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Despite having passed away nearly 40 years ago, Elvis Presley remains a large presence on the charts and on the shelves of stores. Just this year, Elvis has had a 60-disc box devoted to all of the music he released in his lifetime and a 2-CD set concentrating on his final recordings . And last year's If I Can Dream: Elvis Presley with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, melding Elvis' vocals with new orchestral backings, hit the Top 25 in the U.S. but was a larger success in the U.K. - hitting #1 and selling over a million copies. Naturally, a follow-up was planned and it has just been announced by RCA and Legacy that The Wonder of You: Elvis Presley with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be released on October 21.
This new collection follows the pattern of last year's album. Produced by the same team of Don Reedman and Nick Patrick with the Royal Philharmonic recorded at Abbey Road Studios, Wonder of You features 15 songs from several of Elvis' preferred genres from country to gospel to rock all joined by new musical backings. It spans nearly all of Presley's career from 1958 to 1973 and contains big hits such as "Suspicious Minds" and "Kentucky Rain" alongside some more slightly obscure tracks like "Memories" and "Just Pretend" (featured here as a duet with Russian singer Helene Fischer).
Priscilla Presley, who is the executive producer of the project, commented in the press release that "Elvis always loved the great, operatic vocalists. We often talked about his interest in recording material that allowed him to perform in that space. It's exciting to hear him on these recordings, performing with the world-class Royal Philharmonic Orchestra via the magic of Abbey Road Studios. He would have loved these performances and I'm very happy that we were able to make this dream come true for Elvis and his fans."
Wonder of You will be released in several formats including a regular CD, a 2-LP 150 gram vinyl set and a digital download. A deluxe edition will be available on December 2, including the CD, the 2-LP vinyl, a poster and a 12 page booklet housed in 12" X 12" lift-top box. The CD in that edition features two additional tracks: "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" and "You Gave Me a Mountain."
You can preview the single "A Big Hunk O' Love" at ElvisTheMusic.com and we've got the full tracklisting and preorder links below if you'd like to try the whole thing.
Elvis Presley, The Wonder of You: Elvis Presley with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RCA/Legacy, 2016)
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2-LP Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
CD/LP Deluxe Box: Amazon U.K.
- A Big Hunk O' Love
- I've Got A Thing About You Baby
- Suspicious Minds
- Don't
- I Just Can't Help Believin'
- Just Pretend
- Love Letters
- Amazing Grace
- Starting Today
- Kentucky Rain
- Memories
- Let It Be Me
- Always On My Mind
- The Wonder Of You
- Just Pretend - duet with Helene Fischer (Bonus Track)
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I hope that is not the final cover. It looks like one of those bargain bin, budget Elvis compilations. The cover from "If I Can Dream" was great. It had a really cool, retro look to it. Would love to see something similar for this one too so that they look consistent with each other.
I'm excited for this release. I really likes "If I Can Dream."
Very awful cover and very inconsistent with the previous release's look.
Two people beat me to the "awful cover" post. This is dreadful. I thoroughly enjoy the "If I Can Dream" CD and will be looking forward to this one as well, but PLEASE let them use different cover art. This is hideous and so very cheesy.