'Viva Elvis - The Album' - Sony Press Release

[Brian Quinn]

VIVA ELVIS – THE ALBUM *TO BE RELEASED NOVEMBER 2010
Legacy Recordings Celebrates Elvis’ 75th Birthday Year
with a New Studio Work Inspired by
Viva ELVIS by Cirque du Soleil in Las Vegas

* * * * *

Legacy Recordings, in cooperation with Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. and Viva ELVIS by Cirque du Soleil at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas, proudly announces the release of Viva ELVIS - The Album, a 21st century celebration of Elvis and his music, featuring the voice of the King in a whole new context. Viva ELVIS - The Album will be available everywhere this November. For more information, please visit www.vivaelvis.com.
The undisputed King of Rock ‘n’ Roll, Elvis Presley remains one of the most iconic and powerful forces in popular culture. "Before Elvis," said John Lennon, "there was nothing."
After Elvis, the world looked and sounded different. With a swivel of his hips and the power of his voice, Elvis broke down barriers and shattered the status quo, revolutionizing the worlds of music, film and fashion while signaling a seismic shift in gender, class, race, and generational relationships.
The Elvis revolution continues with Viva ELVIS - The Album.
The postmodern studio masterwork invokes the spirit and essence of Elvis from a contemporary perspective while furthering the revolutionary impulses of Elvis' sound. Viva ELVIS - The Album re-imagines the king’s own vocal performances in a broad variety of new musical settings. This new sound echoes Elvis' own versatility and ability to master all music genres, from Delta blues to rockabilly, from raw soul to gospel, from Southern folk to Vegas pop, while incorporating elements of garage rock, punk, urban and hip-hop.
"Viva ELVIS is a tantalizing musical experience," said Adam Block, Senior Vice President/General Manager, Legacy Recordings. "It's so creative and so contemporary, it effortlessly places Elvis in a current context that appeals to fans of all ages and all kinds of music. *There's a freshness, a newness to these songs that grabs you and shakes you and ultimately testifies to the remarkable artist Elvis remains to this very day."
"What would the songs of Elvis be like if he were doing them for the first time today?," asks the album's producer and arranger Erich van Tourneau, Musical Director and Arranger for Viva ELVIS by Cirque du Soleil. "We set out to evoke the soul and spirit of Elvis Presley while building a bridge between his music and future generations of fans."
When working on the music for Viva ELVIS, van Tourneau -- aided by Hugo Bombardier, Assistant Producer and Assistant Arranger on Viva ELVIS - The Album -- spent more than 3,000 hours reviewing countless albums, films, concert recordings, interviews and home recordings of Elvis. More than 17,000 samples of Elvis’ songs – the raw material for the show – were made during the process.
Working with tens of thousands of samples of Elvis’ voice, van Tourneau and Bombardier often wove several sequences and sounds into the same songs, sometimes changing details such as the key and tempo. In creating Viva ELVIS - The Album, van Tourneau was looking to accentuate and boost the emotional charge of the songs with the incorporation of ragga, punk or hip-hop elements into classic recordings. In all cases, however, the goal was to respect and understand the essence of the original recordings.
In celebration of all eras of Elvis' musical genius, Viva ELVIS - The Album includes songs from Elvis’ rise to fame in the ‘50s, his movie soundtracks, his triumphant return to the stage in the “’68 Special,” and his ground-breaking appearances in Las Vegas. "Burning Love," "Suspicious Minds," "Blue Suede Shoes" and "It's Now or Never" are among the songs that have been re-imagined and transformed for Viva ELVIS - The Album.
The first opportunity to hear a sample from this ground-breaking album will take place during Elvis Week in Memphis on Saturday, August 14, during the event “Conversations on Elvis.”
Viva ELVIS by Cirque du Soleil, a harmonious fusion of dance, acrobatics and live music, opened earlier this year in a specially designed 1,800 seat theater at ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. A tribute to the life and music of Elvis Presley, Viva ELVIS focuses on the essential humanity of the one superstar whose name will forever be linked with the history of Las Vegas: Elvis Presley. Significant moments in his life – intimate, playful and grandiose – blend with timeless songs that remain as relevant today as when they first hit the top of the charts.
Viva ELVIS - The Album is a 21st century venue for rock's first and biggest superstar. The King's Music Lives!

