Box sets that didn't disappoint

There are sets dropping left, right and center and few of them really disappoint.

I recently picked up the In Extremo "XX.Wahre Jahre" set, which contains all of their studio and live albums from their inception to the present along with some rarities. About the only complaint I have here is this trend towards those book "sleeves" that contain the discs. Some sets, like Roger Taylor's "The Lot" seem to be fitted correctly to not destroy the discs in the process of taking them from or putting them back in their sleeves, but others really make it difficult with discs even arriving gooned up. The In Extremo was slightly marred in this respect, unfortunately. On the plus side, everything ripped and plays without issue, so it's more of a collectors' tic than an actual problem.

Oh, one that I really HUNTED for and still think of as an embarrassment of riches is the John Martyn Island Years box set. THAT is an "everything AND the kitchen sink" set I'm proud to have in my collection. Obviously a labor of love. Oh, and the book is even cool enough to include full (vinyl) size cover art from all of his albums, even beyond the Island albums. That was a nice touch on top of already having a metric ton of amazing music to pore over.

 

King Crimson - The Great Deceiver is a great set. One of my all time favorite box sets.

 

Elvis the Complete 50s Masters, The Essential 60s masters.

 

I was just going to post this one.

I'll toss in the "Nuggets" compilation. Not the best sounding but essential nonetheless for any 60's Garage Rock lover.

 

I own and like every one of the above. Nonetheless an inherently funny list and thanks.

 

Personal comment from a "Garage Rock lover" who was a fan when the stuff was on the radio:
You know I bought the nuggets comp as vinyl when it was originally released, when the stuff was only recently still on the radio and part of the very recent past. I was happy I had it but at the same time it was a grave disappointment. I didn't for a moment blame Mr. Kaye. But
for a variety of reasons, a lot of the very best stuff, what should have been the core stuff of a compilation of this sort, simply wasn't available. As a result
the comp ends up being a grab bag. Some obscurities, some essential classics, and ranging so wide stylistically that it's hard to get a bead on what it's supposed to represent. A nice collection of tracks, yes, but it doesn't signify.

 

Yes; this. This boxed set remains essential as a distillation of the man's prolific output. I own most of it, but when I want to experience the true fundamentals of JB, this is what I reach for.

 

I also bought the 2 LP Nuggets in the 70s, and used it as a starting point for what to me is the first generation of punk rock, buying many of the Pebbles comps later. When I got the 4 CD Rhino reissue of Nuggets I noticed that the best of the Pebbles stuff was on the other 3 CDs, along with other more popular groups that fit in. It really made it a great box set.

 

I don't think these box sets below have been mentioned yet; if they have, my mistake.

These Motown "Master Series" box sets are all quite good. They came out in the mid-1990s. If they're not the definitive word on these artists, they come close:

 

If my house ever catches on fire I am running out in my underwear with my "Complete Elvis Masters" box in hand!!

 

All great

 

Beg, Scream & Shout!: The Big Ol' Box Of 60's Soul Box set

Six CDs and 144 songs of classic '60s soul, including selections by every major performer in the idiom as well as numerous influential minor performers, one-shot artists, and just plain unknowns. The music is classic, and the packaging is an event in itself, with the discs enclosed in a mock briefcase for carrying 45 singles, and trading cards for each song on the volume that have photos and trivia questions on front, and mini essays on the back. Yet it ultimately occupies a rather perplexing space on the collector's shelf. Anyone who's enough of a soul lover to fork over the dough for this production will no doubt have a good many of the tunes already, particularly the Hall of Fame hits like "Sweet Soul Music," "(I Know) I'm Losing You," "Don't Make Me Over," and "La-La-Means I Love You." There are numerous great rarities here -- Jay Wiggins' magnificent melancholy ballad "Sad Girl," and the rare original versions of "Shake a Tail Feather" (the Five Du-Tones), "Tainted Love" (Gloria Jones), "Mustang Sally" (Sir Mack Rice), and "Piece of My Heart" (Erma Franklin). Yet the tracks used to represent some superstars -- "You've Been in Love Too Long" for Martha & the Vandellas, or "Fly Me to the Moon" for Bobby Womack -- seem almost deliberately idiosyncratic, even though this method also yields underrated off-the-beaten-tracks by Ray Charles ("In the Heat of the Night"), Al Green ("Back Up Train"), and others. It's almost as if some guys stayed up several nights running trying to make the ultimate '60s soul party tape -- one which demonstrated both their impeccable taste and the depth of their record collection -- and got so carried away with the idea that a box set resulted. Like all well-made party tapes, the content is excellent, but the sum is neither a definitive '60s soul box (an impossible task in any case), nor one which offers quite enough lost classics to justify its hefty price tag for those who already have half or more of the tunes.

 

Zombie Heaven-The Zombies. Excellent job by Alec Palo and Andrew Sandoval. Some folks will not be fans of the mastering but you mess with that yourself.
Bruce Springsteen- The Ties That Bind
The Beatles-mono box set
The Velvet Underground expanded editons of all,their albums and The Matrix boxed set. They are getting the love they deserved ages ago.
Average White Band Complete Albums set
Blue Oyster Cult The Complete Columbia Albums set
Cheap Trick-The Complete Epic Albums Set
Spooky tooth The Island Years
Jimmy Webb-The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress
Fanny The Complete Atlantic Years set (although Real Gone has reissued these on CD individually and done a fine job with that set)
The Rolling Stones-Mono simgles box. It has some flaws but otherwise is a fine set.
The Kinks - The Anthology 1964-1971
Richard Thompson-Free Reed set
Squeeze-Six of One (although I would have liked to see the Half Dozen of Another continuation of this set with Plenty of bonus tracks)
The Waterboys-Fisherman's Box
Lloyd Cole and The Commotions -Collected Recordings
Nils Lofgren-Face The Music
ROXY Music-Complete Studio Albums
David Bowie -Five Years boxed set

 

Your post made me smile

 

The Roxy set did receive largely positive reviews.

 

Is that you? Man you are young if that's the case.

 

the-rise-and-fall-of-paramount-records

 

I think that the above was the first box set I ever bought...although it was later joined by worthy box sets for: ABBA, The Bee Gees, Carpenters, Madness and Barry Manilow.

 

Yeah, it WAS fantastic. Especially, because back then many box sets were just overblown compilations of previously released material and a few out-takes or b-sides. The 20 Years of Jethro Tull almost everything was either rare, live or unreleased. The sound quality was a bit dubious in places with lots of added reverb.

 

Or, mono in addition to stereo O&O.

 

What was the very first box set that was marketed by having pictures of all the contents of the box set strewn in front of the box set?

 

Bob Dylan - Biograph
Bob Marley & The Wailers - The Box
The Allman Brothers - The Fillmore East recordings
Dire Straits - The Complete vinyl collection
CCR - Absolute Originals

 

Answered above. The answer is no.