Elvis Presley FTD CD reissues (part4)

ShopElvis weekend special: 15% off select media (including some FTDs). Unfortunately, you can't use the Insiders discount on the sale items. I could kick myself in the butt for missing out on the flash sale the other day.

 

ShopElvis love to do those lightning sales don't they?

15 is better than 10 but still it's frustrating that you can't couple the membership that you paid for toget discounts with the discounts which are good for all nonmembers.

glad i got an order in just before the end of the sale.

 

Lene Reidel did the mastering for the mono versions of GI Blues and Elvis Is Back (and presumably Something For Everybody - I haven't seen it or heard it). Clearly Reidel does inferior work to that of other FTD engineers Sebastian Jeansson, Vic Anesini, and Jean-Marc Juilland; so one has to assume her role in working on the audio for the book projects was due to budget constraints rather than her resume. That said, the mastering is fine on the two mono discs I have heard. Frankly, I think Elvis' GI Blues masters and Elvis Is Back masters sound better in stereo; the mono versions are a nice collectable, but certainly not essential.

 

Many fans like myself who have bought all the FTDs as they have been released categorically do not want any of them "combined". The WHOLE point is to give each album a separate expanded release. Some by definition will be slight but so what. They're not rip offs because no one's forcing you to buy them. LMT happens to be one of my favourites of the recent releases.

 

Make your own Elvis is Back! mono: fold a good stereo mastering (Vic Anesini, George Marino) down to mono. The mono LP is a fold from the stereo mix. Bill Porter's modus operandi.

 

Jumped in today with this deal and ordered Elvis in Memphis, Back in Memphis, At American Sound, and Moody Blue.

Already have: So High; Memphis, Tennessee; Pot Luck; Elvis is Back; and The Jungle Room Sessions.

 

I bought 7 on the 20% off sale combined with my Elvis-insiders discount.

Elvis Memphis TN. The Lost Album, How Great Thou Art, Love Letters, He Touched Me, Wonderful World Of Christmas, From Elvis Presley Boulevard and Moody Blue.

 

How Great Thou Art is one of my favorite FTDs.

 

These six discs are what should have been released to the wider market as the Elvis At American Sound box set. At least they were released here. Some of his best studio work and all three of these FTDs are fabulous, I think.

Moody Blue is great, too!

 

Just wanted to say thanks to you for recommending this one. I probably wouldn't have bothered checking it out otherwise, since I have a lot of 1969 stuff already and it's a soundboard. But WOW, what an amazing show. Easily the best 1969 show I've ever heard, and quite possibly the best Elvis show period that I've ever heard.

 

I'm skeptical that they pay Reidel less than the others who work on FTD projects. I would think there is a standard mastering rate paid for FTD work... the notion that they would consciously pay less for cut-rate mastering on a lower budget project seems implausible. If I had to guess, I'd speculate that Reidel continues to get work due to some form of nepotism. That's usually the case when a person who does inferior work manages to still get jobs.

 

Wow I think his best show is the one on ftd's "at the international". Haven't heard return to Vegas yet.

 

Or maybe Ernst's hitting it ?

 

Return To Vegas showcases Elvis performing within his first few days of his return to the concert stage. It is hard to describe the intensity, focus, and determination that radiates from the recording. As great as Elvis was when RCA starting recording via multitrack a couple of weeks later, it is really quite amazing how he was already loosening up and falling into a comfort zone so quickly into this Las Vegas engagement; the contrast is striking. That isn't necessarily a bad thing, but he was much sharper at the beginning of his Las Vegas engagement. Hearing the performance on Return To Vegas is the closest view one has to how incredible his opening night must have been just a couple of performances earlier.

 

And luckily the Colonel had the brains to film those first Vegas shows!

 

Huh? Or are you being sarcastic?

 

This was the first sale in years that I didn't buy anything.

 

But the sound of Return to Vegas can't compare to the multi track recordings. Can it? That's what's kept me away from it. (A fickle dan, I know...) Is it even stereo?

 

Of course not, but it sounds very good and the performance is superior.

 

January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977

 

I'm up to date and have more than I should ...but still managed to squeeze out an order at the 20% sale.

Picked up a few choice live shows I've been meaning to get and tossed in the pre-order for the next 7-inch 2-disc release -- Elvis for Everyone (not included in the sale).

 

It's cool that there's something unique to release for the books. Which got me thinking... are there any other albums that could or should get a Vol 2 like GI and Jailhouse?

 

May 8, 1911 – August 16, 1938

 

The sit-down shows from the 68 Comeback aren't stereo either. Would you want to be without those? Return to Vegas is that good.

 

I'm about to start collecting ftds pretty soon, I know the first two that I want to get ( jungle room and American Sound, which hopefully I'll be able to pick up on my first visit to Graceland next month) but I was checking out the list of ftds and was wondering why some titles are deleted? Do they usually keep them all in print and delete certain ones that get superseded by newer releases or is it just a case of some titles going out of print?