What are some good box sets I should add to my Xmas list?

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I'm thinking maybe that Echo and the B-men one since I don't have any of their stuff on CD.

Maybe that Bjork live set?

Suggestions would be great.

― Gentry Boeckel, Sunday, 30 November 2003 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Motorhead box set is what I'm after. That Echo boxset is great, by the way.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 30 November 2003 18:43 (twenty-two years ago)

The Motorhead box is fantastic. The Slayer one is kinda disappointing, though.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:06 (twenty-two years ago)

The Slayer one is kinda disappointing, though.

What's on it?

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Kentucky Mountain Music.

― hstencil, Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

The Slayer box is (Discs 1 and 2) album cuts, (Disc 3) demos and bootleg-quality early-days liveage, (Disc 4) a live DVD, which is unnecessary because once again, like War At The Warfield, it features Paul Bostaph on drums and not Dave Lombardo. If you buy the ultra-fancy 5-CD version, you get a live CD from May '02, which is pretty good, but seriously, with the live DVD, plus Decade Of Aggression which still holds up, how much live Slayer does one person need?

Disc 2 was useful for me, because I stopped buying their albums after Dave left, and it turns out I missed some good stuff after all. But for most folks, this box defines unnecessary. Slayer just don't have all that many rarities, it turns out.

I bought myself the ZZ Top box, though, because all the tracks from the 70s albums are returned to their organic glory, shorn of the digital drum sound that ruined all previous CD issues.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:10 (twenty-two years ago)

That Echo boxset is great, by the way.

Yus'm, several times over.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:18 (twenty-two years ago)

Cheers, Phil. Yeah, sounds a bit extraneous.

The XTC boxset of last year (I think) was pretty nice. That being Coat of Many CupBoards, not Transistor Blast. I'm still waiting for proper, rareity-laden box sets from Killing Joke and Siouxsie & the Banshees, goddammit....but I shan't hold my breath.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:20 (twenty-two years ago)

The XTC boxset of last year (I think) was pretty nice.

Heh, just got that myself at a Wherehouse that was going out of business, I love markdowns.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:22 (twenty-two years ago)

New Talking Heads box set! I don't have it yet, but the tracklist looks great

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:28 (twenty-two years ago)

It comes in really unweildy packaging.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:33 (twenty-two years ago)

Weatherbox

― brian, Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:38 (twenty-two years ago)

OHM electronic music pioneers box set

Anthology of folk music vol. 4 (these are what i want)

― russ, Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:40 (twenty-two years ago)

I have Volume 4, it's great.

― hstencil, Sunday, 30 November 2003 19:41 (twenty-two years ago)

i second the Kentucky Mountain Music.

also: Goodbye Babylon on Dust To Digital

― jack cole (jackcole), Sunday, 30 November 2003 20:04 (twenty-two years ago)

I'm thinking of buying the Talking Heads set myself... Has anyone bought this? Is it any good? Does it replace the effort of buying all the albums?

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Sunday, 30 November 2003 20:16 (twenty-two years ago)

art bears 5 cd box set released just now-ish. 3 cds of newly remastered albums (and if they're as good as the henry cow remastering that'd be lovely then) + 2 cds of remixes. there is another cd sent to all who pre-ordered which has some other remixes and rare stuff but i'm confused as to whether this is actually available in the officail release.

― phil turnbull (philT), Sunday, 30 November 2003 20:18 (twenty-two years ago)

The Miles Davis/Jack Johnson box

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Sunday, 30 November 2003 20:24 (twenty-two years ago)

From what I've read about the Talking Heads box set, it seems to be inferior to Sand in the Vaseline and doesn't really replace anything. I guess you're better off just buying the first four albums.

― Chris F. (servoret), Sunday, 30 November 2003 21:11 (twenty-two years ago)

anyone heard the jimmy lyons box set?

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 30 November 2003 21:14 (twenty-two years ago)

oh, and cecil's 2t's for a lovely t box.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 30 November 2003 21:14 (twenty-two years ago)

I haven't heard the Lyons box, but the label sent me a one-CD sampler that was pretty choice.

And I own the Cecil box; it's fucking great. Who doesn't need 10 CDs of Cecil's trio with William Parker and Tony Oxley? The discs are short, though - only between 30-45 minutes each.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Sunday, 30 November 2003 21:23 (twenty-two years ago)

Pic-A-Nic Basket, the Hanna-Barbara cartoon music collection on Rhino.

