Police: Message in a Box-- any more sets like this? (1 Viewer)

[Vince Maskeeper]

I really love this boxed set and wondered if there were any other releases similar to it.

What I mean is, the 4 disc set includes every track the band recorded- all album cuts as well as b-sides and some live stuff. INstead of reissuing every album as an indivdual CD- they put it together as a completist retrospective and crammed all 4 discs to the brim with material.

I was wondering if other artists have done similar sets? I'd be really eager to find a complete collection from bands like the Clash, Ramones, MC5, Stooges-- all of which are sadly negrected in my collection.

So, have any other bands put out nice complete collections on a few CDs like this Police set?

-Vince

 

[Greg_Y]

The Police set doesn't include everything.
From stingetc.com:

Message in a Box is billed as every note the Police recorded and released commercially, but there are at least a dozen songs that do not appear on the box set. They are as follows:
Peanuts (edit) 2:52 (taken from the single: Roxanne)
So Lonely (edit) 3:10 (taken from the single: So Lonely)
Can't Stand Losing You (live!) 5:30 (taken from the double LP: Strange Fruit - 21 Years of Alternative Radio)
Message In A Bottle (edit) 3:50 (taken from the promotional single: Message In A Bottle)
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (Japanese) 4:00 (issued, along with the Spanish version, as a single in the USA. It was also issued in Japan and Spanish-speaking countries)
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da (Spanish) 4:00 (see above)
Wrapped Around Your Finger (live!) 5:22 (taken from the US 12" single: Wrapped Around Your Finger + The B's)
Don't Stand So Close To Me (live!) 4:01 (taken from the 12" single: Don't Stand So Close To Me '86)
Truth Hits Everybody '83 3:33 (taken from the limited edition gatefold single: Every Breath You Take)
Every Breath You Take (backing track) 4:05 (issued as a single in Japan with backing track to Roxanne as the b-side)
Roxanne (backing track) 3:11 (see above)
Don't Stand So Close To Me '86 (dance mix) 6:23 (taken from the 12" single: Don't Stand So Close To Me '86)
** Note: this also does not include any of the songs released on Stontium 90 or any of the sessions recordings made by The Police for Eberhard Schoener.
The dance mix of Don't Stand...'86 actually appears on the German edition of the box set. It replaces the "regular" version of Don't Stand...'86 that appears on other box sets. The German edition can be recognized by a small, square, white sticker on the back of the package that reads: Discs Made In Germany.
De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da was also re-recorded in 1986 for the "greatest hits" album. It was never released commercially though. Because of this, it is legitimately *not* included in the category of every note the Police recorded and released commercially.
A similar situation exists with Voices Inside My Head. This song was re- recorded (perhaps at a sound check?) by the band in the early part of the 1980's for use as their on-stage introduction music in concert. It was never released commercially on an album or single, though you can hear it on the video The Synchronicity Concert.

Other "complete" collection box sets (each with a varying degree of completeness):
Led Zeppelin - The Complete Studio Recordings
Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings
The Vaselines - The Way of the Vaselines: A Complete History
Elvis Presley - The Complete 50's Masters (yet somehow RCA keeps finding more stuff)
Elvis Presley - Peace In The Valley: The Complete Gospel Recordings
Mississippi John Hurt - The Complete Studio Recordings
The Doors' Complete Studio Recordings isn't even close to being complete, at least from what I've read.
I'm sure you can find more by searching for 'complete' on your music e-tailer of choice.
I doubt there's any way to compile a 100% complete box set. There are always rough demos, alternate takes, etc. that are left off. If the artist is popular enough, those tracks are issued for the collectors, e.g. Elvis. If not, they usually come out on boots. I guess there are some older artists who only recorded a very limited number of tracks, ala Robert Johnson, but that's the exception.
One more thing - Rhino Handmade put out a big Stooges set called 1970: The Complete Funhouse Sessions. It's OOP now and of course goes for alot on eBay.

 

[Paul Case]

Cream's "Those Were the Days" 4 CD box set contains all of their released music as well as quite a few previously unreleased tracks. The first two discs are all studio cuts and the last two discs are all live material. It's a great set. If you like Clapton and/or Cream, then I highly recommend it.

 

[DonaldB]

How is the remastering on Message in a Box? I seem to recall some HTF member mentioning about a year ago that it was awful, but I'm hoping he just didn't know what he was talking about.

 

[Paul D Young]

The Police set doesn't include everything.

I never noticed before but thanks a lot.
Anyway, I've always loved this box set as well. I was going to buy the Greatest Hits and Synchronicity one day and I sprung for the set instead. I sure am glad I made the right choice. Also, I would've liked to have any of those other songs rather than that Don't Stand '86 version. I've always hated that one.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da was also re-recorded in 1986 for the "greatest hits" album. It was never released commercially though.

Not true. The DTS "Greatest Hits" album includes it. The standard version of that collection may also have it, but since I've never heard it, I can't say. Definitely on the DTS one, though - it absolutely shocked me when I played the disc and this alternate version appeared!

 

[Greg_Y]

Buffalo Springfield's Box Set includes alot across four discs, but not everything.

