Best Box Sets of 2014

Wikipedia:
A box set (or boxed set) is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) packaged in a box, for sale as a single unit…contemporary box sets are usually made up of three or more discs boxes, covering a broad range of boxes of the music of a given artist or genre. Artists and bands with an extremely long and successful career often have anthology or “essential” collections of their boxes of music released as box sets. These often include rare and never-before-released tracks.

Our list has box sets that has audio, film and tv recordings and books. It’s been a good year for box sets.

1. Bob Dylan and The Band – The Basement Tapes Complete, The Bootleg Series Vol.11:

A treasure that has to be enjoyed in portions, it’s so overwhelming. If you try to take it all in, you’ll be guaranteed to miss some of the gems in this chest. Better sound than on the bootlegs and a lot of songs we hadn’t heard before. I would have put it on the top spot just for Sign on the cross to be honest, that one song is worth the whole set.

Press release:

The definitive chronicle of Dylan’s legendary 1967 sessions with The Band
Historic 6-disc set includes 138 tracks
Compiled from meticulously restored original tapes
Exclusive 120 page deluxe-bound book containing rare and unseen photographs and memorabilia
Extensive liner notes

Compiled from meticulously restored original tapes many found only recently this historic six-disc set is the definitive chronicle of the artist’s legendary 1967 recording sessions with members of his touring ensemble who would later achieve their own fame as The Band.

Among Bob Dylan’s many cultural milestones, the legendary Basement Tapes have long fascinated and enticed successive generations of musicians, fans and cultural critics alike. Having transformed music and culture during the early 1960s, Dylan reached unparalleled heights across 1965 and 1966 through the release of three historic albums, the groundbreaking watershed single “Like A Rolling Stone,” a controversial and legendary ‘electric’ performance at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival and wildly polarizing tours of the United States, Europe and the UK. Dylan’s mercurial rise and prodigious outpouring of work during that decade came to an abrupt halt in July 1966 when he was reported to have been in a serious motorcycle accident. Recovering from his injuries and away from the public eye for the first time in years, Dylan ensconced himself, along with Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Richard Manuel, Garth Hudson and, later, Levon Helm, in the basement of a small house, dubbed “Big Pink” by the group, in West Saugerties, New York. This collective recorded more than a hundred songs over the next several months including traditional covers, wry and humorous ditties, off-the cuff performances and, most important, dozens of newly written Bob Dylan songs, including future classics “I Shall Be Released,” “The Mighty Quinn,” “This Wheel’s On Fire” and “You Ain’t Going Nowhere.”

When rumors and rare acetates of some of these recordings began surfacing, it created a curiosity strong enough to fuel an entirely new segment of the music business: the bootleg record. In 1969, an album mysteriously titled Great White Wonder began showing up in record shops around the country, and Dylan’s music from the summer of 1967 began seeping into the fabric of popular culture, penetrating the souls of music lovers everywhere. With each passing year, more and more fans sought out this rare contraband, desperate to hear this new music from the legendary Bob Dylan.

The actual recordings, however, remained commercially unavailable until 1975, when Columbia Records released a scant 16 of them on The Basement Tapes album (that album also included eight new songs by The Band, without Dylan). A critical and popular success, The Basement Tapes went Top 10 in the US and UK. Over the years, the songs on The Basement Tapes have haunted and perplexed fans, with the recordings themselves representing a Holy Grail for Dylanologists. What’s on the rest of those reels?

The Basement Tapes Complete brings together, for the first time ever, every salvageable recording from the tapes including recently discovered early gems recorded in the “Red Room” of Dylan’s home in upstate New York. Garth Hudson worked closely with Canadian music archivist and producer Jan Haust to restore the deteriorating tapes to pristine sound, with much of this music preserved digitally for the first time.

The decision was made to present The Basement Tapes Complete as intact as possible. Also, unlike the official 1975 release, these performances are presented as close as possible to the way they were originally recorded and sounded back in the summer of 1967. The tracks on The Basement Tapes Complete run in mostly chronological order based on Garth Hudson’s numbering system.

