You’ve heard of Donald Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill? This writer would rather talk about big, beautiful box sets. Here (listed alphabetically, by artist) are 21 of popular music’s most spectacular gargantuan anthologies, each featuring 10 or more discs.
Mildred Bailey, The Complete Columbia Recordings of Mildred Bailey (2000, 10 CDs). You’re probably wondering who the heck Mildred Bailey is, because she’s not exactly a household name today. Working primarily in the 1930s, however, she collaborated with a who’s who of jazz band leaders and musicians, including Benny Goodman, the Dorsey Brothers, and Red Norvo, to whom she was married for about nine years. This 214-song, 10-and-a-half-hour collection explains why she ranks among the best and most influential vocalists of her time.
Chuck Berry, Rock ‘n’ Roll Music—Any Old Way You Choose It (2014, 16 CDs). If you just want the hits, you can buy The Great 28, a single CD that contains them all. But when it comes to Chuck Berry, do you really want to stop there? This box certainly doesn’t. It incorporates 396 tracks, has a playing time of about 21 hours, and embraces virtually everything Berry ever issued, including all surviving alternate takes. The box flirts with overkill at times. (Who needs five versions of the inane novelty hit, “My Ding-a-Ling”?) But there are lots of great deep cuts here, including surprising—and satisfying—side trips into everything from Nat King Cole–style ballads to Hawaiian-influenced instrumentals.
David Bowie, Five Years (2015, 12 CDs). This box, which appeared only months before David Bowie’s death, covers his work from 1969 to 1973, when he ascended to international stardom. It includes essential albums such as The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars and Alladin Sane, plus two full concerts, and more. Five posthumous additional giant boxes, which document the later phases of Bowie’s career, are also worth having.
Leonard Cohen, The Complete Studio Albums Collection (2011, 11 CDs). OK, so this box’s Phil Spector–produced Death of a Ladies’ Man was mostly a bust. Also, the collection doesn’t include Cohen’s several indispensable concert discs or four excellent late-career studio albums. No matter. This package, which has a playing time of more than eight hours, features dozens of classics from Montreal’s master poet and performer.
Bob Dylan, The 1966 Live Recordings (2016, 36 CDs). Bob Dylan’s 1966 concert tour occurred during one of his most creative periods. Backed by the Band, he delivered classics from The Times They Are a-Changin’, Another Side of Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde on Blonde. This box preserves all the shows, but the bad news is that it includes only 18 songs, each in umpteen live renditions. The good news is that the set is priced as if it contained far less music than it does, so you can tell yourself you’re paying for just a few great concert discs and getting the rest as a bonus.
Eagles, Legacy (2018, 12 CDs, 1 DVD, 1 Blu-ray). The Eagles really take it to the limit with this box. The accompanying CD-sized book contains a skimpy booklet and few discographic details, but all the studio and live albums are here, along with singles and B-sides. You’ll find all the evidence you need to understand why these country rockers became one of the bestselling bands in the history of popular music.
Lefty Frizzell, An Article from Life: The Complete Recordings (2018, 20 CDs). “The soul of Hank Williams, the appeal of Johnny Cash, and the charisma of Elvis Presley—he had it all,” said Merle Haggard, one of Lefty Frizzell’s many musician fans. More than 350 remastered tracks are here, including every album and single and numerous previously undiscovered recordings. The set also includes a coffee table–sized hardcover book and a lengthy audio biography by the singer’s brother, country artist David Frizzell.
Grateful Dead, Here Comes Sunshine 1973 (2023, 17 CDs). The five shows featured in this limited-edition box, which clock in at four to five hours each, find the Grateful Dead at the peak of its powers. Sound quality is excellent throughout, and so are the setlists, which include such fan favorites as “Stella Blue,” “Casey Jones,” “Box of Rain,” “Dark Star,” and the band’s medley of “Goin’ Down the Road Feelin’ Bad” and “Not Fade Away.”
Laura Nyro, Hear My Song (2024, 19 CDs). Laura Nyro garnered attention during her lifetime mainly as the composer of hits for artists such as the 5th Dimension, Barbra Streisand, and Blood, Sweat & Tears. Her own records, while not as commercially successful, were consistently excellent, however. This box includes her 10 studio LPs, plus six concert albums and assorted rarities.
Pink Floyd, The Early Years (2012, 10 CDs, 9 DVDs, 8 Blu-rays, 5 vinyl singles). If you started paying attention to Pink Floyd when the group released The Dark Side of the Moon, you’re in for a happy surprise, because much of its most interesting work predated that LP. It’s all in this box, which weighs in at 12 pounds and includes tons of previously unreleased live and studio material from the era that produced such psychedelic wonders as A Saucerful of Secrets and Ummagumma. Like the box, the price tag is huge, but if you can’t afford it, you’ll be happy to know that most portions of the anthology are available individually.
The Pretenders, The Pretenders 1979–99 (2015, 14 CDs, 8 DVDs). Here’s virtually everything from the first two decades of the spectacular career of Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders. Augmenting the rock group’s eight studio albums from the period is a wide assortment of previously unavailable studio and live content. The DVDs add numerous music videos and TV performances.
