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Wild In The Country

By ElvisNews.com/ Lex, February 02, 2008 | Music

In the classic soundtrack series FTD releases a soundtrack that was never released as soundtrack, not even on EP. Two of the songs ended up on singles, while the remaining tracks were placed on albums, two of them several years later on the “left overs” compilation Elvis For Everyone.

Design

As usual the design of the cover and booklet are neat. Great publicity shots and memorabilia decorate the background information on the movie, the (out) takes and “behind the scenes”. Okay, we have the little misprint and it is my first CD of Elvis Presely… but in the past the replacements worked fine, so I guess it will this time too.

Content

Beforehand I was a bit skeptic on this release. Only five songs filling a complete CD sounded a bit boring. So the first positive remark I can make is that the CD is playing for the third time now, so it wasn’t that boring to me. I could easily sit out the 63+ minutes.
 
Some of the 23 (!) previously unreleased outtakes have a pretty different feel from the known versions, although it is never a really spectacular difference. Probably because we had quite some outtakes and of course the alternate masters of Lonely Man and I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell before.
 
Publicity shot Wild In The CountryThe mix of the only real up tempo song I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell with the more or less ballads (Forget Me Never is somewhere in between in my ears) works out pretty well. Husky Dusky Day is a fun addition for the completists, but I could have lived without it.
 
The sound quality a crystal clear and shows Elvis’ perfect vocals, which are at the top in 1960 (although I prefer the more mature Elvis from the late 60s, early 70s more myself).

Conclusion

This CD is another proof that you shouldn’t judge without listening. To me it is a nice compilation which is very listenable, and that is not really what I expected it to be. I understand completely if others say “it’s too much of the same”, but next to the collector’s point of view I really enjoyed playing it.
 

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Dorulet wrote on February 02, 2008
The album is really good... i listened to it a couple of times until now, and i just can't seem to get enough of takes 1 and 2 of Wild in the Country... simply fantastic !
I Saw the Light wrote on February 02, 2008
Damn, I wanted to skip this one, but seems to me now that I'll have to buy it.
JerryNodak wrote on February 03, 2008
I can't wait to receive mine. Elvis the balladeer is Elvis at his best.
Greg Nolan wrote on February 03, 2008
Not to sound like an FTD lapdog but I have to tell you, "I Saw the Light," there are no FTDs I've regretted buying (although I had to wait on good deals for some of them), so I never decide to "skip" one. I hope to pick this one up, too, once I get a few bucks put aside..! Jerry, I know what you mean about Elvis as a balladeer. For me, it's one of his *many* sides I like. It's also highly under-rated with the public at large. Few people seem to realize how many quality ballads were to be found even his most woeful and forumulaic flicks that later took over. On this one, there's still a lot of that early passion (or just that early voice) that we recognize so well. And after all, although his deeper voice was starting to emerge, it was only about a half-decade since his initial breakthough with songs like "Blue Moon," "I Was the One," or "Love Me Tender" and "Young and Beautiful" and you can still hear that at times in his voice in "Wild In the Country." And there's a touch of that early rocking Elvis in "I Slipped, I Stumbled, I Fell" (I used to love it as a kid) but it's also admittedly a bit concocted and lightweight. And I'll take it, thank you very much! I look forward to the outtakes and the entire "Classic Album" FTD treatment...
Steve V wrote on February 03, 2008
Im still skipping it. Elvis' great voice cant overcome the mediore material here. I never liked these songs as a kid, (with the exception of Lonely Man) and they didnt grow on me through the years.
mature_elvis_fan75 wrote on February 03, 2008
Same here, not a fan of this one,but lonley man is my fav from this album!
circleG wrote on February 04, 2008
One of my favourite soundtracks ( ISISIF not so much ) I remember playing the video of 'In my way' to a friend of mine who wasn't an elvis fan back in college and it just blew him away !
JerryNodak wrote on February 05, 2008
For me it was "Loving You" (and to some extent) "King Creole." Didn't care for most of the songs on those albums as a kid (and still don't). But Elvis is in great ballad voice here, and I love these songs.
theoldscudder wrote on February 05, 2008
My My. What Time Is it? Scrape the bottom of the barrel time. Of course everone is entitled to their opinion but I have to agree wiyth Steve V & Mature Elvis on this one. Have to disagree with Jerry. This release pales in comparison to King Creole & Loving You.
JerryNodak wrote on February 05, 2008
You can disagree with me all you like. That's fine. That's the great thing about Elvis' music. He sang so many different kinds of music. There's "Something For Everybody." (A great album, by the way).
marty wrote on February 05, 2008
We are human after all, never satisfied... If they didn't release this many of us would now be complaining about it. They release it and we are still complaining. I haven't ordered my copy yet, but I am not going to skip any FTD release! Not my favourite soundtrack but still a must have for any serious collector. And any Elvis release (with new material) is much more pleasant for me to listen than most any of today's radio stations. That's why I consider myself a fan and I am proud to be one. PS My favourite from this soundtrack is the solo version of Lonely Man. And lately it has more of a personal meaning to me...
Steve V wrote on February 05, 2008
Hey Marty - Whos' complaining? They can release every word ever uttered by Elvis on FTD. I dont care. I will always skip certain ones. Doesnt make me any less a fan than you or somebody else. Id rather spend my money on other things at this point in my life. Even the FTDs I really like Ive probably played no more than 5-6 times. The basic stuff is still what I play the most.
JimmyCool wrote on February 06, 2008
Steve V just made a point here. Sometimes we buy a CD just for the need of having it... I mean, knowing we have it make us feel better that if we didn't... even if we don't play that CD too often (or just once, it depends). This is not the greatest Elvis' album ever released, we all agree, but I rather have this one than, par example, any bad sounding audience recording anytime!
mature_elvis_fan75 wrote on February 06, 2008
Ive notised that myself,you kinda get into that whats next phase,and i find myself looking at cd's that i dont play much,and some that are still sealed,,I found my thrill was released many months ago yet it sets still sealed on my shelf!
marty wrote on February 06, 2008
I sometimes buy CD's that I don't often play. This is true with some soundboards. I will listen to the whole show maybe once and then revisit it and listen only to the songs that were not often recorded live (or done differently). But with this soundtrack it's different. Just to have all the songs in the best (hopefully) sound yet is a good enough reason to have it. A very welcome addition to my collection. Even if it's not Elvis at his best (for most of us) it's still vintage Elvis and that says it all!
circleG wrote on February 07, 2008
I listen to all the FTD cd's and I have them all. live ones not so much but I'm glad to have them.