Elvis Presley, "The Complete Elvis Presley Masters" (Sony Legacy)
"The Complete Elvis Presley Masters" is like a peanut butter and banana sandwich topped with an ice cream sundae and candy bars, then dipped in batter and deep-fried like something you'd find at the fair.
Surely it is the greatest thing ever, but for most people it's really just too much.
But nothing brings out the completist in us like Elvis Presley. EVERYTHING is here, from his first sessions at Sun Records in 1954 to the final recordings he made in 1977.
There are 711 original master recordings and 103 rarities spread over 30 discs and a 240-page book that is the real jewel here, with an annotated discography by Ernst Mikael Jorgensen and Peter Guralnick.
Though his list of faults may have grown over the course of his career, Elvis was a tireless explorer, moving from genre to genre and mood to mood with a kind of ceaseless curiosity that kept us interested longer than we probably should have been.
It's an absolute pleasure to listen to a song while reading a short essay that gives you a snapshot of its history.
Of Presley's breakthrough "That's All Right," the authors write: "Probably what made it most different was its youthful purity, its unchecked sense of joyous release and exuberant lack of restraint."
This isn't a fawning retelling of history, though. The authors don't hold back where the truth is concerned.
For instance, "Do The Clam," a cut from the movie "Girl Happy," ''represented one of the low points of Elvis' film-related singles releases, a halfhearted attempt at creating a new dance craze, which ... was more silly than satirical."
"The Complete Elvis Presley Masters" is only available online at www.completeelvis.com and a first-run of 1,000 numbered copies has already sold out. Fear not, however, obsessive Elvis fan. A slightly, less dear version will be available in the new year ... if you have the appetite.
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