2) is the second studio album by American rock and roll singer Elvis Presley, released by RCA Victor on October 19, 1956 in mono.

The original U.S. release inaugurated the practice (applied inconsistently for the first few years, but commonly afterwards) of crediting Presley only by his first name on album sleeves, though his full name continued to be used on labels.

RCA Victor producer Steve Sholes had commissioned two new songs for this batch of sessions, "Paralyzed" from Otis Blackwell and "Love Me" from Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller, the authors of Presley's summer hit of 1956, "Hound Dog," the first record to top all three of the Billboard singles charts then in existence: Pop, R&B, and C&W.

[8] Presley decided upon three Little Richard covers, and selected three new country ballads respectively from regular Everly Brothers writer Boudleaux Bryant and guitarist Chet Atkins, Sun staff musician and engineer Stan Kesler, and Aaron Schroeder and Ben Weisman.

With all but one track on the album (with the exception of "So Glad You're Mine") recorded at a single set of sessions over three days in September, Presley and his touring band of Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and D.J.

The sessions were attended by a few outsiders, namely his current girlfriend at the time, actress Natalie Wood and actor Nick Adams, both of whom had starred in Rebel Without a Cause, Presley's favorite James Dean film.

[10] The piano player on this album is not registered in the official RCA Victor archives, except for the song "So Glad You're Mine", which was cut at a previous session in New York.

In an article written by Kjeseth for the Flaming Star magazine, it was argued that the piano player on "Love Me", "Old Shep" and "How's the World Treating You" was Elvis himself.

The 2005 reissue was remastered using DSD technology with the six bonus tracks appended in standard fashion, in the following order: "Playing for Keeps", "Too Much", "Don't Be Cruel", "Hound Dog", "Any Way You Want Me (That's How I Will Be)", and "Love Me Tender".