After Elvis’s passing in 1977, many different people were keen on carrying on his musical legacy. This was no mean feat for album lovers, but this album is a great place to start with Elvis Presley’s music, released many years after he was alive, in 2002. Let’s jump in and have a listen to Elvis’s great music here.

First is Heartbreak Hotel is a very good place to start this compilation. Singing wonderfully, Elvis tells the tale of heartbreak and loneliness here. Not bad for a two minute long piece, this sounds really great. The hybrid guitar solo and piano solo here are really excellent. Top tune.

Next is Don’t Be Cruel is next, and is another great example of classic Elvis Presley. It is an excellent listen, and Elvis sets out the rule book for a lover. Awesome and this still sounds excellent today. Good job Elvis. The harmonies here are very good as well.

Hound Dog is classic Elvis, and is one of his most memorable songs. Everything here is really top, but especially the drumming here which is loud and energetic. It rips into an excellent guitar solo section that is just as good as the shredders out there. The harmonies and guitar playing here are really top. Nice tune.

Love Me Tender is a different sounding piece from what came before. It is a slow and old school style ballad that sounds really awesome. A little on the slow side, but still an essential listening experience that is a nice, old fashioned romantic sentiment. Lovely. Not unlike Vera Lynn or Doris Day, this is well… definitely different. Excellent though.

Following is Too Much which is a more straightforward piece of music by Elvis Presley. It sounds like a classic Pop/Rock staple that Elvis was so good at doing in his music. This sounds 100% live, and knowing the time, likely was. The synchronized guitar and drum parts in the second half are wonderful. Another awesome tune by the King. Very catchy.

Next is All Shook Up which is a classic Elvis Presley statement, complete with piano and hand claps. A wonderful piece about falling in love with a lady, this is really awesome and superb. Some great lyrics and a gorgeous sense of melodic musicianship is here, and is another great listen from this compilation.

(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear is next, and is a very old fashioned sounding tune that still sounds relevant today. Elvis presents himself as a harmless person in front of his lover, and this is quite a good song. Some great and imaginative lyrics are here, and this whole piece is another classic Elvis Presley cut. Excellent.

Jailhouse Rock comes next, and was likely influential on Johnny Cash’s live album. Regardless, this is a wonderful, bopping kind of tune. The musicianship, once again, is awesome and Elvis knew how to grab someone’s musical attention. A wonderful listening experience, this is incredible, even today. Good job Elvis.

Next is Don’t which is a collaboration effort with The Jordanaires, and sounds very old fashioned, somewhat dated musically as a result of the collaboration. Still, it is a great and top listening experience, and it is a slow dance sort of song from Elvis Presley. No doubt this was an early influence on The Beatles, it is very easy to see why. Sounding beautiful and brilliant, this is great Elvis.

After that is Hard Headed Woman which is a better song for Elvis Presley. It is an old school, uptempo piece that no doubt would have been very popular on the radio at the time. An excellent and enjoyable piece of music, the guitar solo, along with the vocals throughout, are both amazing. Another great listen.

One Night comes next, and is a mid tempo piece that is delivered in a Rock and Roll sort of way. Elvis pitches himself halfway between a Rock piece and a ballad here, which makes this piece a strange but welcome effort. A top effort from the King, this is really awesome. Elvis delivers passion into this music here, a great listening experience.

(Now and Then There’s) A Fool Such As I begins with some clean guitar parts. After a little bit, Elvis gets singing away and we hear another great piece of music, complete with some old time backing vocals. The midsection is very catchy, and there is some dark murmuring style vocals as well. A fine listen, Elvis delivers well here.

Up next is A Big Hunk O’ Love which has some awesome guitar riffs throughout, but sounds very old school regardless. The piano solo in the middle is very good. An interesting song, that has alternating instruments for a lead role, this is awesome. Great Elvis at his best here.

Following is Stuck On You which is a Rhythm and Blues style piece from way back. Talking about being there for a lover, Elvis comes across as a very romantic person, at least in his songs. A wonderful and fine listen from Elvis Presley, this is excellently recorded and performed for the time. Great music.

It’s Now Or Never comes next, and has some old style harmonies and a ballad sound to boot. It is about attempting to regain a lover who is valuable, and has a Latin American feel to it. There is some awesome acoustic guitar playing in the background that deserves attention, during the chorus. A great and gentle listen from Elvis, this is another stunning piece of music. A top listen. The outro is superb.

