BOX  'EM  UP:
The Top 10 Box Sets To Gift This Season!

By Kristi Kates

What more perfect musical gift to give this holiday season than the box set?  There's something for everyone where box sets are concerned, and this year's favorite selections are no exception.  Whether your recipient is a fan of the classics, the classics tweaked for today, a particular era, or a specific landmark band, chances are (unless they're too new an act to have accumulated enough for a box set!) you'll be able to find what will amount to the perfect gift.  That said, here are our top ten picks for the best box sets - easy to wrap, and welcome under the tree!

 

1.  Johnny Cash / The Legend Limited Edition / Sony Music
With interest naturally increased in the Man in Black due to the recent release of the Cash biopic "Walk The Line," it's a great year to revisit some of the songs and backstory of the man himself.  This extensive set includes three discs that compile the best of Cash's musical works - "I Walk The Line," "Goodnight Irene," "Got Rhythm," "Streets of Laredo" and many, many more, including 7 previously unissued tracks.  In addition, there's a fourth disc featuring the 1980 CBS-TV special "Johnny Cash: The First 25 Years," and a fifth disc featuring the 1955 recording of Cash's first every radio appearance.  A great set, and a nice tribute to this accomplished and complex man.
 
2.  The Ramones / Weird Tales of the Ramones / Rhino-WEA
Wanna be sedated?  Well, this box set won't do it - it's too chock-full of energetic Ramones tracks to do anything but make your head bob and your feet move.  3 discs with 85 tracks make up this collection, quirkily-packaged in EC Comics-inspired packaging, and you'll get everything from "Blitzkreig Bop" and "Rock N' Roll High School" to "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" and "Rockaway Beach."  Also included are 14 in-your-face videos, a "Lifestyles of The Ramones" documentary, and a plethora of B-sides and alternate mixes.

3. Nirvana / With the Lights Out /
 Geffen Records
Spanning Nirvana's career from their cover of Led Zeppelin's "Heartbreaker" at their very first show in 1987 all the way to Kurt Cobain's later acoustic solo work, this set of 3 CDs and 1

DVD is a must-have for any Nirvana fan.   Versions of "Heart Shaped Box," "Lithium," "Sliver," "In Bloom," "Pennyroyal Tea," and the original Butch Vig mix of "Smells Like Teen Spirit" are all here, plus much more - like 10 never-before-seen live performances, rehearsal demos, previously unreleased acoustic tracks and radio performances, and lots more, all accompanied by a nifty 60-page color booklet.

 

4.  Talking Heads / Brick / Rhino-WEA
Cleverly packaged in an art-rock friendly molded white plastic box embossed with Talking Heads song titles, this set of 8 discs upgrades the Heads' 8 albums with each disc in double-sided format - the CD side featuring complete album tracks and bonus cuts, and the DVD-A side offering up new 5.1 Surround Sound mixes as supervised by Heads drummer Jerry Harrison.  You want "Once in a Lifetime," "Burning Down the House," "Life During Wartime," "And She Was," "I Zimbra," "Wild Wild Life," and more - including rare live clips?  You've got it with this set.

 
5.  Queen / The Crown Jewels: A 25th Anniversary Collection / Hollywood Records
This is perhaps the most no-frills collection on our list, but it's also one of the most strictly complete ones.  This set includes Queen's first 8 studio albums in their original album-style packaging, all digitally remastered and with all the liner notes conveniently collected in one book.  The dark suede collector's box is pretty snazzy, too.
 
6.  The Police / Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings / A&M Records
Crammed chock-full with Police goodness, these four discs bring together tracks from all five of the group's influential studio albums.  You'll hear "King of Pain," "So Lonely," "Driven to Tears," "Roxanne," "Invisible Sun," of course "Every Breath You Take," and scads more.  You'll also snag a 64-page booklet with plenty of liner notes, a Police timeline, lots of rare photos, and an equally impressive amount of B-sides and obscure tracks.  This set's so good, it should be arrested.
 
7.  Various Artists / Verve Remixed / Universal
This set is simply, in a word, cool.  Comprised of both regular audio tracks and multimedia computer files, this one takes songs from the likes of Billie Holiday, Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughn, Nina Simone, and more, and gives 'em the remix treatment by such esteemed mixmasters as Tricky, Postal Service, Danger Mouse, and Gorillaz' own Dan the Automator.  A rich and eclectic 4-disc set that'll appeal to fans of standards and modern tunes alike.
 
8.  Various Artists / Have A Nice Decade: The '70s Pop Culture Box / Rhino-WEA
Hey, man - 7 discs feature songs both serious (Carly Simon's "You're So Vain," Cat Stevens' "Wild World") and silly ("Kung Fu Fighting" or "Brand New Key" anyone?) plus TV themes from Happy Days and Laverne and Shirley to The Rockford Files.  There's a book, too, with behind-the-scenes info - and, perhaps best of all, it's all boxed up in a retro olive green shag carpet covered box.
 
9.  Various Artists / I Want My '80s Box / Hip-O Records

For those who prefer the Me Decade to the Peace Decade, this collection presents 3 discs' worth of '80s excess, 40 tracks in all, and plenty of songs that '80s-philes will adore.  Tracks like The Buggles prophetic "Video Killed the Radio Star" reside next to tunes by The Eurythmics ("Sweet Dreams"), A-Ha ("Take On Me"), Wang Chung ("Everybody Have Fun Tonight") and 36 more.  Our only complaint is that it doesn't come with stylish leg warmers.
 
10.  Various Artists / The Motown Box / Motown
Being based in Detroit, what would we be thinking if we didn't include this set?  It's a essential overview of the chart hits of the original Motown era, on 4 discs crammed with energetic and groundbreaking tunes from Stevie Wonder, Martha and the Vandellas, The Four Tops, The Temptations, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes, and many, many more.  Most of the singles have been given the Motown royal treatment, too, with extended stereo remixes.  Motown hasn't sounded this great in years.