Box Sets; Who is left that doesn't have them?

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Who are the most significant/important acts who still don't have career-spanning multi-disc box sets? Madonna?

― Dave Vinson (Gaughin), Thursday, 25 December 2003 05:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Tom Waits, Neil Young.

― Ian Johnson (orion), Thursday, 25 December 2003 05:31 (twenty-one years ago)

I was gonna say Neil, too. Alice Cooper?

― roger adultery (roger adultery), Thursday, 25 December 2003 05:43 (twenty-one years ago)

Scritti Politti, Public Enemy

― Sonny A. (Keiko), Thursday, 25 December 2003 05:50 (twenty-one years ago)

Prince - and considering the size of his known vault it would be something special - 30cds

― Jedmond, Thursday, 25 December 2003 08:01 (twenty-one years ago)

A Scritti box, eh? "Whoah," I say...

― Naive Teen Idol (Naive Teen Idol), Thursday, 25 December 2003 08:21 (twenty-one years ago)

Does Mr. L. Cohen have a box?

― Ian Johnson (orion), Thursday, 25 December 2003 08:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Sly and the M***********g Family Stone.

And, you know, there's not a Beatles box, as such.

― Douglas (Douglas), Thursday, 25 December 2003 08:49 (twenty-one years ago)

There is an Alice Cooper box set entitled Life And Crimes, as it happens.

― Schwingung (Damian), Thursday, 25 December 2003 09:44 (twenty-one years ago)

Lucinda Williams doesn't have one. Neither does Steve Earle.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Thursday, 25 December 2003 19:28 (twenty-one years ago)

R.E.M.

― may pang (maypang), Thursday, 25 December 2003 19:29 (twenty-one years ago)

There is enough extremely high quality live, rare, and unreleased Pavement material out there to make a really amazing box set. But they may just go with the S+E Luxe & Reduxe model, though.

Even still, if they commercially released the right set of shows, an amazing live box set could be released that would shed new light on the band that only the truly hardcore get to hear. A lot of those live Pavement shows that are in circulation capture a brilliance that the studio recordings only hint at, and Slow Century only gave a small taste of.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Thursday, 25 December 2003 19:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Also: If they didn't fuck it up for themselves, a U2 box set could be really interesting. It'll happen someday, I'm sure. Hopefully it'll have "Be There" on it.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Thursday, 25 December 2003 19:39 (twenty-one years ago)

Has to have "New Years Day" other wise, I don't want it.

― Aja (aja), Thursday, 25 December 2003 19:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I don't want it no matter what is on it.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Thursday, 25 December 2003 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

i dont know how appropriate it is now that they have a new album, but i would have loved to see a box set of the complete released works of bark psychosis.

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Thursday, 25 December 2003 20:23 (twenty-one years ago)

Queen
Sonic Youth
Parliament-Funkadelic

― earlnash, Thursday, 25 December 2003 22:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Parliament and Funkadelic require separate boxes.

― Phil Freeman (Phil Freeman), Thursday, 25 December 2003 22:21 (twenty-one years ago)

buck/nicks era fleetwood mac

― the surface noise (electricsound), Thursday, 25 December 2003 23:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Why spend a lot of money on a box set for "New Year's Day" when you can get War mid-price at most any record shop anywhere?

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Thursday, 25 December 2003 23:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm craving for a Smashing Pumpkins unreleased material box since the day they broke up... something like the infamous "Mashed Potatoes" set but expanded with all the old demos and unreleased outtakes.

― JP Almeida (JP Almeida), Thursday, 25 December 2003 23:22 (twenty-one years ago)

I thought Prince had a 3 CD box -- hits & B-sides?

― Mark (MarkR), Thursday, 25 December 2003 23:49 (twenty-one years ago)

Alice Cooper has a box set, Prince has a box set (two if you include that recent live thing), R.E.M. has one of those singles box sets if those stupid things count, P-Funk have several live box sets and a recent box set of later Parliament stuff, Queen I think has one no?, Fleetwood Mac had a shitty box set called "The Chain" which was quickly taken out of print, Smashing Pumpkins have that silly black and white swirly box set thing.

I find box sets from "album artists" to be a waste of time and shelf space. Actually most box sets are problematic because of their sheer size, I find it difficult to get used to, say, Nat King Cole in 150 tracks than in just 15 or 20. I guess once you are hooked they can be a worthwhile investment depending on how much care was put into them. But just as often they can be overwhelming and not for the better. Sly and the Family Stone for example, why not just buy the individual albums?

