Love it, I'm very into Chuck as well, great selection.

I'm not familiar with this particular set, but I know pretty much every song on it. Nice collection. I too feel that '80s music is somewhat unfairly maligned overall. While there was plenty of crud put out in the '80s (as there is in any decade), it was also a time of innovative musical experimentation, when mainstream pop bands weren't afraid to be both artsy and commercial. Nice collection!




You should do! Their first album especially, Welcome to the Pleasure Dome is a bit of an '80s masterpiece. You maybe recall, but I chose it was my #4 pick of the best albums of 1984. Here's a link to my write-up... classiccomics.org/post/545278/thread

I'm a little late, but carrying on with my list of favourite box sets...



#4 - The Monterey International Pop Festival: June 16-17-18, 1967 by Various Artists (1992)




Unlike Woodstock, which has been anthologised with multiple double albums and box sets over the years, this is the only multi-disc collection of live recordings from 1967's Monterey International Pop Festival. In fact, most of the music here had remained unheard by the public since it was recorded, which is surprising given how many legendary groups and singers appeared at the festival.

All the big names you'd expect are here, such as Jimi Hendrix, Otis Redding, the Who, Jefferson Airplane, and Janis Joplin, along with other popular groups of the era, such as the Association, the Byrds, Eric Burdon & the Animals, Canned Heat, and the Paul Butterfield Blues Band etc. You mostly get highlights of each artist's set, rather than their full performance (Jimi Hendrix's legendary set is the exception to this), and naturally, the more important or famous artists get more songs than other acts do.

There are a few, mostly lesser-known musicians from the festival omitted from the set, such as the Paupers, Beverly, Moby Grape, and Quicksilver Messenger Service. Weirdly, Johnny Rivers, Simon & Garfunkel, and the Grateful Dead are all absent too, which is odd, given how popular these acts were and still are. But nevertheless, this box set does an excellent job of curating most of the important performances and distilling the essence of the festival.

Here's Jefferson Airplane doing their hit "Somebody to Love"…




And here's Otis Redding with a searing live version of "I've Been Loving You (Too Long)"…

Great choice, I know this set well! I won't lie, it was the Hendrix content that drew me to it, there was a period where I was trying to find everything the man recorded. But I grew to really dig a lot of the other content here, and honestly, this gets listened to more than the Woodstock material I have.

#3 - Chess Blues 1947-1967



Well there was no way I could have the Chuck Berry Chess Box and just ignore the rest of the Chess Records blues stable.  And this was a good way to go about it.  Released in 1992 this 4-disc box has the big ones by the big stars of the label, i.e., Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson, while also including plenty of music by the likes of Sunnyland Slim, Willie Mabon, Eddie Boyd and a young Buddy Guy.  Is it enough Chess blues?  Well...not for me.  But it's a great way to sample the label's output and it leads to jumping off spots to explore the work of a good cross-section of early electric blues performers.  

This one is also pretty readily available still (I've seen it for around $60 new and it it can be had for less used).  I'm not sure what else to say.  This was seminal blues that had a huge influence on the development of rock & roll and later the British Invasion bands.  And while it would be easy to throw on some Muddy or some Wolf...how about a couple of lesser known tracks?  Keep in mind that Checker was a Chess imprint.  

#3 James Brown - Star Time

This is probably one of my favorite sets of all time. James Brown was flat out one of the coolest cats to live as both a musician and a performer. But for many years I really only knew the famous "I Got You (I Feel Good)" and his performances in the Blues Brothers and Rocky IV.

I must have been buying a lot of sets in the 90's as this is yet another one purchased during that time with a release in 1991 and spanning 1956-1984 over 3 discs of incredible material. Especially as I was getting into funk in the 90's, it was amazing seeing the progression of soul and R&B into his pioneering work in that genre.

James was larger than life, and certainly landed in plenty of trouble along the way. But "I Feel Good" every time I listen to his music, from his more soulful numbers to the funkiest of the funky (who else could sing "Hot Pants" over and over and make it work like he did).

I've been terribly lazy with posting clips this go around, so I'll attempt to remedy that with some highlights from this great and very comprehensive set:

Where it begins in 1956 with James and the Famous Flames:



I'll post the obvious one from 1965, I still don't get sick of it!



Full on funk mode here in the early 70's:

#3 - Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era 1965-1968 by Various Artists (1998)




This 4 CD box set was an attempt by Rhino Records to expand on Lenny Kaye's seminal 1972 Nuggets compilation album, which collected rare or forgotten American psychedelic and garage rock singles from the 1960s. The original 27 track double LP occupies disc 1 of this set, while discs 2–4 feature 91 similarly punky sounding recordings from the same era.

Despite its title, very little of this set is actually psychedelic; it generally leans much more towards garage rock and hard rhythm 'n' blues. It is mostly played by young, middle class white guys who just about knew three or four guitar chords, but who – in the wake of the Beatles, the Stones and the rest of British Invasion – discovered the joys of making noisy electric rock 'n' roll with guitars, bass, organ and drums.

Across its 108 tracks – by such bands as the Seeds, the Count Five, the 13th Floor Elevators, the Standells, and the Electric Prunes, to name just a fraction of the acts covered here – this set reverberates with primal, youthful energy and a wonderful sense of fun. Track after brilliant track is coloured by explosions of fuzztone guitar, sneering vocals, and Farfisa organ. In fact, this music's influence on the late '70s punk scene is plain for all to hear.


Here's the Standells' surly-sounding ode to Boston, "Dirty Water"…




And here's the Chocolate Watchband with "Sweet Young Thing", which is more "Stonesy" than the Rolling Stones ever were!