yes, I don’t have a particularly thrilling sound system for my television so I’ve set myself a rule now that I’m just going to get the SDEs with video content – it makes sense when you’re experiencing them through a television, after all.

          They’re such lovely, collectible products that I wish I could buy and enjoy them all, but the reality is my system doesn’t fully justify buying the audio only ones.

          That said, I fully appreciate that someone without a great Dolby Atmos setup is not who these Blu Rays are aimed at… so it’s nice to occasionally dabble when there are some that do offer some video content (Suede, Soft Cell, the Duran deluxe, etc).

          This is still a great coup for SDE though, and I’m sure it will be a huge success.

          1. Blu-rays with video are likely to be the exception, not the rule. Only 4 out of the 30+ have had videos.

    2. Agreed, if only for the Friends track. A glorious 2m.23s. Apparently the pink marbled LP released a couple of years ago was remastered, but sadly, still no CD release. Same for Don’t Shoot Me….

  24. A musical legend, all his greatest hits, SDE exclusive… I don’t think I clicked ‘purchase now’ so fast before :-)

    Wow, what a title to get this treatment !!!

  25. I have everything through ‘Captain Fantastic…’ on SACD 5.1, and if those are anything to go by then the Atmos mix on this should sound pretty amazing.

  26. I will likely buy to support the cause. Am I the only one desiring Blue Moves, A Single Man, Breaking Hearts, and Songs From The West Coast? I bet I might be the only one on this site who rushed home with his vinyl of Leather Jackets after school, and immediately knowing it would be an album I moderately liked, but knew everyone else would hate.

    2. If I had to pick any Elton albums not already released on SACD or DVD / Blu-ray audio, it would Blue Moves and Rock Of The Westies. Paul? Pretty please :)

  27. I have the 3CD set of “Diamonds,” but because I also have the Elton John 5.1 SACDs of his earlier albums, I’ve always wished the 3CD set had surround too especially for Sir Elton John’s latter hit songs that were never issued in multi-channel before. So instant order for me!

  32. Hey this is the one ! Ok I’ve not got atmos set up but I envy those that have . This has got to sound fantastic ? Great news paul . Might have to pick this up anyway . Nice !

  34. I had a feeling that you would drop a big one on us Paul during your trip to the USA!! Your Blogs have been brilliant and so is this release. I couldn’t order this fast enough.

  36. Brilliant, I’ve not really done Elton since the mid 80’s, however I love his earlier stuff.

    Will there be anything else dropping in the same order window( trying to save postage, as I’m on SSP at the mo!)?

    Also, a bit of a curveball, but what about Sinatra at the Sands?

    Keep up the good fight.

  37. I just imagine you giggling multiple times writing up this announcement on how giddy we would all be – this is absolutely massive. Not only is this one beautifully mastered (DR13) but the surround mix, as you’d expect with Penny at the helm, is excellent. The fidelity of the Atmos stream is NOT good, so to be able to upgrade to lossless Atmos and own the physical product is quite possibly my favourite surround announcement of the year. Gotta go pre-order now, way to go Paul! Huge! Huge title!!

  38. With “Don’t shoot me” and “Caribou” seemingly not being released in 5.1, at least we’ll get a few songs from those albums in surround sound.

  40. This is superb and spooky. I had quite literally just finished playing a newly purchased SACD of Captain Fantastic for the first time and loved hearing Elton in surround sound and this arrives! Now Elton John in Dolby Atmos! Instant purchase and thank you!

  41. Great news! I was waiting for this since longtime and I was going to give up hopes…
    But, is there a specific reason why the last 3 tracks were not remixed in 5.1/Atmos?

  42. Paul,

    Instant Buy. This is magnificent!!! This is going to be one fun disc to play from start to finish!

    I hoped that “Love Song” from “TumbleWeed Connection” might have found its way on to this disc. I’ll just grab the 5.1 of TWC and be happy :).

  43. Hi Paul,

    Any information on the Hi Res stereo mastering. Has it been remastered for the Blu Ray or is it the mastering the same audio used for the three CD box?

    The DR values, which are themselves of limited value (excuse the pun there) for the 51 track CD box are “borderline@ 7-9 but not as bad as some! I can just about accept 10…..

    Many thanks,

    Mark

      1. Paul, it is necessary to finally start stating DR values on the SDE Blu-ray packaging for single audio streams. You would play fair with customers and they would know upfront what they buy.

          1. You can ask them for providing such an information. If SDE stated the information about dynamic range on the released titles, you would become the trendsetter. It could help the customers in the loudness war.

          2. Getting basic info around mastering is tricky, never mind DR values. This is called the SDE SURROUND Series. It’s primarily about immersive audio. I will always do my best to get good stereo mixes (see the Tears For Fears with the SW Mixes) but that’s as far as it goes.

  52. Wow, this is amazing news! His music has been such a constant factor in my life. I have a few of the sacd’s and the madman across the water box, but this is a great! I really liked the (streaming) Atmos version of some his 80’s material though some of the 90’s tracks sounded less inmersive. Still, I am going to add it to my ever increasing pile of SDE blu-rays.

  53. Looks great. Weird sequencing, though. It starts off chronological, then around half way it just sort of … gives up.

    Would have liked more tracks from Captain Fantastic. Hopefully that album will receive a dedicated Atmos release.

      1. Figured it would be something like that. Makes sense if you’re add an extra CD into a set. Makes less sense if you’re repackaging the songs into a completely different format several months after the original release.

        I imagine I’ll still be getting it, though :)

  56. I love these Blu-ray releases, they’ve not all been my taste, but this one is an instant buy! Good job with securing this release Paul!

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