Elvis Presley: Elvis Presley (1956)
I've always had a rather bias opinion of Elvis, mainly as my parents dislike his music, so as a child I was accustomed to the quick skipping of track whenever Blue Christmas played on the Christmas CD.. However, despite this, I sat down with an open mind. The book describes the album as 'inconsistent', and I can understand from listening to the album exactly what that means. The songs do feel rather jumbled, and don't follow a set theme or sound, his voice sounds so different in each song. I would even go as far to say it sounds like a different artist in each song. I guess this could be seen as a good thing though - at least as a listener you don't really have chance to get bored.
The variety of themes/sounds move from upbeat (Blue Suede Shoes) and the up tempo classic (Tutti Frutti) to downbeat/more lyrically heavy (I Love You Because) and Blue Moon.
I have to admit, my favourite song of the album has to be his cover of Ray Charles' I Got A Woman. I adore Ray Charles' version anyway, but Elvis' twist to this song is, in my opinion, absolutely brilliant. Tutti Frutti has to be a close second, its a song that as soon as I hear, I just want to bob around and smile.
So, my overall round up of this album is that, biases aside, this is a great album. The variation in sound, seen often as a negative, shows the versatility of his voice. I prefer his more upbeat songs over the slower. But if it can put a smile on my face, then I say its a success.
x
Pic from :http://entertainment.howstuffworks.com/elvis-presley-albums1.htm
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