To younger music fans—or at least those hipper than I—the
idea of CD box sets must seem hopelessly passé.
Given file-sharing and the growing number of digital-download Web
sites, both legal and otherwise, owning a bunch of music by one artist
on several CDs in a cardboard box—no matter how cool the graphics
and extras—is so old-school.
And, when you can store your entire music collection in files on
your MacBook Pro, it’s space-consuming, too.
But some of us still buy box sets for ourselves and as gifts; they
are among the coolest luxury entertainment items available. Record
companies must also find them to be moneymakers, because they still
make and market the things.
And why not? All the labels usually need to do is repackage music
that, for the most part, has already been recorded and released, pay
some media celebrity or hot-shit journalist to write new liner notes,
and tie it all up with unearthed photos and archival items.
What follows is a selected list of some of the more promising box
sets to hit the market this year. The Amazon.com prices as of our press deadline are
listed here; prices in stores will vary.
Not mentioned here are potentially interesting new box sets by such
artists as Frank Sinatra, the Thompson Twins, The Doors, Nirvana, the
Rolling Stones, Richard Thompson, AC/DC, Genesis, Yo-Yo Ma, Depeche
Mode, Credence Clearwater Revival, Neil Young, Philip Glass, Tom Petty
and the Heartbreakers, Paul McCartney, the String Cheese Incident,
Kraftwerk and The Smiths, as well as retrospectives from the record
labels Death Row and Def Jam.
We’ll begin with this year’s Holy Grail for music geeks.
The Beatles
The Beatles Stereo Box Set
EMI, 16 CDs, $175.49
Sure, stores may have sold out of this box during its initial
release in September, but did you ever doubt that supplies would be
re-stocked in time for the gift-giving holidays? No previously
unreleased cuts were dug up and reissued here; it’s just great-sounding
recordings of classic music. The remastered versions of all 14 of the
legendary band’s studio albums, as well as the two-CD Past
Masters singles collection, sound uniformly wonderful. The early
albums are included here in the original United Kingdom versions, not
the repackaged American editions.
Of course, for you real audiophiles, there’s The Beatles Mono Box
Set ($229.99), which presents the first 10 albums in remastered
mono, as well as a double album of singles and EPs, called Mono
Masters.
Daryl Hall and John Oates
Do What You Want, Be What You Are
SONY LEGACY, FOUR CDS, $44.98
OMG! One of the most successful pop-music duos in history hasn’t
done much for us lately, but the late 1970s and ’80s hits by this
Philly soul partnership are unforgettable. Whether that’s a good or bad
thing depends on your personal tastes.
Hall and Oates produced no less than 22 Top 20 singles, including
six that reached no. 1. All of those are included here among 74 tracks
that originally were issued by seven (!) different record labels. Also
on the discs are 16 previously unreleased cuts, live versions, studio
outtakes and remixes.
A couple of the duo’s more obscure albums are underrepresented here,
so you won’t want to get rid of that old vinyl. But I couldn’t do
without “Sara Smile,” “She’s Gone,” “Rich Girl,” “I Can’t Go for That
(No Can Do),” “Everytime You Go Away” and “Kiss on My List.” Heavily
annotated, and it contains track-by-track commentary by Daryl and
John!
Big Star
Keep an Eye on the Sky
RHINO, FOUR CDS, $62.98
This set examining the 1968-1975 career of the Memphis soul-pop
band—featuring songwriters Chris Bell and Alex Chilton—is
an amazing retrospective that shoehorns 98 songs onto four discs,
including all three of the band’s studio recordings, unreleased demos,
unused mixes, alternate versions of songs and a 1973 concert. Great
packaging includes lots of liner notes, rare photos and insightful
essays about an immortal and influential band that got scant airplay
and is rarely heard of today—outside of music-geek circles, that
is.
Various Artists
Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965-1968
RHINO, FOUR CDS, $53.99
Is Rhino Records not the best reissue label? Further proof is
provided in the 101 songs on these four discs—part of the ongoing
exploration of 1960s music that is the Nuggets series. (Last year saw
the release of a similar box looking at the San Francisco scene of
roughly the same period.) You can’t go wrong with this exciting
collection of early, pivotal tunes by the likes of The Byrds, Love, The
Doors, the Beach Boys, Buffalo Springfield, Captain Beefheart, the
Mamas and the the Papas, Lowell George, Iron Butterfly, The Seeds,
Electric Prunes and many more. Groovy!
Dolly Parton
Dolly
SONY LEGACY, FOUR CDS, $39.49
Few women in country music, or music in general, can match the
quality and hit-making output of Ms. Parton, who finally gets her due
with this career-spanning set. Almost 100 tracks of pure country gold
include early cuts, rarities, previously unreleased tracks, iconic
duets with Porter Wagoner, material from her collaboration with Linda
Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris, and historically significant songs that
have become part of our cultural heritage, from “Jolene” to “I Will
Always Love You.” Can’t go wrong here.
The Miracles
Depend on Me: The Early Albums
HIP-O SELECT, TWO CDS, $26.99
What a bargain! Motown fans have been clamoring for decades to see
these records re-released. The first five Miracles albums—before
Smokey Robinson received top billing—are here on two CDs. The
music is full of ageless beauty, from “Shop Around” to “You’ve Really
Got a Hold on Me.” Here can be found the genesis of brilliance that
would take the world by storm years later.
Buddy Holly
Not Fade Away: The Complete Studio Recordings and More
HIP-O SELECT, SIX CDS, $107.99
Again, it’s about time. This influential Texas-born genius helped
create rock ‘n’ roll and classic pop-rock in the 1950s before his
untimely plane-crash death. Often, fans wonder what he might have done
in the decades following. That’s a moot point, considering the landmark
achievements and legacy he left behind.
The set includes 203 tracks, from his early teenage recordings to
work for labels such as Decca, Coral and Brunswick. Six previously
unavailable tracks are included, along with timeless singles such as
“Not Fade Away,” “Peggy Sue,” “Oh Boy,” “Everyday,” “That’ll Be the
Day” and many more.
This article appears in Dec 10-16, 2009.