 

[Philip Hamm]

How is the remastering on Message in a Box? I seem to recall some HTF member mentioning about a year ago that it was awful, but I'm hoping he just didn't know what he was talking about.

He was right, it is horrendous. :frowning:

 

[Michael_T]

These were released in the UK - but can easily be obtained in the states:

Direction, Reaction, Creation by the Jam

The Complete Adventures of The Style Council by the Style Council

The following were released in the US and overseas:

Heart and Soul by Joy Division

Datapanik in the Year Zero by Pere Ubu

All these box sets are similiar to the Police issue in that they contain most of everything (but not everything) recorded by that certain band (excluding alot of live stuff).

 

[Andrew Chong]

Does Stevie Wonder's excellent "At The Close of A Century" (4 discs) count?

 

[Mike Broadman]

Andrew, the Stevie Wonder set is a compilation, a "best of" (albeit a very big one). I believe this thread about box sets that include every single track a band or artist put out in its entirety.

That box set is really good, though.

 

[Vince Maskeeper]

I have the set- but I'm not really sure what is meant by this.

I never owned the original records, so I'm not sure if this a comparison being made to the original material (i.e. "Is the remaster faithful to the original sources?") or if this judgment is being made on the overall quality of the discs.

I found them to be pretty lacking in quality overall- but I always chalked it up to the sources and recording techniques (and budgets) of the time. Certainly as the collection moves along through their career rise, the recording quality gets better and better- but much of the material from the early stages is kinda "rough" by today's standards.

But again- I'm unsure how the originals sounded. Does anyone have any further information on exactly what the frame of reference is for this judgment or the specifics of the horrendousness?

 

[DonaldB]

Yeah, man, frame that reference, specify the horrendousness -- we want details.

Are the remasters worse than the original editions or just not as good as other recent re-issues? The original CDs, while not spectacular, are perfectly listenable early redbook discs, especially considering the recording techniques that Vince mentioned above.

 

[Mike boettner]

I always thought the box set sounded pretty good, of course the old stuff isn't gonna sound brand new, but it was good, none the less.

this sucks, I don't have everything?!?!?!?! i bought the box set so i didn't have to buy anymore cd's. Damn it!!!!!
oh well, time to spend more money!
Mike

 

[Philip Hamm]

What's with all the scratchiness at the beginning of "Don't Stand So Close To Me"? I don't remember it from the record or 45RPM single... :frowning:

 

[Anthony Hom]

I have MIB (not Men in Black), and all their LPs, since they did not have a real CD until Synchronicity.

I wouldn't call it horrendous, taking into account that the Police were an up and coming group out of the British punk movement, which really didn't emphasize "clean recordings" at that time. In fact, the grittier, the better. That attitude may have change by the time Synchronicity came out. I also noticed that MIB did not contain everything they released, too. It was created back in 1992 (or 4?), so I'm sure it could stand a remastering, but aren't all the Police albums remastered separately? If you want "clean", maybe you should look into those instead.

 

[Joel Fontenot]

What's with all the scratchiness at the beginning of "Don't Stand So Close To Me"? I don't remember it from the record or 45RPM single...

Better break out that album and 45 again. That amp hum and feedback clicking was always there.
As far as some of those songs listed are concerned - I personally don't consider time-edited versions of songs to be part of an artist's collection of recordings (usually done only to make the 45 shorter than an already very short song - I never understood that practice for any song).
Extended remixes however, I do.
Don't ask me to rationalize that - I can't.
I do, however, get tired of songs that have something like 20 remix versions of the same thing released on a single CD .
I only had Reggatta De Blanc on CD before getting that 4 CD set. I found the stuff on the set only marginally better than the earlier CD. I have all the albums and find the box set to be a bit cleaner than the albums, but nothing really drastic.
Except for the case of Synchronicity II - the CD is much better than the album because this song seem to be a bit too much for the LP format to handle, sounding real thin coming at the end of Side 1.
Joel

 

[KeithH]

Every version of "Don't Stand So Close To Me" I have heard, albeit all on CD, show the amp hum and distortion that Joel described. There is amp hum at the beginning and then a "spark" of distortion after the first bit of guitar. These sounds are engrained in my mind. I can't go through the song in my head without inserting the hum and distortion.

 

[Ben Motley]

It has no b-sides or alternate tracks, but the Black Sabbath set "Miniatures 1970-78" from Castle collects all the studio releases from the Ozzy years in replica mini-album covers. I personally hate the mini-replica idea, as they get mucked up so easily, but I do like having the original art, even if the lyrics are too dang small to actually read. What I do love about the set though, is that www.deepdiscountcd.com has it for 72.96 (it lists for $99), which is a steal for 8 Castle Sabbath remasters.

As for the quality, I've never consciously, decidedly listened to Sabbath before, and only ever had Paranoid, so I'm far from a then-and-now authority to critique the remaster's faithfulness to the original mixes, but I can say I think the cds sound great, especially when blasted at high decibals.

 

[Ryan Spaight]

The Velvet Underground's "Peel Slowly And See" box contains all the studio albums with Lou Reed and a bunch of extra stuff. (Note that some of the tracks used are alternate mixes, though, so you're not getting the "original" versions.)

Ryan