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About Elvis Presley Enterprises
Elvis Presley Enterprises, Inc. is based in Memphis, with additional offices in Los Angeles. In addition to Graceland and its related attractions in Memphis, including the Heartbreak Hotel, EPE is aggressively involved in a worldwide licensing program, merchandising, music publishing, and television, film, video and Internet projects. For more information on EPE and Graceland, visit www.elvis.com. EPE is a subsidiary of CKX, Inc. (www.ckx.com), a publicly traded company listed on the NASDAQ Global Market® under the ticker symbol CKXE.

About Cirque du Soleil
From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a major international organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment.* Since its founding, Cirque du Soleil has thrilled over 100 million spectators in close to 300 cities on five continents. In Las Vegas, Cirque du Soleil has a privileged partnership with MGM Resorts International to create and present unique and innovative productions.* In addition to Viva ELVIS, these productions include Mystère™ at Treasure Island, “O™” at Bellagio, Zumanity™ the Sensual Side of Cirque du Soleil at New York-New York Hotel & Casino™, KÀ™ at MGM Grand, The Beatles™ LOVE™* and CRISS ANGEL Believe™ at Luxor. *For more information, visit the Cirque du Soleil website at www.cirquedusoleil.com/lasvegas.

About Legacy Recordings
The multiple Grammy-winning Legacy Recordings, Sony Music Entertainment's catalog division, produces and maintains the world's foremost catalog of historic reissues, an unparalleled compendium of thousands of digitally re-mastered archival titles representing virtually every musical genre including popular, rock, jazz, blues, R&B, folk, country, gospel, Broadway musicals, movie soundtracks, ethnic, world music, classical, comedy and more.

For further information contact:
Tom Cording at Legacy Media Relations, 212.833.4448, Tom.Cording@sonymusic.com;


ADDRESS TEARSHEETS TO:

Tom Cording
LEGACY / SONY MUSIC
550 Madison Ave., 17th Fl.
New York, NY 10022-3211

VivaElvis.com

Elvis.com

LegacyRecordings.com

Further to the above I am reliably informed that the UK release date will be 8th November.


Brian


*

[Brian Quinn]

I spoke to SONY (UK) today and made them aware of two major releases in November which would impact on the sales of 'Viva Elvis', one being by 'Take That' and the other by Michael Jackson. Apparently it is highly unlikely that the Jackson Album will coincide with the release of 'Viva Elvis' both being Sony artists. Should the Take That album clash with the 'Viva Elvis' release date' then Sony may change the release date from 8th November. Let's hope that the Take That album is released later in November to give 'Viva Elvis' a chance of a No.1.

Brian

[Ematt]

Is there any interest out there for this album other than maybe the people who have seen the show/

[Brian Quinn]

Is there any interest out there for this album other than maybe the people who have seen the show/

Apparently so. Sony have undertaken research with fans and the general public and it would appear the results were very positive.

Brian

[Joe Car]

Thanks for all that you do Brian, much appreciated!

[KPM]

Sales will tell the story.

[emmapeel]

Bit sad that "Cirque Du Soleil" didnt recognise gems such as "Edge Of Reality" + "Change Of Habit" with new backing would be AWESOME,also"The Next Step Is Love","Patch It Up",with new backing,below is High Quality Audio--just check out how amazing Brilliant Awesome Superb this new backing is!!!!! "Return to sender" in the clip is so cool cant wait for this dvd audio release

HQ SOUND!!! Please give this a listen especially "Return To Sender"

Thx very much Brian Quinn for keeping us informed!