Customer Reviews

Blue Hawaii

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The original 1961 album release of "Blue Hawaii", had 14 songs on it. Now this expanded version has 22. Is that good or what? The new 8 extra tracks, except one, have never been released before. Isn't that great? It was about time they were pulling some unreleased takes of songs out of the vaults. This is something that is quintessential to every Elvis fan. "Blue Hawaii" features the title song, "No More", "Can't Help Falling In Love", "Rock-a-Hula-Baby", "Moonlight Swim","Hawaiian Wedding Song", plus more. "Steppin' out of Line", the original, was the one bonus track already released. It was released one year after the original "Blue Hawaii" album came out on "Pot Luck". By the way, be sure to get that one as well. This is an outstanding job RCA did on this! "Dreams come true in blue Hawaii, and mine could all come true, this magic night of nights with you." (Elvis Presley). Elvis rocks all the way!

Tired of civilization? Want to escape to a beautiful island paradise? Then this CD is for you. The romantic ballads such as
the title song, "Moonlight Swim," "Hawaiian Sunset" and "Island of Love" evoke images of beautiful sunsets and peaceful blue seas, and the more lively numbers, such as "Almost Always True" and "Steppin' Out of Line" are carefree and fun, which is another aspect of Hawaii.
Hearing the great voice reminds us of why Elvis is still king, even after all these years. And the added songs at the end, which are repeats of earlier songs, with a few off the cuff remarks by Elvis, give us a peak into the spontaneity and ease with which he worked.
This is music to listen to after a difficult day in the "asphalt jungle," music which helps us relax and enjoy and
forget the stresses and strains of modern society, at least for awhile!

This is great soundtrack to a very entertaining and fun to watch musical/movie. All the songs that I heard on the movie "Blue Hawaii" is on this album, plus an extra song not used in the movie called "Steppin' Out of Line". This is not a rock n' roll album, maybe Hawaiin rock on a couple of songs ("Rock-A-Hula Baby" and "Slicin' Sand"), but the music is still very much Elvis. Elvis has a very nice voice and add them to very well composed songs, and it will equal to great sounding music. I like every song on the album, but my personal favorites are "Almost Always True", "No More", "Moon Light Swim", "Ku-U-I-Po", and "Beach Boy Blues". So take a trip with Elvis to Hawaii, and listen to the sounds of "Blue Hawaii".

Blue Hawaii was Elvis Presley's biggest hit movie. And the Blue Hawaii soundtrack was his best selling album. Not his best album, but it is one of his better soundtracks. There are a fair amount of songs with silly lyrics like, "Ito eat like teeth are out of style" or "I'm a kissin' cousin to a ripe pineapple", but at least they have good melodies, and Elvis sings like he's having fun. And you can't go wrong with "Can't Help Falling in Love", one of the King's best ballads. The CD adds eight songs to the original album's 14, including "Steppin' Out of Line"(which is a song that was cut from the movie), and previously unreleased alternate versions of seven songs. Elvis fans should own this CD.

So THAT'S what all the fuss is about.

I'm talking about the fact that this movie is considered so huge, was such a big hit, that it was Elvis's most popular movie and that the soundtrack was his most popular one as well as one of his biggest hit albums.

I've been familiar with Elvis all my life, but I've never been an Elvis fan. Neither have I hated him. Sure I thought he had an incredible voice, but nevertheless I simply considered him a performer in history, no more, no less. I've only heard a smattering of his songs like Jailhouse Rock, Hound Dog, Love Me Tender, Heartbreak Hotel. And those songs never caught my interest. I have never seen an Elvis movie before in my life.

All of which puts me in an extremely unique position that makes my comments valuable to amazon.com customers, to be able to make an entirely unbiased (in either direction) review, to be able to judge the movie Blue Hawaii as a MOVIE and its soundtrack album as a SOUNDTRACK ALBUM, and neither one of them as "the big hit Elvis project". What got me to check this out? Credit goes to the Disney CD "Lilo & Stitch Island Favorites". I had bought it and heard for the very first time the Elvis song "Blue Hawaii" and fell in love with it. So much so that I decided to rent the movie of the same name for a lark even though my family was all telling me how stupid and ridiculous his movies all were. But when I popped the movie into my vcr I was going, "Hey! This is a great movie! It's fun and innocent and enjoyable and funny, and it has lots and lots and lots of gorgeous Hawaiian cinematography!" And best of all, it was filled with wall to wall music I enjoyed. I mean, I loved each and every single note in the film. So I rushed out to buy this album the very next day.

