#1

No thread on this that I can see! I’ve been listening to the complete third sessions by big star and it’s really great, loads of lovely acoustic demos of the songs and some really neat covers. The next best one I can think of is the Fall Peel Sessions box set, some of the tracks on that are so much better than their studio versions! The new Radiohead one was also decent.

Also what albums would you love to see a box set reissue of?- I’d love to hear the sessions for FABOTH by Elliott Smith, especially because of the leaked tracks floating about.

#2

Nah und Fern - Gas

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#3

The Velvet Underground boxset that I bought in the late 90s was packaged well and a great accompanying booklet.

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#4

The Aeroplane Flies High boxset by The Smashing Pumpkins. Hearing Mellon Collie felt like discovering a universe, and then to find out there was essentially a second Mellon Collie in that box was legitimately one of the best parts of growing up in the 90s. The Tonight, Tonight disc is one of the most beautiful things ever recorded, and the Zero one is just so aggressive and raw and contains so many incredible riffs (and then of course finding out that many of those riffs in Pastichio Medley were actually full songs themselves…that era was just gift after gift after gift.) All five CDs are classic Pumpkins.

I’d love to see a box set reissue of Machina. Machina I, Machina II, Machina as originally envisioned by Billy before Virgin screwed him and the band basically checked out on him, the song versions that were on the official site back then, an Arising Tour show, a Sacred and Profane tour show, and ideally the final show.

I’d also love a Zwan / Djali Zwan boxset that has studio versions of all of the incredible material that never made it to Mary Star of the Sea. If that had been released originally the band would be occupying a much different space in the critical world.

I’d love to hear that Elliott Smith one too.

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#5

Super pleased with the Neutral Milk Hotel vinyl box. The two albums, a couple of 10"s and a couple of 7"s, with a chunk of it unreleased before. Very pretty set too.

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#6

The ones by The Radioheads

#7

The Autechre EPs boxset rates high.

And the Massive Attack singles boxset in the heat sensitive box - that stopped going heat sensitive over time

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#8

image

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#9

i agree. all the mellon collie stuff is just a treasure trove.

do you know what the status is re the machina reissue? wasn’t there going to be a zwan one as well? i assume the latter is less likely to happen due to it being thought of less fondly however i’m sure billy mentioned it at some stage…?

#10

Matador at 21

matador_21_lid_opening

#11

Floor box set, Below and Beyond. I love it.

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It doesn’t actually exist, but a long running joke with a mate of mine is the idea of a box set by the German band Harmful. Never going to happen.

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#12

Apparently machina held up in legal matters (i think whatever label was distributing got bought out by a rival company which fucked the contract) but could also be Billy being pissy as quite a few machina era demos (identify, home, without you, raindrops)were leaked around the timeframe it was supposed to be coming out

Zwan wont happen, he hates everyone from the band and wouldnt want to line their pockets with royalties (shame, as most of the live stuff they played early on seemed pretty cool until corgan decided to scrap it all for a cheesy “commercial” rock album instead.

Still waiting on the chicago songs boxset too, aaaaaand the pre gish demos boxset he spoke about, and the 50 song career retrospective boxset where he would travel and rerecord songs from throughout his career

Guy is a ballbag

#13

Love a good box set. Some all time favourites:

Phil Spector Back to Mono (1958 - 1969)
Nuggets - Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968
One Kiss Can Lead to Another - Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found
The Fall Complete Peel Sessions
Miles Davis Quintet 1965-68
Keith Jarrett Live at the Blue Note
The Odyssey - A Northern Soul Time Capsule.

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#14

Yeah, I lost track of the status of both of those unfortunately, I don’t have anything more to offer than what @Kirstysmetalhands said. I tried digging around online in forums but quickly got lost in all of the anti-Corgan diatribes and personal insults. With how positive Billy’s been sounding lately though, I’m getting more hopeful that we’ll get something.

#15

I think the best box sets are those that cover a whole bands career, and even better if the back catalogue is consise and contains no junk in it. The galaxie 500 4 CD box set is just about perfect for this.

#16

Might have to splash out on that Northern Soul boxset.

Love ‘One Kiss Can Lead to Another’.

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#17

Mine seem to be focussed on (mainly) American folk. Makes sense as they are comps of 78s. field recordings etc I guess:

Stand-outs:
Harry Smith’s Anthology of Folk Music
Victrola Favorites
Goodbye, Babylon

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#18

A +1 for Goodbye, Babylon. So much good stuff on there.

Also ‘Fire In My Bones’ which does similar but over a longer timeframe.

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#19

Haven’t heard of ‘Fire in My Bones’ - will try and check it out. Cheers.

#20

It’s a tricky one to track down - I had to buy the download from Boomkat as the physical boxset had disappeared from every shop I could think of. It’s brilliant though. First heard an edited vinyl compilation of it in a bar in New York and had to ask the terrifying staff what it was.

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