This CD is flagged as Elvis’ hits “transformed for the 21th century”. What Cirque du Soleil have done is taken original Elvis recordings like ‘Suspicious Minds’ and ‘King Creole’ and amped them up with a more contemporary sound, studio trickery, fresh overdubs, comments from Elvis, Ed Sullivan and others, plus the Space Odyssey fanfare. It often works, and works well, as on the rattling ‘Blue Suede Shoes’ and a pounding version of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, but it isn’t an unconditional success: for example, ‘That’s All Right’ lacks the fire of the original and ‘Love Me Tender’ remains rather feeble. If you haven’t been converted by the originals, this will hardly do it. Then again, like David Holmes reworking of ‘A Little Less Conversation’ it might turn on a whole new generation to Elvis. And If you can’t get enough of El, well, you’ll love this.
KEY TRACK: ‘BLUE SUEDE SHOES’