A single-disc distillation of
Sony Legacy
's massive box set celebrating the 50th anniversary of
Elvis Presley
's
'68 Comeback Special
, this 2019 compilation covers ground that has been covered many times before. Back in 1968,
RCA
put out a soundtrack album to the special, and once the show entered in the realm of legend, it was repackaged on its anniversary three times over. All of this is a roundabout way of saying that
The Best of the '68 Comeback
contains a bunch of easily available material, yet none of the previous compilations assembled these tracks in precisely the same way (nor did they contain a new version of "If I Can Dream" plucked from NBC's anniversary special, a version distinguished by the presence of
Shawn Mendes
,
Darius Rucker
Blake Shelton
Carrie Underwood
, and
Post Malone
â?¦not precisely a dream lineup for an
Elvis
fan). While other comps may be a bit better overall experience -- it's hard to beat the original
'68
LP if you're just wanting a taste of this music -- 18 of the 19 tracks here are wonderful and they're a pleasure to hear in whatever context you choose. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine