Transitional comeback record (Elvis Is Back - Elvis Presley)

Member Name: sean82uk

Product:	Elvis Is Back - Elvis Presley
Date:	26/09/06 (42 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: The blues numbers

Disadvantages: heads to easily into light weight pop at times; a few fillers

Elvis Is Back Back beneath is a transitional record for Elvis. Blues numbers mingle with slickly produced Pop and mainstream ballads. Thankfully Elvis switch to the mainstream comes with minimal loss of quality, unlike the future soundtracks that would plague his artistic integrity during the 60's.
Girl Of My Best Friend is pure well crafted pop, though the pandering lyric suggests the sexual tension that dominated his 50's recordings (baby lets play house, hunk of love) is now all but vanished. Dirty Dirty Feeling, a rocker finds itself swamped in mainstream gloss courtesy of Jordanaires vocals, that song hints at the dispossible soundtrack ditties Elvis would go on to make. Probably the albums greatest pop number is the gorgeously sentimental ballad Soldier Boy which is reminiscent of I Was The One musically.

Ultimately however it is 2 or 3 terrific Blues performance that hinge this album together, the best being Reconsider Baby. Elvis delivers one of his finest drawled blues performances as he sings....

''Weell So Long.....now I hate to see you go''

The song heads into a jam with Scotty Moore delivering some of his most firey guitar licks. And a brilliant wailing Sax solo. The song doesn't have a hint of brass or gloss however. Elvis delivers one final verse ending with the mumbled line..

'''Why don't you Reconsider Baby''

it's a stunning closer to this album.

Elvis arguably matches Peggy Lee for his rendition of Fever with it's sparce and dramatic arrangement. Like A Baby is also a terrific blues number.

The original album has been bumped up with bonus tracks to make it acceptable to the consumer standard of the CD Age. The quasi opera of the huge hit single It's Now Or Never showcase Elvis's full found adoption with the mainstream and his great admiration for Latin crooners like Dean Martin. It is a adaption of a old Italian tune 'O Sole O Mino'.

Are You Lonesome Tonight is one of Elvis's best loved ballads and needs few introductions.
Technically both rank as perhaps Elvis's finest ever vocal performances but the new found deepness to his voice came at the cost of the shear bloody excitement of his 50's vocalising (and the drawled Reconsider Baby still hints at). Needless to say Elvis makes up for it with yet another terrific blues performance, the B Side A Mess Of Blues.

Elvis Is Back like all the sessions were Elvis had a more hands on approach (sun for example) is incredibly varied album. Even the most die hard 50's purists will find tracks like A Mess Of Blues and Reconsider Baby to rank amongst Elvis's best. Stuck On You is also a rocker which feels more at home with his 50's recordings. His new found mainstream audience (which warmed to him on his Army service) will revel in the gloss of other tracks, only on tracks like Dirty Dirty Feeling and Such A Night does the album slightly fall short.

This alongside 1969's amazing comeback From Elvis In Memphis force's us to re-examine Elvis's 60's output. If i could have gave this album 4 1/2 i would have.

Summary: Masterclass; Elvis enters easy listening without losing his Blues roots.