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The King Of Rock And Roll - #1 Hit Performances

Video

The King Of Rock And Roll - #1 Hit Performances
Rating:
5.0 / 5
Released: 2007/09/04 by RCA

An outstanding introduction to the magic of Elvis Presley! This collection of 15 (US) or 30 (rest of the world) wonderful performances by the King of Rock 'n' Roll showcasing 21 of his #1 US and UK hits and 9 other classics. Culled from TV appearances, movies, concert films and television special from 1956, the year his star ascended, to the 1970s when he reached the pinnacle of his career.

ElvisNews review

Finally available, the Elvis clip collection, was it worth the long long wait?

Design

This DVD comes in three different designs; one similar to the “ELV1S 30 #1 Hits” CD, one with an additional silhouette of our man and in the UK a completely different design matching the UK edition of this year’s “The King” compilation. We got the boring first one. This style was new and fresh when used on the before mentioned compilation, but several years down the line I expected something a bit fresher.

Content

The concept for this release isn’t new. Bootleggers did it, even creating new clips and there is even a legal budget release entitled "Love Me Tender"featuring clips from the television shows and the “’68 Comeback” and "Aloha" specials. After the first try on the bonus disc compilation on the “Ultimate Film Collection” EPE and BMG stepped up to the plate and gave us this compilation. That it wasn’t that easy to get this product done can be seen in the differences in the fifteen track US and thirty track European release.

I enjoyed watching the “clips” very much. I usually listen to Elvis performing songs, seeing him do a variety of songs only adds to the joy. The compilation is build on the material available so we get the “usual” fifties television appearances with the addition “Blue Suede Shoes” screen test Elvis did for Hal Wallis; a nice colour clip but it looks like Elvis is playing a guitar without strings …? This footage could have been used to actually create a real video clip. The fifties television footage has been remastered and I have never seen this television material in this quality with the exception of the Frank Sinatra special, this contains a lot of distortion.

Following the mainly black and white material are excerpts from his movies. For once I’m glad Elvis made many musical comedies, otherwise we would have even less video material of Elvis performing his songs. The sixties era ends with clips from the “’68 Comeback” special; the stronger material of this part of the compilation since these are actual performances.
The compilation end with the seventies material from “TTWII” and the “Aloha” special. Again, no “On Tour” or “CBS Special” material has been used.

Missing on this set are the clips made to promote the more recent single releases. In Germany a clip was created for “Always On My Mind” in 2000, it would have been nice to actually release that as a special item on this set. Also missing are the clips for “A Little Less Conversation” and the “Rubberneckin’” remixes.

Audio wise there are two problems. The first is that Elvis isn’t lip-sync in several clips, this is annoying. Secondly the sound varies. One might expect the producers to create one coherent sound experience. The clips taken from the movies are Dolby Surround, but most fifties material are not. This should have been corrected for all clips on this compilation.

Conclusion

This release is one disc a lot of fans will enjoy and gives them something to show their friends. The experience could have been a little better if the clips had been mixed a little since DVDs don’t have a shuffle option. Quality wise this is the material the producers have to work with, with that in mind the result is almost the best result possible.


Buy at Amazon.co.uk
Mystery Rider wrote on July 23, 2007
Elvis doing Hound Dog on the Milton Berle show before he put it on wax is a great performance it made the critics fighting mad today they might show that same performance to a room full of clergy, amazing how times have changed.
Rating: 5 / 5
ext_mnx wrote on October 15, 2007
Yesss! I love it too!
Rating: 5 / 5
JerryNodak wrote on November 05, 2007
5 stars for content. But I've already got 99.9% of this on other videos. So, I'm not interested in buying this.
Rating: 5 / 5
JimmyCool wrote on January 13, 2008
I have the 30 tracks version for just one reason: the Bonus footage. Too bad they were only excerpts and in bad quality, in that case they could have used the versions from "This Is Elvis"! They could have put "It's Now Or Never" from the CBS-TV Special, "Mean Woman Blues", the remixes, and "Always On My Mind" as seen on "The Great Perfomances" and "This Is Elvis". They could have use "Burning Love" from some of the concerts from the "On Tour" film. I think they made this DVD in just minutes, copying and pasting clips from DVDs we all know by heart now. It's a shame, they could have done this so much better if they were interesting in making a quality product instead of just cashing bucks... They made a very abd edit on the medley "Don't Cry Daddy"/"In The Ghetto", they should have left this medley the way it was. P.S.: "Hound Dog" is from the Ed Sullivan Show, not the legendary performance from the Milton Berle Show.
JimmyCool wrote on January 28, 2008
I agree with you.