― Ian Christe (Ian Christe), Sunday, 30 November 2003 21:34 (twenty-two years ago)

it was great of richard cook to put that cecil box out. I'm not much of a box set person (i only have another one).

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Sunday, 30 November 2003 21:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Ooo, I forgot about this: http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&uid=UIDSUB040311301323581805&sql=A2ejqoarayijz

― Gentry Boeckel, Sunday, 30 November 2003 21:39 (twenty-two years ago)

>I'm not much of a box set person (i only have another one).

I didn't used to be, but in the last couple of years, due to journalists getting cheap rates on 'em (when I don't just get a free copy), I've accumulated about 30 of the damn things.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Sunday, 30 November 2003 21:44 (twenty-two years ago)

the nuggets boxed sets. (i don't have them yet, so this is not from experience, but really there's no way you could go wrong! (but then you probably already have them...))

― youn, Sunday, 30 November 2003 22:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Weatherbox? Much too hard to find and surely much too costly.

― bahtology, Sunday, 30 November 2003 23:29 (twenty-two years ago)

1 Is the Anthology of American Folk Music worth getting if your only a novice in the genre? What about volume 4?
2 What are the most appropriate Jazz sets for a jazz neophyte? (keeping the price range around 50)
3 And finally, if anyone has this new No Thanks! Punk set, is it worth getting?

― ACakeOntheRocks, Monday, 1 December 2003 05:57 (twenty-two years ago)

Anthology of American Folk Music is great for neophytes! It's got amazing breadth stylistically (if not chronologically -- it covers a pretty brief period), and terrific liner notes. Along the same lines, Columbia's Roots N' Blues box set has great songs and good notes and covers a longer span (1925-1950); it's kind of hit and miss (some rarities on there that could have stayed rarities without any great harm to posterity), but that makes it fun in its own way.

As a jazz neophyte myself, I wholeheartedly recommend the Louis Armstrong Hot Five/Hot Seven box.

― spittle (spittle), Monday, 1 December 2003 06:12 (twenty-two years ago)

nuggets 1 and 2! rubble 1 and 2!

― the surface noise (electricsound), Monday, 1 December 2003 06:16 (twenty-two years ago)

is the galaxie 500 box set still in print? if so then that one too

― the surface noise (electricsound), Monday, 1 December 2003 06:16 (twenty-two years ago)

The Doo Wop Box!!

― Mike Ouderkirk (Mike Ouderkirk), Monday, 1 December 2003 07:17 (twenty-two years ago)

the new johnny cash box is great if you like his american recordings stuff.

― todd swiss (eliti), Monday, 1 December 2003 07:49 (twenty-two years ago)

The Jam boxset. Already out for a loooong time,but I still wuv it. More than the Style Council box I bought recently.

― nathalie (nathalie), Monday, 1 December 2003 08:16 (twenty-two years ago)

another crystal days fan here. might i also suggest antbox?

― Eisbär (llamasfur), Monday, 1 December 2003 08:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Nuggets II is even better than Nuggets I.
Older boxes: Coltrane Live at the Village Vanguard--The Complete Recordings; James Brown's Star Time.

― Douglas (Douglas), Monday, 1 December 2003 08:20 (twenty-two years ago)

Lee Scratch Perry, Arkology

― mentalist (mentalist), Monday, 1 December 2003 10:08 (twenty-two years ago)

"From what I've read about the Talking Heads box set, it seems to be inferior to Sand in the Vaseline and doesn't really replace anything. I guess you're better off just buying the first four albums."

I believe it includes an extended version of the Story Telling Giant video collection on DVD. Well, that's the only reason I'm contemplating buying it.

"... if anyone has this new No Thanks! Punk set, is it worth getting?"

I haven't got it but it's definitely worth getting if you don't already own a significant proportion of what's on it!

"Nuggets II is even better than Nuggets I"

Indeed - and the Rubble boxes are even better still!

Additional nominations for boxes not mentioned so far:
Marc Bolan & T.Rex - 20th Century Superstar
Ornette Coleman - Beauty Is A Rare Thing
Joy Division - Heart And Soul
Charles Mingus - Passions Of A Man
Pere Ubu - Datapanik In The Year Zero
David Thomas - Monster
Velvet Underground - Peel Slowly And See
Stevie Wonder - At The Close Of A Century
Various Artists - Tougher Than Tough / The Story Of Jamaican Music

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Monday, 1 December 2003 11:15 (twenty-two years ago)

What does the Joy Division boxset have to offer when you've got the 4 studio releases?

