It's got to be said: Elvis and box-sets are a golden combination! This box-set is a compilation of all Elvis-hits and other songs chosen by his fans, critics and fellow-musicians around the world. Although all the material has already been released (a few alternate takes would have been nice for the fans), it's absolutely a great buy for all those people eager to get a great compilation of Elvis songs. Because of the special lay-out also Elvis-fans will enjoy this box-set, but probably they will more enjoy the 3 different LP-versions of this box-set (black, blue and red vinyl). An important minus is the fact that BMG didn't include a single song from 1977. They could have included a live-version of "My Way", "Unchained Melody" or "Hurt". Especially because the box celebrates Elvis as beeing the "Artist of the Century" and therefor you can't exclude his last year. Nevertheless a great box!

Yes,he really was the Artist of the Century. It's not just his sales figures, but his impact on music and society that make Elvis Presley the icon of the 20th Century. Here are 75 reasons why h was the King of Rock and Roll. At first glance, this CD seems to be aimed at the Elvis neophyte. But a closer look reveals that while most of the hits are here, there's a nice sprinkling of album cuts that will thrill the die-hard fan, as well. Disc 2, which covers the post-Army/pre-68 Comeback is the most surprising of the 3 discs. Disc 3 which covers the 68 comeback/70's is fine, but the 70's cuts are disappointedly selected. While all the big hits are here, I was saddened to see that "Viva Las Vegas", "Kentucky Rain", "Hurt" and "Too Much" are absent. There was room on the package for these tracks, and RCA should've extended this to 80 tracks. Still, this is highly recommended for beginners and Elvis fans alike. Good sound, liner notes and the thrill of remembering the King of Rock and Roll again.

This is indeed the almost perfect introduction for all you Elvis "beginners" out there, although it falls a bit short on the 1973-1976 period, with only 2 songs representing those years (Promised Land and For the heart) How about hits like Moody blue, Way down, Steamroller blues, My boy, or worthy album tracks like T-R-O-U-B-L-E, How great thou art, Hurt, etc. ? Also, if you indeed decide to buy this still GREAT collection, do yourself a favour and buy the AUSTRALIAN VERSION, because of the fact that it adds 5 BONUS SONGS: Judy, Raised on rock, Kentucky rain, Edge of reality, Way down. Thus it gives you 80 of the best songs ever by The King, instead of 75. TCB.

Considering that this is only a three-disc set, this is really an unbelievable "best-of" set that is rather more inclusive than the usual "Number Ones" or "Top 10" compilations.

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The three disca are (more or less) divided by the three main phases of Elvis's career; the "Sun Records through Army Enlistment" phase constitutes Disc 1, the "Post-Army through Pre-Las Vegas" phase (ending with "Tiger Man" from the '68 TV Special) makes up Disc 2, and the "Las Vegas/Sequined Jumpsuits" phase is covered on Disc 3.

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The 2nd disc offers the most consistently strong collection of tunes (it really does say a lot for the Beatles that so much of this tremendous work was pushed into the background during the 1960's), and offers proof to anyone who ever suggested that Elvis had somehow "lost it" after leaving the service that he was in fact a more developed and far more powerful singer who would have been capable of singing the phone book and having a hit; the 3rd disc actually shows the great man beginning to decline as the musical arrangements begin to overpower the presence of even Elvis's voice (but criticism of the work itself should be saved for another forum).

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The biggest (the ONLY) disappointment lies within the packaging of the material. I love the anecdotes and the background information included for each song...but the way the booklets are affixed to the packaging makes for unwieldy access, and the plastic which affixes the CD's to the box is not very well secured. My set is starting to fall apart, and I've not owned it for very long. But if you prefer to keep your CD's in a storage wallet, this is of little consequence...and when considering the sheer brilliance of the music that is included in this set, the packaging becomes an afterthought...buy this collection for the songs and the (surprisingly affordable) price, but if you're like me, you will wish that RCA had done a better job packaging the discs.

Before this box came out I was always at a loss when asked to recommend a decent one-stop Elvis best of, but this will do nicely! All the hits are here, along with the fans and critics' faves. The Australian version could have been even better, containing 5 extra tracks that were big 'down under', but they were added out of chronological sequence to the end of the CDs which kinda spoils things. Still, well done BMG/RCA (at last)!