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They're expensive, exhaustive, and exhausting, but all those boxed sets taking up space in record stores are, in a sense, critic-proof. You probably know at least one person who would love to wake up Christmas morning and find dozens upon dozens of tracks by the Clash or Yes or Ray Charles under the tree, all of them preserved forever on gleaming CDs nestled in a lavish cardboard box with a photo-jammed booklet.
But when it comes to the boxed-set glut — over two dozen have been released this year alone — even major fans have to weigh some serious questions. Are the rarities contained in each box worth shelling out $50 or more? Are some artists better served by an earlier greatest-hits album that's more cost- effective and contains only the essential cuts? And (beyond financial gain for record companies) is there an artistic agenda behind each box?
With such questions in mind, we slogged through the season's notable pop, blues, and rock boxed sets, considering what might appeal to each artist's fans, what might irritate listeners new to each artist, the quality of packaging, and, in what we will affectionately call Boxed-Set Hell, moments of excess that make us question the wisdom of making boxed sets at all.
AEROSMITH
Pandora's Box
Intention: You think Guns N' Roses were the first loud, sloppy,
excessive hell-raisers? Wait'll you hear these 1972- 82 recordings by
the Beantown bad boys!
Achievement: Although Axl Rose should be
forced to study Pandora's Box to see how rock-star indulgences can
screw up even the most successful bands, early '70s tracks like
''Dream On,'' ''Toys in the Attic,'' and ''Sweet Emotion'' still set
blooze-rock standards.
Fans, Behold: A 1966 recording by Aerosmith
singer Steven Tyler's first band, Chain Reaction; unreleased song
fragments and live tracks from radio broadcasts and 1978's Texxas
Jam.
Newcomers, Beware: Don't bother with disc 3 (the band's
post-1977 decline); better still, just stick with previous Aerosmith
compilations, Greatest Hits and Gems.
Boxed-Set Hell: Eight
unreleased jams that show Aerosmith could never really, uh, jam. Most
Unintentionally Amusing Comment in Booklet (tie): Guitarist Brad
Whitford on ''Round and Round'': ''I don't remember a whole lot about
this one.'' Drummer Joey Kramer on ''Krawhitham'': ''I'm a little
confused over exactly when we recorded this.'' B
JEFF BECK
Beckology
Intention: To make sense of the long and winding career of the
47-year-old guitar god, from his mid-'60s days with the Yardbirds
through his hit-or-miss post-'70s solo albums.
Achievement: Makes a
solid case for Beck as an unsurpassed technician but not necessarily
as a great record maker, particularly over the last decade.
Packaging
Minus: Booklet has 63 photos chronicling Beck's grimaces during
solos.
Fans, Behold: Recordings by Beck's first professional band,
the Tridents, plus rare B sides and live tracks with the Yardbirds
and Beck, Bogert, Appice.
Newcomers, Beware: Since this is the
first-ever Beck overview, it's Beckology or nothing.
Boxed-Set Hell:
Third disc features his contributions to the soundtracks of Twins and
Porky's Revenge. B-
CARPENTERS
From the Top
Intention:
To prove that the late Karen Carpenter shouldn't be remembered just
for her bad eating habits — that she and her brother, Richard, were, in
fact, underrated talents.
Achievement: The Carpenters' music can
still seem painfully banal, but at its best it defined
middle-of-the-road pop in the '70s, with the sad, dark hues of
Karen's voice suggesting underlying currents of angst. The point is
diluted, though, by soda commercials, forgettable '80s recordings,
and other padding.
Fans, Behold: Early recordings by the Richard
Carpenter Trio featuring teenage Karen's nascent jazz drumming;
unreleased songs from Karen's canned solo album, including the
ominously titled "My Body Keeps Changing My Mind."
Newcomers, Beware:
Stick with the second half of disc 1 and all of disc 2. Or buy The
Singles 1969-1973, the Carpenters' greatest-hits package. Also:
Richard rerecorded some of his keyboard parts to improve their CD
sound quality.
Unintentional Morbid Touch: Tracing Karen's weight
loss through chronological photos in booklet.
Boxed-Set Hell: A
version of the insipid "Sing" partially sung in Spanish. B-
RAY CHARLES
The Birth of Soul/The Complete Atlantic Rhythm & Blues
Recordings 1952-1959
Intention:
To remind us that the old pitchman in the Pepsi commercials has given
more to civilization than "You got the right one, baby, uh-huh."