― Baaderist (Fabfunk), Monday, 1 December 2003 13:36 (twenty-two years ago)

The Jazz Singers 1919-1994 -- if you can find it. Smithsonian put it out a few years ago and it promptly went out of print. But a friend of mine took a trip down to D.C., visited the Smithsonian and found a copy in the museum shop. Score!
http://www.0ne-shop.com/music/Formats/Box-Sets/Broadway-Vocalists/Vocal-Jazz/P-0000000a0000636b5a616b5a576b6978/The-Jazz-Singers-1919-1994/The-Jazz-Singers-1919-1994.php

― Jazzbo (jmcgaw), Monday, 1 December 2003 13:39 (twenty-two years ago)

The Rhino 70's Punk box is alright.....but it's largely just the same stuff they released ten years ago in the D.I.Y series, i.e.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0000032YG.01.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

Reissue, repackage, repackage.....

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 1 December 2003 13:46 (twenty-two years ago)

http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B0000EWNXS.02.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

― kinski (kinski), Monday, 1 December 2003 16:49 (twenty-two years ago)

I've asked for the Steely Dan one for Xmas (just the first seven albums and the few odd tracks) although I was peeved to find out that the albums are broken up between discs.

― Vinnie (vprabhu), Monday, 1 December 2003 17:01 (twenty-two years ago)

Has anyone on here heard the new Johnny Cash "UnEarthed"? If so, are the four discs of never-heard-before music worth it?

― Adam Harrison-Friday, Monday, 1 December 2003 17:07 (twenty-two years ago)

Read above, Adam:

the new johnny cash box is great if you like his american recordings stuff.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 1 December 2003 17:12 (twenty-two years ago)

Kinski, is that Scott Walker box set worth it? I thought I read somewhere (possibly on ILM) that it wasn't all that good (quality-wise, song selection-wise).

As for sets I would recommend: The Complete Stax-Volt Singles 1959-1968. Nine CDs of all of the singles from this period. Any soul lover would KILL for the set. Also, Marvin Gaye - The Master 1961-1984 is excellent.

― Jonathan (Jonathan), Monday, 1 December 2003 17:44 (twenty-two years ago)

The Motorhead box set looks great.

How's come the Motorhead can be gotten for around $50 bucks for five discs and the Slayer is nearly $90 for three CDs and a DVD?

― earlnash, Monday, 1 December 2003 18:40 (twenty-two years ago)

There's two versions of the Slayer box. This one has three CDs and a live DVD. This one has that, plus another CD (more liveage) plus a button, guitar pick, poster, and maybe some other crap, and comes in a much larger box. Your call.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Monday, 1 December 2003 18:45 (twenty-two years ago)

Just took a look at the Talking Heads box in our company book store. It's really unweildy.....worse than the Joy Division box design.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Monday, 1 December 2003 19:18 (twenty-two years ago)

The Beat Happening box is rad, and the Dischord retrospective from last year is also good.

― Ian Johnson (orion), Monday, 1 December 2003 21:10 (twenty-two years ago)

**What does the Joy Division boxset have to offer when you've got the 4 studio releases?**

A while ago someone else asked and I said :

**The not-available-elsewhere trax on "Heart and Soul" are :

Insight/Glass/Transmission/Ice Age : Martin Rushent Demos

Dead Souls/Something Must Break/Walked in Line : Martin Hannet demos

Ceremony/In a Lonely Place

These Days/Candidate/The Only Mistake/Chance (Atmosphere) : Piccadilly Radio session

As You Said : from the Factory Flexi (Weren't Incubation and Komakino on "Substance"?)

Also Disc 4 has 19 live tracks from 4 gigs.

That makes a total of 31

The only stuff NOT on Heart and Soul is the Warsaw demos (apart from The Drawback/Interzone and Shadowplay which ARE), the live disc of Still, 5 or 6 tracks from the BBC sessions and the version of "LWTUA" on the b-side of the LWTUA 12-inch, which is not available anywhere else. It's the best version too!**

Then Tim Hopkins added 'At A Later Date' from the Electric Circus Live 10" album

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Monday, 1 December 2003 21:16 (twenty-two years ago)

The zombies box set, Zombie Heaven. It's great! You get their singles, their two albums, outtakes and alternate mixes and such, BBC live recordings, and an erection every time you listen to it. You can't lose! Slayer box set?! Tell her no no no nonono no no.

― Mr. Minkus (tasty-vinyl), Tuesday, 2 December 2003 19:11 (twenty-two years ago)

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