Lou Reed, The RCA and Arista Albums Collection (2016, 17 CDs). Lou Reed’s solo albums are arguably uneven, but virtually all of them contain some terrific material. (The lone exception is his Metal Machine Music CD, which would make a great coaster for your coffee cup.) Some essential work, such as New York, postdates the period covered by this collection. But the box is a great place to start digging into the work of this rock and roll giant.
Del Shannon, Stranger in Town (2023, 12 CDs). This humongous compendium leaves no doubt that rock singer Del Shannon remains seriously underrated. All his early 1960s hits are included in the 301-track box, including “Runaway,” “Hats Off to Larry,” and “Keep Searchin’.” You’ll also find a sterling live set, the late-career, Tom Petty–produced Drop Down and Get Me, and much, much more.
Paul Simon, The Complete Albums Collection (2013, 15 CDs). Highlights abound in this collection of solo work from one of America’s greatest pop songwriters. All the standout albums are here, including Simon’s eponymous debut, the brilliant Graceland, two concert LPs, Still Crazy After All These Years, and more. The box even makes room for The Paul Simon Songbook, which contains early acoustic solo versions of “I Am a Rock,” “The Sound of Silence,” and other numbers that would wind up in the Simon & Garfunkel catalog.
Simon & Garfunkel, The Complete Albums Collection (2014, 12 CDs). This box delivers one brilliant studio album after another, among them Bookends, Bridge Over Troubled Water, and Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Also included is Greatest Hits, which features a few live versions not found elsewhere, and four concert albums, containing shows recorded in 1967, 1969, 1981, and 2003.
Various artists, At the Louisiana Hayride Tonight… (2017, 20 CDs). The Louisiana Hayride’s radio broadcasts aren’t as well known as the ones from Nashville’s Grand Ole Opry, most likely because the Opry focused mostly on established acts while the Hayride mixed stars with up-and-comers. But that’s part of what makes this box so fascinating: it includes early live performances from numerous musical giants, ranging from Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash to George Jones and Hank Williams. A hardcover book features period photos, as well as copious notes about the artists, the music, and the Hayride broadcasts.
Various artists, The Bakersfield Sound: Country Music Capital of the West 1940-1974 (2019, 10 CDs). The area around Bakersfield, California, gave birth to a musical subgenre that represented a reaction to Nashville’s increasingly slick, commercial sound. The box includes about two dozen tracks each from Buck Owens and Merle Haggard, the style’s best-known proponents. Also featured are artists like Bob Wills, Jean Shepard, and Ferlin Husky, as well as lots of notable but less-famous acts. A hardcover book contains photos, artist bios, notes on every song, and essays that put the music in context.
Various artists, The Memphis Blues Box: Original Recordings First Released on 78s and 45s, 1914-1969 (2023, 20 CDs). A note from the compiler says this box took 13 years to put together, and no wonder. Its 534 vinyl and pre-vinyl singles embrace numerous rarities from studios in Memphis, the city known as the “home of the blues.” Performers include Bobby “Blue” Bland, Albert King, Junior Parker, W.C. Handy, B.B. King, Memphis Minnie, Howlin’ Wolf, and Rufus Thomas, as well as some great acts you’ve undoubtedly never heard of. A fat hardcover book features rare photos and fascinating essays.
Various artists, …Next Stop Is Vietnam/The War on Record: 1961-2008 (2008, 14 CDs). Nearly every genre of popular music—and every facet of public opinion—is represented in this superb 330-track collection, which makes room for everything from Bob Dylan’s “Masters of War,” Phil Ochs’s “I Ain’t Marching Anymore,” Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the U.S.A.,” and Country Joe’s “I-Feel-Like-I’m-Fixin’-to-Die Rag” to Barry Sadler’s “The Ballad of the Green Berets” and Merle Haggard’ “Okie from Muskogee.” There are dozens of fascinating obscurities, including parodies, songs by Vietnam vets, and spoken-word clips, among them patriotic PSAs, news reports, and snippets from U.S. presidents. Augmenting the music are a CD with downloadable lyrics to every song and a 304-page hardcover book loaded with essays, photos, and discographic info.
Various artists, Woodstock: Back to the Garden—The Definitive 50th Anniversary Edition (2019, 38 CDs). This 432-track box gives you nearly everything from the famous 1969 festival except the mud, the rain, and the traffic jams. Playing time is almost 36 hours, more than half of which involves previously unreleased material. The box includes complete sets from the Grateful Dead, the Who, Jefferson Airplane, the Band, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and dozens of other artists. Only 1,969 copies were produced (you can guess why they picked that number), so the only way to get it now is to keep an eye out for copies on eBay, where you can expect sky-high prices. However, there’s a 10-disc edition that’s easier to find and a bit less pricey.
Hank Williams, The Complete Hank Williams (1998, 10 CDs). As additional material dribbled out of the vaults in recent decades, it became clear that this Grammy-winning box didn’t deliver on its title. Still, there’s enough here from country music giant Hank Williams to keep you entertained for a long time. The official studio albums are all featured, along with outtakes, demos, and radio, television, and concert performances.