Are You Lonesome Tonight? arrives next, and begins with more harmonies and strummed acoustic guitar. This still sounds awesome many decades afterward, as it did at the time. Elvis has a spoken word part, instead of a guitar solo here, where he talks about how much he needs a lady of note in his life. Nice tune, although fairly dated today.

After that is Wooden Heart which is an accordion led ballad that is definitely different. Elvis sings about the joy love can bring, and (what sounds like) some German lyrics here as well. This is another uplifting Elvis Presley tune, great to hear.

Following is Surrender which has a bell sound of sorts, bongo beats and Latin American style horns. This is a lacking piece emotionally, although it is still a good song. It’s just not a standout here on this compilation. Still, it is short and decent piece regardless.

(Marie’s The Name) His Latest Flame is much more straightforward, with acoustic guitar and a more traditional musical piece we hear from Elvis. He sings about jealousy in relationships, and how one can have their love easily stolen by another person. A fine listen, and perhaps a moral lesson for the listener.

Can’t Help Falling In Love is a real classic song that is one of Elvis Presley’s most famous pieces. It is really wonderful and lovely sounding, and just sounds awesome. The romanticism here is really strong, lovely and direct. Elvis does superbly here, showing to his audience a softer side that most artists do not. Great job. Really beautiful.

Following is Good Luck Charm which is a more normal (for Elvis at least) number. It is an excellent and uplifting musical experience that is very memorable, along with much of this album. Some call-and-response singing is in the second half here, showcasing an approach that is never really done in music anymore. Still, a good listen regardless.

Next is She’s Not You which is a more steady beat sounding piece here. and talks about a girl who Elvis wants in a love triangle situation. Some of the usual instrumentation here, yet the piano in the middle is excellent. Top listening, this is really a strange sort of song, but once again, is a good listen.

Return To Sender is a story of how Elvis Presley mails a letter to a lover, only to have it returned to him constantly. It’s a distressing story set to cheerful music. An interesting subject matter with traditional Elvis musical backdrop to boot. Not bad, interesting song.

(You’re The) Devil In Disguise is a song about a lover who looks great and acts so, but is actually really devilish. This is a really excellent song to listen to, and is a classic of its sort. There is a Latin American Jazz sort of feel to this one, and this whole piece is really good. The outro has a wonderful guitar solo. Awesome.

After that is Crying In The Chapel which begins with Elvis’s awesome singing, and has him singing about Christian based concepts. Indeed, Elvis was openly Christian and this song likely represents that. This is a great tune, even if you are not religious yourself. Note that religion was far more prominent in the USA than it is today, so take note of that if you can while listening.

The unusually named In The Ghetto comes next, featuring finger picked acoustic guitar, string parts and singing about an unwanted baby who one cannot afford to feed. It’s a rather odd and sad story of how someone living in poverty can turn to crime and other bad pursuits. Not nice to hear, and probably not worth having here on this compilation, either.

Suspicious Minds is another decent tune that sounds a lot like Van Morrison than Elvis Presley here. Sadly, this seems to show Elvis’s latter career being not as consistent as his first half. Still, a good song, just not as good as early Elvis. The instrumentation here sounds a lot more like Burt Bacharach as well. Rather lengthy as well for an Elvis Presley song, at nearly five minutes long. Very repetitive towards the end, could have been edited here as well.

The Wonder Of You – Live comes next, and sounds totally different than early Elvis Presley here. Still, despite that, this is a good song to hear. The guitar solo is really quite nice here, too. An improvement over the last couple of tracks, this is good.

Next is Burning Love which is an upbeat and quite catchy piece to hear. This is a catchy song that has many overdubbed sections to it. Still, it is enjoyable and is proof that Elvis Presley was still kicking on nicely towards the end of his career. A good piece of music.

Following is Way Down which has some weird bass and guitar sounds to begin with. This is a very uplifting and great song to hear. It is more sound that substance based here, which is fine but not exactly what Elvis Presley was about. Still, a reasonable listen towards the end of the compilation. Good effort regardless.

A Little Less Conversation – JXL Radio Edit Remix finishes this compilation off with a remix of a classic Elvis Presley tune that comes alive much more than the original piece would have done. There are some amazing DJ style sounds and production techniques that is a great balance between old and new here. A really fun listen, this is a great tune to dance to. This song went to #1 as well on the charts at the time, not a bad feat in itself.

This is a good compilation that is very listenable and of good quality. The only downfall here is that the music template here is fairly limited, and some songs are better listening than others, as a result. Still, this is a good place to start with Elvis’s music, for old fans or new.

Bop along.

8/10