 "Must have box for The Band fans!" | 2007-11-15 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1PRG1WJDMN2LL |
Great and luxurius box for The Band fans, fantastic pictures and a great collection of songs in chronological order.
Recommended for every The Band fan! |
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| "The Definitive Collection" | 2007-08-20 |
| - Reviewed By User: A265K3Z0NNMUOF |
Beginning with the Hawks material shows The Band smoking a Bo Diddly riff on 'Who do you love?'That's Levon laying down that voodoo beat and shaking it up better than at the Last Waltz!
Van Morrison's rehearsal versions also best the Last Waltz.
The 1976 live version of 'Forbidden Fruit'is one of the most exciting tracks ever, aside from 1974's tour with Bob Dylan. That's Levon, again, in high gear! (Pun acceptable)
This Band encompassed everything good about an ensemble. Three headed vocals, incomparable rhythms, songwriting comparable to Beatles and Dylan, and the one man orchestra Garth Hudson.
The DVD man!
Robbie,I know you held back some more material. Give it up!
Buy this box and take a journey thru American via rock-n-roll. |
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| "Great Product and Ever So Complete" | 2007-07-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3TQ2HEXICSNMN |
I became aware of the product from iTunes which has a review of the set but does not actually have all of the tracks from the set.
Listening for the first time, I was reminded of something my dad told me: their songs are great, but sometimes, their singing is the pits. That's especially noticeable on "Will the Circle Be Unbroken".
But that does not impact the value of this set. It gives a complete picture of The Band and their history. The accompanying book (I would call it liner notes, but that minimizes its impact) does not delve into the lasting rift between Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson, but it still makes great reading. If you're a fan, this set is worth the investment. |
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| "The Ultimate collection for the Band" | 2007-05-12 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3Q5A9H8YX6Z2U |
| The collection of the Band is outstanding. It contains multipule versions of famous tracks as well as previously unrecorded or unreleased material. Features several great versions of the Band's "Don't Do It" which is a hard one to find. The book and DVD are cool as well. A must for the Band fan. |
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| "A supererb collection of music from The Band" | 2007-01-10 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3QDXFYD59DJKC |
| I have been wanting to purchase this vault of music ever since I was aware of it's release and it was well worth the wait. I have really been enjoying listening to it since I received it as a gift from my kids for Xmas.I would advise anyone who is a fan of The Band to buy it also, because it's a must have for your collection. |
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 "Essential for collectors, casual fans should get the good albums" | 2007-01-10 |
| - Reviewed By knappeg |
Being a big fan of The Band, I saved up my nickels and dimes and shelled out the money for A Musical History. I got just about what I already expected I'd get--(like one other reviewer put) perhaps a discs worth of early/unreleased material, an excellent DVD with some great live performances, and a large paperback book with a lot of really great pictures. The rest, from (essentially) the entirety of their first three albums to greatest hits of the rest, and the somewhat fairytale narrative in the book (primarily cobbled together from the liner notes of the remastered Band albums), I already had from buying those remasters. Was it worth it? Yeah. But I'm a pretty big fan of The Band, and a completist besides that. After listening to this compilation straight through a few times, I think it's best purchased by big fans and collectors; the extra material is not so revelatory to call it essential, the so-called "hits" are better heard complete, in their original albums (The Band was never a singles group, so why carve up their albums into re-sequenced compilations?), and considering the cost (over $80 new), most casual fans really won't be interested in shelling out that money for a group they're not obsessed with.
I'd say the earlier Hawks material is the most essential, since it's usually not included in any Band compilations. It's so much fun to hear the harder, earlier rock and roll sound they were cranking out--Robbie plays cutting lead on "Who do You Love?" and Richard Manuel howls in a way we've never heard on "Honky Tonk" and "Bacon Fat." There's also some interesting detours when the Hawks left Ronnie Hawkins, working such delightfully immature rockers as "Leave Me Alone," the oldie-sounding "Uh Uh Uh," and the romper "Go Go Liza Jane." This is some really fun stuff--it's not half as creative or accomplished as they got when they were The Band, but helps make the compilation worth the price of admission for me. There's also some great Dylan-era Hawks, like the dark Basement Tapes outtake "Words and Numbers," and the rare single "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"
The rest of the discs include unreleased tracks, live tracks and alternate versions that are at times very good but don't obviate the original album versions or reveal anything earth-shattering. A few of the unreleased tracks are phenomenal--a cleaned up studio version of the essential live favorite "Don't Do It," the funky cover "Baby Lou," unreleased Rick Danko tracks "Move Me" and "Home Cookin'" (how did "Home Cookin'" NOT make it onto the mediocre Islands--it's stronger than any other original!), and a superior version of the Manuel/Van Morrison duet "4% Pantomime" from Cahoots. A few of the live tracks kill as well--notably the Guthrie composition and Dylan collaboration "I Ain't Got No Home," ripping encore "Slippin' and Slidin'," rarities that really cook--"Look Out Cleveland," "Strawberry Wine," "Smoke Signal," and "Forbidden Fruit."
