I’m a sucker for boxes but once they end up my home and I’m done going through all the goodies they usually end up in the lower corner of my collection where they sit and collect dust. The Tall Dwarfs box is one of the few I regularly listen to it. What’s your feelings on boxes? Am I the only one who purchases then files them away? What’s your favorite box set?

Love em and suffer from the same condition. The Black Sabbath “Super Deluxe” sets of Paranoid and Vol 4 are cool. Dig the recent Saints one. I’m a sucker for the Sonic Youth Daydream Nation, Goo and Dirty sets. The Neil Young “Way Down in the Rust Bucket” set from a few years back is killer. I’m a mark.

I hate them with a passion but have no good reason for it.. like I see one and it makes me immediately annoyed, and I work at a record store that stocks a decent amount of box sets, and every time I feel a bit crazed by it... again, for reasons I cannot explain. Tape boxsets on the other hand, for some reason I really like em!

  • Clif replied to this.

    Lotsa essential box sets… Clean, Kleenex, Feedtime, Pete Laughner etc.

    BARELY HUMAN I should really check out those Sonic Youth sets. I think I downloaded the Dirty one from soulseek, but might be fun to have used

      Oh man, my box sets are sooooo dusty!
      I pulled out my Dead Moon set recently. Great collection, but the dust bunnies were getting disrespectful!
      I like some sets, but others are just an overpriced collection of stuff I already have. Plus, I obliviously don't use them enough. I'll 2nd the Clean and Kleenex recommendations, I still pull those out all the time to DJ. I've enjoyed some Velvet Underground sets, Peel Slowly and See & The Quine Tapes, both had material that was interesting and rockn'.
      I hadn't heard about the Tall Dwarfs set. That looks amazing.

      Oh, man, I can’t say no to a good box set—the promise of like a complete discography in a single package with extra art and extensive liner notes gets me every time. But I’m with you—as soon as I listen through the set and put it away, it’s just sits on the shelf. I have a tough enough time pulling single LPs back out once I put them away, so the thought of having to pull out a box, open it up, flip through whatever records while worrying about getting Cheeto dust or whatever on the fancy art, pull out the record I’m going to listen to—it’s too much.

      But, yeah, I second the Twall Dwarfs and feedtime sets. I also liked the concept behind that Dischord 7” set so much that I’m willing to say it’s great despite a 7” box set being on a higher plane of annoying.

      The Hüsker Dü boxset that Numero Group put out a few years ago gets a lot of play.

      Annoying boxset: Hazyville » Ghettoville by Actress. It's just the two albums (on vinyl and CD) but it's the only time Hazyville got a vinyl pressing... so it's in the collection taking up a lot of space at the beginning of the collection - although I got a lot of Actress records so I guess he deserves it.

      I try to steer cleat just because they're such a burden to move and end up getting filed away. But I really do love a well-done box, and the Clean and Tall Dwarfs ones are in pretty regular rotation, likewise the Neil Young Official Release Series with Weld and Ragged Glory. I guess one of the biggest issues for me is that I have to remind myself to listen to the ones I do have, rather than naturally pulling LPs out. That said, I did just that and the Peter Laughner box has been getting a lot of play lately.

      I love a good box set! It breaks my heart to open them , but I love all the cool shit they come with. I have a few... My first box set was the Misfits CD box set that I got when I was in high school, the day it came out. I still have it. My favorite box set is the Radio Birdman one. It has the albums, singles, posters and the New Race LP. The last two boxes I got were the Hanoi Rocks(all the lp's which I already had, but being a huge fan couldn't pass on this package), and I'm Stranded(The Saints)! Both are outstanding!

      The only box set that I play with any regularity is VU's Matrix Tapes.

      I'm currently lamenting the gaping hole on the shelf where The Cleaners From Venus boxes should be. I'd actually like to have all 3 and believe I'd get lotsa use out of them.

      But generally, yes: they're cool in a librarian sort of way, but not very practical for everyday listening.

      Box sets from the last year or so. I'm like most others here, after an initial spin and going over the extras + packaging I generally file them away. Another vote for the Sonic Youth boxes here too.

      The Saints (I'm) Stranded
      The Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs
      Pylon Box
      His Name Is Alive
      Creation Rebel
      Violent Femmes s/t
      Dead Moon

      Wax Trax has put out nice Coil 'Love's Secret Domain' and My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult 'Confessions of a Knife' box sets somewhat recently too.

      6 days later

      I don't have many, but I dig the Clean one and the Technicolor Paradise: Rhum Rhapsodies & Other Exotic Delights set that Numero Group did a few years ago