ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 9, 1999 By Steve Newton Is a band that only put out two great albums in its 30-year career justified in releasing a four-CD, 78-track boxed set? You betcha. A lot of bands that don’t have any great albums put out boxed sets. So just the fact that … Continue reading Doobie Brothers box set suffers from some Michael McDonald-penned ditties
Tag: box set
The Art of McCartney boasts ’70s rockers Heart, Steve Miller, Sammy Hagar, and the Coop
By Steve Newton Groundworks Marketing announced today that a new Paul McCartney tribute album will be released on November 17, and that it will feature some of my fave artists from the seventies, including Alice Cooper, Steve Miller, Heart, Bad Company's Paul Rodgers, Montrose's Sammy Hagar, the Who's Roger Daltrey, and Cheap Trick's Robin Zander and … Continue reading The Art of McCartney boasts ’70s rockers Heart, Steve Miller, Sammy Hagar, and the Coop
Genesis box set goes heavy on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 17, 1998 By Steve Newton Before paying the hefty list price for this boxed set, you’ll want to make sure you’re a big fan of Genesis’s 1974 double album, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, because a live version of it—recorded at L.A.’s Shrine Auditorium in January of … Continue reading Genesis box set goes heavy on The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
There’s plenty of room to keep your weed in the Queen box if you toss the two duds
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 17, 1998 By Steve Newton Don’t let the oversized imitation-velvet box fool you—this cheaply designed collection is nothing more than a digitally remastered reissue of the band’s first eight studio albums. Unlike in most boxed sets, there’s nothing previously unreleased here, nothing rare, nothing live. Instead of paying … Continue reading There’s plenty of room to keep your weed in the Queen box if you toss the two duds
Mott the Hoople box set is definitely worth the extra dollars
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 24, 1998 By Steve Newton This long-awaited, three-disc Mott the Hoople box--All the Young Dudes: The Anthology-- is only available as a British import, but for die-hard fans of the distinctive and innovative glam-era band it’s definitely worth the extra dollars. As well as the group’s biggest hits … Continue reading Mott the Hoople box set is definitely worth the extra dollars
New Zep reissues will do until the Physical Graffiti box comes around
By Steve Newton Four months ago I did a blog about Led Zeppelin releasing deluxe reissues of its first three albums, under the headline "Led Zeppelin super-deluxe boxed sets destroy all other boxed sets." Well, I take it back. Today the legendary hard-rockers announced that they are releasing two more deluxe editions, and these are the ones that really destroy … Continue reading New Zep reissues will do until the Physical Graffiti box comes around
Status Quo box set brings ’70s guitar-boogie in spades
By Steve Newton One of my favourite things to do as a music-crazed teen in the '70s was to go to record stores and buy albums based solely on how rockin' they looked. I can still remember checking out the record bins and laying my eyes on a 1972 album by a group that … Continue reading Status Quo box set brings ’70s guitar-boogie in spades
New John Mellencamp box set crams 19 discs into one tidy package
By Steve Newton If you're a hardcore John Mellencamp fan and you just lost your entire Mellencamp CD collection because your house burned down, and now you've gotta go live in a small apartment without a lot of space for discs, have I got the thing for you. This Tuesday (July 22), Universal Music Canada is … Continue reading New John Mellencamp box set crams 19 discs into one tidy package
Silverchair fanatics will lap up the Aussie grunge-rockers’ Freak Box
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 11, 1997 By Steve Newton You’ve gotta think pretty highly of yourself to issue a five-disc box set when you’ve only got two albums to your name, but that’s what teenage Aussie grunge-rockers Silverchair have done with this limited-edition import, The Freak Box. Even more bizarre, though, is … Continue reading Silverchair fanatics will lap up the Aussie grunge-rockers’ Freak Box
The Doors box set documents the band in all its unrefined glory
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 11, 1997 By Steve Newton This four-disc package of Doors material, spanning the years 1965 to ’71, favours previously unreleased live tracks and demo recordings over studio-polished hits, and documents the band in all its eccentric, unrefined, and—with tunes that pass the 18-minute mark—excessive glory. Its mix of … Continue reading The Doors box set documents the band in all its unrefined glory
Bonfire box a godsend for fans of AC/DC’s ear-bustin’ boogie blues
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON DEC. 11, 1997 By Steve Newton My reviewer’s copy of the long-overdue AC/DC box set was labelled with a warning that it was not for sale and “must be returned on demand of recording company”. Yeah, right—I’d like to see Warner Brothers just try to get this prized package back. They’d have … Continue reading Bonfire box a godsend for fans of AC/DC’s ear-bustin’ boogie blues
Crossroads 2 (live in the seventies) finds Slowhand bluesy as hell
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 12, 1996 By Steve Newton They should have subtitled this one live (and bluesy) in the seventies, because over the course of this four-CD package old Slowhand really gets down, covering tunes by Johnny Otis, Elmore James, Sonny Boy Williamson, T-Bone Walker, Otis Rush, and—no fewer than six … Continue reading Crossroads 2 (live in the seventies) finds Slowhand bluesy as hell
Cheap Trick box set wisely avoids ’80s clunkers
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE GEORGIA STRAIGHT, DEC. 12, 1996 By Steve Newton Back in ’78, my personal Top 10 included power-rock LPs such as UFO’s Obsession, AC/DC’s Powerage, Thin Lizzy’s Live and Dangerous, and the third Cheap Trick album, Heaven Tonight. At the time I was a UBC faculty of arts slacker, and the best … Continue reading Cheap Trick box set wisely avoids ’80s clunkers