ELV1S

Infobox Album
Name = ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits
Type = Greatest Hits
Artist = Elvis Presley


Released = September 24, 2002
Recorded = January 10, 1956 - October 29, 1976
Genre = Rock, Gospel
Length = 79:34
Label = RCA
Producer = David Bendeth
Reviews =
* Allmusic Rating|4.5|5 [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:4ueyxd7b4old link]
Last album = "Elvis Presley: Live Musicbank"
(2002)
This album = "ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits"
(2002)
Next album = "2nd to None"
(2003)

"ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits" is a compilation album by Elvis Presley. Released in November 2002, was the first Elvis album to go straight to #1 in the Billboard charts with 500,325 copies sold in its first week, and his tenth album chartopper since 1956. In compiling the album, four different charts were used--Billboard, Cashbox, "New Musical Express" and Record Retailer. The album has sold more than nine million copies worldwide, topping twenty-six charts around the world. As of December 2005, it has been certified as 4X Platinum by the RIAA. The album is RCA's response to the phenomenally successful release of Capitol's "1", released in November 2000, which featured all 27 of The Beatles' number one songs together on one album.

The album actually contains another number one hit, the smash hit "A Little Less Conversation" being added at the last minute, following its reaching of the top of the UK charts. It also includes classics such as "Hound Dog", "Suspicious Minds" and "Can't Help Falling in Love". The follow-up to this album was "2nd to None", which was a collection of Elvis' songs which didn't make it to number-one (with the exception of "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You"). In 2003, it became the first, and so far, only Elvis album to be issued in the newly-created DVD audio-only disc format. All 31 recordings were digitally remixed and remastered into 5.1 sound for the first time. The songs were presented in reverse order, with "A Little Less Conversation" as track 1, and "Heartbreak Hotel" as track 31. There are also alternate version comparisons of certain songs, such as "It's Now Or Never", "Crying In The Chapel" and "Burning Love", included as bonus tracks.

By reaching the top of the Billboard charts, the album made Elvis Presley the only solo artist in US recording history to reach the top of the album charts in four different decades, the others being the fifties, the sixties and seventies. It also ensured another record for Elvis, that of the longest span ever achieved between #1 album chartoppers, of forty-six years between his first #1 album, "Elvis Presley", and this 2002 release.

Controversies

#1 rule

"1", back in 2000, compiled the #1 singles the Beatles achieved in both the UK and the US, based strictly on the official music magazines – Record Retailer for the U.K. and Billboard for the U.S. "ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits" extended that rule to other very important sources. In the case of "In the Ghetto", which is announced in the liner notes of the album as a British number-one, the single reached the top spot in New Musical Express but only #2 in Record Retailer. The same happens with "Burning Love", a #1 in Cashbox but a #2 hit in Billboard. These politics were introduced due to the lack of chart-toppers during the last years of Elvis' career. Strangely, however, the Billboard, "official" #1 "I Want You, I Need You, I Love You", Elvis' follow-up for his breakthrough hit "Heartbreak Hotel", was included in 2nd To None.

ound

As on "1", "ELV1S: 30 #1 Hits"' ambition was not only to offer the chart-toppers of the artist, it also wanted to deliver them on its best possible sound quality. The back cover of the CD version of the album contains the sentence "Mixed and mastered from original master tapes for optimus sound quality". However many fans and music critics notice some pitch noises and any kind of distortions in some of the tracks. For example, on second 2:06 of "Hound Dog", on 2:05 of "She's Not You", and on the very beginning of "The Wonder of You". (The latter, however, was possibly the exact single version of this live track album, never before available in this version.) Also Elvis' voice on "Love Me Tender" and "Wooden Heart" sounds less clear than on previous releases.

Banding

Between every track on the album there's 2 or 3 seconds of silence. The notable exception is after the considerable long fade of "In the Ghetto", there's a 9-second break before "Suspicious Minds" starts. Many fans didn't understand this long banding.