― amateur!st (amateurist), Thursday, 25 December 2003 23:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I'd hardly call a greatest hits collection or a purely live album a boxset - in spite of stupid packaging. But then my definition of a boxset is something like The Jimi Hendrix Experience Boxset - all alternate takes, studio chatter, outtakes and live performances - ie fanboy stuff - Boxsets are for obsessives - Greatest hits are for newcomers - combine those two and you have a useless boxset (like New Order's Retro)

― Jedmond, Friday, 26 December 2003 04:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Douglas Sez: And, you know, there's not a Beatles box, as such

I used to own a box set of the Beatles called... "The Beatles Box". Was that less official than I thought? (Has "She's a Woman" on it - i.e. wasn't totally redundant to the canon)

― plebian plebs (plebian), Friday, 26 December 2003 08:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I've had a Funkadelic Box (3cds, I think) outta my library before (1976-1981, I think). Never seen a Parliament. I reckon doing a whole Clinton box may be the way to go, and could provide the man with some much needed funds.

― plebian plebs (plebian), Friday, 26 December 2003 09:01 (twenty-one years ago)

The Prince Hits/B-sides didn't come in a box. Why that makes a difference from all tha 3cd boxes I don't know. The b-sides disc could have been way better just by upsizing to the 12" mixes, tho. And ditto The Hits by not cutting some of the songs off 2/3 of the way through.

― plebian plebs (plebian), Friday, 26 December 2003 09:03 (twenty-one years ago)

When (if?) they ever stop churning out stone-cold classics, Timbaland, the Neptunes and Dr Dre boxsets would be awesome, because their work is spread over so many different albums. They've certainly got enough back catalogue to do them now.

An SAW boxset would be good too.

― Nick H (Nick H), Friday, 26 December 2003 12:16 (twenty-one years ago)

i like the prince box and its "radio" edits because it offers a different appeal than the full-length tracks which can usually be found on the albums....it's like prince on uppers or something.

― amateur!st (amateurist), Friday, 26 December 2003 14:29 (twenty-one years ago)

Taylor Rain.

― DarrensCoq (DarrenK), Friday, 26 December 2003 15:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Cannonball (and Nat) Adderley?

― Jordan (Jordan), Friday, 26 December 2003 15:45 (twenty-one years ago)

The Hives.
Blur.
The White Strips.
The Sonic Youth.

― Girlwithstupideyes, Friday, 26 December 2003 16:05 (twenty-one years ago)

Joni Mitchell
Nirvana (not counting the singles box)
Van Morrison
Husker Du
Martin Scorcese (it would be a licensing nightmare but how cool would it be to have a box compiling all of the songs he's used in his movies)

BTW,The Beatles box set (the legit Capital one in the U.S. and on EMI in the UK) is a big black box containing all of the original studio albums plus the two Past Masters albums.

― Charles McCain (Charles McCain), Friday, 26 December 2003 17:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Going in a totally different direction - I'd be particularly interested in box sets collecting the singles of pop producers/production teams like The Neptunes, Timbaland, Stock/Aitken/Waterman, etc.

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Friday, 26 December 2003 19:32 (twenty-one years ago)

I think I got annoyed at the Prince radio edits because The Hits was the first Prince CD I bought after my reccid player broke and I decided I should change over. Not having the full length of "When Doves Cry" and especially "If I Was Your Girlfriend" was really frustrating. Now it doesn't matter so much I guess. As for the Bs, you really need the full 7 minutes of Erotic City, and without the crazy horn solos on "La La La He He He" the song is useless.

A Timbaland box would be a brilliant idea in a year or two when he's definitely run out of steam (he could easily make us wait longer, of course). In 20 years it might look as good as the Spector one does, tho Timbo's likely to remain sane, I hope.

― plebian plebs (plebian), Friday, 26 December 2003 20:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Eh. Timbaland's eventual singles box will pale in comparison to the Neptunes. The Neptunes have far bigger (and better) hits, and more hits in general. Timbaland : Stax :: Neptunes : Motown

― Matthew Perpetua (Matthew Perpetua), Friday, 26 December 2003 21:41 (twenty-one years ago)

I have both a Stax box and a Motown box. Mebbe one day I'll have a Timbo box and a Neptunes one.

― plebian plebs (plebian), Saturday, 27 December 2003 06:47 (twenty-one years ago)

boredoms!

― geeta (geeta), Saturday, 27 December 2003 06:48 (twenty-one years ago)

there's already been a Blur box set. i see no point in a Hives one because they've got virtually nothing released that isn't on one of their albums. and the non-LP white stripes stuff would probably also fit on a single CD.

― the surface noise (electricsound), Saturday, 27 December 2003 10:54 (twenty-one years ago)

there are plans for MBV to release a box. that ought to be interesting because they are prob the last band I'd expect to have one.

― Julio Desouza (jdesouza), Saturday, 27 December 2003 11:03 (twenty-one years ago)

Depeche Mode. If their outtakes is remotely the same quality as their b-sides it would be a really interesting one too.

