Music Charts
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For an entire generation, the concert event of the new millennium was the 2003 Old Friends tour from Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel. Their first national concert tour in two decades, performing songs that rank among the most memorable of the '60s, was a sold-out sensation in more than 30 cities across the country. Now many of those unforgettable performances are heard on the 2-CD set Old Friends Live On Stage, as well as a DVD and a Deluxe Edition with both the DVD and the CDs. The songs of Simon & Garfunkel have never sounded better ... Buy this box set

Morphine leader Mark Sandman was the inventor of a sound called "low rock" — the distinctive blend of sonorous saxophone, bass and deep grooves that, along with Mark's lyric poetry, propelled Morphine to fame. But Mark created much more than the brilliant music of Morphine. He was a tireless musical experimenter who wrote and recorded constantly throughout his life. 
After 5 years meticulously culling the large collection of original music, poetry and art left behind by Mark after his untimely death in 1999, the surviving members of Morphine, Bill Conway and Dana Colley, have assembled the essential Mark Sandman collection. More a musical adventure than a "greatest hits" set, the 30 songs on Sandbox are connected by the voice and the singular musical and lyrical vision of Mark Sandman. For Morphine and Treat Her Right devotees, it's a final affectionate encore. For the uninitiated, an invitation to discover the depth and scope of Mark's unique and challenging artistry. Sandbox also includes a DVD of rare and unseen footage, artifacts of Mark's career and even more Sandman music. ... Buy this box set

Live, intimate, and raw, Sessions For Robert J is the essential audio/video companion to Eric Clapton's 2004 gold, Top 10 Me And Mr. Johnson, tribute to blues legend Robert Johnson. Filmed during tour rehearsals in London and Dallas plus a Los Angeles hotel room and the Dallas warehouse where Johnson made some of his final recordings, Sessions for Robert J finds Clapton performing all Robert Johnson songs with his touring band, acoustically with Doyle Bramhall II and solo-as well as discussing Johnson and his influence. A performance/documentary DVD with 14 tracks (from which the 11 CD selections are taken), Sessions for Robert J is blues heaven ... Buy this box set

The arc of Jimi Hendrix's cometlike career is captured on the four-disc Jimi Hendrix Experience box set, which showcases the musician's mercurial brilliance and offers new angles from which to appraise his artistry. That the great guitarist's unreleased musings have been explored since his death three decades ago wouldn't seem to bode well for a multidisc collection such as this. But this retrospective boggles the mind merely by presenting how much Hendrix accomplished in a few short years and, in doing so, questioning what he would have achieved had he lived. --Steven Stolder ... Buy this box set

OFFICIAL SOUNDTRACK BOX SET. This 8 CD Set is the indispensable companion to GRAND THEFT AUTO: SAN ANDREAS. The 8 CD's are loaded with the music featured inside the game ... Buy this box set

The first stop for anybody new to Neil Young's music, this 34-song set (originally released in 1977) traces his growth from Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young to Crazy Horse to his Harvest band, the Stray Gators. The album defined Young to rock radio the way Hot Rocks determined which Rolling Stones songs would become classics, but this is more than a quickie greatest-hits collection. Rarities and hits--Springfield's "Mr. Soul," CSNY's "Ohio," and Young's "Cinnamon Girl," "Heart of Gold," and the closing "Long May You Run"--develop in thematic and chronological patterns. --Steve Knopper ... Buy this box set

As Basil Bunting wrote about Ezra Pound's Cantos, "There are the Alps... you will have to go a long way round/if you want to avoid them." Led Zeppelin's work is the central fact of 1970s rock & roll; in its loving homage to and shameless piracy from the blues, its glorious and wretched excess, its transformation of hippie and folk-rock graces into a foundation-shaking kaboom, and its offhanded myth-making, the band turned everything caught in its wake into a reaction to it--or against it. The three non-album tracks the box includes are grace notes rather than lost jewels, but the point of the set is to be a Rosetta stone of album rock, the stairway to a gaudy paradise that they constructed. --Douglas Wolk ... Buy this box set

For a band with such an overarching legacy, the official record of Led Zeppelin's legendary--and unpredictable--live act has heretofore been poorly represented by the disappointing, scattershot soundtrack to The Song Remains the Same. But this triple-disc live set (culled from 1972 Long Beach/LA shows in advance of Houses of the Holy) addresses history with a vengeance, if a few decades late. These shows have rightfully assumed cult status in the bootleg market, showcasing a band at the peak of its creative and performing powers. Zep faithful will welcome the belated release as evidence for enduring loyalty, but younger fans may find its diversity and dynamics even more enlightening--indeed, whole careers have since been built on the musical ideas Jimmy Page and company toss off here as decorative filler.
Bigger and brasher than just about any rock act that followed in its historic wake, yet ever fan-loyal to its myriad influences, Led Zeppelin's live juggernaut finally gets the monument it deserves. --Jerry McCulley ... Buy this box set

