If I Can Dream [LP]

Elvis Presley always had a keen taste for schlock so perhaps he would've wanted to record an entire album with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra -- and it's also possible that he'd want to duet with Michael Bublé -- but setting aside artistic intention and focus on what If I Can Dream actually is. It's a record assembled from original Elvis vocal tracks and 21st century orchestral accompaniment, which means the creative kick that fueled Presley's music -- he loved to play with his bands, he didn't want them to be mere support -- is absent, but this is a well-constructed production. It's impossible to find the seams between the present and the past and, if the light hits just right, If I Can Dream gives the illusion of a performance. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine