Quad LP/Tape Poll Presley, Elvis: Aloha From Hawaii Via Satellite [CD-4/Q8/QR]

[EMB]

Although Quad had been around for a few years, this was 'the big rollout,' as it were, a big-deal, 2-Lp set issued in Quad only....great way to push the format, and it did get to #1....but, unfortunately, RCA didn't stick with that approach, and continued to offer Quad and stereo editions. Always wondered what might have been if the company had offered Quad only for their vinyl....

Side 1:

1. Introduction: Also Sprach Zarathustra(Theme from 2001: A Space Odyssey)
2. See See Rider
3. Burning Love
4. Something
5. You Gave Me A Mountain
6. Steamroller Blues

Side 2:

1. My Way
2. Love Me
3. Johnny B. Goode
4. It's Over
5. Blue Suede Shoes
6. I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry
7. I Can't Stop Loving You
8. Hound Dog

Side 3:

1. What Now My Love
2. Fever
3. Welcome To My World
4. Suspicious Minds
5. Introductions By Elvis

Side 4:

1. I'll Remember You
2. Medley: Long Tall Sally/Whole Lot-ta Shakin' Goin On
3. An American Trilogy
4. A Big Hunk O' Love
5. Can't Help Falling In Love

 

[Bill Brent]

having all three - I prefer the CD-4 to the reel and Q8 - better dynamics. But stereo or quad - this is one of the best "live in concert" pop/rock albums ever produced. The performances were right on, the recording and mix - just perfect - and the sounds of the crowd, blended just right. - Never cared for Elvis before this - but it certainly turned me around. The only concert recordings that are on a par are those of the Allman Brothers at the Filmore East - but - they (at least the quad releases) were composites - there was a stereo cd release that had contiguous performances - and it was a notch lower in hitting all the points.

 

[JonUrban]

I hate to admit this, but what the hell: Even though I probably have 3 or 4 versions of the CD-4, and the quad double reel, I have never, in 25+ years, ever, ever, ever listened to this disc/tape. I am not an Elvis fan, I could never connect with him. When I was growing up, it was the Beatles, and Elvis was stupid movies and "In the Ghetto".

I never got into him, although I can appreciate his early "hits", this has always been on my "I'll play it one day" list.

Anyone else do the same?????

 

[ArmyOfQuad]

I also have never gotten around to listening to it, and don't know if I'll ever get around to it. It was one of those quad records that came with an ebay auction that I bought just for the other records in the auction.

 

[Bill Brent]

have to admit - i don't understand buying records or tapes that you don't want to listen to? I have well over 20,000 records - and never bought one, just to have.

 

[Marcsten]

I hate to admit this, but what the hell: Even though I probably have 3 or 4 versions of the CD-4, and the quad double reel, I have never, in 25+ years, ever, ever, ever listened to this disc/tape. I am not an Elvis fan, I could never connect with him. When I was growing up, it was the Beatles, and Elvis was stupid movies and "In the Ghetto".

I never got into him, although I can appreciate his early "hits", this has always been on my "I'll play it one day" list.

Anyone else do the same?????

I'm with you, Jon. AS I have gotten older, I can appreciate the 'significance' of those Elvis recordings, especially those early Sun recordings, but I have never gotten it. By the time I was aware in the '60s, Elvis was a joke.
Marc

 

[EMB]

A '6' from me....good mix, but the show itself is no great shakes, always found it hard to get really involved with it, though it was well recorded.

ED

 

[Q-Eight]

A '6' from me....good mix, but the show itself is no great shakes, always found it hard to get really involved with it, though it was well recorded.

ED

Agreed. The televised concert was lackluster at best. Elvis was quite tired that day from the filming of the "montage" peices earlier. What were they thinking? An entire day of filming and THEN a concert right afterwards? He's not superman!

If you've got the DVD set of Aloha, watch the January 12th Filming (the first concert) --- It has never been televised and is IMO, a MUCH better show to watch if you are an Elvis fan. He's in much better form that night, playing with the crowd, showboating and he quite literally POURS himself into some of the songs. Other than him completely blowing the words on "Burning Love" they should have put that concert on the album.

 

[Bill Brent]

hi

the first concert was boradcast on HBO - I aped it on Umatic - getting the stereo feed from a local FM station (they also showed the come back special "concert" footage - wthout the studio footage)

 

[duckland 23]

Hi .

This album rocks I thing that its the best live show on album you can buy. And elvis is a great preformer anyway . long live the king . so I hope that he's alive somewere and realy faked his death anyway . Maybe we will get a great shock one day and the people will see him alive or will be cauth alive or the press will catch him , or something like that . For one minute I dont beleive he is dead at all . If you read some of the facts you can spot the truth .

 

[EMB]

Hi .

This album rocks I thing that its the best live show on album you can buy.

Well, James Brown's LIVE AT THE APOLLO and THE BEATLES AT THE HOLLYWOOD BOWL weren't too shabby either...

ED

 

[EMB]

I hate to admit this, but what the hell:

You seem to have lived through such admissions, bless ya....

Even though I probably have 3 or 4 versions of the CD-4, and the quad double reel, I have never, in 25+ years, ever, ever, ever listened to this disc/tape. I am not an Elvis fan, I could never connect with him. When I was growing up, it was the Beatles, and Elvis was stupid movies and "In the Ghetto".

Well, "In The Ghetto" is just bad, and saved only by Elvis, and the fine arrangement. It's bullshit, really, and the superior "Suspicious Minds" and "Kentucky Rain" were more my speed at the time....

I never got into him, although I can appreciate his early "hits", this has always been on my "I'll play it one day" list.

