Tag: Box Set

The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994 by Gary Larson – Book Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic25 Comments

When I was a kid, I loved the comic strips and when my dad would finish the paper, I would grab it to head over to the comics. Especially on Sunday when there was a huge section of strips to read. You had Peanuts, Beatle Bailey, Family Circle and tons more. But as I got older, my humor got a little darker and I would race over to read Calvin & Hobbes and most especially The Far Side by Gary Larson. They were only one panel strips with humor that was so absurd at times that it made you think and then laugh. I don’t know if my parents got the humor, but I sure did.

Gary retired from the strip way back in 1994 going out in his prime. I guess he felt he might as well quit while he was ahead and boy was he. I think he was way ahead of his time as the humor to me was really subtle and advance and not like anything out there at all. So, when he called it quits, it made me a little sad as a childhood memory was being taken away and lost forever.

The Far Side ran for over 15 years and by the end was running in over 1,900 newspapers….do kids today know what a newspaper is…doubtful. And the series was so popular, he sold a series of books including a set of the comics. Those books have sold 45 million copies. Gary Larson was a rock star!! I will admit, I didn’t buy all these books because when I started feeling nostalgic for the series, there were too many to buy. Then my prayers were answered and a complete series was released. In August 2003, my wish came true and ‘The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994’ was finally released and I could get them all in one set.

Continue reading “The Complete Far Side: 1980-1994 by Gary Larson – Book Review” →

The Monkees – ’50: Classic Album Collection’ – Box Set Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic30 Comments

The first album I ever bought was off a TV commercial way back in the 70’s. We were watching the TBS channel, but for us it was a local channel as we were from Atlanta. This was before it became a cable channel. TBS was showing re-runs of the TV show The Monkees. I saw that commercial and begged my mom to buy that album as I really, really wanted it. Well, being the fantastic mom she was, she picked up the phone, made a call and the next thing you know I had a copy of that album. It was The Monkees Greatest Hits and I still have that record today (see below).

Fast forward about 46 years later and I’m still a Monkees fan. But I didn’t have any of their other albums in my collection. I was on Amazon and I saw this box set called 50: Classic Album Collection by The Monkees. It had their first 9 albums included as well as a bonus disc of other tracks. I asked Santa for it and guess what was under the tree.

The Box Set came out in 2016 and is celebrating the band’s 50th Anniversary as they started in 1966. It was released on April 16, 2016 and was a Record Store Day special. I missed this because my first Record Store Day wasn’t until 2017 because if I was back in to collecting in 2016, I would’ve bought this then with no questions asked as it was limited to only 3,000 copies. Now, when I asked for this for Christmas, I actually assumed the box set was only the black vinyl, but when I opened it up and pulled out the debut album, it was a colored vinyl, in fact, they all were a different color. Man, what a surprise it was. There was nothing on the label to tell you if you got the standard black or the color…I got lucky I guess.

Continue reading “The Monkees – ’50: Classic Album Collection’ – Box Set Review” →

Cheap Trick – ‘Sex, America, Cheap Trick’ (1994) – Box Set Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic34 Comments

By 1994, Cheap Trick was no longer with Epic Records, they had jumped ship to Warner Bros. Epic was going to take that lying down, no they weren’t. They still had the rights to all the bands material up to ‘Busted’, so they were going to still capitalize on the Cheap Trick name. They released a compilation of Cheap Trick’s biggest hits. However, this was just an ordinary greatest hits set, no sir. Epic did what their name implies…they made an epic box set that had four CDs of hits, album tracks, b-sides, live songs, alternate takes and a ton of previously unreleased tracks. In fact, 17 previously unreleased tracks. A super fan’s wet dream, if you will.

There are 64 tracks on the album, plus 4 hidden little bits of weirdness at the end of each disc. It comes housed in a hard cover book type case that feels pretty solid. Inside, attached to the case, which I don’t like at all, is a booklet filled with pictures, stories and other Cheap Trick goodness. It would’ve been nice if the booklet wasn’t attached and you could take it out and enjoy it on its own. Minor flaw though. I liked the fact that the front cover of the book was actually Rick Nielsen and Bun E. Carlos and the back was Robin Zander and Tom Petersson because most of their albums was the reverse with Robin and Tom on front and Rick & Bun relegated to the back cover. Nice little twist that did not go unnoticed.

Continue reading “Cheap Trick – ‘Sex, America, Cheap Trick’ (1994) – Box Set Review (The Cheap Trick Collection Series)” →

Queensryche – ‘Empire’ Super Deluxe Edition – Box Set Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic24 Comments

After the band’s revolutionary album ‘Operation: Mindcrime’, Queensryche delivered another masterpiece with the album ‘Empire’. The band is celebrating this album with a Super Deluxe Edition Box Set and it is full or wonderful things. You get 3 CDs, 1 DVD and a book all included in a wonderful and sturdy box. It looks like a lot of time was spent on the packaging. And if you look at the back cover, it tells you everything you are going to get, but maybe it is overstating things a little and I will get to that later.

Just look at all the stuff you get. You get a remastered album, ‘Concealed Empire – Bonus Tracks’, ‘Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London 11-14-90’ and a DVD called ‘Building Empires’. If that isn’t enough you get a hardback book with lot of wonderful goodies inside. Let’s not waste anytime and get right into it.

The 3 CDs / 1 DVD come housed in a cardboard foldout that houses each disc in a slot with the DVD getting its own packaging as well. And if you were smart, you would pull each disc out and place them in to their own jewel slim case so they don’t get scratched up…at least that is what Aaron would do over at keepsmealive.wordpress.com.