Achievement: Vital early music — Charles' big-band mesh of blues,
soul, and gospel still jumps out of the speakers. But given the wide
scope of Charles' work (the tracks here include none of his later
experiments with pop and country), the cumulative effect is narrow
and a bit monotonous.
Packaging Minus: Erudite liner notes
occasionally describe Charles with silly highfalutin phrases like
"Promethean musical polymath."
Newcomers, Beware: Only top 10 hit
here is "What'd I Say, Parts 1 & 2." For "Hit the Road Jack," "I
Can't Stop Loving You," and his other '60s hits, you'll have to turn
to earlier compilations on Rhino.
Boxed-Set Hell: With one or two
fewer tracks, this 151 minutes of music could have fit onto two CDs,
but that would have cut into the record company's profits, right? B
THE CLASH
Clash on Broadway
Intention: To ensure that we remember the Clash for their
tear-down-the-walls punk and not because they led to such
watered-down offshoots as Big Audio Dynamite.
Achievement: Box seems
a tad pretentious for a band that only released five albums and an
EP; the last third documents their increasingly bloated sense of
self-importance. But the Clash's most protean tracks still make
current alternative rock sound diluted and compromised.
Packaging
Plus: Clean, readable layout with terrific selection of period
photos.
Packaging Minus: Clean, readable layout seems somewhat at
odds with concept of punk.
Fans, Behold: Rare 1976 demos; B sides and
studio outtakes.
Newcomers, Beware: Opt for essential albums like
London Calling and The Clash or the serviceable anthology Story of
the Clash Volume 1. A-
PATSY CLINE
The Patsy Cline Collection
Intention: To be "the first (compilation) to survey entire
career chronologically" of the country queen, who died in a 1963
plane crash.
Achievement: Cline's countrypolitan music — a slicker,
less ornery but tough-hearted brand of C&W — paved the way for the
spunky post-'60s likes of Loretta Lynn and Tammy Wynette. But after
plowing through all four overstuffed CDs, you too may (to paraphrase
one of Cline's songs) fall to pieces.
Packaging Plus: Beautiful
booklet with reproduction of the front-page story in the Nashville
Banner about her death.
Fans, Behold: Early recordings reveal Cline
to be a lot friskier than you may remember from such smooth later
hits as "Crazy."
Newcomers, Beware: Stick with discs 2 and 3 for most
of the hits, or try an earlier, leaner compilation, The Patsy Cline
Story. B-
CROSBY, STILLS, & NASH
Crosby, Stills & Nash
Intention: Remember when they were young and skinny
and could hit all the high notes?
Achievement: The current image of
CSN — chubby, aging hippies with frayed voices and lazy work
habits — can't negate the allure of those harmonies and songs, and the
box does a good job of pruning not just the best group work but also
noteworthy tracks from erratic solo and duet albums. Given how
up-front they've been about their problems, it also makes for a
four-CD shrink session.
Packaging Plus: Booklet with family-tree
chart.
Packaging Minus: Abundance of photos of young, skinny CSN
doesn't quite tell the whole story.
Fans, Behold: Unreleased CSNY
reunion tracks from the '70s; interesting alternate takes of
standards like "Helplessly Hoping"; original eight-minute version of
"Almost Cut My Hair."
Newcomers, Beware: High list price; stick with
discs 1 and 2 or just buy the group's first two albums, Crosby,
Stills & Nash and CSNY's Deja Vu.
Boxed-Set Hell: Too many Graham
Nash songs. B+
FATS DOMINO
''They Call Me the Fat Man...''/ The Legendary Imperial
Recordings
Intention: To demonstrate
that the chunky piano player was responsible for more than just
"Blueberry Hill" and "Ain't That a Shame" — a lot more, in fact.
Achievement: Good to be reminded that Domino gave us such oft-covered
anthems as "I'm Walkin'" and "I Hear You Knocking." But you don't
need 100 songs to know that.
Packaging Bonus: Sumptuous booklet with
detailed session listings and chapter-by-chapter life story.
Fans,
Behold: Barrelhouse R&B recordings on disc 1 — featuring tenor sax of
Herbert Hardesty — prove Domino was no wimp.
Newcomers, Beware: Stick
with EMI's single-CD compilation, My Blue Heaven.
