Emily: I'm kind of surprised it took us nearly 300 albums to get to Elvis, because when you think (okay, when I think) of rock and roll in the '50s, Elvis is who immediately comes to mind. Just think about it: in a soda shop, with girls in poodle skirts - Elvis has to be playing on the jukebox. His music really defined the era by taking rock and roll to the mainstream. From this self-titled debut album, it's easy to see why it caught on. The songs are breezy and catchy, with blues rhythms that take out the emotion and replace them with upbeat rockabilly. It's a simple formula to get heads turning and toes tapping. This formula didn't start with Elvis, but he definitely honed it in his early career. And in all walks of pop-music life, it's been imitated ever since.
Favorite Tracks: Blue Suede Shoes; Blue Moon; Tutti Frutti
Zack: I listened to this album while organizing my
loose change into those little sleeve things since apparently my local bank
exists in a parallel universe where there aren’t coin counting machines,
perhaps one where this album was just released. The task was mindless in just
the right way that I was able to still focus on the album completely, which is
good since my first real exposure to Elvis was through his ongoing beef with
Eminem.
It was very brisk and had a certain classic feel to it. All of the songs were
sort of…simple. All the songs are about either seducing a girl, being in love
with a girl, or having your heart broken by a girl (which I’m now referring to
as the songwriter life cycle). Obviously Elvis didn’t invent the music he’s so
strongly associated with from scratch and it isn’t fair to just say that this
is a starting point in popular rock and roll, but what’s notable about Elvis
Presley the album and the artist more generally is how sturdy a foundation was
left for everyone that followed. I liked Elvis’s debut as an album, but I
really appreciated it more as a blueprint for everything else that came after.
Favorite Songs: Blue Suede Shoes; I Love You Because; Tutti
Frutti
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