Does Elvis need to be edited ?

Pretty self-explanatory

Does Elvis need a Quality Controller ?

Yes...without a doubt...his records are often too long
4
14%
Sometimes, but hey he's Elvis...he can release 'Mull of Kyntyre' for all I care
7
24%
Not at all...the sun shines out of his proverbial
18
62%
 
Total votes: 29

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Jackson Monk
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Does Elvis need to be edited ?

Post by Jackson Monk »

This issue has come up a lot recently. Looking back, there have been times (IMHO) when he could have done with cutting a few songs out of his albums in order to make them classic. So which albums do I think were too long ? How about:

When I was Cruel:

With some really great moments, Elvis could have used a little quality control to make this a better record. i reckon he could have made it an v.good 10 track album.

The Juliet Letters:

Many EC fans overlook TJL or give up after a few listens. For me, there are eight really great songs on TJL and that should have been enough.

KoA:

This is the best example for me. KoA would have been a real classic best EC album for me if it EC had dropped Eisehower Blues, Don't Let me be Misunderstood (yawn), Glitter Gulch and Lovable (great songs...wrong place).

Brutal Youth:

Should have left out a few and turned a great 15 track album into an awesome 10 track one. I get the feeling that the following songs would have been b-sides in the singles era: Sci-fi Twin, 20%, Rocking Horse Rd and Still too Soon to Know. Favourite Hour is on the wrong record, great song that it is.


I could make similar cases for Spike, GCW, PTC and MLAR. B&C would have been a great mini-album. (*dodges rotten eggs*.

For me, the last great 100% no filler EC album was 'Imperial Bedroom'
I can find no weakness on it...its pure classic Elvis. To be honest, the quality control button was clearly working much better in those days.

I can find little fault with his albums before 1983. What could you take off TYM, Trust, Armed Forces or GH ? GH was 20 songs long, but they were all 2 minute bursts of musical gunfire. No need to be trimmed down.

Strangely enough, given that MAIT was actually the debut album, it also sounds about right to my ears.......26 years later and North (whilst not perfect) has about the right length and is certainly consistent.


Ok....I've rambled on...I had the time on my hands and I hope I provoke some real emotion....i was getting bored... now slag me off !!!!! :twisted: :P :P :P :P :P :P :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:
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wehitandrun
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Re: Does Elvis need to be edited ?

Post by wehitandrun »

20% Amnesia, Lovable, and Rocking Horse are some of Elvis's best and most popular songs.

I guess we're lucky YOU'RE not his quality controller. :lol:

Hah, j/p. But yeah, I know what you're getting at... but all of Elvis's songs are wonderful when given a chance. If people don't get his vision, then so be it. He has been great at being HIS OWN quality controller.

Why limit the man himself?

And North? Cut the wholeee album, or atleast make it a single for "Still", with the b-side "You Left Me Alone In The Dark".

That would have been brilliant.

Now I'm a hyprocrite!





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Jackson Monk
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Post by Jackson Monk »

The point is not that the songs (like Lovable for example) are not good. The point is that an album can have too many songs (or songs badly placed) and is weakened as a consequence. I wouldn't say don't release the songs, but I would say give them the right forum. BC made a fair point earlier about 'Honey are you Straight...' being the right song after 'I Want You'.....I wouldn't say I agree with him, but I do see his point.

This is not unique to Elvis

As much as i love the White Album, i simply have to skip several tracks. And does anyone really listen to Octopus's Garden if they haven't got the kids in the car ?

Classic records are a matter of opinion and personal definition. I used ImpBed as an example becasue I never skip a song. I respect that this is only my opinion and that others will feel the same about... say...B&C.

Elvis has done a great job in his career...of course. But i am not talking about limiting him. John Lennon insisted that Revolution no.9 be included on the White Album....was he right? I don't think so, but hey...maybe others do.

oh....and 'North' is a cool record :D

...and there is no such song as 'You left me alone in the Dark'.....that was Ken Dodd :lol:
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Post by wehitandrun »

I KNEW I HAD THE TITLE WRONG, hah, but I didnt feel like looking it up. Is it "You Left Me Standing In The Dark"? Obviously I gave up on North.

Well, I voted No, so I gotta stand by it. Sure, I have been known to skip some songs, but that doesn't mean I don't think they should be on the record.

I am having trouble debating here, because as I read what you're saying I think "Well, HE doesnt like the song's placement, but others do"... then I realize the purpose of this thread is to point out songs that you, as an individual, feel should be left out.

I guess I will agree to disagree then.




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Jackson Monk
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Post by Jackson Monk »

I'm not a He!!!
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Post by BlueChair »

Elvis is one of the best songwriters of our time. He can do whatever the hell he wants. For every silly line he's written there are dozens of brilliant ones.
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Re: Does Elvis need to be edited ?

Post by BlueChair »

wehitandrun wrote:20% Amnesia, Lovable, and Rocking Horse are some of Elvis's best and most popular songs.
Most popular? What planet are you from? :D
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Post by pip_52 »

I said no, because even the songs that could have been cut to make an album better overall, Im glad that I have the chance to hear and listen to and possibly really love.
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Post by cbartal »

Hey, watch it. I love Mull of Kintyre, and hearing Elvis do it would be akin to hearing his version of Thompson's Withered and Died.
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Post by BlueChair »

I'll have to agree with Mr. Bartal. Excellent song.
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Post by kimmy »

I voted no, simply because I think that although all albums probably have some "clunkers", that's what seems to make the good songs better and more appreciable.

No matter what Elvis feels he needs to say, just let him say it, because deep down we know we'll always listen...a few times anyway.
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Post by costellopunk »

i will let elvis do his own editing. i mean really, the man's a perfectionist to the point of ocd. are you gonna try to stop him? unless your last name is mccartney or bacarach that just is not gonna happen. but any editing problem is easily solved with the handy dandy skip button on your cd player or you can burn the cd and mix and match however you see fit.
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Post by MichaelM »

No editing please. As a musician, I have to say it's his vision, he can edit himself. Don't even start me on producers. Plus none of us could ever decide on any edited play list.

Monk would ruin my B&C and I'd ruin her IB.
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Post by Toy Soldier-Scaremonger »

This is possibly the only time we disagree Monk. I believe Elvis is consistent with both the quality and quantity of his albums. I think the albums he's done in the last twenty years are all deserving of having the songs on them that they do. I would go beyond that and say that in the past fifteen years since CD's have reinvigorated the music industry, Elvis like many others should focus on putting out albums that are well in excess of an hour at all costs. This would certainly limit all the bonus track releases that come out a decade after the original album but I would love it if his next album was 78 minutes long! Many albums like 'Beauty', 'Spike', 'Clock', 'Chocolate', 'Brutal', 'Rose', and even the vastly underrated and underappreciated 'Cruel World' could have and should have been slightly even longer. :o
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Post by Watching_Detectives »

No...because there's always amazing stuff...even in the "bad songs", there's good stuff, and you may not like something, but others do :)
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Re: Does Elvis need to be edited ?

Post by DrJ »

BlueChair wrote:
wehitandrun wrote:20% Amnesia, Lovable, and Rocking Horse are some of Elvis's best and most popular songs.
Most popular? What planet are you from? :D
Well, these would be three favourites of mine, so perhaps wehitandrun and me could annex a planet on behalf of these songs.

This is part of the fun of being an EC fan: we can't agree on which record is best ("Imperial Bedroom!" "No, Get Happy!!" "No it's actually Kojak Variety if you could just listen!") and we can't agree on the best/worst songs on an individual album.

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Post by spooky girlfriend »

No, no, a thousand times, no.

No.
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SweetPear
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Post by SweetPear »

I think Elvis knows exactly what he wants and I wouldn't want to alter his creations at all. HOWEVER, I agree with Jackson Monk to a degree also. I think that a few records could have been made more "tight" and they would have become kickass records. Like the Brutal Youth example. If several of those songs were cut and used in another place, maybe you'd get some floetry (hah) going. But I don't mean cutting songs cause they suck, not at all!! Only because they may not belong.

Oh Elvis, I'm not your editor. You know what you want, it's your vision and I wouldn't change a note.

I vote no. :)
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seanpointblank
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Post by seanpointblank »

I think Elvis edits himself quite well. He may leave songs on records that aren't his best and leave songs off records that are far better, but it still works out because usually it would affect the flow of the album as a whole.

I just wish he'd have settled down on the damn board fades.
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Post by Jackson Doofster »

Floetry is such a great word SP. 8)
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Post by Gillibeanz »

No way!! Artistic flair needs freedom not constraints!! What is shite and too long for one person is going to be excellent for another. If you dont like a track use the skip button! :roll:
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Post by verbal gymnastics »

We all have our choices as to what we do and don't like.

If, say, Rockinghorse Road had been left off BY (Heaven forbid!) then when the reissue came out I would be wondering how he left such a brilliant song off it.

There are quite a few songs that I can take or leave but almost all of them have at least one line or phrase that most songwriters would wish they could have written.
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Post by Goody2Shoes »

Yes, he needs to be edited, in the same sense we all need to be edited so that we wouldn't say and do stupid things, but he shouldn't be edited. Our frailties are what make us human, how we learn, and why we always try to do better. The day that Elvis (or any artist, for that matter) makes a perfect record is the day that he can stop making them, and then we would all be the losers.

He has said himself that, in hindsight, things should or shouldn't have been included on albums. Sometimes you just gotta try something and hope it works.
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Post by wehitandrun »

I think you have it completely wrong.

He doesnt NEED to be edited. But should he be? That's the question.

And the answer is no.




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Post by Poppet »

i think sometimes he needs a 'higher' version of himself. and, often, he's got it, and it all works out well. and sometimes, well, it's not there and it doesn't work out well at all.

and, i wouldn't mind hearing his version of Mull of Kintyre.

so i voted: sometimes. who knows, maybe Mull will be on the next slow record!
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