Elvis Presley, "Elvis: 2nd to None"

Although a necessary addition to the parade of remastered single-disc compilations, Elvis 2nd to None focuses too much on his post-Army releases and favors schmaltz over soul. The sound, however, is every bit as good as the first disc, giving a new dimension to these familiar (and sometimes not so familiar) tracks.

Although it's a bit of a letdown after the near-perfect hitfest of last year's "30 #1 Hits," this second volume of newly-remastered Elvis greatest hits does do one thing the original didn't: it includes three of the King's epochal Sun Records recordings. Of course, remastering those doesn't do much, since they were so sparsely produced in the first place, but the rest of the collection is an odd hodgepodge of songs that were hits in the UK, artifacts from the '68 comeback special, questionable soundtrack items, and the occasional classic hit the first volume missed. The strange methodology means that you get "Rock-A-Hula Baby," "Memories," and "Moody Blue," instead of stellar material like "Good Rockin' Tonight," "Money Honey," and "When My Blue Moon Turns To Gold Again." Yes, it does clean up the rest of Elvis' Top Ten hits (only "I Beg Of You" remains behind), but you have to wonder if a golden opportunity hasn't been wasted with the remainder of the tracks. Even the obligatory remix leaves you wishing you were listening to "A Little More Conversation."