Track listing

# "Heartbreak Hotel" – 2:10
#* U.S. 8 weeks at #1 — U.K. peaked at #2
# "Don't Be Cruel" – 2:04
#* U.S. 11 weeks at #1 (with "Hound Dog") — U.K. peaked at #2
# "Hound Dog" – 2:16
#* U.S. 11 weeks at #1 (with "Don't Be Cruel") — U.K. peaked at #2
# "Love Me Tender" – 2:45
#* U.S. 5 weeks at #1 — U.K. peaked at #11
# "Too Much" – 2:33
#* U.S. 3 weeks at #1 — U.K. peaked at #6
# "All Shook Up" – 2:00
#* U.S. 9 weeks at #1 — U.K. 7 weeks at #1
# "(Let Me Be Your) Teddy Bear" – 1:48
#* U.S. 7 weeks at #1 — U.K. peaked at #3
# "Jailhouse Rock" – 2:37
#* U.S. 7 weeks at #1 — U.K. 3 weeks at #1
# "Don't" – 2:49
#* U.S. 5 weeks at #1 — U.K. peaked at #2
# "Hard Headed Woman" – 1:56
#* U.S. 2 weeks at #1 — U.K. peaked at #2
# "One Night" – 2:33
#* U.S. peaked at #4 — U.K. 3 weeks at #1 (with "I Got Stung")
# "(Now & Then There's) A Fool Such As I" – 2:40
#* U.S. peaked at #2 — U.K. 5 weeks at #1 (with "I Need Your Love Tonight")
# "A Big Hunk o' Love" – 2:12
#* U.S. 2 weeks at #1 — U.K. peaked at #4
# "Stuck On You" – 2:21
#* U.S. 4 weeks at #1 — U.K. peaked at #3
# "It's Now or Never" – 3:15
#* U.S. 5 weeks at #1 — U.K. 8 weeks at #1
# "Are You Lonesome Tonight?" – 3:06
#* U.S. 6 weeks at #1 — U.K. 4 weeks at #1
# "Wooden Heart" – 1:58
#* U.S. no chart placing — U.K. 6 weeks at #1
# "Surrender" – 1:51
#* U.S. 2 weeks at #1 — U.K. 4 weeks at #1
# "(Marie's the Name) His Latest Flame" – 2:10
#* U.S. peaked at #4 — U.K. 4 weeks at #1 (with "Little Sister")
# "Can't Help Falling in Love" – 3:01
#* U.S. peaked at #2 — U.K. 4 weeks at #1 (with "Rock-A-Hula Baby")
# "Good Luck Charm" – 2:26
#* U.S. 2 weeks at #1 — U.K. 5 weeks at #1
# "She's Not You" – 2:08
#* U.S. peaked at #5 — U.K. 3 weeks at #1
# "Return to Sender" – 2:09
#* U.S. peaked at #2 — U.K. 3 weeks at #1
# "(You're the) Devil in Disguise" – 2:23
#* U.S. peaked at #3 — U.K. 1 week at #1
# "Crying in the Chapel" – 2:23
#* U.S. peaked at #3 — U.K. 2 weeks at #1
# "In the Ghetto" – 2:45
#* U.S. peaked at #3 — U.K. 1 week at #1
# "Suspicious Minds" – 4:29
#* U.S. 1 week at #1 — U.K. peaked at #2
# "The Wonder of You" – 2:35
#* U.S. peaked at #9 — U.K. 6 weeks at #1
# "Burning Love" – 2:50
#* U.S. 1 week at #1 — U.K. peaked at #7
# "Way Down" – 2:37
#* U.S. peaked at #18 — U.K. 5 weeks at #1
# "A Little Less Conversation (JXL Radio Edit Remix)"
#* U.S. peaked at #50 — U.K. 4 weeks at #1

Bonus CD

# "Heartbreak Hotel (rehearsal)"
# "All Shook Up (rehearsal)"
# "Teddy Bear,Don't Be Cruel (rehearsal)"
# "A Big Hunk O'Love (take 2)"
# "Stuck On You (take 1)"
# "It's Now Or Never (takes 2 & 3)"
# "Surrender (take 2)"
# "(Marie's The Name) His Latest Flame (rehearsal & take 2)"
# "She's Not You (take 2 & wp take 4)"
# "(You're The) Devil In Disguise (take 2 & 3)"
# "In The Ghetto (take 1)"
# "Burning Love (take 2)"
# "Way Down (take 2)"
# "In The Ghetto (vocal only outtake)"
# "A Little Less Conversation (JXL 12" Extended Remix)"
# "A Little Less Conversation (original version)"

Chart positions

External links

* [http://www.elvisnumberones.com/index_select.php Official site]

succession box
before = "Believe" by Disturbed
title = "Billboard" 200 number-one album
years = October 6 2002 – October 26 2002
after = "Cry" by Faith Hillsuccession box
before = "Illumination" by Paul Weller
title = UK number one album
years = October 5 2002 – October 18 2002
after = "From Now On" by Will Youngsuccession box
before = "A Rush of Blood to the Head" by Coldplay
title = Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album
years = September 30 – October 27 2002
after = "One by One" by Foo Fighters