Christmas box sets for music fans
Only 47 days until Christmas! Fret not Music Heritage UK is here to highlight some of the best presents that a classic rock/pop music fan might want!
Every Christmas, record companies look to milk the classic rock stars another time and try to get us to purchase the same songs all over again. Of course that’s the cynic’s point of view! Music fans simply adore lovingly put together sets and are quite prepared to part with the cash for a well put together box set or DVD release.
What follows are some of the sets that will no doubt be in high demand this Christmas! Of course these are available from your well-known internet outlets, but if possible we’d ask you to see whether you can get them from your local independent record shop first! (We are here to celebrate their role in musical heritage too!).
The Kinks In Mono (around £75)
A lovely box set featuring the first seven albums from the Kinks remastered in mono on CD, so it sounds like they intended on their original release. In addition to this there are an extra three CDs featuring their EPs and other mono recordings. A 32 page booklet accompanies the CDs which come in their individual digipacks. A box brings everything together and will look great on your shelves.
Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here Immersion box set (Around £90)
Following on from the huge success of their Dark Side of the Moon immersion box set last year, EMI have released Wish You Were Here in time for Xmas.
The immersion set is supposed to be the ultimate way to experience an album. In this case it means a live show from the era, Wembley 1974, unreleased songs from the sessions, as well as alternate versions of songs. The five disc set also comes with a 36 page booklet. See the trailer below for more info.
Pink Floyd’s management have been busy as they’re also releasing ‘experience’ versions of their albums which feature additional tracks and have also a ‘discovery’ box set featuring every single one of their albums for around £120.
The Rolling Stones - Some Girls reissue (around £80) & Ed Sullivan DVD (around £30)
We’ve previously written about the Some Girls set which features the remastered album which was their biggest US selling record. The set features outtakes including ‘No Spare Parts’ which we’ve shared with you on our blog before. Click here to read more.
The Ed Sullivan DVD is, as far as we’re aware only available in the US, so you’ll have to pay a bit more to get it here in the UK. It does however feature all of their performances on America’s most famous music platform in the 1960s, with remastered audio and video. You’ll be able to see the transition of the band from UK upstarts in matching costumes but slightly too long hair, to the late 1960s freaks playing drug inspired tunes. See the trailer in our previous post here.
Primal Scream - Screamadelica 20th Anniversary reissue (around £50)
Speaking of drug inspired tunes, Screamadelica was described by Q magazine as the “E generation’s Sgt. Peppers” and that is probably the best description of this album which managed to mix rock to the emerging rave/drug culture in the UK.
It’s influence in the UK is beyond question (as an aside try and speak to people from the US or Europe about this album and you’re most likely to be met with a quizzical smile) and it’s only fitting that it got the remaster treatment earlier this year. The box set features remasters, every single remix under the sun, a making of documentary on DVD, prints, and a booklet.
The Smiths Complete Collectors Edition (currently going for around £350 on ebay)
Released earlier in the year, the Smiths Complete Collectors Edition is now sold out.
It presents all of the released output of the seminal eighties band. Whether on CD or Vinyl, fans will love the presentation. The remasters are supposed to be out of this world, while the picture below outlines the loving care that’s gone into this. Rhino almost single handedly have built the reissue market with their work on 60s/70s US artists and what they’ve done with this Smiths collection is take the same love and care to make a package that fans will just have to have.
