Audiophile Vinyl

Are you a completist? Always hungry for rarities? Fellow sufferer Ken Kessler has you covered with a host of box sets offering everything from ’60s US rock to British folk

Despite streaming’s challenge to physical media, especially for the post-Boomer audience, CD box sets continue to proliferate. The most obvious benefit is diminutive size: all but two of the sets here will fit into your standard CD storage. This, of course, appeals to those who are tempted by space savings, which is why streaming and downloads have made such advances.

There’s no limit to the categories represented, from expanded single albums such as The Police’s Synchronicity and Jethro Tull’s Bursting Out to whole album collections, including a trio from Lindsey Buckingham and seven entire albums from The Spinners. Rock scholars will treasure the four albums plus bonus tracks from the underrated all-girl US rockers Fanny, while UK rediscoveries include ‘well-kept secrets’ Barry Ryan, Chris Farlowe and Don Fardon.

Bubblegum bliss

Providing educational value, new-to-you performers and pure fun are themed ‘various artists’ sets, this roundup including a trio of collections of American rock from the mid-1960s, British R&B from 1964, and another of early 1980s UK rock, all laden with rarities. You won’t believe how good bubblegum hits sound.

This gathering contains something for fans of prog-rock, funk, soul, disco, R&B, West Coast ‘Summer Of Love’ and Nuggets-y garage bands, and more. From esoterica to AM radio fodder, most with audiophile-grade sound, these are a boon for those who don’t want to spend hours (and small fortunes) hunting for vinyl.

Barry Ryan
The Albums 1969-1976
7T’s GLAM5BOX201 (five CDs)

For an Anglophile Yank like me in the 1960s, word of UK artists like Barry Ryan via the rock magazines of the day piqued the curiosity. Who’s this guy with a global No 1 hit like ‘Eloise’ who only managed to reach No 86 Stateside? What’s with this superb pop singer who was a superstar in Germany but couldn’t crack the USA? This five-CD set contains five solo albums and two CDs of rarities, recorded after the duo with his twin brother Paul ended when Paul retired to focus on songwriting. Barry’s canon begs the term ‘underappreciated’, high production values and a fine voice adding to my confusion.

Various Artists
Heaven Sent
Cherry Red CRCD4BOX177 (four CDs)

If the subtitle ‘The Rise Of New Pop 1979-1983’ targets your youth, this is for you. This amazing 80-track romp through the post-punk/pre-indie era shows how UK rock evolved during that fecund period, a scene that evokes wild fashion, studio excess and (it must be said) style over substance. But it wasn’t homogenised: genres range from the synth-based music of The Human League to Who-wannabees The Jam to mock-reggae Fun Boy Three to superstars such as Eurythmics. Ian Dury, M, Simple Minds, Soft Cell – not a patch on the British scene of 1962-1970, but not too shabby, either.

Jethro Tull
Bursting Out
Chrysalis 5154197723971 (three CDs/three DVDs)

By now it’s apparent that there’s no such thing as too much Jethro Tull for those who shell out for their multi-disc expanded reissues. The core of this long-box set was released as a double LP in 1978, recorded during the Heavy Horses tour earlier that year. The band was careful not to disappoint those who wanted to hear familiar stuff, so only a couple of tracks from Heavy Horses were performed. This gives you the entire album over two CDs with a Madison Square Garden concert taking up CD3. The DVDs replicate the set with assorted stereo mixes and DTS 5.1, with DVD3 featuring the video of the gig.

Chris Farlowe
Stormy Monday – The Blues Years 1985-2008
Strawberry CR3JAM023 (three CDs)

This showcases one of the best voices of the 1960s British blues and rock scenes. Farlowe also joined Colosseum but here are other ventures, 55 tracks from two albums with his band, The Thunderbirds, cuts from four solo albums and a CD of 15 live tracks. In a career that began with a hit cover of The Stones’ ‘Out Of Time’, his interpretive skills are heard on ‘Stormy Monday’, ‘The Thrill Is Gone’ and others which he makes his own.

Various Artists
Having A Rave-Up!
Grapefruit CRSEG3BOX146 (three CDs)

An ideal companion to Shake That Thing! [Strawberry CRJAMBOX019] from last year’s roundup [HFN Jan ’24], this focuses on the bands the British Blues originators inspired. A few from that box appear here, joining the usual suspects – The Yardbirds, The Animals and other famous bands. Even if you know your British R&B, there’s a vast amount of unfamiliar material here, unreleased tracks among the set’s 91 numbers. The opener, The Pretty Things’ ‘Rosalyn’, sets the tone.

