Customer Reviews

The Collection

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

 

 

When I heard that BMG was releasing "the definitive 30 CD Elvis collection" I was excited... with 30 CDs they could probably include his COMPLETE master recordings and include quite a few alternate takes to boot, similar to Columbia and Reprise's excellent Sinatra sets and BMG's own recent Ellington collection. I'd gladly spend $400 and unload my copies of the excellent 50s, 60s & 70s box sets that were released in the early 90s for a well-done complete collection. But no... in the not-so-grand tradition of dozens of other poorly-done Elvis collections, all this box set contains is 30 individual albums, all available separately! Not even his 30 best or best-selling albums... for some reason it's missing his classic late `56 "Elvis" album in favor of a few of those 90s "theme" compilations. Who was the schmuck that put this thing together? OK, you get a cool velvet covered box to hold them in, but that's about it. 5 stars for the music, NEGATIVE 5 stars for the presentation/compilation.

What a shame. A 30 CD set with nothing new! RCA just put 30 cds in a box! They are not even the 30 best! It looks like they were just randomly selected. Shame on you RCA!

Not being a die-hard Elvis fan, I recently decided on adding to my music collection "The King of Rock And Roll" and was interested in something of an extensive type of collection. Unfortunately this boxset Amazon listing is lacking in detail and some misinformed reviews. So I decided to take the time and provide some details about this boxset for those interested in knowing what really is inside.

CD Albums:

Disc 1: Elvis Presley (April 1956)
Disc 2: Loving You (Soundtrack) (August 1957)
Disc 3: Elvis' Christmas Album (November 1957)
Disc 4: King Creole (Soundtrack) (August 1958)
Disc 5: Elvis Is Back (April 1960)
Disc 6: G.I. Blues (Soundtrack) (November 1960)
Disc 7: His Hand In Mine (February 1961)
Disc 8: Blue Hawaii (Soundtrack) (October 1961)
Disc 9: How Great Thou Art (March 1967)
Disc 10: Elvis NBC TV Special (December 1968)
Disc 11: Back In Memphis (November 1969)
Disc 12: That's The Way It Is (Soundtrack) (December 1970)
Disc 13: Elvis Country: I'm 10,000 Years Old (1971)
Disc 14: He Touched Me (April 1972)
Disc 15: Elvis As Recorded Live In Madison Square Garden (June 1972)
Disc 16: Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite (January 1973)
Disc 17: Good Times (May 1974)
Disc 18: Today (June 1975)
Disc 19: Moody Blue (August 1977)
Disc 20: Elvis' Golden Records (March 1958)
Disc 21: 50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong: Elvis' Gold Records, Volume 2 (December 1959)
Disc 22: Elvis' Gold Records, Volume 3 (September 1963)
Disc 23: Elvis' Gold Records, Volume 4 (February 1968)
Disc 24: Elvis' Gold Records, Volume 5 (1984)
Disc 25: Elvis '56 (1996)
Disc 26: Elvis' Greatest Jukebox Hits (digipak sleeve)(1997)
Disc 27: Great Country Songs (1996)
Disc 28: Great Performances (1990)
Disc 29: Jailhouse Rock/Love Me Tender (Soundtracks) (1997)
Disc 30: Interview Disc (previously unreleased)

Ok, so there it is. Oh you do get Presley's first LP from 1956 in addition to a nice assortment of The King's albums through the years - studio,live recordings, country, gospel and movie soundtracks. You could purchase each cd album seperately but you'll miss out on the nice red velvet box or the "bonus" Artist Of The Century poster too.

Most of the cds are remastered editions with bonus tracks. 4 out of 5 stars because I feel the individual CD packaging should have reflected this limited edition boxset instead of the common jewel case packaging.

Remember the day in 1972 when you rushed out to buy "Burning Love?" Elvis ROCKED with a vengeance!!! And then RCA THOUGHT they were doing music lovers a favor by issuing it on a budget Camden album call "Burning Love And Hits From His Movies." Oh, THE HORROR!!! Just when youngsters were thinking "hey, this guy really ROCKS!", RCA (or Colonel Parker...take your pick) actually manages to brainwash America with "I Love Only One Girl" ( a really PUTRID song from the film "Double Trouble."). So what's my point??? This new release called "THE COLLECTION" is actually a "Camden" boxed set in disguise.