Amen, and thankyou!

 2. Bruce Springsteen – The Album Collection Vol. 1  1973-1984:

‘Bruce Springsteen: The Album Collection Vol. 1 1973-1984,’ is a boxed set comprised of remastered editions of the first seven albums recorded and released by Bruce Springsteen for Columbia Records between 1973 and 1984. All of the albums are newly remastered (five for the first time ever on CD) and all seven are also making their remastered debut on vinyl. The seven albums are recreations of their original packaging and the set is accompanied by a 60 page book featuring rarely seen photos, memorabilia and original press clippings from Springsteen’s first decade as a recording artist.

Acclaimed engineer Bob Ludwig, working with Springsteen and longtime engineer Toby Scott, has remastered these albums, all newly transferred from the original analogue masters using the Plangent Process playback system.

They sound incredible, the first two albums comes across in a way never heard before, fantastic!

Mastering engineer Bob Ludwig and Thrill Hill Recording Audio Engineer and longtime Bruce Springsteen audio archivist Toby Scott discuss the process that utilizes state-of-the-art technology to remaster Springsteen’s classic recordings from his first decade in the studio. We’ll then travel to one of Bruce’s favorite record stores, Jack’s Music Shoppe in Red Bank, NJ, where 10 lucky fans will have the opportunity to be the first to listen to the brand new remasters – and compare them to the original recordings:

As far as I know they are only available in this remastered form in this box set, this should make this a must-buy.

3. CSNY 1974 (3cd’s + DVD):

The quality of these performances are excellent and a notch above Four Way Street. While Four Way Street features a loose and “jangly” sound, Tim Drummond (bass), Russ Kunkel (drums) and Joe Lala (percussion) offer a more strict and tight backing for CSNY and on this set the songs are more “fleshed out”. The vocals are also much better on this release. The harmonies beat anything this listener has heard on other albums or live performances. They promised us a lot and it took some time, but, by God, they delivered!

…and the real eye openers (ear openers?) are how good the CSNY treatment the solo songs comes out. On The Beach, Grave Concern and Carry Me are highlights for me. We also get some classic Stills/Young guitar duelling.

The sound is very good and the performances are out of this world.I play it constantly in my car, it sounds terrific at high volume!

The DVD is short but very sweet and we also get a nice booklet with  great photos, it helps conveying what the tour was like. A great Box set!

 

4. The Rolling Stones – L.A. Friday 1975 (2cd + 2 DVD):

The Rolling Stones released LA Friday (Live 1975) on mp3 and flac in 2012, now they have added 2 DVDs of the concert to this box-set. It is magical!

This was the third album in their bootleg series. Remastered by Bob Clearmountain, the album was recorded on Sunday 13th July 1975 at the band’s show at the Forum in Los Angeles. Although the album was recorded on a Sunday, it was mistitled by bootleggers as the Friday show.

The Rolling Stones – It’s Only Rock ‘n’ Roll (From The Vault – LA Forum 1975):

Now it’s available worldwide not only through StonesArchive.com but in all good shops, fans can enjoy this incredible recording of Ronnie Wood’s first tour with the band, on the legendary Tour of the Americas. Joining Mick, Keith, Charlie, Ronnie, Bill and Ian “Stu” Stewart are Billy Preston on keyboards, Ollie E. Brown on percussion and on saxophone Trevor Lawrence.

The show was part of the Rolling Stones Tour of the Americas, which started with a bang, the band playing on a flatbed truck driving down 5th Avenue in New York City, showcasing their new guitarist, Ronnie Wood.

The album contains incredible versions of “Fingerprint File” and “Angie”, but my personal favourite on this fantastic live album is You Can’t Always Get What Want.

I love what The Rolling Stones are doing now, releasing legendary bootlegs with significantly better sound than the, eh, bootlegs.Bruce Springsteen is setting up something similar and hopefully others will follow