The release of this album, seen in its proper historical context, is an indicator of just how bright
Elvis Presley
's star shone in the late '50s. His first hits collection was issued in March 1958, on the eve of his going into the Army; his second was the first "volume two" greatest-hits album ever issued on a
rock & roll
star, appearing weeks ahead of his leaving the Army in March 1960. Anyone who buys the notion that
Elvis
was "tamed" during his first years at
RCA
will find revelation in
"A Big Hunk of Love,"
"I Need Your Love Tonight,"
and
"I Got Stung,"
some of the greatest pieces of hard
that the King ever cut -- and all were recorded in the midst of
' stay in the Army, in a hastily arranged session in Nashville during June 1958. By this time, his voice was becoming one of the finest instruments in
, his idolization of
Dean Martin
and other popular singers paying off with a degree of control and articulation that his rivals could only envy, and it's all laid out here on what are still some pretty hard-rocking sides. [The remastered edition not only improves the sound significantly, but adds eight songs to the original ten. The notes are thorough, although they reveal the stretching that the producers were engaged in by citing British releases as the justification for inclusion. But the quality of the music is undeniable.] ~ Bruce Eder