Unfortunately, a lot of the rest of the unreleased material is pretty Robbie Robertson heavy and not as high-quality--he's shown a remarkable skill at self-aggrandizement, especially in rewriting his historical role in The Band. He tries to make it seem like he contributed a lot to vocals in the group, stacking the deck with unreleased tracks with himself on (weak) vocals. In actuality, he only sang on a couple tracks and his mic was always off in concert. Likewise, the liner notes are so pro-Robbie in their interview proportion and sympathy. Anyone interested in The Band's story should also read Levon Helm's autobiography "This Wheel's On Fire" as a grain of salt.
The DVD is great too, with some awesome 70's concert footage and all 3 performances from their 1976 Saturday Night Live date. It's great to get some visual accompaniment.
The rest of the standard material from the albums is frustrating. A lot of times it's incomplete, with all but a couple tracks from an album, and sometimes the songs are rearranged from their original order, which is pretty weird when you're used to the superb albums the way they were meant to be. I bought this compilation for the unreleased material--there's nothing that will ever make me stop listening to The Band's albums in their full, original form (even the mediocre ones). The songs sound better in original sequence, and there are some great tracks that this compilation leaves out.
If you're new to The Band, I beg you please to experience their classic albums, Music From Big Pink, The Band, Stage Fright, and Northern Lights - Southern Cross as entire albums, the way they're meant to be heard. If you're on a hunt for everything The Band ever recorded, this is a great place to pick up a bulk of extra material, despite its dubious value. |
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| "The Band revisited" | 2006-07-07 |
| - Reviewed By wtdk |
One of rock's icons The Band receive the boxed set anthology treatment for second time. Although all this seminal band's recordings have been remastered with bonus tracks on individual CDs this set is a pretty good place to gather their essential songs along with about 2 CD's worth of previously unreleased material. Much of these songs consist eithre of alternate takes/live performances/unfinished songs so will be of great interest to the band.
While the box itself (much like the Talking Heads set) is awkard and large, "A Musical History" is exactly what a chronological gathering of the pivotal tracks and some previously unreleased tracks/rarities should be. The tracks included here that have been released before (such as "Leave Me Alone" recorded as Levon and The Hawks)have not been available on CD before and receive their debut here with stellar sound.
My one reservation with this set is that there's too much previously released material on this set. Clearly this was designed for hardcore fans or people that own some of their albums. Since The Band's catalog has been remastered before (and sounds great) this might be a great gift for a fan who hasn't upgrade their CD collection yet or who simply won't buy this for themeselves because they have much of the material. The real keeper here aside from the new to CD tracks is the DVD which features eight performances that have never been issued before or have been available on bootleg videos. The performances of "Life Is A Carnival", "Georgia On My Mind" and "Stage Fright" from "Saturday Night Live" hasn't been available (to the best of my knowledge) on DVD before in their entirety.
If you're a fan of The Band this is a great single collection with a deluxe book of great photographs and a fine discussion of the band's history by Rob Bowman. The DVD and previously unreleased tracks will be of particular interest to fans I just wish that they had been released together at a lower price vs. having to repurchase material that many fans already have. |
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 "Perhaps a CDs worth of unreleased material." | 2006-03-28 |
| - Reviewed By iolite888 |
| If one subtracts the already available remastered tracks from the Band's albums, and the bonus tracks included on those remaster editions, there is approximately one CD's worth of interesting material here. A few good unreleased live tracks, some obscure early pre-Basement Tapes material, and a rather disappointing 45 minute DVD of mostly desultory live performances. Chances are if you love the band's music, this project will be of interest, but whether it merits spending $80 depends on how much disposable income one has; my feeling is that this is a ponderous, redundant reissue with no as yet unheard quintessential moments. |
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| "Museum quality" | 2005-12-09 |
| - Reviewed By ksmith847 |
| They've really outdone themselves with this collection - don't know how they'll top it (and please don't - me and my pocketbook beg you)...All the essential stuff and a whole slew of outtakes and rarities that expands upon the previous collection by some 30-40 %....Great, timeless music from one of your epic, heroic rock bands...Cable is running "Festival Express" now, which features the Band, and their concert footage is not to be believed: they sing and play every song as though their lives depended on it, and in a way, they did, didn't they? Amazing too, not only their level of instrumental virtuousity, but also, the wealth of great singing. Most bands only have one star lead singer, they had three - Danko, Helm and Manuel were all just incredibly inspired vocalists who just, basically, sang their arses off every time they showed up - they never phoned it in. |
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| "This Is The Reason Box-Sets Exist." | 2005-11-12 |
| - Reviewed By willie_y |
| The quality of this treasure trove of remastered, familiar tunes ("Music From Big Pink" has never sounded better) to the more than 30 unreleased items and filmed footage of The Band at various stages in thier careers, is ample justification for the length and expense lavished on the collection. To fully understandand and appreciate the beauty and depth of this Canadian collective, you could easily start with thier 2 classic 60's LP's (essential to any rock library) but to hear how they arrived at such a fully formed sound so early on, you should pick up this box. Extra sweetening: the 105 page book compiled by Robbie Robertson is worth the purchase price alone! A well deserved treatment of a superb band. |
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