Elvis DVD and VHS releases reviews

Title: That's The Way It Is - The Complete Works (released in 2009)

Label: International

Date: July 14, 15, 29, August 4, 7, 10 -15, 1970

Contents rating: * * * * * + / * * * * * +

Tracks:

DVD 1: August 10 1970 Opening Show 1.Elvis In Blue Suit 2.Reading Telegrams 3.Backstage 4.That's All Right 5.Mystery Train / Tiger Man 6.I Can't Stop Loving You 7.Love Me Tender 8.The Next Step Is Love 9.Words 10.Something 11.You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin' 12.You Don’t Have To Say You Love Me 13.Polk Salad Annie 14.Patch It Up 15.Can't Help Falling In Love.16.After Show Party August 11th d.s. 17.That's All Right 18.I Got A Woman 19.Hound Dog 20.Heartbreak Hotel 21.Elvis Talks 22.Love Me Tender 23.I've Lost You 24.I Just Can't Help Believin' 25.Something 26.I Can't Stop Loving You 27.Sweet Caroline 29.You've Lost That Loving Feeling 30.Polk Salad Annie 31.Bridge Over Troubled Water 32.Suspicious Minds 33.Can't Help Falling In Love August 11th m.s. 34.Backstage 35.That's All Right 36.I Got A Woman 37.Elvis Talks 38.Hound Dog 39.Elvis Talks 40.Love Me Tender 41.Elvis And Fan 42.There Goes My Everything 43.Just Pretend 44.I Just Can't Help Believin' 45.Men With Broken Hearts 46.Walk A Mile In My Shoes 47.You've Lost That Loving Feeling 48.Polk Salad Annie 49.One Night 50.Don't Be Cruel 51.Love Me 52.Looks Like I Started Something 53.Heartbreak Hotel 54.Bridge Over Troubled Water 55.Suspicious Minds 56.Can't Help Falling In Love 57.Leaving Stage August 14th m.s. 58.That's All Right 59.Love Me Tender 60.Polk Salad Annie 61.All Shook Up 62.Blue Suede Shoes 63.One Night 64.Suspicious Minds 65.Can't Help Falling In Love August 15th m.s. 66.That’s Alright 67.I Got A Woman

DVD 2: August 12, d.s. and m.s., August 13 d.s. [a more detailed track list will be added in a few days]

DVD 3: Rehearsals: July 14, 15, 29, August 4 & 7 [a more detailed track list will be added in a few days]

The CDs in this set feature complete concerts from this engagement (August 10, August 11, August 12 and the dinner show from August 13). A detailed traklist will be added in the days to come.

Review: It’s been about 10 years since we’ve first seen the complete Elvis In Concert performances and the first low quality tapes of the complete 1968 concerts. At the time we could not even dream of anything from the TTWII or Elvis On Tour released in the same format. However, it took only about 5 or 6 years until some pirated copies of the material from both movies appeared in the market in different forms – both edited and unedited. It took another 5 years to finally get the material in the correct order from the best sources and with the best sound.

We must admit that this set was our most awaited release in at least five years since the 68 comeback special and Aloha releases. We were aware, however, that the amount of unreleased material on this set would not be enormous, but we were still waiting impatiently for it to arrive. And here it is in our hands.

We are really thrilled and happy with this one. We can think of a few remarks as there are things we would have preferred to be in a different way.

- Some of the songs are listed as a part of the DVD but no actual video is present. Instead, some Vegas clips and clips from Elvis’ life are there. We think that this is a fine idea when a part of the song exists on video and you have to put something for the rest of the song, however, we do not understand why this had to be done with the songs that do not have a single second of the video.

- The producers were smart enough to list some songs that are not actually on video to the set list. This is the case with, for example, Baby What You Want Me To Do – we were expecting this to be more full than what we have had previously.

-The third DVD, which is placed in the book, already has a few scratches, so our opinion is that this is not the best place to place it.

We cannot complain about anything else. The editing is marvelous, many changes between a single screen and multiple screen – reminds us of the good old Aloha. The sound is great. Those August 14 and August 15 segments are not too interesting as we mostly get to see the audience members. But the rest is actually the best picture quality we have seen to date.

The sound on the CDs is very good. This seems to be a mono mix of the original tape. John is way upfront in the mix as is Jerry, while Ronnie and especially James are distant. But the sound is very clear. Too little highs to our liking but this can be taken care of.

The book is great, we can’t think of too many unseen photographs but it is a true joy to be holding it and reading it.

Maybe we’ll go through a more in-depth review of the contents, but actually we see no point. Everybody knows what to expect of the material itself – these are surely some of the greatest recordings both (audio- and video-wise) of Elvis that exist. More important is the answer to the question whether it is worth having.

We may have expected a little more from this set (regarding unreleased material) but we are more than happy with the result. It was hard to make the decision whether we needed this set and whether it was worth the money it was asked for. Well, it was worth the money paid for it and maybe even more. It was worth the waiting. This will surely become one of our favorite Elvis-related items and we are surely going to watch it more often than most of the other Elvis videos that we have. Happy hunting!