The Dogs D’Amour
Dynamite – China Years
HNE Recordings HNE8BOX199 (eight CDs)

An overlooked UK treasure, Dogs D’Amour were as atypical of the late-1980s as any anachronism could be. The sinister offspring of The Faces, or British cousins of The Black Crowes, they delivered raucous blues-based rock with hints of glam, more common to LA. This definitive box contains the ‘Complete Recordings 1988-1993’ from the ‘classic’ lineup, of which only singer/guitarist Tyla now remains: four entire albums, EPs, singles, live tracks and rarities. Fabulous.

Various Artists
The Devil Rides In
Strawberry CR3JAMBOX026 (three CDs)

Subtitled ‘Spellbinding Satanic Magick & The Rockult 1966-1974’, this bizarrely themed box contains 55 tracks joined by the occult, all British bar one or two foreign guests. From the expected (Arthur Brown) to the unlikely (Sandie Shaw), it’s a deliciously creepy sojourn for Goths, with finds like Sam Gopal’s ‘The Dark Lord’ and others in categories such as ‘She Devils’. Not as weird as it seems, and an ideal birthday gift for your fave warlock.

Various Artists
Into The Sixties – Towards A Cosmic Music
Él Records ACME3CD373 (three CDs)

This is a 38-track dive into the avant-garde music that defined the decade in the title, planting the seeds of psychedelia. You can imagine innovators such as Frank Zappa, Captain Beefheart and most prog rockers relishing these performances from Ravi Shankar, John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, John Cage, Erik Satie, Aldous Huxley, Sun Ra and others. Genres include poetry, jazz, classical, Indian and the impossible-to-categorise experimental. Mesmerising.

Various Artists
I See You Live On Love Street
Grapefruit CRSEG3BOX143 (three CDs)

Continuing Grapefruit’s peerless 1960s/1970s US rock series, much never reaching these shores, the subtitle ‘Music From Laurel Canyon 1967-1975’ locates 72 tracks of prime West Coast country rock, singer-songwriters, early psychedelia and more: Poco, Carly Simon, The Association, The Byrds, Love, The Turtles and just about everyone connected to that musical hotspot. Hits, B-sides, album tracks – this is so good, it could be part of a university course on rock history.

Lindisfarne
Brand New Day – The Mercury Years 1978-1979
Lemon Recordings CDLEM3BOX251 (three CDs)

Comprehensive sets relieve fans the task of seeking out costly rarities. After folk legends Lindisfarne’s glory days of 1970-2, disbanding in 1975, the original lineup reformed in 1976, delivered the live double Magic In The Air included here, reuniting again in 1978. This contains the albums Back And Forth and The News, and 15 cuts previously unissued on CD, with singles, demos and more. This is a fine mate for the Alan Hull set [HFN Jun ’24].

Colosseum
Elegy – The Recordings 1968-1971
Esoteric Recordings ECLEC62862 (six CDs)

Those fascinated by the interwoven threads of rock might know this band is connected to Chris Farlowe and Renaissance, the former with Colosseum off-and-on since 1970 and the latter’s Louis Cennamo a member during the period covered here. Prime jazz/prog-rock from the dawn of the genre, this contains their first four albums plus the US-only The Grass Is Greener and Daughter Of Time, Colosseum Live and a CD of live tracks.

Various Artists
Antique Songs For Children’s Carousel
Él Records ACME3CD372 (three CDs)

As odd as Into The Sixties – Towards A Cosmic Music [p31], this 26-track set, too, is about influencers, but for just one rather than a generation of musicians because its unique theme is Scott Walker. That enigmatic-pop-star-turned-gothic-cult-figure’s muses included Schubert and Sinatra, Bach and Barney Kessel, Mahler and Miles Davis. The man certainly had refined tastes, like a pessimistic, alternate Frank Zappa. Already a Walker fan? This will prove illuminating.

Lindsey Buckingham
20th Century Lindsey
Rhino R2 726249 (four CDs)

Sandwiched between his pre-Fleetwood Mac duo’s lone eponymous LP, Buckingham Nicks, and his five post-2000 solos are what Rhino describes – kinda morbidly – as ‘Every Buckingham Solo Recording From The Last Century’. Law And Order (1981), Go Insane (1984) and Out Of The Cradle (1992) are presented here in perfect mini-sleeves, the fourth CD containing eight non-LP tracks exclusive to this box. Sublime stuff, unsurprisingly sounding like an extension of Fleetwood Mac, and with superb guitar playing throughout. Moodily, it begs an obvious sequel – ‘Every Buckingham Solo Recording From The 21st Century’ perhaps?

