antimusic.com: Remake-Remodel: Bobby Darin- Joni Mitchell- Elvis Presley Review

Bobby Darin- Joni Mitchell- Elvis Presley

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Lots of reissues, compilations, box sets and enhanced versions of vintage hit albums came out in 2014, so many in fact that it was hard to keep up with them all. With that in mind, here are our picks for a handful of good ones including Bobby Darin, Joni Mitchell and Elvis Presley, in case you missed them.

Bobby Darin
ICON
Capitol/Ume

Bobby's been gone a long time and there isn't going to be any new or unheard stuff forthcoming but he left behind a great volume of work and some of the best is included in this new compilation. About half of the set features songs Darin wrote, like "18 Yellow Roses," "If a Man Answers," "You're the Reason I'm Living" and "Simple Song of Freedom." Big hit "Mack the Knife" is here in a live version; also presented live is a take on "Beyond the Sea." Get it here.

Joni Mitchell
Love Has Many Faces: A Quartet, A Ballet, Waiting to be Danced
Rhino

A quick glance at the track listing of this big four-disc box set seems to reveal that the collection is merely a comprehensive hits and favorites compilation. It is, but there's more to it than that. Mitchell spent a considerable amount of time conceiving a ballet with the hope that the music would fit onto one disc; that ended up being too constraining so she scrapped the idea, much to the benefit of fans who now, with Love Has Many Faces, have an expanded work that takes music from her vast repertoire, groups it into four distinct themes and presents it in a sequence that puts many of the songs in an entirely different light. All 53 songs have been newly remastered. Get it here

Elvis Presley
That's the Way It Is: Legacy Edition
Legacy

A bit of a choice to make here for Elvis fans; which revamped edition of That's the Way It Is to buy? The Legacy Edition will be enough for many; besides the original album, which presents a live show from Las Vegas in 1970 featuring performances of "I've Lost You," "The Next Step is Love," "Bridge Over Troubled Water," "Patch it Up" and a dozen others, the two-disc set also contains four songs in their singles edits, five outtakes and a second live show with 17 songs, most of which are versions of Presley hits that have never been released until now. Grab the Deluxe Edition though and you get an eight-disc set with all of the above plus five more live shows and a disc of rehearsals that contains things like a jazzy version of children's song "Froggy Went A-Courtin'" where Elvis breaks into laughter at the end. Get the Legacy Edition here and the Deluxe Edition here