Music » Rock Box Set Music

Release Date: 2002-10-01, Audio CD, Sony Cmg Mkt Group

Release Date: 2002-12-17, Audio CD, Npg

This double live set showcases the peerless calisthenics abilities of the 1988 Zappa big band on a collection of crowd-pleasing favorites, concert staples and cover songs. Zappa's crystalline Stratocaster sound (a far cry from the "squank" of the '70s) highlights some of the most lyrical and inspired solo guitar work of his life. Highlights include an adrenaline charged version of "Zomby Woof" a thoroughly rocking turn at Ravel's Bolero, and a horn arrangement of Jimmy Page's "Stairway to Heaven" guitar solo. --Andrew Boscardin

Release Date: 2003-06-17, Audio CD, Buckyball Records

Release Date: 2003-09-09, Audio CD, Sony

Even the title of this terrific two-disc compilation--a play on the title of an early-'70s recording by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention--displays just how clever and hip this great L.A. band has always been. Just Another Band is everything an anthology should be, touching on all the best-known moments ("Don't Worry Baby," "Will the Wolf Survive?," "One Time One Night," "La Bamba," etc.), spanning their career from its origins through Kiko (six tracks from which are featured here), arguably their finest hour. Musically, you get hard R&B, Tex-Mex, pure traditional Mexican music, pop-rock, gorgeous ballads, and pure, raucous rock & roll. Actually, pure is the operative word here--and fans who already own all the albums proper will probably still want this for the soundtrack cuts, live versions (including a performance of their great "Let's Say Goodnight"), unreleased outtakes, cool live cover versions (from both Marvin Gaye and Cream!), and even their terrific "I Wanna Be Like You (The Monkey Song)," originally performed by Louis Prima in The Jungle Book, from the late-1980s, Hal Wilner-produced Disney tribute, Stay Awake. How will the wolves survive? Damn well, from every indication on this fine collection. --Bill Holdship

Release Date: 1993-11-19, Audio CD, Gnp Crescendo

The Century Media 10th anniversary boxset includes 3 CDs and a 90-page booklet chronicles our 10 year history. Disc 1 contains tracks from Century Media western Hemisphere artists, disc 2 European/Eastern Hemisphere, and the 3rd disk contains previously unreleased tracks from a combination of the above.

Convenient new size...Still f***ing huge! Metallica's Live Sh*t: Binge & Purge - the unprecendented box set featuring three complete concerts on three CD's and three VHS tapes, more than eight hours of live Metallica - is now being made available on three CD's and two DVD's at a special price. This colossal box has sold an incredible 613,000 copies since its 1993 release, and this reissue is sure to swell the ranks of those blown away by these shows. Nothing gets left behind -- the complete original 72-page full-color book is even included on DVD 2, and the commemorative backstage pass and scary guy stencil are enclosed as well. It's a one-two-three punch unmatched by any band, before or since, and the perfect gift for that special someone who needs their ass kicked hard by the world's greatest rock & roll band.

Release Date: 1993-05-04, Audio CD, Hannibal