Now that I look around on the internet for comments about it, it appears to be from what I can tell possibly one of those albums that fans love and most critics loathe. Why are critics so harsh on this one?! It's beautiful! It's wonderful! I love it! Every song on here is a winner, there is simply no filler. Of course I'm sure the Hawaiian flavor adds to it for me since I love Hawaiian music. But even that touch alone doesn't makes this one a masterpiece, the compositions are all strong and timeless throughout with superb production. I highly recommend this album to everyone. It's an absolute classic of pop music as far as I'm concerned.

I may not know very much about Elvis Presley and I may not have ever bought any of his albums or seen any of his movies before now, but I know magic when I encounter it. :)

I love the CD. It will help provide just the right atmosphere for the Hawaiian themed event I'm planning for my employer.

After coming off back-to-back strong acting (and very little singing) movies in "Flaming Star" and "Wild In The Country" (but very little money at the box office), Elvis starred in "Blue Hawaii" and his acting career and soundtracks would never be the same again. The soundtrack was hugely successful by being No. 1 for more than a year. But it also doomed Elvis to a decade of corny scripts and corny songs, but big bucks in B formula movies.

The songs are fairly strong with the title track "Blue Hawaii" and "Can't Help Falling In Love" (which I had sung at my wedding!). Also, "Rock-A-Hula-Baby" is a great semi-rocker, along with the great ballads of "No More" and "Hawaiian Wedding Song".

But then you throw in the corny tunes of "Beach Boy Blues", "Slicin' Sand" and "Ito Eats", and you know the rocker of the 1950s is dead and twitching in the grave.

The vocals are solid in all the songs -- even the goofy ones -- but the success of this movie and soundtrack basically signed Elvis' death warrant in Hollywood. No more good scripts would ever find their way to Elvis' manager again -- it was all B movies from here on out and we were never able to see Elvis as a true actor, which is what he yearned to be.

Blue Hawaii is certainly one of Elvis' best soundtrack albums from the 60's and was his biggest hit album. It stayed at number 1 on the US album charts for a then record 20 weeks! It contains one of his signature songs "Can't Help Falling In Love" and the modest hit "Rock-A-Hula Baby". This CD release is made even better than the original by the includsion of several bonus tracks including an alternate movie version of "Can't Help Falling In Love" that I really like. This was Elvis' commercial peak!

Unfortunately the success of this album and the previous soundtrack "GI Blues" convinced Elvis' management that the way to make the quick buck was to make lighthearted comedy movies and associated soundtrack albums. From here on out the movies and soundtracks would sink in quality and sales.

I am a fan of the rockabilly swing Elvis of the Sun Years, and the Louisiana Heyride Years, and the early RCA(like Heartbreak Hotel, I Got A Woman, and Hound Dog). However the only truly essential Elvis album you NEED, other then the Sun recordings and early Elvis, is this Blue Hawaii soundtrack. Elvis is accompanied by Hawaiian steel guitars, ukuleles, and it is as hep as can be. This cd is perfect not only for great Luau Parties, but it's great background music for any respectible lounge album collector. This cd swings too like on "Rocka Hula" "Beach Boy Blues"(a real blues) and "Almost Always True", man this is as close as Elvis ever got to swingin' like Bobby Darin. Exellent cd all the way through, even "Itp Eats"!!!

This is a truely beautiful album for people who can appreciate real quality singing. The songs are mainly ballads, there are a number of highlights on this timeless classic. The first of these has to be "Can't Help Falling In Love", one of the greatest and most popular love songs of all time. Next would have to be the title song "Blue Hawaii". This is a less well known song, but one of the many Elvis classics. Another great song is "No More", a latin style song which went to #1 on the Italian singles charts. "Hawaiin Wedding Song" is still a favourite around the world, and "Slicin Sand" has been included in the recent Disney DVD "Stitch".

No music collection is complete without an early 60's Elvis album, this is one of the best.