The King of Rock: The Complete 50's Masters [Box] by Elvis Presley

Pros: The Definitive Work. All known masters and tapes are here

Cons: None unless you dislike Elvis

The Bottom Line: To understand someone's music you must understand the roots. This five disc set and the book does that for you.

Review: My first reaction to Elvis was irritation as his single release of Blue Suede Shoes knocked both Carl Perkins original recording of it and my friend Gene Vincent’s single off the charts. But since this was the fifties, I was a teenager, and was active at ...

Pros: almost everything Elvis recorded in the 1950's

Cons: expensive

The Bottom Line: The songs on this set are essential pieces of rock and roll history.

Review: The King of Rock 'N' Roll : The Complete 50's Masters is the first and best of three 5 CD sets of Elvis Presley's RCA recorded output. It is also the most complete, as the '60s and '70s sets trim away the fat that literally and figuratively ...

Pros: Definitive Elvis from the 50's, contains all his Sun Studios recordings, demonstrates Presley's versatility from blues to pop-rock to gospel and spiritual, contains rare and previously unreleased material, has great historical booklet with the 5 disc set.

Cons: Pricey

Review: Whether you love Elvis or dislike him, there is no denying his place in rock and roll history. While he had almost become a caricature of himself at the end, bloated by drugs and horrible eating habits, sometimes forgetting the lyrics to his songs, it...

Pros: vocals, arrangements, song selection

Cons: sometimes inconsistent or uninspired

Review: In 1992, RCA released a five CD box set of Elvis Presley. It contained all of his masters from the 1950s, as well as some rare interviews, outtakes, live recordings, demos and acetates. With well over a hundred songs in the box set, I am writing a...

Pros: pure genius

Cons: as John Lennon said, "Elvis died when he went into the army"

Review: From 1954, when he first started recording at Sun Studios in Memphis, until 1958 when he entered the army, there was no cooler human being on the planet than Elvis Aaron Presley.
He recorded some fine music in the '60s and '70s, but the most...

Pros: vocals, arrangements, originality, guitar

Cons: some Sun masters are still missing!

Review: In 1992, RCA released a five CD box set covering all of Elvis Presley's surviving masters from the 1950s. Because of the large number of recordings, I am writing a separate review for each CD.

The first CD covers his recordings from his first...

Pros: many outstanding rarities unavailable elsewhere

Cons: some alternate takes too similar to masters (i.e. song selection imperfect)

Review: In 1992, RCA issued a five CD box set of Elvis Presley's 1950s masters. Since there are over a hundred songs on those CDs, it's too much to cover in one review. I am writing a separate review for each of the CDs.

Discs One through Four have...

Pros: vocals, energy, historical importance

Cons: inconsistency of song selection and inspiration

Review: In 1992, RCA released a 5 CD box set of Elvis Presley's 1950s recordings. This included all his masters, plus a CDs worth of live recordings, demos, acetates and alternative takes.

Each CD has over an hour's worth of music. There's just too...

Pros: the whole boxed set was great

Cons: none

Review: I bought this boxed set. Because of my love for Elvis Music. He added his special touch to all the songs he sung. I liked hearing all the versions of several songs. He put his all into the music he loved. You also could tell when he messed up on a song....

Pros: some of the songs are among his best

Cons: 'King Creole' sessions, lengthy interview

Review: In 1992, RCA released a five CD box set of Elvis Presley. The CDs contained all of Elvis' surviving masters from the 1950s, plus some rarities, such as acetates and alternative takes. There's too much material for a single review, so I am writing a...