The Smiley Smile Message Board

TSS has got me thinking about box sets from other artists. What is the best box set in your music collection? Obviously this shouldn't include TSS or any other Beach Boys box set. With other artists in general, is there a box set you have that is your prized possession in your music collection? Or do you have a specific box set you own that is the best you ever got?

My favorite non-BB box set -- not that I own many in the first place, but still -- is the Kind of Blue 50th anniversary one I bought a few years back. Loved the look of the CDs and vinyl, and the included book has some great pictures.

Elvis - The Complete 50's Masters. I got so much play outta those.

I was thinking about buying that. I may in the future if it's still available.
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I'm not that into box sets - So I only own the PSS, TSS, GV Boxset, and the Miles Davis Jack Johnson sessions set. All well worth the money however!

Some of my favorites:

Allman Brothers Band - Dreams

Booker T & the MGs - Time is Tight

Little Feat - Hot Cakes and Outtakes

The Atlantic Records Box

Oh yeah, Phillips The Complete Mozart was pretty monstrous too.  :o

The 'first' Doors one.  I'm kind of out of the "doors" scene, but the one with 4 grey discs, one was a live concert in New York, and it had all kinds of alternate takes and unreleased songs all over it.  That thing was AWESOME when I was about 16.

Also, (and I won't get much backup on this one) Roger Miller's boxset called "The Genius Of Roger Miller" is phenomenal. 

Ennio Morricone / Bruno Nicolai - SOUND DIMENSIONS

Citizen Steely Dan - Walter and Donald's immaculate recorded output up to and including the Gaucho album all together in one set...fantastic !

OH, BY THE WAY - the complete Pink Floyd studio album collection - is great simply for the cover artwork which is quite superior to the bland DISCOVERY set issued last year as a replacement.

I'm also a big fan of PEEL SLOWLY AND SEE, which collects virtually everything by the Velvet Underground, and HEART AND SOUL, which collects virtually everything by Joy Division.

I also love the Stooges FUN HOUSE box set from Rhino which gives you eight discs covering the entire recording sessions for the band's second album (for those who can stomach thirty-plus run-throughs of songs like "Loose").  :lol

Hitsville and the Nuggets boxes are pretty canonical.

The only box-sets I own are the 3 Beach Boys ones (excluding the Capitol Singles box ... for now) and a couple of Phil Spector box sets - Back to Mono and The Philles Album Collection - so I'll think I'll go for the latter purely for finally releasing The Fabulous Ronettes and numerous b-sides on CD.

There's also The Smiths Complete but it's just a collection of their albums (remastered), i.e. nothing previously unreleased on it.

Pink Floyd's Discovery Box. Some of it was over indulgent and useless, but it was cool hearing most of the unused tracks, and of course getting the remastered discography. I thought it was well done/

Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets 1965–1968

A lot of my friends worked on this set and it's really fantastic.

Aside from the obvious one, I was very happy when Nirvana's box set was released in 2004. Now I don't even listen to Nirvana. :)

And those are the only box sets that I own.

Tell your friends they are excellent examples of the human condition  ;D

If I owned a physical copy of The Doo Wop box, I'd have to say that. But ones I actually physically own..... Peel Slowly & See, The Velvet Underground boxset. Pretty much changed my game a few years back.

The Velvet Underground's Peel Slowly And See.

The Look of Love- The Burt Bacharach Collection is a treasure trove of hard-to-find gems. I highly recommend it for Bacharach fans. He's truly the best pop composer of all time (Sorry, Brian).

http://www.amazon.com/The-Look-Love-Bacharach-Collection/dp/B00000DGR0/ref=sr_1_3?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1334212763&sr=1-3

The Hyperion Schubert, complete songs of Franz Schubert

The Beatles in mono packaging and presentation was worth it (and is the only box I own that is non-BB).

Can't think of anything that comes close to Pet sounds sessions box. Sorry!

Agreed. That box set is mind blowing.

Beatles Mono Box
Jellyfish - Fanclub
Hitsville U.S.A
Sam Cooke - The Man Who Invented Soul

In A Silent Way Sessions-Miles Davis
Pet Sounds-The Beach Boys
The Beatles In Mono
The Doors Complete Discography box from 1999

Came excedingly close to getting the Ella Complete Songbooks box set today at the record shop I frequent, £130 was quite a steal for the thing but I always manage to pursuade myself not to spend a lot and left the shop with a £2 Depeche Mode CD. Forking out £130 for The Smile Sessions felt natural but for some reason I just couldn't dig deep enough for Ella :( I've accepted I'll never own that delightful box :violin

The Doors Perception set for me because of the 5.1 mixes.
The Talking Heads stereo/surround brick and Bob Dylan mono box are really good, too. I'm also a fan of several of the Genesis box sets for the surround mixes.

