Elvis Presley - Elvis Gold Records 5 (16 tracks) +Album Reviews

A Good If Incomplete Retrospective Of Elvis' Later Years

anthony nasti | Brooklyn, NY United States | 02/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The fifth volume in the "Golden Records" series does a very good job of compiling the best material from his later years, where he was able to rack up an impressive 20 top 40 singles, as well as some earlier work. Songs like "Suspicious Minds", "Burning Love", "Kentucky Rain", "Guitar Man" and "For The Heart" are some of the best singles Elvis ever released. Still, if you're a hardcore Elvis fan, you will realize that the following top 40 hits from this period are missing:"The Wonder Of You" (# 9 in 1970)
"I've Lost You" (# 32 in 1970)
"I Really Don't Want To Know" (# 21 in 1970)
"Rags To Riches" (# 33 in 1971)
"I'm Leavin'" (# 36 in 1971)
"Until It's Time For You To Go" (# 40 in 1972)
"Separate Ways" (# 20 in 1972)
"Steamroller Blues" (# 17 in 1973)
"I've Got A Thing About You Baby" (# 39 in 1974)
"Promised Land" (# 14 in 1974)
"My Boy" (# 20 in 1975)
"Trouble" (# 35 in 1975)
"Hurt" (# 28 in 1976)
"My Way" (# 22 in 1977)Still, this is an excellent cd of Elvis' later years and is good for all fans."

This cd is just AWESOME

D. McClure | Wilmington, DE United States | 09/25/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This cd has some of the most soulful music I've ever heard ANYbody sing ANYwhere at ANYtime. Someone earlier said Elvis had lost his soul, WHAT? What do you consider soulful, G.I. Blues? I'm sorry, but for me soul means just that - COMING FROM THE SOUL. And these are songs Elvis sang because they meant something to him, they moved him, or just plained rocked him. It's got 'If You Talk In Your Sleep', now I don't know what some of you know about singing, but that is pure soul and r&b. It's got the funky horns, the clavinette keyboard, the bassline, every thing that makes a great early seventies soul recording. 'Clean Up Your Own Backyard' has always been one of my favorites, this is where Elvis tells people who are all up in his business to take care of their own affairs and leave him be. It too is very soulful. 'For The Heart' is like a mixture of rock and soul, which is always great. But I suppose for the fan who only wants to hear songs like "Hound Dog" and "Stuck On You" you won't find that teeny-bopper stuff here. This is a true soul singer doing what he does best and don't let anyone tell you any differently. I'd say get a strobe light, a black light, and some candles, put this CD on and watch the magic begin."

Sound could be better

Tim Davis | Dodd City, Texas | 02/17/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have to agree with David Kenner of Fort Worth when he argues that the sound on this cd is not what it should be. When my wife bought this cd for me, I was initially excited only to be brokenhearted when I listened to "Kentucky Rain." The vinyl version of this song is superior. How often do you hear that vinyl sound is better than cd? On the cd version, background voices and instruments, especially the excellent horns, are almost nonexistent. The scariest thing about this is that it will make me hesitant to buy remastered Elvis cds in the future. My vinyl is in too good of a shape to be throwing good money away on bad remastering."

One man's opinion on the home-stretch of Elvis' career

djh9783@apsu01.apsu.edu | Tennessee | 09/14/1998

(4 out of 5 stars)

"In late 1997, RCA re-released all of Elvis' Gold Record albums, digitally remastered and, best of all, contained hard-to-find bonus tracks. ELVIS' GOLD RECORDS, VOL. 5 annotates the home stretch of Elvis' career, containing the essential hits from 1967-77. 3 of the bonus tracks, "Big Boss Man", "Guitar Man", and "U.S. Male" show a picture of a man wanting to break free from the monotony of the lightweight movie soundtrack fluff that had so dominated him for the majority of the decade. Even though the songs were not big hits, they seemed to indicate a change was in the air, and months after the release of "U.S. Male", his comeback special aired to critical raves. 2 songs from that special are spotlighted in this collection, the achingly beautiful "Memories" and the powerful ballad "If I Can Dream". Having been rekindled, the spirit carried over into his first Memphis recording sessions in 14 years, which yielded the hits "Kentucky Rain" and "Suspicious Minds", the latter becoming Elvis' first #1 hit in 7 years, and the last #1 he would have in his lifetime. (Inexplicably, "Don't Cry Daddy" was not included in this set). The rest of the tracks are the essential 70's hits, the biggest (and best) one being "Burning Love" (although if I had my way, I would have included "Promised Land" in with the bunch). The other hits made bigger impacts on the country charts (even though Elvis' hits had always been big country hits). This CD is only a piece of the Elvis puzzle. It represents the best work he put out during the last years of his life. It spotlights his struggle to regain his rock and roll crown, and succeeding, only to settle down to the ballads that all too often reflected his diminishing zest for life ("Way Down", however, is an exception. It was a good note to finish on, as it become the last top 40 hit he saw in his lifetime.) All in all, the compilation is good (I still would have like to have seen the songs I mentioned), and it is essential. A must for those who don't already have it (and the same goes for the first 4 gold record CDs.)"

Elvis Resurrected

Slim | California | 12/09/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Glad they picked some pre-68 comeback special songs for this package, "US Male", "Guitar Man", "Clean Up..." are excellent and could have easily been overlooked. Could have used a little more Memphis-session songs, like "Don't Cry Daddy" and "Rubberneckin'". For a "B" side to be included, "AnyDay Now" or "You'll Think Of Me" would have been much better choices than the throwaway "Edge of Reality". For the "Fat Elvis on Stage" era, "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" is pretty typical lounge act stuff, "The Wonder of You" would have made a better selection. Otherwise, the last burst of good Elvis material is well represented (and cherry-picked) with "Way Down", "Moody Blue", and "For the Heart". Would have loved to have seen "I've Lost You", "I'm Leavin'", "I Really Don't Want to Know", "Promised Land", and "T-R-O-U-B-L-E". You can, of course, get these elsewhere, but I like the Volume 1-5 Gold Record series cause they are much easier to digest. Enough good songs left out for Volume 6, but I'm afraid the "30 #1's" and "2nd to None" series will overwhelm the market. At least until the Presley estate wants to make some more money."

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