Oasis. Bit early, maybe, but considering their stash of great b-sides it is possible they'd fill a decent 3 CD box set.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 27 December 2003 13:57 (twenty-one years ago)

And, yeah, how about a Vince Clarke box set?

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 27 December 2003 13:57 (twenty-one years ago)

And Prefab Sprout, obviously. Would love to hear everything he did between "Jordan...The Comeback" and "Andromeda Heights". Apparently a lot of real masterpieces that have never seen the light of day on CD.

― Geir Hongro (GeirHong), Saturday, 27 December 2003 14:00 (twenty-one years ago)

smells dank in here

― amateur!st (amateurist), Saturday, 27 December 2003 15:29 (twenty-one years ago)

instead of a DM box, i'd love to see double-disc versions of all of their albums with the remastered album on the first disc, and then all the album-related b-sides, rarities, and remixes on the second.

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Saturday, 27 December 2003 20:35 (twenty-one years ago)

with ned writing the liner notes of course ;-)

― Aaron Grossman (aajjgg), Saturday, 27 December 2003 20:35 (twenty-one years ago)

me!

― Jay Kid (Jay K), Sunday, 28 December 2003 22:05 (twenty-one years ago)

everyone has a box set ...IF YOU PUT THEIR CDS IN A BOX!!!

― neil hotdog, Sunday, 28 December 2003 22:35 (twenty-one years ago)

Eh. Timbaland's eventual singles box will pale in comparison to the Neptunes. The Neptunes have far bigger (and better) hits, and more hits in general. Timbaland : Stax :: Neptunes : Motown

There seems to be more progression with Tim's work which would probably reveal itself more in a boxset. "One In A Million" -> "Get UR Freak On" -> "Cry Me A River" is a hell of a journey in such a short space of time (6 years?).

The Neps would be ace and serve as a pretty definitive statement of their dominance. You could also put it in a multi-changer at a party and never have to change it.

― Nick H (Nick H), Sunday, 28 December 2003 23:08 (twenty-one years ago)

Pretenders

― John Fredland (jfredland), Monday, 29 December 2003 08:42 (twenty-one years ago)

Elvis Costello, if you don't include the 2and a half years thingy which was just a rebox of his first 3 cds plus his Live at Mocambo promo cd.

― Jim Reckling (Jim Reckling), Monday, 29 December 2003 16:54 (twenty-one years ago)

Billy Childish.

― My Lord, Monday, 29 December 2003 16:57 (twenty-one years ago)

nine years pass...

I would buy the hell out of a Robert Plant Solo Albums box set

― too many encores (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Monday, 31 December 2012 14:46 (twelve years ago)

Slovenly.

― kwhitehead, Monday, 31 December 2012 14:59 (twelve years ago)

a Smiths one that's *called* 'The Complete Smiths* that actually IS complete would be nice. nothing fancy just what it says on the box thanks.
and maybe throw in the complete Radio/Peel sessions (STILL unavailable on Cd or vinyl after 3 decades!).

― piscesx, Monday, 31 December 2012 15:45 (twelve years ago)

There is a Robert Plant solo albums box that came out in 2006. It's called Nine Lives, and collects the first 9 solo records with a dvd that has a short documentary and most of the videos he made over the years.

I almost picked it up a few years ago, but was able to get the first six remastered solo records for under $40 and the box was around $80.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, 31 December 2012 16:01 (twelve years ago)

Yeah, I reviewed the Plant box for the Voice. Not much in the way of bonus tracks, but it's good stuff.

― 誤訳侮辱, Monday, 31 December 2012 16:17 (twelve years ago)

Bo Diddley needs one.

― FunkyTonk, Monday, 31 December 2012 16:28 (twelve years ago)

Barry white/the love unlimited orchestra/love unlimited box would be the holy grail for me
complete pfunk box would cost 1000 dollars but I'd stop eating for a few months to make that work

― Todd Terragh - "It's the Harps" (m bison), Monday, 31 December 2012 16:34 (twelve years ago)

I remember the small (3 or 4 discs?) Barry White box set from the early 90s was decent.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, 31 December 2012 16:36 (twelve years ago)

Barry White made a cameo in my dream last night!

― how's life, Monday, 31 December 2012 16:40 (twelve years ago)

Chess put out a series of boxes for Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, etc. sometime in the late '80s, but I don't know how complete they were. Here's a full-scale Bo Diddley box:

http://rukusjuice.blogspot.ca/2011/03/bo-diddley-chess-years-12-cd-box-set.html

― clemenza, Monday, 31 December 2012 16:43 (twelve years ago)

I have the 2CD Bo Diddley Chess Box, which is fine as an overview, but two discs do not a box make.

― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Monday, 31 December 2012 17:06 (twelve years ago)

Hip-O Select was doing "Complete Chess Masters" sets on Bo, Muddy, Chuck etc., but I don't know how far they actually got with any of them.

― Big Sambola & The Tailspinners (C. Grisso/McCain), Monday, 31 December 2012 18:07 (twelve years ago)

back when I could not afford to buy any box sets pretty much ever I used to eye the Howlin' Wolf box with envy

― too many encores (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Monday, 31 December 2012 19:08 (twelve years ago)

For a long time in the 90s the only box set I owned was Citizen Steely Dan. It was a good choice.

― ~farben~ (Jon Lewis), Monday, 31 December 2012 19:10 (twelve years ago)

owned that howlin' wolf box set. don't own it any longer.

― packt like phoebe cates's dad in a chimney (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Monday, 31 December 2012 19:11 (twelve years ago)

i don't really want to spend today thinking about the money i spent on box sets i no longer own but here we are.

― packt like phoebe cates's dad in a chimney (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Monday, 31 December 2012 19:11 (twelve years ago)

the one that really pissed me off the most was the joy division box. i think that shittily put-together thing fell apart on the way home from the record store.

― packt like phoebe cates's dad in a chimney (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Monday, 31 December 2012 19:12 (twelve years ago)

Joy Division's post-Still cynical profiteering makes the Rolling Stones look like considerate dudes who'd sooner take a bullet than fleece their fans

― too many encores (underrated aerosmith bootlegs I have owned), Monday, 31 December 2012 19:26 (twelve years ago)

bjork still the reigning queen of parting fools from their money tho

― packt like phoebe cates's dad in a chimney (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Monday, 31 December 2012 19:28 (twelve years ago)

One Direction

― fiscal cliff huxtable (latebloomer), Monday, 31 December 2012 19:32 (twelve years ago)

wtf the jd box rules, it has everything

― 2am chopped top (brimstead), Monday, 31 December 2012 19:59 (twelve years ago)

I want a massive prelude records box

― 2am chopped top (brimstead), Monday, 31 December 2012 20:01 (twelve years ago)

I'd like a Midnight Oil set. And INXS and Split Enz too. My antipodean box set collection is AC/DC's Bonfire and a dub of the Flying Nun's 25th Anniversary box. Need more.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, 31 December 2012 20:07 (twelve years ago)

Yeah, the 4CD Joy Division box had pretty much everything you needed. The 4CD New Order box was the one that was all mysterious omissions, ridiculous per-disc concepts, etc.

― 誤訳侮辱, Monday, 31 December 2012 20:33 (twelve years ago)

Apparently, an Oils box -- 20 CDs, 5 DVDs -- was planned, even getting to the artwork stage:

andrew-teague.com/Midnight-Oil-Definitive-Collection

― Tarfumes The Escape Goat, Monday, 31 December 2012 22:50 (twelve years ago)

That Charley Patton thing has a lot to answer for.

― Terabytes of FLACS of screaming (Call the Cops), Monday, 31 December 2012 23:04 (twelve years ago)

I remember reading about the Oils box but all that came out of it was a remastered 2-disc hits collection. Bummed.

― EZ Snappin, Monday, 31 December 2012 23:37 (twelve years ago)

nine years pass...

There have been box sets (mostly from INA-GRM) of Pierre Schaeffer, Pierre Henry (two of 'em), Francois Bayle, Luc Ferrari, Bernard Parmegiani, Denis Dufour and Elaine Radigue, so where's the Francis Dhomont one?

― Gulf VAR Syndrome (Tom D.), Friday, 16 December 2022 13:59 (two years ago)

Philips/Universal also put out four Pierre Henry boxes in the early '00s (Mix 1.0, 2.0 etc.), each containing 4-5 discs plus bonus/unreleased material.

― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Friday, 16 December 2022 15:49 (two years ago)

^^ those are so great

― sleeve, Friday, 16 December 2022 15:51 (two years ago)

a Lemon Kittens box sure would be nice, same with D.D.A.A.

― sleeve, Friday, 16 December 2022 15:51 (two years ago)

(xp) Pierre Henry fans have certainly been well served!

― Gulf VAR Syndrome (Tom D.), Friday, 16 December 2022 15:54 (two years ago)

i've been working on a D Dax reissue for many years and it is progressing at a snail's pace so i'm guessing a Lemon Kittens box could be a difficult prospect. I'd buy one though.

x post

― stirmonster, Friday, 16 December 2022 16:35 (two years ago)

There was a comprehensive Van der Graaf Generator box set last year, so a companion set collecting Peter Hammill's solo albums for Charisma would be very welcome. His discography after he left Charisma is massive and all over the place so a box covering all his solo albums could never happen, but the Charisma ones would be do-able.

― lord of the rongs (anagram), Friday, 16 December 2022 17:21 (two years ago)

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