Hitstory

Recensione album

This impressive three-disc 81-track collection combines three separate Elvis Presley anthologies into a surprisingly coherent whole, beginning with 30 #1 Hits as the first disc, 2nd to None (which continues where 30 #1 Hits left off and includes Sun Records sides as well as movie soundtrack material and some live cuts) as the second, and a third disc, called The Story Continues, which adds 19 more tracks that didn't make it onto the other two discs. It's not really a history, since it isn't assembled chronologically and skips through eras and back again on a dime, but it's impossible to listen to everything here without being struck by the full force of Presley's talent, and freed from the massive cultural image that was Elvis and boiled down to just his music like this, the effect is staggering. He simply was the King. Die-hard fans will already have everything here, but folks looking for a single set that includes Presley's key Sun tracks along with his subsequent RCA hits, the best of his soundtrack work, a few live performances, and a handful of sentimental favorites will find everything they need in this three-disc package. It isn't everything, obviously, but it hits all the high points without sacrificing range, variety, or depth. [Sony/BMG Import issued a bonus track edition of the album in 2006.]