Customer Reviews

From Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis Tennessee

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Recorded in 1976, this album could have been the turning point in Elvis'musical styling. Long gone were the days of the echo-plastered sun recordings or the sometimes "corny" movie soundtracks. Even though he was extremely ill during this period,Elvis poured his heart and soul into each of these recordings. Included on this album are such classics as "Danny boy", "The Last Farewell", "For the heart" and the heart-wreanching "Hurt". (Eat your heart out Pavoratti!) I first bought this album at the age of ten. Seventeen years later it is still my favorite. I highly recommend this album to any fan or person who wishes to familiarize themself with Elvis' final recordings. It is unclear to me why albums such as this one were overlooked by disc jockeys and replaced with the overplayed "classics". Do yourself a favor and add this Gem to your collection.
Thank you, Thank you very much!!!!!!!

...which is where I heard them, but my guess is this is a better way to go. Both this album and Moody Blue were recorded at a studio Felton Jarvis had built for Elvis in his home. The best of those sessions wound up on this album, and the rest is on Moody Blue. The reissued Moody Blue puts all these tracks (minus one) as bonus tracks, and it is striking how much better the album sounds when it gets to these tracks. Songs like "Hurt," "The Last Farewell" and "Bitter They Are..." belong in the canon of classics. Powerful, almost desperate singing.

This is my very favorite of Elvis's albums! Why? Well, no other album that he ever recorded possesses such a feeling of candidness and self-revelation. Although recorded at a time when Elvis was in turmoil over his personal lifestyle, the songs performed on this album were near and dear to his heart. From the majestic and almost operatic "Hurt" to the tender sentimentality of "Danny Boy", each song exposes the listener to the music that Elvis identified himself with. Granted, this is not your typical Elvis album composed of rock and romance tunes. This album should be purchased because it is a study of the man himself and reveals the true craft that Elvis was so good at perfecting. The compilation of tunes on this album define Elvis in the same way the "68 Comeback Special" did during his return to live performance.The difference---Elvis finally reveals the man behind the myth! Listen to it and you will agree!

I'm 26, and I've been a Presley fan pretty much my entire life. However, I just recently bought this album. My parents had the LP when I was growing up, but for some reason, I never really remember listening to it. But, over the past several months, I have been really getting back into Elvis, and when I saw this album at the store today, I just had to buy it. Actually, it's the Moody Blue/Presley Boulevard split cd. Pretty much most of the other reviews I've read are accurate. This is an EXTREMELY sad album. When I listened to it straight through for the first time, I almost felt emotionally drained. I wouldn't listen to this album when you're extremely depressed....you're liable to hang yourself. (I'm just kidding, but you get the point.) HOWEVER, as somber as this album is, I COULDN'T WAIT to listen to it again. Hence, my 5 star rating. The desperation in Elvis' voice is just amazing. You get the feeling that he is really meaning and FEELING every single word that he is singing. As I've long told other people, love or hate Elvis' "later years", there's no denying that his voice during this period was at it's strongest ever. What a set of pipes!! If you're just getting into Elvis, or only have a couple of his earlier albums, I might not suggest getting this album JUST yet. You sort of need to see and hear his progression up until this point. But, this album is definitely a must-have. If you don't mind sadness and desperation, and love the powerful and awesome voice of Elvis Presley, then you must get this album. I'm going to listen to it again!

Why this title for my review? Let me tell you now. Ask some random person you meet what Elvis songs he or she knows. That person will most likely answer you titles like Hound Dog, Don't Be Cruel, Jailhouse Rock and Are You Lonesome Tonight. And off course, these are really classics.

But sadly, people see Elvis as a dumb guy who only made good songs at the beginning of his career (like the ones mentioned before). This upsets me! My God, The Beatles are on TV! Why not Elvis?! My God, people think that Elvis abused young girls ( dumb rumours..!), My God, people think that Elvis only made some bad movies!

If i think about these things, i feel Hurt. And that is the first song from this album. Elvis probably felt Hurt as well. That's not hard to understand. Anyone in his shoes would feel the same way. Always underestimated and misunderstood. That is exactly why the decline started in his life. Elvis did not destroy himself, the people destroyed HIM! Why did they do that? To know that, read this qoute:

"When a true genius appears in this world, you may know him by this sign: That all the dunces are in confederacy against him."

-Dean Swift, 1667 - 1745

This album really tells a lot about the way Elvis felt. Sadly, this kind of music is too good for a lot of people (or should i say "dunces"?). They only see the bad sides of Elvis. (like boring movies)

Now you know why my title is called this way, let me tell you about the songs!

The first one (like mentioned before) is the formidable, majestic, powerful, fantastic song Hurt. This song is really GREAT. Why? First of all, the way he sings it is really astounding. The beginning is great, the spoken middle part is great and the ending is great. Opera singers should be jealous! This song really proves that Elvis always made progress in his life. He couldn't sing like this in 1954! The second reason why this is great: it is a revelation about Elvis personal life and that makes it even better. No-one can ever do better than this performance.

