It looks like 2005 is going to be a memorable year for Elton John. First, there is his impending wedding to longtime companion David Furnish, after the U.K. begins allowing same-sex civil unions Dec. 5. His July 4th concert in Philadelphia reassured fans of all ages that he hadn’t lost his ability to mesmerize and entertain an audience. The year is also significant for being the anniversary of two of his most notable albums. His self-titled full-length album debut was 35 years ago in 1970 and five years later came his masterpiece, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy.

An expanded edition of the above-mentioned Elton John album is part of the three-disc Chronicles (Island/Rocket/Chronicles) set of “3 classic albums.” Along with well-known songs such as “Your Song,” “Take Me to the Pilot” and “Borders Song,” listeners will also find favorites such as “Sixty Years On” and “The King Must Die.” The bonus tracks include “Bad Side of the Moon,” “Rock n Roll Madonna” and an early version of “Grey Seal,” which was later rerecorded and appeared on Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

In chronological order, the second of the three discs, Tumbleweed Connection, swiftly followed Elton John’s debut disc, and was an ambitious concept album about the Wild West. From its sepia tone cover to songs such as “Ballad of A Well-known Gun,” “Country Comfort,” “My Father’s Gun” and “Burn Down The Mission,” to name a few, the album remained true to its spirit. It also included some of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s most memorable compositions, including “Come Down In Time,” as well as a cover of backing vocalist Lesley Duncan’s “Love Song.”

The third and final disc in the set, Madman Across The Water, also contains some of Elton John’s most beloved songs, including “Tiny Dancer” (whose steel guitar sounds like a holdover from Tumbleweed Connection) and “Levon.” In addition to crowd-pleasers such as the title track, the album closes with the stunning “Goodbye,” an indicator of what was yet to come.

The grouping of these three albums is logical because they represent an essential early trilogy of albums by an artist who was so clearly coming into his own. Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy (Island/Rocket/Chronicles) represents an end to that period, which also included the groundbreaking double-album set Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. While he might have come close once or twice during the 1980s, Elton John never again duplicated the creative genius he, and Taupin, exhibited during the early to mid-’70s.

The first album to ever enter the Billboard charts in the number-one position, Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy remains a highpoint in a career that spans four decades. The double-disc deluxe edition contains the original album on disc one, including the hit single “Someone Saved My Life Tonight.” Disc one also includes “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” and “Philadelphia Freedom,” a pair of non-album EJ hit singles, as well as the John Lennon tune “One Day At A Time” (the b-side to “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” ) and “House of Cards” (the b-side to “Someone Saved My Life Tonight”). The previously unreleased concert disc two, recorded live at Midsummer Music at Wembley Stadium in June of 1975, includes the Captain Fantastic album performed in its entirety in front of an audience, as well as renditions of “Pinball Wizard” and “Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting,” making this reissue a must to own.