Elvis Presley 75th Anniversary Elvis (2010)

This 50 CD Box Set was released in 1996 by BMG Netherland. The set comes with a 94-page-book and a certificate of authenticity which says: " The Original Elvis Presley Collection has been compiled by BMG Nederland BV, authorized by RCA Records, the exclusive worldwide owner of Elvis Presley's sound recordings. - Elvis Presley is the greatest recording artist of all time." The box includes previously released original CD albums, only the cover art is different. This collector item was not sold in music stores. It was only available through a dutch book club.

What we have here is an excellent compilation of 90 tracks from the first years of Elvis’s success. The majority of the hits are on the first two discs, with the third being, in the main, a collection of his finest religious recordings from the period. All the early hits are here; “Heartbreak Hotel”, “All Shook Up”, Jailhouse Rock”, “Love Me, Tender”, “Hound Dog”, “Are You Lonesome Tonight” and many more. Some of his best early performances, such as “That’s All Right” and “Mystery Train” are also included, as are some of the film songs, such as “GI Blues”, “Wooden Heart”, “Loving You” and many others.

Covering a lot of 60s material, this CD set overlooks the most often used hits of 1960-62 in favor of the latter part of the decade. Quality of sources is excellent and the mix of songs is superb! Each disc could have had more songs included, but the quality compensates for the lack of quantity. A large number of great album tracks along with a decent number of hit singles and a wonderful listening experience in the order they have been assembled.

Elvis Presley’s 1973 Honolulu concert was broadcast by satellite around the world and the resulting live album was called Aloha from Hawaii via Satellite. This was reissued as 2CD set back in 2013 for its 40th anniversary, but a decade later Sony are expanding it even more and are offering a 3CD+blu-ray box set edition.

While not as ferocious as 1968's Elvis TV special or In Person at the International Hotel Las Vegas from 1969, this expanded 30th anniversary edition of the soundtrack to That's the Way It Is retains the excitement and exhaustion of his stage show of the time. The set is broken up into three separate discs. Disc one, special edition, includes the original 12-track album with seven bonus tracks taken from the same Las Vegas concerts and Nashville sessions. Disc two, the concert, includes the entire performance from the midnight show at the Las Vegas Hilton on August 12, 1970, consisting of mainly unreleased tracks highlighted by a rushed version of "Suspicious Minds," which finds the horn section falling behind an exhausted Elvis as he pushes the tempo. Disc three, the rehearsal, contains bits and pieces from these sessions..