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Elvis was a road warrior throughout the 1970s, constantly on tour and performing around the U.S. Starting in July 1971, Elvis’ audiences became accustomed to hearing “Also Sprach Zarathustra” right before he took the stage. Richard Strauss’ grandiose, late 19th-century tone poem had gained resonance from its appearance in Stanley Kubrick’s epic 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was the unmistakable sound of a grand entrance, and therefore a perfectly appropriate way to open Viva ELVIS, cleverly combining the classical piece with a vamp Elvis’ band always broke into as he was about to hit the spotlight and perform. Snippets from various Elvis recordings, cheering fans, and sound bites from The Ed Sullivan Show and Memphis DJ Dewey Phillips combine with propulsive new drumbeats and vocal effects, building anticipation to a climax which can only be punctuated by the revved up guitars and blistering Elvis vocal that follow.

More than anything else, Elvis was an interpreter of songs. It didn’t matter if it was written for him personally or was another artist’s song onto which he put his own imprint. One song from the latter category was Carl Perkins’ rockabilly anthem “Blue Suede Shoes,” which was only just hitting the airwaves when Elvis recorded it. Carl and Elvis had been label mates at Sun Records and it was agreed that Elvis wouldn’t steal Carl’s thunder by releasing his version as a single. Elvis and his band made a much tougher recording of the song – in a style that would soon be called rock ‘n’ roll. Viva ELVIS adds a thumping drumbeat, blues-rock harmonica, and sound effects borrowed from electronica to create an exceedingly danceable new rock anthem.

The Viva ELVIS version of “That’s All Right” starts off with deceptively gentle percussion and piano tones, along with Louisiana Hayride announcer Frank Page’s introduction of Elvis at his first performance on the legendary radio show on October 16, 1954. Elvis’ debut record was a magical adaptation of Arthur Crudup’s blues recording, giving the tune a whole new melodic and radio-friendly presence. The Viva ELVIS performance fades out with a montage of classic early Elvis moments, including producer Sam Phillips enthusing after an early take of “Blue Moon Of Kentucky” and Elvis singing lines of “When It Rains It Really Pours” and “There’s No Place Like Home” from the famous Million Dollar Quartet. This version re-imagines the song as modern rock. It borrows a garage rock beat that is familiar from 21st century indie rock and has its roots in 1950s blues and rock songs. The beat has been heard over the years in some of the harder-edged Motown and Northern Soul hits of the 1960s to the 1970s punk rock of Iggy Pop and others.

Elvis’ debut RCA single and first national number one hit, “Heartbreak Hotel,” was feared at the time by the label to be a grave mistake. The gloomy tale, based on a suicide note found in the pocket of dead man, seemed as far from a hit as it was from the raucous music Elvis had made in Memphis at Sun Records. At its heart, this is a blues song. In Viva ELVIS, the arrangement begins with a distorted mix of Elvis’ vocal from an early, live performance, along with a Delta-blues-style guitar, emphasizing the song’s haunting underpinnings. With nods to Elvis’ “’68 Comeback Special” version of the song and the later Elvis staple “Polk Salad Annie,” and a mix of swinging horns plus a sample of the gospel sounds of The Golden Gate Quartet, it’s a whirlwind tour of sonic contrasts that brings to mind bands like Nirvana, The Pixies and The White Stripes.

Elvis’ cinematic debut was to be a strictly dramatic role with no singing—that is, until film studio executives realized how much commercial value an Elvis performance would add to their film. For that reason, the Western-themed film with the working title The Reno Brothers was renamed Love Me Tender” after Elvis’ new adaptation of the Civil War-era song “Aura Lee.” RCA received advance orders of more than one million copies of the single. “Love Me Tender” remains one of the most beloved love songs in the world today more than 50 years after it was recorded and 150 years since the melody was first written. For Viva ELVIS, the song is reconstructed with a sound that is equally timeless, built on an arrangement reminiscent of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss’ acclaimed album Raising Sand, here featuring the beautiful duet voice of Dea Norberg and strings.

Introduced by the voiceover for the original movie trailer, then followed by a male voice singing the film song “Turtles, Berries, Gumbo,” the scene is set in New Orleans, where Elvis’ most critically acclaimed movie was filmed. King Creole was written and co-produced by the brilliant team of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The Viva ELVIS version borrows more from the rhythms of one of the alternate takes from the sessions and the style of this new version stands in dramatic contrast to the original. Syncopated beats and vocals with echoes of ragga, alongside gentle elements of kitsch that are part and parcel of listening to Elvis in Las Vegas, combine to create a modern-sounding track a la indie darlings Santogold or M.I.A.

Most of Elvis’ movies had a designated hit single. In Elvis’ 1963 movie, Fun In Acapulco, that single was beyond a doubt the rousing “Bossa Nova Baby,” another winner from the Leiber-Stoller songwriting team. Introduced here for Viva ELVIS with true session atmosphere and dialogue between Elvis and Paramount movie producer Hal Wallis, this is a song that has tempted many a remixer for decades. The tongue-in-cheek lyrics — “sweat popping out of my head” and “shirt tails flying all over the place” — have always been irresistible, and the bouncy organ riff is simply impossible to forget. This reconstruction of the song amplifies the kinetic energy of the original into a track that would not sound out of place on a Fatboy Slim album.

At a time when Elvis needed a hit, A&R man Felton Jarvis found the song “Burning Love,” and along with Elvis’ own people, had to push him to record the song. The track became a chart topper all over the world, and a song that the world still today recognizes as a true classic. This reinvention for Viva ELVIS is a full-blast 2010 treatment incorporating one of Elvis’ greatest movie lines, “That’s ain’t tactics honey, that’s just the beast in me,” from Jailhouse Rock. With a guitar attack that sounds equally influenced by The Hives and The Who, this new “Burning Love” is a beast indeed.

When “Can’t Help Falling In Love” was released as the b-side of “Rock-A-Hula Baby” in 1961, nobody could have expected the fame that this particular recording would achieve. Featured in Elvis’ biggest box office success, Blue Hawaii, the single became a number one hit and the soundtrack album eventually became one of his biggest selling albums. By the dawn of the 21st century, “Can’t Help Falling In Love” had become arguably the most beloved wedding song in all of the western world. The duet treatment for Viva ELVIS lends it an extra element of romance, with Sherry St.-Germain singing the female part. The song climaxes in a choir arrangement with a whole new ending created around a line from Elvis’ 1956 hit “Love Me.” The hymnal quality and stately chords give it a sound not unlike what The Verve might sound like if they recorded with a gospel choir.

After hearing Elvis’ version of this Rodgers & Hammerstein classic from Carousel, a sparse take with his own piano accompaniment, Viva ELVIS producer Erich Letourneau was inspired to create this piano interlude for the show. There were tears in the eyes of more than one person when Elvis had wrenched every ounce of emotion from the song through eight great takes, emotion that shone through decades later when the Cirque du Soleil creative team came upon it. This is a timeless melody, worthy of shouldering the emotional gravitas of a pivotal moment from the show, leading to its explosive climax.