SINGAPORE – So this year is apparently a bumper year for significant music anniversaries, not least classic albums like this one by Elton John. (Although, if you really want to get technical about it, the album was actually released in 1973, so this anniversary offering ought to have come out last year; but anyway...)

Back when it was first released, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road was a double-disc LP, and despite its lengthy run-time, topped the British and American charts, thanks in part to hits such as Bennie And The Jets and the title track. But what also grabbed listeners’ attention was also the diverse musical offerings on the album such as the rocky Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting or the lovely Candle In The Wind. So it’s no surprise that the label would want to reissue this landmark album. But this 40th anniversary reissue isn’t even the first such reissue – there was one put out 10 years ago. At any rate, you can now listen to the album in all its remastered glory.

But the key highlights in this reissue are the songs from this classic album redone by some of today’s artistes, such as Ed Sheeran, Hunter Hayes and Imelda May, and it’s interesting to hear how the younger musicians of today interpret his works. These range from the fairly par-for-the-course like Fall Out Boy’s version Saturday Night and Sheeran’s take of Candle In The Wind, done in his folky style.

Others are a little blah (Haye’s version of the title track isn’t as uplifting as the original) but the gem is May’s rollicking rendition of Your Sister Can’t Twist (But She Can Rock ‘N Roll). May has never shied from injecting her lovely vivacious spirit into her music and on this one, with swirling guitars and horns, really brings down the house, and – dare we say it – betters the original.

That track is worth the price of admission alone. There are also excerpts from John’s 1973 Christmas concert, featuring songs from the album as well as some of his other hits like Daniel, Your Song and Rocket Man. The entire concert is available if you buy the super deluxe edition, which also comes with a DVD documentary and B-sides, remixes and the singles Philadelphia Freedom and Step Into Christmas.