eMusic Review 0
RCA Victor bought Elvis 'contract from Sun after his fifth single release, and began grooming him for national stardom. 1956 was the breakthrough year when Elvis (the Pelvis) became an icon, a media frenzy, a lightning rod for controversy, a role model and a rock metaphor. Here is the Elvis who played before crowds of screaming and flailing teenagers; who was censored at the waist on Ed Sullivan's television show; who bombed in Las Vegas; who had his own set of bubble gum cards; and who seemed to incarnate everything that was exalting or terrifying about untamed youth in the ascendant. The music was hardly formulaic — "Heartbreak Hotel" is sparse, haunting; "Hound Dog" is confrontational and sneering; "Don't Be Cruel," with its chirpy bop-bop backing vocals, or the balladeering "Love Me Tender," signifies the first steps toward domesticating the Presley id that would gather momentum as his career moved more toward the mainstream.
