Obviously I disagree and here's why. I have a turntable so the recent RSD LP release makes more sense for the genuine outtake pieces. However, the first CD also wastes time and space with Filles De Kilimanjaro pieces and outtakes which are available elsewhere much cheaper, not to mention that some people will already have. Disc 2 is not a good listen. The unedited jams are just plain boring to listen to. Maybe they're interesting to completists and scholars but not to me.
I bought the 2nd quintet box from Columbia House back in 1998, my first Miles release, and I haven't looked back since. I already have all of them, but I can recommend them all. Sure, there are lots of tracks you might not need to listen to twice, but just having them makes it a better set. They should really reissue the Plugged Nickel box, that one is the crown jewel for me.
I see. To me this is one of those sets with nothing superfluous, nothing I would skip or leave out. However I would have loved to get those outtakes in a vinyl edition so if you already had IASW on its own then I would re-think the necessity of the complete set. Also its probably my favorite Miles album so having the ephemera all in one place is a bonus.
Like many others I have purchased more in the way of vinyl than CDs in the last ten years or so. But these sets remain a constant fascination for me and I have never quit listening to them. In fact, many of my sets are very worn and beat up. I recommend them highly. Perfect deep dives.
List price was over $700 i believe, and it was marketed as a full "luxury" product. Around the same time there were several other similar marketing campaigns - I owned the Monster Miles Davis edition IEMs for example, which were not very robust unfortunately (sounded ok but not great). The price dropped to the $400-500 dollar range pretty quickly (which is when I got it), then before too long it was on PopMarket for $225, which was a steal. There are a few on Discogs right now (starting at $650ish), and you see them on eBay now and again for ~$750. It's a nice piece, but not worth that, especially with the individual volumes available again. They're also available in lossless on Qobuz and Tidal. Hard to believe that was about 10 years ago now.
I don't think Mosaic released Jack Johnson or On the Corner as vinyl sets. If they did then I just completely missed it.
The booklets in most of these were so full of information (except the On the Corner sessions, which for some reason had a mostly uninformative and useless set of liner notes) , they should release them separately as a stand alone book, chronicling the entirety of Miles Davis Columbia sessions. I have gone back to them over and over again.
Which ones are must haves? I'm not a casual listener but neithet a fan or a completist... but if there's a must have...
That really depends on which period/album of Miles Davis you like the most, doesn't it? I mean what would make one of these a must-have for you, given how you describe your relationship with the music?
Import them from the States yourself. Buy from whatever the cheapest US source is (ask our Stateside friends here for recommendations). You'll have to pay customs charges on top but it looks like that's a necessary evil in this instance.
Its quite a bold move releasing these in the current climate - how many people right now are thinking about parting on $70 on a box set?. Do you think that with the lack of new releases they are hoping folks will use the money on re-issues?
Your description of yourself actually fits me perfectly. I have little time for Davis, the man, and only slightly more for his music. I've bought quite a lot of his albums over a 20 year period, mainly because the superbly remixed / remastered CDs sound so good and are cheap. I fell in love with Kind Of Blue 25 years ago and perhaps mistakenly thought there must be other Davis albums as good or at least albums I would like as much. So far no dice. However with a dogged perseverance (or blind faith?) I've revisited quite a few of the albums and there are some I really quite like. Believe it or not I bought Bitches Brew Complete as my introduction to that album! I thought it would be great as everyone said it was and I had the belief that if I liked it as much as KOB, I'd probably end up wanting more material from the same period anyway so I took a risky punt on it. I was wrong on both counts! I'm not a fan of his fusion period because I find its largely made up of cut and paste segments of (to my ears) interminable jams which seem to start randomly and go nowhere. I suppose I have an equal love / hate relationship with his music. I'm a big fan of Sketches Of Spain and perhaps surprisingly, Jack Johnson (the latter due to the heavier rock elements). On The Corner is the worst album I know but it has its fans and that's cool! I guess my rambling post is trying to say that I believe you're mistakenly taking it as read that there are "essential" Complete sets when as someone has already pointed out, what defines essential is led by your own taste here and how much Davis you want or if you're more of a collector than a listener. My advice would be to get his original albums first and then the outtake albums released during his lifetime. If and only then you want more.........
Yeah, I recall the list being $750 and as you say they discounted pretty quickly before blowing them out via Pop Market, it's a lovely package though not very practical for storage.
65-68 - Best of the acoustic period. In A Silent Way - Oh man, that last disc. On The Corner - Best of the electric period. The embossed box is a thing of beauty. I sold the Genius trumpet case but wished I'd kept a couple of those Complete box sets. I omitted Bitches Brew because I prefer the original mix and besides, I have the 40th box mainly for Tanglewood and theDVD. Jack Johnson is a must if you don't mind the repeated takes. I'll let someone else chime in regarding the earlier sets as I lean more towards his electric period.
All these raves are making me want the On The Corner set to complete my collection. Back in the day, most of these sets were available from Columbia House for around $30 on sale, identical to the store-bought versions. They were an absolute steal at at that price!
Damn the torpedoes, I all in. Anyone ordered from the Miles Davis web store in the past? How is the service, packaging etc? After all these bad boys are not in expensive.
these have probably been at a pressing plant for months due to the special packaging. At this point its better to release them than sit on them and not making any money back
Color me surprised if the packing is same as the original. The On The Corner set in particular must be ridiculously expensive to manufacture. Will definitely pick up the only one I'm missing - the Seven Steps set, which is the least essential box. Great music, but almost all of it can be found on stand alone releases.
