Elvis Presley - Elvis (Mono Remastered) (1956/2026) Mp3 / Flac / Hi-Res

With Elvis scheduled to go into the army for two years as of March 24, and Colonel Parker still adamantly refusing to make any concessions to the record company’s need for a recording schedule – any kind of schedule – during his time in service, RCA put together a Greatest Hits package consisting of the A-sides of his first eight RCA singles together with six B-sides. It was a dramatic reversal of the Colonel’s one ironclad, if somewhat inexplicable, rule to date: never allow a hit single to appear on a non-soundtrack album. Initial sales of 150,000 (comparable to sales of the Christmas album) seemed to bear out the wisdom of the previous policy. But the album has sold more than six million copies domestically over the years – and it continues to sell.

"Have we got the lot?" The King of Rock’n’Roll certainly didn't need to ask whether his entourage had collected together all their favourite hits. They had gathered them all together - a collection of "Golden Records", rather like a selection box of favourite chocolates, greedily swallowed down and enjoyed to the full. And how they loved them all - whether 'complete works' collectors or fans. To this very day, this collection from 1958 is quite set apart from the normal 'best of' collections. It shines out like a precious jewel among mere pebbles.

"This was rock & roll's first greatest-hits album, and it set the standard for all others to follow. As originally conceived, it was a 14-song collection of most of the King's biggest hits up to that time, released on the eve of his start of military service -- a dearth of material being in the offing, it seemed only logical to assemble these hits. Each of the 14 songs had earned a Gold record award for a million sales, a record unequaled at that time by anyone else in rock & roll. The album wasn't intended as a history lesson, so "Hound Dog" and "Loving You" precede "Heartbreak Hotel" -- the 1997 remastering also tampers with the concept a bit, adding six bonus tracks. Elvis' singing never sounded richer or more expressive, and one can fully appreciate in vivid detail the delicate nuances of his phrasing on songs like "Too Much." On the downside, the remastering has made the sound so clean on some of the harder songs that some of the raw, "dirty" ambience that characterized this stuff on the radio and the original 45s is lacking. Still, Scotty Moore's groundbreaking lead guitar part on "Hound Dog" and the Jordanaires' backup singing never came through more sharply or cleanly, and the all-important rhythm section is almost upfront in the mix. Those who own the first Elvis box from RCA, covering the '50s masters may hesitate to pick up this or the other parts of this latest remastered series, but the sound has been upgraded one more level, and Elvis' Golden Records does give a bite-sized glimpse of where Elvis had come from and where he was going (for better or worse) musically on the eve of heading into the Army." (Bruce Eder, AMG)

Tracklist
1. Elvis Presley - Rip It Up
2. Elvis Presley - Love Me
3. Elvis Presley - When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again
4. Elvis Presley - Long Tall Sally
5. Elvis Presley - First in Line
6. Elvis Presley - Paralyzed
7. Elvis Presley - So Glad You're Mine
8. Elvis Presley - Old Shep
9. Elvis Presley - Ready Teddy
10. Elvis Presley - Anyplace Is Paradise
11. Elvis Presley - How's the World Treating You
12. Elvis Presley - How Do You Think I Feel

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