Anyone else do the same?????

Since we're around the same age, I can safely say that the Beatles and everything Invasion(and a lot that wasn't)came first for this young lad...

But Elvis wasn't left out of the equation. I know my father had a few of his 45's and, even if I didn't start seriously collecting Elvis until a bit later(early '70s), my mother always thought highly of "I Forgot To Remember To Forget," his 2nd C&W hit(and last Sun 45). So I knew who he was, even if I don't remember seeing any of his 60's movies in a theater(though my sister claims we DID see a few, but I really don't remember).

The best of Elvis I love to this day. There is also plenty not worth bothering with. As for ALOHA, I have played it a few times, and the separation is good(which one would expect, since it was meant to be a big deal, a Quad-only release to push the format). But as a concert, it's rote and predictable, Elvis in what was 'basic concert mode' at the time, not like the guy in the '68 TV special, with something to prove and with audiences to attract and win back after too many years of half-assed movies and dull songs.

ED

 

[duckland 23]

Hi again.

Yes maybe so but I also forgot rush they put on a great concert as well, for the 70's thing I would say elvis . But if I have to pick one I would like rush I never been to a rush concert but people that I knew went to one and sayed that there kick ass in concert , and worth the money to goto see them .


But I my self like elvis and rush ,there bouth great in concert and rock very well .

 

[quadtrade]

Hi .

This album rocks I thing that its the best live show on album you can buy. And elvis is a great preformer anyway . long live the king . so I hope that he's alive somewere and realy faked his death anyway . Maybe we will get a great shock one day and the people will see him alive or will be cauth alive or the press will catch him , or something like that . For one minute I dont beleive he is dead at all . If you read some of the facts you can spot the truth .

Ah yes, the truth, so tough to find it in anything Elvis did. The whole thing was fake after he left Sun Records anyway. Like Grahmn Nash said, just shoveling plastic out the back door. And he is not dead???I think you guys in Appleton have been fermenting the apples.

 

[duckland 23]

no apples here just plain appleton . and elvis lives in appleton also .

 

[Joel63]

If you've got the DVD set of Aloha, watch the January 12th Filming (the first concert) --- It has never been televised and is IMO, a MUCH better show to watch if you are an Elvis fan. He's in much better form that night, playing with the crowd, showboating and he quite literally POURS himself into some of the songs. Other than him completely blowing the words on "Burning Love" they should have put that concert on the album.

Very much agreed, a BIG difference, although An American Trilogy is very good on the broadcast performance, and Burning Love is fairly intense as well (and he gets the lyrics right).

BTW, never heard the quad Aloha, but I very much like the surround mix on the DVD. Are they the same?

 

[Doug G.]

I have never been a huge Elvis fan either but this album is one of those ones that is involuntarily exciting. :banana: You just start listening to it and before you know it, you are into it!

Actually, I WAS a huge Elvis fan when I was about 5 years old after seeing him on some TV show in the late fifties. Wild, man!

Doug

 

[Vegas70]

Remember it was a worldwide live broadcast (the first concert ever aired via satelite). I would say he was nervous but not tired. The extra songs for the extended US TV version were recorded after the show not before the show.

For me Elvis was always a great performer and singer. You can not compare Elvis with The Beatles. The Beatles were great songwriters and musicias but Elvis was a great singer with a rich voice. And in my opinion he was a much better singer in the late 60s and 70s than in the 50s. Yes, I Love his Sun stuff and some movie tracks, too (sorry!) but I can not understand why some people (in most cases none Elvis fans) always say Elvis was dead after he went to the Army. Elvis was not only Rock n Roll and I like that!

Anyway, back to the record: Can somebody compare the sound of the Quad/Stereo US pressing with the japanese Quad record? In Japan it was available in Stereo and Quad.

Sorry for my bad english.

 

[EMB]

The real difference between Elvis and the Beatles is one of consistency and growth. Which is to say, the Beatles were consistently good to great, and evolved over the course of their existence. Elvis was far different. The early Sun singles were a blast; and the '50s RCA Victor singles have masterpieces scattered around. But he did often record indiscriminately, particularly for his albums, so consistency wasn't a strong suit. That Elvis was capable of genius of course goes without question, it's all there littered about his career. But there's a lot of crap too, and not just all those blah movie songs. Elvis was cursed by a lot things beyond the scope of this thread, but the fact that he didn't seem to know (or care about) the quality of the songs he recorded has tarnished his musical legacy, if not the importance of his presence in music history. You really, really have to be a diehard Elvis lover to ignore so much second-rate material, or overuse of cover songs he didn't really improve upon all that much. ALOHA is typical for the fact that it has flashes of brilliance, but too often falls back simply on the fact that it was an Elvis Show, with Elvis Singing, not a deep artistic endeavor. The blame for this must be put at the artist's feet, since we know from the '68 TV special just how vital and essential Elvis could still be when he demanded control. And he did record some great songs from beginning to end and gave them his special stamp. It's just that he could have done a lot more if he'd taken the time to be an artist more than being Elvis the icon.

ED

 

[Q-Eight]

Trying not to turn this into a "What Elvis did Wrong" thread, but Elvis wasn't given a lot of creative control either. He was, to a point, at the mercy of Felton Jarvis and the Colonel. They would turn away great songs if they (and I mostly mean the Colonel) couldn't get a big enough chunk of the royalties. Elvis said several times through his career that he wouldn't sing a song unless he believed in it. But a LOT of songs were filtered out by shady shenanigans before Elvis even heard about them. Aloha is still a great album though it is very much dated. But there's nothing wrong with that. An awful lot of songs from the 70's need to be heard (or viewed) within the context of their era.