The AMG liked this one. I can't say I've heard enough Elvis, and I haven't heard much gospel at all, so at very least this will get me into some underexplored territory.
It's strangely moving stuff. At least as described in these songs, being gospel and all, Elvis does love him some lord. And I don't know if all gospel is like this or what, but man, it is all really death obsessed. Dying and meeting god and all passed loved ones sounds like the greatest highest end that could ever come, like Elvis's fondest wish. The result is an album that is simultaneously uplifting and at least a bit morbid.
Musically, well, the man can sing. It almost doesn't register as singing to me, just passing directly into my brain as seniment, so smooth is his voice. On the slower songs, the backing vocals harmonize barbershopily, further lubricating the delivery. Silky, there's no other word for it, scarcely a rough edge in sight, and not from the overproduction I'm so used to, but just from it actually being that damn smooth.
There's also some stompy, spiritual rockers on there that bring some rough edges and keep the energy level from being overconsistent (in contrast, say, to some of the slower Sinatra albums).
I'm not sure what to take from this. On one level, as I am so prone to saying as a means of softening, it's not for me. My life is not of Elvis's era, and I'm not an especially Christian man, so it kind of misses on the two main selling points as far as the actual sentiments of the songs. But the music is actually, I have to admit, kind of uplifting, and I suspect that it will be more so the more I listen to it, as the repetition worms heartpaths. For that, given the uphill battle at hand, I have to at least give respect, and at least 3.5/5
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