Elvis Inspirational

Recensione album

RCA's 2006 comp Elvis Inspirational is part of a trilogy of three theme-based compilations that also includes Elvis Rock and Elvis Country, and while this collection suggests that it will deliver 20 tracks of Elvis singing gospel tunes, that's not quite the case. Instead of concentrating on his classic early-'60s record His Hand in Mine, this is almost entirely culled from sessions from the late '60s and early '70s, which means this isn't pure gospel by any means: as the title suggests, these are inspirational songs, not gospel, so Paul Simon's "Bridge Over Troubled Water," Neil Diamond's "And the Grass Won't Pay No Mind," Mac Davis' "In the Ghetto," "Danny Boy," and "The Impossible Dream" can all fit into that definition. So, this isn't really a gospel record, but that doesn't mean it's bad by any measure. In fact, it's quite an enjoyable collection of alternately sentimental and dramatic highly produced pop by Elvis, and as long as a listener is expecting a vocal pop comp, not a gospel record, he'll be likely to enjoy this.