1990s - the golden era of CD box sets?

I would add:

Various - Sony Music 100 Years: Soundtrack For A Century

Great box set for anyone who loves a little bit of everything...

 

Yeah, this is my main problem with streaming and downloads. There is little point in listening to outtakes if you do not get the necessary track info. And that's one of the reasons I'll always love physical media.

I remember when the Beatles Anthologies came out and I loved Lewisohn's lines notes. At the time, I had little knowledge about the unreleased tracks and it was so nice to get all that info!

I get the feeling that nowadays liner notes often have less connection to the tracks list. I really enjoyed that aspect about the 90s boxsets. You could spend days to read everything (e.g. The Police - Message In A Bottle box).

 

Way too many to mention because I bought hundreds and hundreds of them.

 

Yeah, I forgot to mention that one. It was even better (also because of the unreleased 1983 tracks!). But I liked "Flashback" from Nov 2000, too. It contains a lot of recordings not available anywhere else.

 

Many, many great box sets have been released since the 90s, but if we're sticking just with that decade, then these three are perfect, IMO:

The Police -- Message In A Box
The Jam -- Direction, Reaction, Creation
The Zombies -- Zombie Heaven

 

This 5 CD bootleg was a blast!

 

I love rhinos release of the 4 c.d. "A Pic-Nic Basket" boxset of various Hanna-Barbara Cartoon themes....cue's...The Way Outs...
The Beau Brummel's.....packaged in a cool Basket like box.....love it!!!

 

"Palatine" a 4CD box of Factory Records released in 1990 was a nice sounding comp:-

Various - Palatine (The Factory Story / 1979-1990)

I snagged the version from HMV which came with a rather good VHS tape of Factory videos:-

Various - Palatine

 

Or they had an identity crisis. Did they want to a greatest hits/singles compilation, or rarities set? Very few could accomplish both in one set unless the artist had a small catalog.

 

Seems 1991 was the year
Some good one's mastering wise-
Depeche Mode-Singles 1-->3
Cocteau Twins-Singles Box
The Cult-Singles
The Mission UK-Magnificent Pieces
Journey-Time, 1992

 

Well, Discogs and Musicbrainz help.

 

Only if they actually blow up the type for readability.
The excellent 1992 big-ass 4AD Book Set Comp Lilliput is available, but you're missing out on the excellent art/design and write-ups.

 

It should still be in print too, or at least was a few years ago. The original copy I bought in the 90s was beat, so I bought a new reformatted one to replace it.

 

At one point in the late 90s a regional chain record store was closing down and slashed prices. I bought the following boxsets all in the same day at generous discounts:

-Joy Division - Heart and Soul
-Velvet Underground - Peel Slowly
-Misfits - Coffin Box
-Cocteau Twins - Singles Box

I think there were others too, but those are the ones I remember getting that day.

Someone mentioned the Jam box upthread. I love that one and the Style Council box as well. Some folks on here prefer earlier masterings of The Jam due to some NR being used on the box.

RE: the Police box, I think you can still get that one dirt cheap used and it's worth picking up.

Another one I really like is the Buzzocks' Product. There is a large version and a sized down one that goes for less money.

 

Peak box set is NOW. Time is running out to maximise profits whilst the boomer and Gen X start to shake of their mortal coil.

Some amazing box sets out there.

 

Yes....I am a huge The Buzzcocks fan and I own 3 different versions of The "Product" boxset no less.....the 12 inch c.d. Box...a clamshell version and a fatboy jewellcase version...the 12 inch version is rather tattered but having the larger format book is a treasure!!!

 

There were a lot of great ones, for sure, but there have also been a lot of great ones in the last 20 years. My faves from the ‘90s have already been mentioned, but here are some from the last couple of decades that are also exceptional:

The Stooges - You Don't Want My Name, You Want My Action
The Stooges - Raw Power Super Deluxe
The Smiths - The Queen is Dead Deluxe Set
Bauhaus - Mask Omnibus Edition
The Cult - Love Omnibus Edition
The Cult - Sonic Temple 30
Sigur Ros - Ágætis Byrjun (A Good Beginning)
Velvet Underground - Complete Matrix Tapes
Velvet Underground - the 45th anniversary super deluxe sets
House of Love - House of Love (Creation album) 5 CD set
The Pop Group - Y (Definitive Edition)

Unlike box sets in the ‘90s, most (if not all) of these were very affordable.

 

Oh my God.

26 CDs!!??!??!? Now, that’s what I call A Boxset!! A helluva track listing.

 

Huge!
Think they did smaller sets. I have a two disc "Rock" one from that packaged separately.

 

I guess you don’t buy many classical music box sets. 26 CDs is nothing compared to many of those.

 

This is what I came to post too. It started a brilliant reworking of his catalogue for CD. Star Time then the double CD compilations covering each era and the essential live albums make his previously messy catalogue make sense.

 

The nature of the albums themselves don't lend them to a 'Pet Sounds sessions' treatment.
Let's see, what does Pet Sounds Sessions has?
-A stereo remix: both Tommy & Quadrophenia are already in stereo. And they were both remixed for the 90s program.
-Sessions excerpts: there's a bit of it on Tommy Deluxe. It's underwhelming at best. And while Pet Sounds' arrangement were played (mostly) live in the studio, the Who were just 4 people layering stuff in the studio. So, I don't think it'd be interesting.
-A cappella tracks: with the Beach Boys it's very interesting and even beautiful in itself. The Who? As much as I love them, do we really need a cappella version of their songs?
-Outtakes and mix variations: my guess is there's not a lot of them. Pet Sounds Sessions present songs with alternate singers. I guess it doesn't exist in the Who universe.
-A thick booklet with interviews of everyone involved. Well, for the Who it'd be really short! There's only two band members left.

So the Who made with what they had and what they were. Tommy had all the demos of the album (Pet Sounds Sessions doesn't have this) and a live version (a live version of Pet Sounds? No thank you).

 

World’s Most Expensive Music Box Sets

 

Nope, not a one! I’m quite partial to a bit o’ opera - but I only ever buy the ‘highlights’ versions!

I think the most ‘discy’ box set I’ve got is The Beatles in Mono, which is what, 12 CDs?

 

I like the Rammstein one with ‘adult toys’, handcuffs and lubricant.

But, I’m thinking that you were mainly pointing me towards the 240 disc job…! That’s another way to spend a wet weekend I guess.