Elvis Presley

It's fine I guess, but the whole time I was listening to it, I was just thinking how there is so much better rock music from around the same time.

Doesn't have the songs I like from him, and a lot of his vocal affectations kinda annoy me/are all over the place. It's like there's three different singers on the record, and they don't really mesh.

Was hoping for some good Fallout-core and unfortunately did not get it, haha (Although Fallout music is more 40's, but still).

Apparently I was not in the right mood the first time I listened to this. One star? For this classic? For shame, past me.

Great voice and tunes. A bit dated but still fun to hear a lot that influenced later bands.

I did enjoy this one but then again there are many better artists from this era who deserve his level of fame.

2.18

Full of energy. Great performances. Incredible voice. This must have been world changingly exciting, for young people, in 1956.

Funny to think millions went crazy for this.

Giving an additional point for historical significance, but there's nothing Elvis was doing here that others weren't doing better (Little Richard's version of Tutti Frutti is superior), and some of these songs are terrible (One Sided Love Affair).

Rockabilly is kinda fun, actually. Had only heard about Elvis from his name alone, but now that I sat down to listen to some of his hits, he really is all that. Tutti Frutti, Blue Suede Shoes and maybe I'll Never Let You Go being the highlights.

I knew as soon as I saw Blue Suede Shoes as the opening track it was going to be good

I love the 50's style music and the quality of the recording - something about that muffled/crackling sound

A few songs I knew already, and the others were just as good!

5 ⭐️

I’m at a 4.5 that will just barely get the bump up to a 5.

I’ve never heard a full Elvis album until this point – obviously, I’d be a moron to not know the hits, which is why I’m very glad this is an album with maybe 4 of them at most, and only 2 if you count the fact that Ray Charles and Little Richard did “I Got A Woman” and “Tutti Frutti” way better than Elvis did here. I didn’t know a lot of the tracks on here, and I enjoyed most of them.

I’d be remiss to not acknowledge that yes, this entire album is basically a cover album of black music made more palatable to white people at a point where everything was too racist to give those black composers and musicians an inch of credit (unless you were an undeniable superstar, and even then…). With that said, huge credit to the backing band; a lot of these are really well adapted for a faster pace and a more rock-driven soundscape, and when they get a chance to shine on here, they knock it out of the park. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t say Elvis sang these songs pretty damn well.

Look, it’s 2024; people know Elvis’s voice by now, whether they’ve heard Elvis himself or someone imitate it. It makes this album a little tougher to digest in that sense, because sometimes, it really does feel like he’s overdoing the whole twangy shtick sometimes to the point of parody on a few tracks. However, when he’s on, he is on like a motherfucker – there’s some serious standout vocal performances here, and in those little moments where everything comes together, I can feel the charisma oozing out of his voice and I can see the appeal of the time take hold. There is something to it all that’s just undeniable unless you’re actively looking to hate it.

I just really enjoyed it – it’s cheesy as hell, and it’s extremely prototypical rock & roll by modern standards, but there’s just something appealing about it even with how much of a culture vulture Elvis was. It’s a great album, and even past its place in history as “the first Elvis album,” I think it holds up on a lot of its own merits. Just barely gets the bump to a 5. Certainly no lower than a 4, I think.

Love Elvis, but not a huge fan of his very early material. Still, it’s Elvis.

Not for me. Blue Suede Shoes is fun and campy, but the I Got A Woman cover is a limp facsimile of the original. I Love You Because is sappy and unoriginal, and Just Because gives me old time revival vibes. The Blue Moon cover, however, has a sparse, interesting interpretation that I actually enjoyed. I know it's unfair, but Elvis has such an identifiable singing style, but unfortunately that sound and style has been relentlessly parodied for 50 years and I cannot take him seriously.

When I was a kid, I bought the myth that Elvis was unique, and original, and brought a certain type of rock and roll to the masses. But as I've grown, and discovered that people like Ray Charles, Billy Wright, Little Richard and scores of others were out there doing the same type of music, I fully believe that Elvises level of fame has more to do with his race than his talent.

Also, he was a pedophile.

Okay, I get why this album is on the list. Elvis Presley was proclaimed the "King of Rock and Roll", one of the first white males to achieve commercial success, ushering that genre to a white audience. Much's been said about race relations in popular music, which I encourage you to look into.

Elvis's debut album accomplished what it set out to do - making covers of African-American tunes to present to the larger masses. It's certainly important for historical purposes, but as an album to listen to it leaves much to be desired. After all, this is a debut album consisting of mostly cover songs. There are some fun songs here like his cover of "Blue Suede Shoes" and the original song "One-Sided Love Affair". The rest either pale in comparison to the original such as with Little Richard's "Tutti Frutti", or don't bring a lot of energy like with Roy Hamilton's "I'm Gonna Sit Right Down and Cry (Over You)". Also, with the original songs from the respective artists being more available nowadays, Elvis's renditions are more reliant on how he was a performer.

The album is not bad, and it makes sense why it's on the list. But there ain't much to revisit here.

There is no denying this album's place in history. Potentially solidifying rock and roll as a musical genre and popularizing it to a level never seen before, this album essentially started it all (well... except that most of it was stolen from music that had already come before...). The hits are the hits and the other songs are slowly fading into history. I can tell. I'm not a huge Elvis fan. I know and like the hits. I ignore most of the ones that didn't make it. This kind of rock and roll is fading fast, but gave birth and evolved into what we have today so it must be recognized. Coincidentally on my Rolling Stones Rock Trivia daily calendar at work this Saturday/Sunday's question was who was the singer that Elvis disliked so much he shot his television (the answer is Robert Goulet...) and then the question for Monday was Elvis gave Richard Nixon what gift while he was president (the answer was a pistol). Elvis has a place in the history of music, but unfortunately I feel him fading quickly. Again, the hits are the hits, the rest kind of bores me at this point.

There's no denying Elvis's cultural and musical impact... and there's no denying I was foot-tapping throughout this album, but that's mostly because the 12-bar blues osmosis.

Taking this album on its own merits, it's good but not great.

Not a fan of his but this is some of his better stuff.

When the king is rocking it rocks, but the crooners can be real snoozers.

I listened to From Elvis in Memphis earlier this week and I was not impressed. I’m not a fan of later Elvis. This is the Elvis I like, he’s still hungry and trying to prove himself. Not every song is great but there’s good energy throughout. A solid debut album.

Blue suede shoes!!! What a tune. I was excited for this album as I know it’s the big one for Elvis.

It didn’t disappoint. So many great songs and such a fun and easy listen. What a great voice. I had no idea that I got a woman was sung by Elvis.

Favourite song: I got a woman and Money honey.
Least favourite: Trying to get to you.
Album artwork: Brilliant.