Various Artists
Can’t Seem To Come Down
Grapefruit CRSEG3BOX148 (three CDs)

Sister to I See You Live On Love Street [see below], this deals with much US material not heard in the UK at the time, its 79 cuts subtitled ‘The American Sounds of 1968’. Some artists are found on both, but this box isn’t bound by geography so NYC’s Left Banke and Ars Nova, The Band (mainly Canadian) and others deliver psychedelia (The Grateful Dead), Nuggets power rock (Nazz), early 1960s pop singers turning hip (Del Shannon) and more.

The Police
Synchronicity
A&M 02455 41921 (six CDs)

Sometimes we forget how gigantic The Police were, so there’s no need to justify this incredible 6CD expansion of their final studio album from 1983. Their most successful release, Synchronicity reached No 1 in the US and the UK and gave us ‘Every Breath You Take’, ‘King Of Pain’, and ‘Wrapped Around Your Finger’. Added to the remastered album on CD1 are a CD of B-sides and bonus tracks, two CDs of unreleased demos and outtakes, and two containing a 19-song live concert, for a total of 55 previously unreleased tracks. The magnificent 12x12in slipcase also contains a lavish hardback book and four art prints.

Fanny
The Reprise Years 1970-1973
Cherry Red Records QCRCD4BOX173 (four CDs)

Don’t let the name offend as, in the USA, it means ‘backside’. This bargain contains 80 tracks, eight on CD for the first time. Fanny are a most-underrated band, a self-contained all-female group years before everyone gave too much credit to The Go-Go’s. Hard rocking, Fanny could hold their own with anyone, as their first four albums plus loads of extras handily demonstrate. Amazing originals, covers from Steve Stills, Lennon-McCartney, Randy Newman and more – a treat.

Various Artists
Pour A Little Sugar On It
Grapefruit CRSEG3BOX150 (three CDs)

A guilty secret? My fave box of 2024 offers ‘The Chewy Chewy Sounds of American Bubblegum 1966-1971’. But its 91 tracks go beyond The Archies (UK No 1 ‘Sugar Sugar’), Ohio Express (UK No 5 ‘Yummy Yummy Yummy’), 1910 Fruitgum Company (UK No 2 ‘Simon Says’) and the rest of the studio-bound genre’s stars. Also here are The Jaggerz’ fuzz gem ‘The Rapper’, Neil Diamond’s ‘Cherry Cherry’ and Shadows Of Knight and The Beach Boys, who’d be horrified to be included.

Renaissance
Tuscany
Esoteric Recordings ECLEC32870 (three CDs)

An unlikely Yardbirds offshoot, with none of its founding players within three years of forming in 1969, Renaissance had a dozen or so members by 2001, when this quasi-reunion album was issued. Despite changes, their blend of British folk, classical and prog-rock remained such that Tuscany – with guest Roy Wood – is easily recognisable thanks to the sound of Annie Haslam’s vocals. The set adds the concert album In The Land Of The Rising Sun: Live In Japan 2001 on two CDs.

Don Fardon
I’m Alive
Strawberry CR3JAM025 (three CDs)

Rock historians have no idea how good they’ve got it! As with Chris Farlowe and Barry Ryan, this 3CD/81-track document of Fardon’s career shows he produced far more than just his 1970 hits, ‘Indian Reservation’ and ‘Belfast Boy’. Sub-titled ‘The Don Fardon Anthology – 1967-1974’, it contains singles, four albums, BBC sessions and great covers including The Beatles’ ‘Something’ and The Stones’ ‘Out Of Time’. What a find!

The Spinners
Keep On Keepin’ On
SoulMusic Records QSM7CR-5214BX (seven CDs)

Sure to satisfy completists, this sequel to Ain’t No Price On Happiness: The Thom Bell Studio Recordings is subtitled ‘The Atlantic Years Phase Two: 1979-1984’. It contains six albums consecutively released on that label, with bonus tracks. CD7 is The Spinners Live! from 1975, their first for Atlantic and a best-seller which went gold. Prime disco with undeniably impressive sonic impact, it’s filled with classics, including the superb ‘Working My Way Back To You’.