Search - Elvis Presley :: Hit Story

Comprehensive, Affordable Collection of Elvis Hits

matthewslaughter | Arlington, VA USA | 02/16/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"By compiling "30 #1 Hits," "2nd to None" and a third, new collection, "The Story Continues" in one collection, most mid-level Elvis Presley fans should have enough Jailhouse Rock to last 'em for a lifetime. Obviously, the die-hard fans already have this stuff.



To recap, "30 #1 Hits" has all the classics--"Heartbreak Hotel," "Jailhouse Rock," "Suspicious Minds" and "Burning Love." Because of its chronological sequencing, it is also marred by embarrassing tracks like "Wooden Heart," "Crying in the Chapel" and the unnecessary "Way Down." "2nd to None," though lacking the firepower of the first collection, is the better disc. Including Sun Sessions classic "That's All Right," his great cover of Carl Perkins' "Blue Suede Shoes," one of his best early singles, "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You," and his gradiose 1968 NBC-TV Special tracks "Memories" and "If I Can Dream," this is a more balanced collection. Also including fun stuff like "Viva Las Vegas" and "I'm a Roustabout," this disc covers his dreadful 60s movie years with respectability.



"The Story Continues" is a bit of a letdown -- leftovers from his career. But it is an interesting selection, focusing on Elvis' more placid songs, like "Ask Me," "Separate Ways" and "If You Talk in Your Sleep." Running only 45 minutes, it presents a listeners dilemma -- Should it have filled a whole 80 minutes? If so, would it just include 35 more minutes of mediocre Elvis tracks? Could they have included any previously unreleased studio outtakes?



Those criticisms aside, this is a comprehensive, affordable and FUN collection of Elvis Presley's music, one that puts aside the silly celebrity-worship and lets his reputation rest solely on his music -- which could be extraordinarily great and terrible."

The Best Elvis Greatest Hits Collection!

A Fan | VA | 12/28/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This is the best Elvis "Greatest Hits" collection available. It contains all of his Billboard Top 20 hits plus several other hits and songs. It packages the previous "30 #1 Hits" and "2nd to None" CD's with a 3rd CD containing 19 songs. So if you do not already have "30 #1 Hits" and "2nd to None" this is the obvious choice!



If you already have "30 #1 Hits" and/or "2nd to None" the choice is not as clear. The problem I have with this collection is that they were rather skimpy with the new 3rd CD. It only contians 19 songs, Elvis' 19 top 20 hits that were left off the first two CDs. This could have been a must-have collection if they had included more songs on the 3rd CD. They should have included another 10 or so top 40 hits to really make this collection more attractive to those of us that already have "30 #1 Hits" and "2nd to None".



On a side note, the version of "I'm Yours" in this collection is 1965 single version and not the original released on the "Pot Luck" album in 1962. On the album version Elvis sings a dubbed "duet" with himself and also includes spoken words during the break in the song. The single version on here Elvis sings "solo" and there is no spoken part. Since this is a greatest hits collection, it is appropriate that they included the hit single instead of the album version."

"The Wonder of you" still not corrected!!!

Bill Porter | San Francisco, CA | 12/17/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"The U.S. version of Hitstory makes a (long overdue) point of replacing five tracks originally included on E1 (alternative takes or defective mixes) with their correct versions, however while this is a commendable effort it turns out "The Wonder of you" is still not the original single version but is missing the overdubs, as the off-key Sweet Inspirations can now be heard on the original undubbed recording (coincidentally the correct single version of "The Wonder of you" with the overdubs can be found on "Love, Elvis", a compilation that BMG released just months earlier). You really have to wonder if anybody at BMG ever QA's these things before they get released, you would have thought they'd get it right the second time around, especially with a splicase package that is so nicely produced. On the upside the third disc of Hitstory contains material all newly DSD mastered (which sounds brilliant) which is apparently not the case for the overseas import version that features different tracks selected for the European market. For anybody that doesn't already own "30 #1 Hits" or "2nd to None" this set will be a worthwhile addition to your Elvis collection."