'Elvis Is Back!'

Considering he's an icon and having worked in the industry for more than 20 years, it's shocking how few actual albums Elvis Presley released. By all accounts, he had three "significant" albums.
Much of his early career were a series of singles and loads of intimate concerts around the South. By the 1960s, the album became an art form. He released Elvis is Back! and then a decade's worth of soundtracks before doing From Elvis in Memphis. A hodgepodge of various albums ended his career.

Presley's musical career, actually, is quite forgettable. He did a lot of songs and a lot were bad. I think Elvis is Back! is pretty unlistenable. If you love the rock- and gospel-based Presley, then this album is not for you. It's pop and jazz. "Fever" is the worst song of all time. No matter who sings it. Otherwise, it's clean and neat. Low-tempoed love songs with little energy or raw sex.

It's Elvis as sex and Elvis as personality that drives him as a rock icon more than anything else. If you consider his stay in the army, the 1960s and his failed latter days, Elvis squandered a solid 15 years of his career. Elvis career wasn't a disappointment because he died so soon. Look at Jimi Hendrix or Kurt Cobain. Nobody says their careers were disappointing.

Elvis was disappointing because he didn't truly utilize his prime.