Elvis Presley - The best albums (poll) + best versions to get (3)

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by mark winstanley, Sep 11, 2020.

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  1. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    As we have been doing the Elvis Presley discography for the last couple of years, and everybody involved has had a chance to revisit all the albums, EP's and Singles. I would like to do a poll to get an idea of what everybody thinks are the best albums.

    I am going to give everyone seven choices and I would really like everyone to also comment with what they think are the best versions of the albums .... a particular record pressing, a particular cd pressing, the legacy editions, the FTD 7" extended and all that kind of thing. I get asked questions about this kind of thing, but I am not an audiophile, and although I have more Elvis than any other artist, I am not generally one to buy multiple copies of an album and I know the guys in the Elvis threads, know all this stuff ....

    There are a lot of Elvis Albums, so this will end up being a few polls, over a few weeks

    1 - The Studio Albums
    2 - The Soundtrack Albums
    3 - Compilations and Live Albums
    4 - A selection of Special sets

    When we have been through these four, I will make a final poll with the top five from each category, in order to try and make an essential Elvis collection list for folks who may be interested, with the best versions to get.

    Here we have the Gold/en Records sets, live albums and some other bits and pieces that haven't had a chance to poke their head in yet.

    So please pick your top seven albums from this batch of albums, and lets see where we end up.

    Cheers
    Mark
     
  2. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    I went with
    Back In Memphis
    On Stage
    Golden Records Vol 1
    Golden Records Vol 3
    Sun Sessions
    Elvis Sings Memphis Tennessee/ Fro The Asking
    Elvis Sings Guitar Man

    I go with the FTD's because of the extra tracks, and they sound good to me, but I am not an audiophile
     
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  3. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    Elvis In Person - The FTD
    On Stage - The FTD
    NBC TV Special - Memories: The '68 Comeback Special - Sort of an expanded version of the album from better sources.
    The Sun Sessions - Elvis At Sun
    Elvis Golden Records - The FTD
    Elvis' Gold Records, vol. 2 - The FTD
    Elvis' Golden Records, Vol 3 - U.S. Living Stereo vinyl
     
  4. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

  5. croquetlawns

    croquetlawns Forum Resident

    Location:
    Scotland
    Golden Records Vols. 1, 2, 3, 4
    Sun Sessions - I'm happy with all the extra stuff and the book in the Sony Boy From Tupelo set.
    For the Asking
    From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis
     
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  6. SKATTERBRANE

    SKATTERBRANE Forum Resident

    Location:
    Tucson, AZ
    From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis
    Golden Records Vols. 1, 3, 4
    On Stage
    For LP Fans Only
    A Date With Elvis

    I have not heard the FTD versions of A Date With Elvis or For LP Fans Only. But ALL the others I have heard sound pretty bad.
     
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  7. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    The FTD of A Date With Elvis sounds excellent and it has all the correct versions of the songs. Some of the home recordings on disc 2 have sonic issues.
     
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  8. PacificOceanBlue

    PacificOceanBlue Senior Member

    Location:
    The Southwest
    Elvis NBC TV Special (FTD Edition)
    From Memphis To Vegas/From Vegas To Memphis (The RCA Albums Collection)
    Aloha From Hawaii (Legacy Edition)
    Golden Records Vol. 1 (FTD Edition)
    Golden Records Vol. 2 (FTD Edition)
    Golden Records Vol. 3 (FTD Edition)
    The Sun Sessions (original 1976 RCA vinyl -- or preferably the 2004 Elvis At SUN release)
     
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  9. palisantrancho

    palisantrancho Forum Resident

    Golden Records 1,2,3
    From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis
    The Sun Sessions
    NBC TV Special
    On Stage
     
  10. RSteven

    RSteven Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brookings, Oregon
    From Vegas To Vegas/From Vegas To Memphis
    On Stage
    Golden Records Vol. 1
    Golden Records Vol. 3
    Recorded Live At Madison Square Garden
    ( I actually prefer the alternative release of An Afternoon In The Garden)
    Aloha From Hawaii
    Recorded Live On Stage In Memphis



     
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  11. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

  12. When In Rome

    When In Rome It's far from being all over...

    Location:
    UK
    Sorry I'm late to the party. Gotta go to work sometimes!
    Anyway my choices are...
    Elvis TV Special - FTD version. Great album, could really do with a 'from the ground up' remaster in my humble utilising todays technology. The FTD version cleans up a few of the dodgy edits of the original album and presents the bonus tracks in their original edits but in fabulous sound quality.
    From Memphis to Vegas/From Vegas to Memphis - (Two picks in one, heh heh!) Great double album. The RCA album collection is the only place to get this as a complete CD which is novel and the sound quality is excellent to boot.
    On Stage - FTD version mainly because it has the original album side fades and I'm sad like that! The sound quality is sublime and of course, you get bonus cuts too!
    Elvis' Golden Records - I'm rather fond of the RCA album collection version as it's just the original 14 track album remastered, the FTD version is a close second though.
    For LP Fans Only - the 2011 Various Artist Perfect Blues CD collection has a great sounding version of this album. Why it wasn't available to fans outside of that box is a mystery.
    Whereas the RCA album collection version seems to utilise older un-remastered Sun Masters, the FTD re-invents the album by giving us the SUN single version of 'That's All Right' but I'm still gonna opt for the aforementioned Perfect Blues collection. My first exposure to this album was the reverb laden Electronically Reprocessed Stereo late eighties vinyl version and I gotta admit this has a special place in my heart.
    A Date with Elvis - the FTD version, remastered exquisitely with the correct master of 'I Want to be Free'. Nuff said!
    50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong - Gold Records Vol 2 - FTD version, excellent sound and correct masters for the true album version.
    So, that's it... ;)
     
  13. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Just got some spare time, put Elvis Sings Guitar Man on (an Ftd "what if" album, for those unaware). I love it
     
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  14. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    The version used on The Complete Masters and the Franklin Mint box sets uses the best sources, but it has only been used on those sets.
     
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  15. When In Rome

    When In Rome It's far from being all over...

    Location:
    UK
    Only on the live stuff though, I meant the studio cuts should be remastered to mimic the album but in better sound. Like on the 'Memories' CD (only they sound a bit 'nineties' now or something to me, they need a bit of room to breathe!)
     
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  16. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    It's really weird. Whenever I watch the NBC special it looks and sounds great. The cd's seem to have always sounded dodgy.... but to be honest I haven't listened to the ftd yet.... I bought too many at once, overwhelmed myself, and that is no mean feat :)
     
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  17. ClausH

    ClausH Senior Member

    Location:
    Denmark
    You're corrct, but the live stuff was the most problematic on the original album master. The FTD should have been a lot better. They should have re-created the album from the best sources and it should have been the ultimate version.
     
  18. When In Rome

    When In Rome It's far from being all over...

    Location:
    UK
    Been there, done that! ;)
     
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  19. elmahranbird

    elmahranbird Forum Resident

    My pick of the bunch:
    The Sun Sessions - Elvis at Sun (2004 vinyl), but the UK "The Sun Collection" from 1975 is a very good alternative..
    Gold Records Vol 2 (50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong) - FTD CD
    Golden Records Vol 3 - US Stereo Indianapolis pressing
    Gold Records Vol 4 - US Indianapolis Stereo first pressing. Had to check the deadwax, and just listening to it now. WOW! Hadn't listened to this one in quite a while, but most of the songs on the FTD "Sings Memphis Tennessee" ripped to iPhone. What a difference!
    Elvis NBC TV Special - Memories: The '68 Comeback Special
    Elvis Sings Memphis Tennessee - FTD CD
    Elvis Sings Guitar Man - FTD vinyl

    If you have a nice analogue setup and are lucky enough to find them, I think US Indianapolis pressings of most of Elvis' records is the way to go.
    FTDs are a very good alternative on the whole with some decent masters (Kevan Budd, Vic Anesini) and nice session stuff.
     
  20. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product Thread Starter

    Well there haven't been as many votes as I would have liked, but if you haven't voted, please do, as later today I will be putting together the final poll, from the three.
    After we have done that, we'll go for the specialty sets and see where we end up.

    Cheers
    Mark
     
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