music box sets

duck soup

son of a BANG son of a BOOM
Joined
Aug 19, 2008
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735
Location
toronto, on
i don't think these matter to a single person i know in real life, but they've always been, and continue to be, extremely important to me. i'm defining 'box set' here as a collection with four or more 'discs', be they physical or digital. i'm not interested in those that simply contain various albums that are available individually. gimme the stuff i could never compile on my own.

i wrote a few words about five favourites of mine. didn't include anything from bear family, but i have to acknowledge that they've been doing the lord's work when it comes to archival box sets. any release of theirs selected at random is sure to be a knockout.

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1. the beatles - the beatles in mono (1962-1970). about half the beatles catalogue should only be heard in mono (the early years) and the others are up for debate ('66 onwards). a revelation upon their wide re-release in 2009 (and relatively difficult to hear in the decades prior), the mono mixes blew me away the first time i heard them, transforming music i'd spent my whole life with into something new and thrilling. years down the line, this one still gets to me every single time.

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2. frank sinatra - the columbia years: the complete recordings (1943-1952). one time i was listening to toronto's jazz.fm91 on muddy waters' birthday. for some reason, mose allison was hosting the show and referred to a radio station in the south that plays twenty four straight hours of muddy waters on his birthday. allison felt there weren't many artists he could listen to for twenty four straight hours, but muddy was one of them. i've often thought about that during the obsessive hours i've spent with this set (fourteen and a half to get through it all). i could easily listen to muddy for twenty four hours, but i could listen to sinatra on columbia forever. it's what heaven must sound like.

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3. and 4. the charles munch (1949-1962) and fritz reiner (1954-1963) complete rca album collections. nothing beats the mid-century stereo recordings of the classical/opera canon - particularly those by rca, mercury, and to a lesser extent, decca. case in point, rca's munch and reiner sets (eighty six and sixty three discs respectively) are not only staggering in the scope and beauty of the repertoire/performances, but for the apex they represent in the history of recorded sound. why trek out to some dusty old concert hall when you've got recordings that sound this 'lifelike'? (you should still go to the concert hall.) grab the mercury living presence boxes and the solti ring cycle and you'll have more than enough riches to keep you in audiophile bliss for years to come.

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5. billie holiday - lady day: the complete billie holiday on columbia (1933-1944). i just typed out 'probably the billie holiday you'll ever need' but immediately stopped and asked myself, 'what about the commodore, decca, and verve sets?' i guess the fact of the matter is that i 'need' all of them, and it's a testament to holiday's artistry that this ten-disc collection of over two hundred recordings still isn't enough. it is, however, the one i 'need' the most, the one that captures her at the absolute peak of her ability, performing alongside countless jazz legends all at the top of their game. this is music so beautiful it feels like a dream.

curious to know how the nhc feels about music box sets - do you guys have any favourites?
 
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