Continue reading “Queensryche – ‘Empire’ Super Deluxe Edition – Box Set Review” →

Def Leppard – ‘The Collection, Volume 3’ – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic36 Comments

After a year since the release of The Collection Volume 1, Def Leppard released Volume 2.  It wasn’t until 2 years later that we finally received Volume 3. I believe the delay was due to the Covid-19 virus so I will forgive them for the delay. And as I did with the first two in the collection, I bought the Vinyl edition. And this was one was crucial to do that because these albums were not available on vinyl so it was even more of a must have buy. You can read those reviews here… click on The Collection Volume 1 and The Collection Volume 2.  As I normally do with these box sets, I focus mostly on the packaging and the bonus material as the main albums we all know and love or we wouldn’t be buying this set.  I want to know if we are getting a bang for our buck on the whole package.

Look at all the albums and songs you are getting. There are 3 Studio albums and 3 albums of bonus material and there a total of 9 LPs in the set as 3 of the albums are double LPs.  It is heavy and chock full of great tunes that will give you hours and hours of fun. I always save the sticker that is on the plastic wrapping and this time is no different.  Here is a summary of the box set.

Continue reading “Def Leppard – ‘The Collection, Volume 3’ – Album Review” →

Kiss – ‘The Casablanca Singles 1974–1982’ (2012) – Box Set Review (The Kiss Review Series – Bonus Edition)

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic36 Comments

This time around, we have a little bonus edition for you. There is no dramatic story behind this release, it is simple a way to give the fans something kind of cool and the band a little more money. There are no new songs or remixes, these are all songs you already have in some way shape or form. On November 13, 2012, Kiss released the box set, ‘The Casablanca Singles 1974-1982’ collection. It houses all 29 singles the band released on Casablanca Records. They have all been digitally remastered and given some very collectible sleeves from the original single releases from around the world.

Now, this is not going to be review of each song, been there done that with all of the album reviews. No, this is going to be a picture review of the entire box set. You are going to see everything there is to see in this box set. There are over 90 pictures so sit back and enjoy. We will do them in order of each album, but first we will start with the box set itself and the booklet. I hope you enjoy…

The box set is literally housed in a box. There is a flap on the side you open and all the singles and booklet slide right in. It is nice and sturdy. There is a cool effect on the front where the box there is an empty space with a fiery red, orange and yellow swirled backing that gives the Kiss logo its fiery appearance. The box also has an etched metal plaque engraved with the name “The Casablanca Singles 1974-1982 Limited Edition”. But here is the big question…What’s in the Box??

Continue reading “Kiss – ‘The Casablanca Singles 1974–1982’ (2012) – Box Set Review (The Kiss Review Series – Bonus Edition)” →

Queen – ‘Queen 40 (Volumes 1-3)- Box Set Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic36 Comments

For Christmas of 2020, I received the ‘Queen 40’ Box Set, all three volumes. You would think, John, you have most of these on vinyl, why do you want the CDs? Well, easy…these are all remastered CDs from 2011 and each album includes an extra CD E.P. with anywhere from 5 to 7 Bonus tracks that I don’t have on the vinyl. So, that is why I wanted this set.

Let me tell you this set is great. They broke it up in to 3 separate volumes with each Volume getting 5 Studio albums so for the cost conscious person, you can buy one volume at a time or if money doesn’t matter, get all 3. Now that I have all 3 Volumes, with all 15 Studio albums, I am going to clue you in on something. Each Studio album will get its own, detailed review. My goal is to review all these albums by the end of 2021 and then do an Album Ranking of what I thought was the worst all the way to the one that is first on the list. It is going to be an exciting time at 2 Loud 2 Old Music for 2021!!

Let’s go through each Volume starting, of course, with Volume 1…

VOLUME 1:

Continue reading “Queen – ‘Queen 40 (Volumes 1-3)- Box Set Review” →

Garth Brooks – ‘Legacy’ Box Set – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic26 Comments

Now I am not a huge Country Music fan, but there are some artist that I can’t help but like. I grew up in the South so Waylon, Willie and Johnny are staples. But there was one artist I gravitated towards and that was Garth Brooks. I actually don’t own anything he has, but I did at one time or another. When Amazon was doing their Black Friday Deals, these Legacy Box Sets popped up so I took a look. Normally these sets run for about $60 and that is way too much for me to spend as a casual fan (I say casual, but I did drive to Greensboro, NC from Charlotte, NC to see Garth live and it was worth it). The price on the box set was $19.50…SOLD!!!!

What did I get for that price? I got 7 LPs and 7 CDs all housed in a wonderful box…thus the name…box set. Here is the Hype sticker to give you an idea of what I got for my money…

Continue reading “Garth Brooks – ‘Legacy’ Box Set – Album Review” →

Def Leppard – Hysteria: The Singles Box Set – Album Review

Published on by 2loud2oldmusic25 Comments

Def Leppard have been milking the Hysteria album for years and why not as it is their most popular album.  It was an album that would reach Diamond status with well over 10 million copies sold.  It would produce 7 singles in the US and even 6 in it’s home country of the UK.

In celebration of the albums 30 years, they released a beautiful box set of the full album which I reviewed a long while back (Hysteria).  Now, they have decided to release the Singles Box set to celebrate those 7 singles and for fun they released two more singles plus gave us an extra Spanish Version of one of their singles (Spanish cover, not sung in Spanish although that would’ve been cool).  This gives us a nice set of 10 singles plus their B-Sides.

IMG_1569

There were two things that made the Hysteria Singles so special.  One was the cover of those singles were a puzzle piece that when put together, they created the album artwork.  The second thing was that the B-Sides were all unreleased tracks.  As a collector, they were awesome.

Continue reading “Def Leppard – Hysteria: The Singles Box Set – Album Review” →