Most
Unintentionally Amusing Comment in Booklet: " Fats Domino didn't
record many throwaway songs. Just about all his tunes are
mini-classics." Uh-huh.
Boxed-Set Hell: By disc 2, he's already
rewriting "Ain't That a Shame," and there are still one and a half
more CDs to go. B-
LYNRYD SKYNYRD
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Intention: To bolster the posthumous reputation of rowdy, bullheaded
'70s Southern rockers, three of whose members perished in a 1977
plane crash.
Achievement: Relatively concise length (for a box). And
the proud, fierce rock & roll of tracks like "Saturday Night Special"
and "Sweet Home Alabama" does make you think back fondly on Southern
rock.
Packaging Plus: Booklet contains reprint of original
band-in-flames cover of album Street Survivors, which was pulled by
MCA after the crash.
Packaging Minus: Booklet essay has footnotes.
Fans, Behold: Unreleased early recordings and live tracks; demo
version of "Free Bird."
Newcomers, Beware: Gold and Platinum hits
package has all the basics.
Boxed-Set Hell: Two versions (totaling
13 minutes) of the great but overplayed "Free Bird." A
THE MONKEES
Listen to the Band Intention: To promote, in the words of the liner notes, the "musical
legitimacy" of the prefabricated '60s singles group by focusing not
just on hits but also on obscure album tracks.
Achievement: Remixed
versions of "Daydream Believer," "Last Train to Clarksville,"
"Pleasant Valley Sunday," et al. prove a band can be manufactured and
still produce timeless pop. But the box tries too hard to invest the
Monkees with unnecessary significance.
Packaging Bonus: Enclosed fab
poster!
Packaging Minus: Garish, pseudo-psychedelic cover!
Newcomers,
Beware: Arista's 11-track Greatest Hits beckons you.
Most
Unintentionally Amusing Comment in Booklet: Peter Tork: "'Can You Dig
It' is about the Tao."
Boxed-Set Hell: Micky Dolenz's antiwar "Zor
and Zam" and other later attempts on the group's part to show they
were deep-thinking sages. B-
PHIL SPECTOR
Back to Mono (1958-1969)
Intention: To collect all of Spector's greatest singles for
the first time in one place and, simultaneously, remind us how he led
the pop parade during the '60s.
Achievement: Spector's low profile
over the last two decades guarantees that most people under 30 won't
understand, but for those who grew up with AM radio in the early to
mid-'60s, Spector's Wall of Sound will outlast the Great Wall of
China.
Packaging Plus: All the hits (sung by the Ronettes, the
Crystals, Darlene Love, the Righteous Brothers, and others),
plus — complete! — Spector's only album, A Christmas Gift for You.
Newcomers, Beware: This is your only option, since all previous
Spector anthologies are out of print, but the price is high. A-
HOWLIN' WOLF
The Chess Box
Intention: If you think Robert Cray qualifies as blues, wait'll you
hear the sand-gravel voice and songs of the Delta bluesman who gave
us "Spoonful," "Little Red Rooster," and much more.
Achievement: An
essential blues compilation — Wolf's demented-gremlin vocals still
make his closest peer, Muddy Waters, sound like a teddy bear.
Packaging Plus: Appropriately scholarly, yet critical, liner notes.
Fans, Behold: Crude, early recordings never before released in the
U.S.
Newcomers, Beware: A one-CD Chess anthology, His Greatest Sides,
Vol. 1, gives an overview. B+
YES
Yesyears
Intention: To
convince us that progressive '70s rock wasn't all that bad.
Achievement: Some of these tracks — "Roundabout," "Going for the One,"
and a few later cuts like "Owner of a Lonely Heart" — are still
state-of-the-art art-rock, but the genre remains an acquired taste.
Packaging Plus: Four-color booklet with family-tree history of the
band.
Packaging Minus: Given song lengths averaging 10 minutes, cost
per track is an unusually high $1.52 (compared with about 77 cents
per song for other boxes).
Newcomers, Beware: Opt for albums like
Fragile or Close to the Edge.
Most Unintentionally Amusing Comment in
Booklet: Drummer Alan White: "I call Yes the egg — a kind of embryo
that people keep falling out of and falling back into through periods
of time. It's an egg that you're part of."
Boxed-Set Hell: Chris
Squire's sludgy solo-bass version of "Amazing Grace." C+
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