Elvis has left the building in a suede gold jacket with hard plastic ends. To take thirty of the King’s UK and US chart toppers and cram them into one CD is, like the song says, "too much!".
But when RCA Records decides its time to re-enter the building, they stop at nothing. Thirty tracks that recreate the pop, the country, the rock and blues magic that Elvis made are all here, from "Heartbreak Hotel" and "Love Me Tender" to "Hard Headed Woman" and "Crying In The Chapel", including anthems like "Jailhouse Rock", "Hound Dog" and "Return to Sender". A virtual anthology, the numbers are paced in a way that slowly traverses his music range.
Elvis sings like no other. This album not only satiates the Presley passionates but is also a gold mine of trivia that narrates the background and beginning of each song with the date and place of record, along with the duration of the song’s stint as UK or US topper.
With defining photos and stylish artwork, this is a definitive buy.
This article was first published on15 Oct 2002.