From 1969 to 1975 the Faces - Rod Stewart, Ian McLagan, Ron Wood, Ronnie Lane, and Kenney Jones - played their loose and joyful blues and soul-inflected rock 'n' roll with reckless abandon, consummate skill, and immeasurable charm. For those few years they were arguably the greatest band on the planet, and their influence has resonated ever since through the music of countless acts, from the Sex Pistols to The Replacements to The Black Crowes, and on and on. After the Faces dissolved in 1975, Stewart went on to solo superstardom, Wood to the Stones, Jones to The Who, McLagan to world - class session work and his own recordings, and Lane to acclaimed solo projects before he succumbed to multiple sclerosis in 1997. Greater than the sum of its parts, the Faces made now - immortal music for which there will never, ever be a last call ... Buy this box set

Though this is not the most recent Ray Charles box set collection, it may be the best. That's because it focuses on Ray's great growth in the 1950s, particularly his days with Atlantic Records. The set opens with Ray still in a Charles Brown, smooth-voice, mellow-piano mode, but in short order, he discovers his own identity. From the good time of "It Should Have Been Me" on disc one, though the orgiastic "What'd I Say, Parts 1 & 2" on disc three, the man they call "The Genius" rocks, rolls, raises the rafters, and sinks way down low with the blues. This box also features an excellent essay by the late music historian, Robert Palmer --Robert Gordon ... Buy this album set

If anyone deserves his own section in record stores, it's Ray Charles. Witness this Charles box set, a full five-disc career retrospective that follows smaller packages concentrating on his early R&B (The Birth of Soul) and Blues + Jazz work. In addition to those styles, we get Ray's stabs at Nat "King" Cole/Charles Brown urban blues ("Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand"), handfuls of country songs ("I Can't Stop Loving You"), definitive readings of the American songbook ("Georgia on My Mind," "Come Rain or Come Shine"), and personal claims on the '60s soul he made possible ("I Don't Need No Doctor"). Whether you're a newcomer or a veteran Charles fan, this impeccably selected box is for you. --Rickey Wright ... Buy this album set

Not just your average box set of re-packaged music, 'Unearthed' is a 5 CD box containing 79 tracks from the American Recordings era. 'Unearthed' contains 4 entire discs of never-before-heard recordings. 'Unearthed' also contains 'My Mothers Hymn Book' a complete never released solo acoustic spiritual album. Deluxe packaging includes 104 page hard cover book, never before seen photo's and Johnny's personal comments, thoughts and memories about every song on the box ... Buy this album set

The CD box set includes a 60 page version of the 180-page book, "Miracle : A Celebration of New Life," the "Miracle" CD, and a "Making of the CD" DVD ... Buy this album set

Discs One and Two Focus on Early Session and Demo Material and Highlight Just How Experimental the Early Minds Were. Here BBC Session Recordings and Live Versions of Classic Singles Like "Chelsea Girl" and "Life in a Day" Capture the Energy of the Band at that Stage in their Career. Also Included is a Version of "New Gold Dream" with a Guest Vocal by Bono. Discs Three and Four Are Comprised of Live Material from a Series of Triumphant Gigs Between 1985 and 1995. Disc Five Includes the "Lost" Album "Our Secrets Are the Same". Recorded in 1999 the Album was Stuck at the Bottom of a Legal Dispute, but Finally it is to Be Available to the Fans as Part of this Box Set. The Box Set's Sleeve Notes Will Include a Commentary Written by Jim Kerr on the Tracks on "Our Secrets Are the Same". ... Buy this album set

Songs from the Street, the boxed set that stretches back to "Sesame Street's" 1969 debut, is the kids' record of the year, if not the decade: Big Bird and the gang might've pulled it off themselves--for a crew of fix-it store workers, shopkeeps, and goofball monsters, the talent quotient's off the charts--but when you've got this many names to drop, they've got to land somewhere. What impresses most in three discs is the lack of a single thud. Cab Calloway, Pete Seeger, and James Taylor mosey in on disc one; Johnny Cash, BB King, and Tony Bennett take seats on the stoop for disc two; and the Dixie Chicks, Gloria Estefan, and R.E.M. raise the brownstone roof on disc three--and that's leaving out stars like Lena Horne, Stevie Wonder, Billy Joel, and Trisha Yearwood. When it comes to inspiring preschoolers and their parents to sing the praises of rubber duckies, bein' green, and the people in their neighborhood; "The Street" gets busy ... Buy this album set