The 2 mammoth 30CD box sets released by RCA ('The Collection' aka 'The Red Suede Collection', and 'The Blue Suede Shoes Collection') have been harshly criticized by some Elvis fans as unnecessary and just another in a very long line of "cashing in" projects by his record label. And while that is probably true - repackaging old material for a quick profit is something that has never been beneath RCA (or the Colonel, or Elvis, for that matter) - let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater. First of all, RCA should get a little credit for the many worthy Elvis projects and box sets released in the past few years. Sure, they were money makers but most of them were put together in a first class manner - unlike much of the stuff released during Elvis's lifetime.

Neither 30CD box contains anything new other than the 2 interview CDs (w/Elvis, M/M Presley, & The Colonel) both of which are interesting and somewhat rare (there are also a couple of keepsakes: a nice poster, a first-day issue Elvis envelope & stamp, and the suede boxes themselves). The CDs included in each box, however, are some of his best, including several that are now either out-of-print or very hard-to-find. For the red box that means the expanded versions of the first six movies (when his soundtracks actually kicked), the expanded 'Elvis Is Back!' (always one of his best, now remarkably improved with the addition of the 6 tracks from the 3 singles recorded at the same time as the album), 'Back In Memphis' (part 2 of the excellent American Studios sessions), the single disc version of 'That's The Way It Is', and 'Today' (one of his best studio efforts in the 70's). For the blue box, the main draws after the interview CD are the hard-to-find 'A Hundred Years From Now' and 'Such A Night', volumes 4 and 6, respectively, in the great 'Essential Elvis' series of alternate takes and unreleased recordings. Volume 6 is the best in the series so far.

So, both of the 30CD box sets have more to offer than is apparent at first glance, although the price tag is pretty hefty... But unless RCA decides to reissue some of these titles in the future, this may be the only place to find them.

It is a nice set, but there are cd's that they could have included instead of the repeats that they did, 6 cd's are just pure repeats of what is already there.

There needs to be a complete Elvis Presley collection released. This box set is very nice, beautiful housing, and full of great music but it just seems thrown together. Lot's of extra's and excellent music here.

When this monster of a box set came out, along with it's sister set The Blue Suede Shoes Collection, I didn't think much of it. RCA/BMG was beginning to package some truly great Elvis sets (the 3 Masters sets, a slew of alternate-take sets) and content- and quality-wise this looked like a throwback to the pre-CD era, with nothing really new or interesting except the interview CD (and the poster, which I must admit is pretty neat). The "Camden Mentality" one reviewer called it, and that's pretty much still true in regard to content. The passage of time, however, has made this (and the blue set) something of a collector's item. Not only is the set itself scarce, but it contains several CDs that have gone out-of-print and, in some cases, been replaced by "expanded" and/or imported versions. I tend to prefer the expanded versions with alternate takes and/or singles tracks (45's) added to the original albums -- the 1999 18-track 'Elvis Is Back!' being one of the better examples -- but for some reason many Elvis collectors like the original 10- and 12-track versions better. Maybe because they first heard the LPs or CDs in that configuration. Oh well, in the 21st Century Elvis CD World there really is "something for everybody." Whatever the reason for preference, those original U.S. non-expanded versions -- 'Today,' 'That's The Way It Is,' 'Good Times,' and several others -- have become hard-to-find. If you can find this big box set, however, you'll find most of the originals. But not the original 'Elvis Is Back!' -- the 18-track version was released around the same time as the box and that's the one RCA/BMG included in the set.

I agree with the previous reviewer (Reconsider Baby), except i would add that these big box sets are not for the casual fan. The price tags are pretty steep but you get a big hunka Elvis for the money. And it's true that some of these CDs are hard to find for some reason, especially the interview and essential series CDs. Also, I like the big poster (in the red box) and the suede cases themselves, but I'm a die-hard fan and collector of all-things (well, a-lot-of-things) Elvis.

Issued by RCA to commemorate Elvis as "Artist Of The Century". Great set containing Elvis CD's plus special CD available only with this boxed set! Very enjoyable!!!!!