#2 Elvis Presley by Elvis Presley

Elvis Presley’s eponymous debut truly hit’s the ground running with the catchy and upbeat Blue Suede Shoes loses a bit of momentum on the next track (don’t get me wrong it’s still good) but just fails to keep up the pace and falls completely flat at the next track along. This pattern does repeat itself very often as the album goes along with the latter half of the album really being more miss than hit. This is a real pity as when it is good it is VERY good with foot-tapping music that you just can not help but bop along to. But this is very quickly extinguished by some of the schmaltz that makes you want to reach for the next track.

While there are exceptions to the rule (such as Suspicious Minds, In The Ghetto and, from this album I'm Counting On You) Elvis truly does sound at his best when the songs are more upbeat and are better to swing-dance to. Songs like Tutti Frutti just conjure up the images of teens in diner’s sharing vanilla malts listening to the new music. Okay maybe I’ve watched Pleasantville one too many times but that’s just an opinion I am venturing

Historically speaking there is no question that this album does belong on a list of albums that you need to listen to, just because of what this album did. Firstly, it launched the career of arguably the most famous singer of all time (I would happily argue more than John Lennon or Michael Jackson) and for that this album is truly impressive. Secondly this has the great distinction of being the first truly successful rock ‘n roll album. So again this album has some historical value.

However, being a purely preferential escapade of mine I am probably unlikely to listen to the whole album again, with the exception of the highlights. Other than that it is a tad disappointing.

5.0/10

Fab Four:

Blue Suede Shoes
I’m Counting On You
One Sided-Love Affair
Tutti Frutti