The second song is sad as well. "Never Again" says something about Elvis his feelings, just like Hurt. This song is about loss and pain. Not strange.

"Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain" is just as sad. Listen to it and cry.

"Danny Boy" is heartbreaking...

Sorry, i can't go saying the same stuff over and over again for the songs on this album. Only "For The Heart" proves he didn't lose the strength to sing happy, rocking songs.

This is an album for the REAL Elvis fans only.

Did i mention i'm a 15-year-old boy who listens to other music than the people with the same age do?

In 1976, Elvis' world was literally crashing down. He was in poor health, he was constantly working, and he was bored with the endless tours and Vegas shows. This album was recorded at his home, Graceland. He didn't feel like going to the studio, so RCA brought the equipment in his famous "Jungle Room". The result? A melancholy, bluesy album which can be hard to listen to at times, mainly for the obvious pain Elvis appears to be feeling. Upon hearing the opening song, "Hurt", you know that this is going to be a rather "less-than-happy" album. "Hurt" is one of the best songs that Elvis recorded in the 70s; the power of his voice and the drama of the spoken middle eight really shows a man bearing his soul. Other songs on this album also show his dark side: "Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall", "Solitaire", and "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" are the most obvious. "For the Heart" is a change of pace tune: It is happier and more bouncy than the others (a great outtake of this can be found on the "Platinum" box). Don't let this album make you think that these sessions were in a sour atmosphere. Elvis really had fun making this album. Outtakes and reliable accounts say that he was as nice and funny as usual between takes to songs. But, being a professional, he shows absolutely no signs of such attitude on the finished product. It is not his best, but it is perhaps the most honest.

No single performer in the history of popular music gave more of himself than Elvis Presley. This album, recorded at home in Graceland near the end of his life, is melancholy to be sure, but a strong effort that has grown in reputation over the years; down but not out, Elvis still gave his all. "Solitaire," "Hurt," and "For the Heart" are the classics here, but Elvis' spare, reflective reading of "Danny Boy" and an impassioned "I'll Never Fall in Love Again" are every bit as compelling. Essential!

This album introduced me to Elvis. It was the late 1970s, and I was about eight years old. My father had an 8-track of this album, and I had to play it every time I rode in his company car, a big forest green Mercury Marquis. I am not sure if I knew that Elvis had died, but I knew that I really liked this tape. I remember that it made me cry sometimes... all of the songs on the tape, of course, being sad songs.

I did not listen to music much at that age, or really for another six years after that. Even so, there was something about that voice that I found compelling. When I listen to this album now, I am amazed at how little accompaniment Elvis needed; compared to any more modern pop music, it is pretty sparse, and it is perfect that way. The power of Elvis' voice, even this close to his death, was enough.

I have just recently rediscovered this album. I had not listened to any of it since the last time we had a car with an 8-track player in it... which was probably twenty years ago. Recently, my mother and I were talking about Elvis, and I mentioned how much I had liked "From Elvis Presley Boulevard." She promptly produced the 8-track for me-- the very same one I had played twenty years ago. When my parents divorced, she got the 8-tracks.

Now I have again heard the songs that I remember so well, and I am reminded of what a good vocalist can do. This album, if you don't mind its somber tone, is a gem. It is what I think of when someone says "Elvis."

Mostly ballads. If you like listening to the emotionally scarred music so prevalent in Elvis' later career, you will enjoy this CD. My favorite is The Last Farewell, an old Roger Whittaker song. Like everything Elvis sang, he takes the song, reinvents it, and delivers one of his most beautiful ballads. It's interesting to note: Elvis sang many songs already made popular by other recording artists and made them hits again. But, no one ever took an Elvis song and made you forget who sang it best.

This album was recorded just a year and a half before Elvis died, and is his last full studio album. It's very easy to dismiss this album as dull, plodding, and depressing, and in fact that's what I did for many years. But probably more than any album of his career, Elvis bares his soul for all too see. Elvis would often claim his recordings were not an indication of his feelings or emotional state, but there is no way to dismiss the fact that these songs reflected Elvis' general state of mind by early 1976. He was hopelessly addicted to drugs, very overweight, and depressed about the years behind him. Listening to this album is like listening to a lost man trying to find his way back home, and unfortunately Elvis never did. It would be hard to convince a youngster today that this was the same man who brought rock and roll music to the masses, but if a person's art is judged by his ability to convey his innermost feelings and to force his audiance to do the same, then this album succedes very well.

Rolling Stone magazine rated the album opener "Hurt" as one of the best singles of all time, and is probably the best recording of Elvis' twilight years. Nothing else here quite matches that powerhouse, but songs like "Bitter They Are, Harder They Fall," "Love Coming Down," and "I'll Never Fall In Love Again" depict a genuine air of desperation. Even the album's sole rocker, "For The Heart," signals impending doom with lines like "I can play but I just can't win." and "I can roll but I just can't rock."

If you listen to these songs with an open mind, you come to realize Elvis was a man who lived the American dream, and saw that dream turn into a nightmare. But as one author noted, it was as though Elvis was telling us "Despite everything I've been through, I'm still here."