Various Artists: Viva Elvis, The Album (Sony)

 |   |  1 min read

Elvis and others: Blue Suede Shoes
Various Artists: Viva Elvis, The Album (Sony)

Let's be very clear here, this astonishingly awful album has very little to do with Elvis Presley -- the man, as these people have forgotten, who recalibrated popular music and culture.

This has a whole lot to do with a Cirque du Soleil show which sampled Elvis' vocals and then pasted them over backings which, in most instancers, sound like they have been created by someone with a Sandy "Let There Be Drums!" Nelson fixation. (Oh yeah, the band leader is the drummer. Figures.)

And I suspect another person involved has discovered how to loop and echo a vocal track.

Songs such as That's All Right, King Creole and Burning Love were so exciting in their original state they hardly needed the leaden hand of massive percussion to drive them along -- but I guess if you want to get an audience to its feet while "boy dancers" strike Elvis poses and a horn section raises a sax and trombone to the sky then this horror is what you get.

Of the ballads the less said the better.

This is a shocker and of course you'd be better off with a greatest hits or the Sun Sessions, but I suppose that's not the point. This is merchandising to tie in with a show.

However unlike the Beatles' Love -- a studio band for half their life so it made sense to meld and mash-up, and their producer George Martin was on hand to ensure some integrity -- this lacks any sense of nuance, let alone respect for the music or artist.

Priscilla gave her blessing it seems.

Dylan -- please, no Bob-Cirque show! -- once said, "Money doesn't talk, it swears".

It's really foul-mouthed here. 

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Bowerbirds: Hymns for a Dark Horse (Rhythmethod)

Bowerbirds: Hymns for a Dark Horse (Rhythmethod)

This delightful alt.folk debut for this small ensemble lead by Phil Moore from North Carolina has already won massive praise from the likes of the Mountain Goats' John Darnelle ("only once... > Read more

ONE WE MISSED: The Skull Eclipses: The Skull Eclipses (Western Vinyl/Flying Out)

ONE WE MISSED: The Skull Eclipses: The Skull Eclipses (Western Vinyl/Flying Out)

It's widely accepted these days that when it comes to sonic innovation, studio techniques and the post-modern assimilation of ideas from the vast musical past of recorded music, that hip-hop... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

VICTORIA HANNA INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): Songs and psalms from the ancient to the future

VICTORIA HANNA INTERVIEWED AT WOMAD (2018): Songs and psalms from the ancient to the future

On You Tube you can easily find a short video of Israeli singer Victoria Hanna conducting what is called a cymatic experiment with her voice. She did it at home by using a microphone to sing... > Read more

Ayam Pongteh (Chicken and Potato Stew, Malaysian style)

Ayam Pongteh (Chicken and Potato Stew, Malaysian style)

In late 2007 I spent a couple of weeks travelling around Malaysia -- and notably went to Melaka, the food capital of the country where Baba Nyonya food is a local speciality. Baba Nyonya is the... > Read more