Box sets vs individual albums

[Arkitech]

Which is the best choice? For example lets say a person is a huge Pink Floyd fan and plans on buying all of their albums, would it be any advantage to buying the set over the individual albums? Do they include bonus material in box sets?

 

[NutBucket]

Depends on what you're after. As I recall, there's only a few Floyd box sets which don't cover all the material. Apparently the last compilation to come out was very good and flowing but for max effect, especially Floyd, just go get The Wall, Dark Side, etc. Those must be heard in their original form to be completely appreciated.

Now, if you're into Zepplin or Genesis there are sets that have all their works and lots of stuff that never made it to the records. That's cool stuff.

 

[pulse8]

The Shine On boxed set has the full albums, a book a postcard and a cool box. I opted for that rather than buying them individually.

 

[mpitts]

Are the albums in the box set the same as the albums that are sold seperately? I only ask because I would think you want to make sure you listen to the albums as the artists originally intended.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You can find this out by looking at the track listings at amazon.com and/or www.allmusic.com

I don't like the box sets that are simply selected tracks plus b-sides / misc. stuff, it's the worst of both worlds. If you don't have the original CDs you miss out on a lot of good music and the presentation changes (2 songs from a concept album? bah!). If you do have the originals then you pay for several CDs of music you already have just to get the b-sides.

 

[spidey07]

Recording quality comes into play big time here.

I'm a serious audiophile (for some reason that has a negative connotation these days?) and for me the actuall quality and realism of the recording are very important.

Most of the box sets I own are excellant quailty recordings many times straight from the master tape without EQ or being run through a boat load of digital equipment, while the albums might not be. Pink Floyd might not be a good example because they were always recorded well.

Hope this helps, but I'll take box set anyday. Not to mention all the goodie information and history they contain.