Elvis Presley Albums Ranked

Elvis Aaron Presley(January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), also known simply as Elvis, was an American singer, dancer, and actor. Regarded as one of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century, he is often referred to as the “King of Rock and Roll” or simply “the King”. His energized interpretations of songs and sexually provocative performance style, combined with a singularly potent mix of influences across color lines during a transformative era in race relations, led him to great success—and initial controversy. Presley was born in Tupelo, Mississippi, and relocated to Memphis, Tennessee, with his family when he was 13 years old. His music career began there in 1954, recording at Sun Records with producer Sam Phillips, who wanted to bring the sound of African-American music to a wider audience. Presley, on rhythm acoustic guitar, and accompanied by lead guitarist Scotty Moore and bassist Bill Black, was a pioneer of rockabilly, an uptempo, backbeat-driven fusion of country music and rhythm and blues. In 1955, drummer D. J. Fontana joined to complete the lineup of Presley’s classic quartet and RCA Victor acquired his contract in a deal arranged by Colonel Tom Parker, who would manage him for more than two decades. Presley’s first RCA single, “Heartbreak Hotel”, was released in January 1956 and became a number-one hit in the United States. With a series of successful network television appearances and chart-topping records, he became the leading figure of the newly popular sound of rock and roll. With his rise from poverty to significant fame, Presley’s success seemed to epitomize the American Dream. The best-selling solo music artist of all time, he was commercially successful in many genres, including pop, country, R&B, adult contemporary, and gospel. He won three Grammy Awards, received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at age 36, and has been inducted into multiple music halls of fame. Presley holds several records; the most RIAA certified gold and platinum albums, the most albums charted on the Billboard 200, and the most number-one albums and number-one singles on the UK Albums Chart and UK Singles Chart, respectively. In 2018, Presley was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Here are all Elvis Presley albums ranked.

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10.His Hand in Mine (1960)

“I’ve always felt Elvis’ true love was Jesus.
Something in his voice conveys the depth and conviction of his religious beliefs. These songs are beautiful and inspiring and have brought me comfort and a sense of serenity. When you consider Elvis’s own difficult life, you realize even though we are weak and frail human beings, we can have a rich and rewarding spiritual life. As a line in the title song says, “And if I fall, I know you’ll understand.” The songs, the voice, the depth of emotion in this cd make for a very personal communication between artist and audience. Elvis at his best.”

9.Elvis Christmas (1957)

“I see why this CD is Diamond! His voice sounds incredible and the music is perfect. The very best Christmas music I own.”

8.Elvis Country (I’m 10,000 Years Old) (1978)

“The tracks within the original are great anyway, with mostly country but with a couple of rock songs – all segued together with snippets of a great jam titled I WAS BORN ABOUT TEN THOUSAND YEARS AGO fading in and fading out the tracks (oh, that’s why they gave the album that horrid sub-title!) A great new idea for the album but with no breaks between tracks it gave nightmares to radio disc jockeys all over as they played selected songs for radio listeners. The original album contained a souvenir photo of Elvis aged 2 or 3 with his parents as can be seen from the front cover. I still have my original orange label vinyl album which I purchased with my much welcomed pocket money as a teenager around 1980.”

7.Back in Memphis (1969)

“Back in Memphis did not contain any top 40 hits but traditional favorites and Elvis’ renditions of tunes made popular by other artists make this a top-notch collection. I would say that this is perhaps Elvis’ easiest-listening album. One cannot help but to relax and find an overwhelming sense of peace and calm while listening to this material.For the person who really wants to remove himself or herself from the fast-paced, stressed-out contentions of modern-day life and who yearns to go back to a simpler place and time, I highly recommend Elvis Presley-Back in Memphis.”

6.That’s the Way It Is (1970)

“If only all of his Vegas seasons had been as good as this one. It’s Elvis at his 1970s peak, in fine voice and singing some knockout material. Better than 1969? I’d say so. By this time he’d settled down enough to be confident with what he was doing, but not so settled that he was bored. Maybe a bit too much for the average music lover, but if you’ve got some money sitting in your bank account and you don’t know what to do with it, buy a copy and play one disc a week. The only thing wrong with this package is that they felt it necessary to bundle the DVDs in with it, despite them having already been available for several years. There can’t have been many people who, while happy to hand over eighty pounds for the box, did not already possess a copy of the film.”

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5.How Great Thou Art (1967)

“No one sings how great thou art like elvis. I start my day worshiping God with this song. How great is God’s awesome love, awesome forgiveness, and awesome power.”

4.Elvis (1956)

“The Elvis Presley of the 1950s is best admired through compilations of his singles released in the period. His LP’s lack most of the songs from those singles, and as a result they also lack much of the sexuality and energy that made him an icon. There is a fair amount of variety here, from love songs, to blues numbers, to rock ‘n’ roll, but nothing as staggeringly great as “Hound Dog,” “Heartbreak Hotel,” “Don’t Be Cruel,” or the other classics he released as singles in the same period. Even so, this second Presley record is an improvement over his debut record in terms of better capturing some of his bluesy swagger and country charm. Personal favorites from this record include “First in Line,” “So Glad You’re Mine,” and “Ready Teddy.”

3.Elvis Is Back! (1960)

“ELVIS IS BACK was the King’s first post-Army album and is one of his finest. Although Elvis recorded some binaural stereo sides in the late ’50s, which were released years later, this was his first album in RCA’s “Living Stereo” (as opposed to the “Full Dimensional” variety at Capitol, and Columbia’s “Stereo-Fidelity,” later renamed “Stereo-360 Sound.”)”

2.Elvis Presley (Legacy Edition) (1956)

“This was one of the records that got the party started for Rockabilly and even Rock & Roll itself. Elvis influenced a lot of my own musical heroes (Led Zeppelin for one) and I can’t help but think of Ian Gillan’s cover of “Trying To Get To You” when I hear this. Elvis was adored by many of the early British hard rockers. It’s very easy for some to write off Elvis as an artist to due his massive overexposure and poor creative choices he made later in his career. That’s why it’s so important to go back and hear his earliest records to really understand what all of the fuss was about. His silky smooth white-soul voice, the blending of R&B and Country ideas, those red hot rockabilly guitar licks and that thumping (yet swinging) beat was a welcome contrast to the popular music of the early 50’s. While Elvis’ debut wouldn’t be my top choice for his best album, it serves as a wonderful introduction to The King. Favorite tracks would be “Blue Suede Shoes”, “I Got A Woman” & “Trying To Get To You”

1.From Elvis in Memphis (1969)

“The selection of songs is great, the insert and info was really interesting and having songs which aren’t mainstream-elvis mixed in with some that have become such classic was nice. his voice was amazing as always and the less known songs doesnt mean they are any less great. i especially enjoyed “who am i” to me, elvis never sounded as peaceful as when he sang a gospel song. Overall, we were really pleased with this and enjoyed it just as much as we have any other elvis album. i would recommend this to any other elvis fans out there. if you’re just starting to listen to elvis, I recommend one of his greatest hits albums.”