This import series keeps going … is it going in the right way?

Design

The design is the same as the previous releases; a great picture, a track listing and short liner notes. The producers appear to defend themselves a bit in the liner notes on the reactions from many fans on the so called “unreleased” material and sound quality on their compilations.

Content

As for the content we can be brief, again a nice compilation of – according to most reactions – previously released material. The liner notes don’t contain any details of the tracks on this compilation.

This volume has a slow start with “That Someone You Never Forget” which is a bit boring, because it takes a lot of attempts to get started and we hear a lot of background singers doing “Oooow …” this isn’t enjoyable for a compilation we bought for simple listening pleasure. Fortunately the tempo picks up with “Kiss Me Quick”.

With “Edge Of Reality”, “Long Black Limousine”, "True Love Travels On A gravel Road”, "Inherit The Wind” and “Fool” we get great tracks. The use of alternate versions – whichever version it may be – makes this compilation sound different. This is the strength of this series. The compilation ends with too many Hawaiian tracks not the kind of songs we want to hear Elvis struggle on in the studio. Elvis and J.D. Sumner messing up a beautiful gospel like “Why Me Lord” making fun on stage isn’t what I want either. We can understand them making fun of their work … even performing on stage can get repetitive.

Conclusion

A compilation of - previously released - alternate and live versions with a slow start, strong middle and lesser end. This time the compilation of different sounding classics isn’t as enjoyable as the previous volumes. Let’s see what volume six brings us.