Collection contains: 

• Symphony No. 5 in C minor ("Fate") Op. 67
• Symphony No. 4 in B flat major, Op. 60
• Symphony No. 3 in E flat major ("Eroica"), Op. 55
• Symphony No. 8 in F major, Op. 93
• Symphony No. 6 in F major ("Pastoral") Op. 68
• Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 36
• Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92
• Symphony No. 1 in C major, Op. 21
• Symphony No. 9 in D minor ("Choral") Op. 125

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The story of the great Memphis soul label, Stax/Volt. This 9-disc box concerns itself with the period between 1959 and 1968 and contains the soul singles issued by Stax/Volt during that time- featured are some of the biggest and best-loved hits of the day, as well as a number of little-known gems by both major and less familiar artists. Artists include Otis Redding, Carla Thomas, Booker T. & The MGs, William Bell, Mar-Keys, The Astors, Rufus Thomas, Gorgeous George, Sam And Dave, Albert King, Bar-Kays, Mable John, Jeanne and the Darlings, The Mad Lads and many more ... Buy this box set

The story of the great Memphis soul label, Stax/Volt. This 9-disc box concerns itself with the period between 1968 and 1971 and contains all 216 soul singles issued by Stax/Volt during that time- featured are some of the biggest and best-loved hits of the day, as well as a number of little-known gems by both major and less familiar artists. Artists include Shirley Walton, Booker T. & The MGs, The Soul Children, Sonny Stitt, Darrell Banks, Ollie & The Nightingales, Eddie Floyd, Isaac Hayes , The Staple Singers and many more. The discs are housed in a deluxe oversized box (12 x 12 x 1 1/2) ... Buy this box set

This 10-CD box set features all 213 soul singles released by Stax/Volt in this period (1972-1975) are contained in Volume 3, which like the previous compilations features a panoply of big hits as well as a surprising number of undeservedly obscure gems. Stax historian (and box co-producer) Rob Bowman tells the whole story in his 47,000-word essay. And the last word on the subject is The Memphis Sound lives. Artists include Eddie Floyd, Albert King, The MG's, The Emotions, Black Nasty, Major Lance, Katie Love, Inez Foxx, The Bar-Kays and many more. The discs are housed in a oversized deluxe box (approx. 12 x 12 x 1 1/2) ... Buy this box set

Goodbye Babylon is a 6 CD gospel reissue collection. 5 CDs contain 135 songs from 1902-1960 and the 6th disc is comprised of 25 sermons recorded between 1926-1941. Also included is a 200 page book complete with Bible verses, lyric transcriptions, and notes for each recording, plus over 200 illustrations. - Art direction and design by World of anArchie, the Grammy® winning team behind "Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton," and other fine works such as "Dock Boggs Country Blues," and "Harry Smith's Anthology of American Folk Music, Volume IV." - Sound restoration and mastering by Airshow Mastering, the team that restored the "Anthology of American Folk Music" (Smithsonian Folkways, 1997), and won a Grammy® for their work on "Screamin' and Hollerin' the Blues: The Worlds of Charley Patton" (Revenant, 2002). - Reverently packed in raw cotton and housed in a deluxe 8" x 11" x 2.5" cedar box. Notes and essays by musicologists and scholars, including several Grammy® winners. - Contributors include Lynn Abbott, David Evans, Ray Funk, Anthony Heilbut, Kip Lornell, Luigi Monge, Paul Oliver, Opal Louis Nations, Bruce Nemerov, Guido van Rijn, Ken Romanowski, Tony Russell, Doug Seroff, Dick Spottswood, Warren Steel, David Tibet, Gayle Dean Wardlow, and Charles Wolfe ... Buy this box set

In 1976 a young Toronto musician released a fun and lively record called Singable Songs for the Very Young. The artist was a fellow called Raffi, and in the liner notes he wrote at the time that "there are very few good children's records." True as that was in the '70s, Singable Songs became the No. 1 bestseller in its field and set the standard for today's greater volume of high-quality material. The Singable Songs Collection reissues the classic Singable Songs for the Very Young and its superlative successors, More Singable Songs and Corner Grocery Store, as a set. Raffi's exhilarating acoustic musicality and sense of humor shine brightly through. Single-digit-age kids and their parents will get a kick out of these silly, educational, and joyful songs, which range in subject matter and tone from shared peanut-butter sandwiches and instrumental ragtime to standards like "Goodnight, Irene." --Paige La Grone ... Buy this album set