That's what Rapidshare, Sendspace, Torrents... :police:I mean iTunes and Amazon...are for.

bb box #1, Beatles remastered, Spector Box, Both byrds boxes, TSS, Who box

Yea the Beatles stereo remasters box is the best box ever if you want to get a complete discography. I loved the work they put into the cd-booklets. Great info, and some of the late 60s stuff is so improved in stereo that it's ridiculous. Especially Sgt Peppers and the A-side of Yellow submarine.

The Pet Sounds Sessions: This was a true *experience* to listen to this set, and one which was a must-have as soon as it became available. The vocals-only section was a real stunner, and still is. I'm usually good at these things but I can't even remember where I bought the set, it was probably Newbury Comics on Newbury Street in Boston. A real highlight in my collection.

The Monkees "Listen To The Band", as much for the memories of tracking down a copy after finding out it was out of print. The whole afternoon spent getting to the one place that had a copy was a neat memory. I had many of the albums on vinyl already, and the Missing Links sets, but getting that box set as a catch-all for the hits, singles, etc. was good. Another total Christmas surprise was the "Music Box" Monkees set, which I had no idea I'd be receiving as a gift that year.

I don't have the originals because they were out of print, but the Headquarters Sessions in any format is one of the best things I ever got, one of my favorites which I listen to often. Inspiring.

I know I'm leaving some out...

The Beatles desperately need to be remixed. I just can't describe how bad all the mixing sounds, save for perhaps Abbey Road which is really the only album of theirs that sounds good to me. Whenever I try to listen to Sgt. Peppers I get a headache, it just wish they would remix all the albums already.

This is my favourite boxset which I picked up at charity shop for £2 - 10 CD's in total...

(http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm198/RonSaunders/EBID%202011/EBID2011007.jpg)

(http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm198/RonSaunders/EBID%202011/EBID2011008.jpg)

Loadsa of 50's / 60s stuff, classics with Jan & Dean, BBs, Trashmen, Richie Valens etc...

Unfortunately there aren't many options available for remixing the Beatles' stuff, as so much of it was done on four- or even three-track recorders, and lots of things are locked together. Listen to the 80s stereo mixes of Help! and Rubber Soul and you'll see they still sound wrong -- there's only so much that can be done.

That said, the mono versions are much, much better (except for Your Mother Should Know, for some reason). The only Beatles albums worth listening to in stereo are Abbey Road and Let It Be, where a mono mix doesn't exist.

The CD remixes are not a good example of what can be done with those recordings. Check the Anthology DVD set for extremely well-done unique stereo remixes.

Are they all original versions?  I had a few of sets smaller than this over the years, but they always had a lot of re-recordings.  I bought a Little Richard album once, and figured out after about the 6th song that the entire thing was re-recorded when he was in his 60's.  Sounded incredible, I couldn't tell the difference for the first half of the album, lol. 

I like the Genesis 1970 - 1975 box alot

(http://sweetmelissarecords.com/shop/images/081227990305.jpg)

One of the great things on the set is a documentary for each album (which feature all members involved in their making).  It's frustrating sometimes in Beach Boys documentaries when Sunflower is mentioned for only 1 or 2 minutes or you think 'they just skipped over Friends'!

As well as the docs on each album there is footage of live performances/tv appearances relevant to each album.

A great box that has all the Gabriel Era therefore the only one i need :)

I second the shout for Nuggets, an instant record collection of gems!

I don't think I've ever felt as good holding a box set as when I was walking out of one of my local indies with the SMiLE box three or four days before it was released :)
Still, though, I think Lesley Gore's 5CD box is the best I own in terms of overall packaging, presentation, quality of material, (and especially) sound.

Oh, yeah, duh....The Mono Box too.

Yep, all originals Ron. None of that rerecorded rubbish...

Great choice.

The Smile Session light-up set is far and away the best box set I own. The Beatles in mono is the best non BB set

The best set I own is Miles Davis: The Complete Columbia Album Collection.
Mind you, it's VERY closely followed by the Smile set, but how can you beat 70 discs of Miles?
You can't.

Listen, I love the stereo remix of Sgt Pepper and the A-side of Yellow Submarine. In my stereo system it sounds amazing. I don't know where you'are all coming from with all this hate for the sterreo box. Really? Even the mono albums are such in improvement over the 87 Cds that it's worth the price......you know?

Sgt. Pepper was remixed?

The song not the album.

Just set my eyes on the Joe Meek EP Collection box.

*Entering spoilt child mode* I want it x50