The Best Music Boxed Sets of 2020 - Rocking In the Norselands

2020 is in the books – thankfully, many of us will say – and it’s time to take a look back and do a little summarising. Today: boxed sets and deluxe editions.

Looking back at the 2019 box set write-up, I have to laugh at the statement that the year would be particularly remembered for its many quality archive reissues and deluxe editions. While it was a good year, I really did not see 2020 surpass it as much as it did. This year saw more boxed set releases than I can ever remember. With artists being unable to tour, many of them clearly spent time digging through their archives instead, coming up with more retrospective collections and/or archive-cleaning releases than we are used to seeing in a normal year. No matter what else was going on, archive releases kept coming and making music collecting very exciting.

Without further ado, these are the ones I have enjoyed the most of the ones that were released in 2020.

1) Thin Lizzy: Rock Legends (Deluxe Box Set)

This 6CD/1DVD box set was released to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of Thin Lizzy, and it really is incredible. It covers the band’s entire career, but rather than going the usual route of being an extravagant best-of with some rarities sprinkled in, every single track in this box is a rarity. There are no album versions in sight – every song is either a demo, taken from a radio session, a rare live recording, or a rare single edit. As many as 74 of the 99 included tracks have never been released before, and 83 have never been released on CD.

The DVD features the hour long Bad Reputation BBC documentary, as well as the band’s performance on the TV special A Night On the Town from 1976.

The set also contains replicas of the nine tour programmes bound into a hard-backed book, the very sought-after Phil Lynott poetry books, four prints by legendary Lizzy cover artist Jim Fitzpatrick, and a book containing quotes by all band members about their experiences playing with Phil Lynott and Thin Lizzy. A few fans of note (Lemmy, Geddy Lee, Slash, Joe Elliott, etc) are also included

Sadly, this set is sold out and already deleted (out of print with no plans to reprint it), so if you didn’t pick one up you may need to rely on second-hand options like eBay or Discogs. I had it on pre-order but in the end my supplier had to inform me that they wouldn’t be able to deliver it. Salvation came from my local record store who was able to get copies of the Japan versions of the set. That means that the CDs are in the superior SHM-format, and the box features an extra book featuring lyrics in English and Japanese, but everything else is the same.

2) Paul McCartney: Flaming Pie (Archive Collection)

This release is part of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, which is an ongoing project to remaster and reissue Macca’s solo catalogue (including the Wings albums). In addition to basic album releases, each reissued album has also gotten the Deluxe Box treatment. Some of them have been better than others. The Flowers In the Dirt set from 2017 was rather disappointing, with Macca opting to not include most of the rarities in the box itself, instead including download cards – exactly what buyers of expensive boxed sets want, right? The backlash was palpable, and more CDs were included when boxes were released in 2018 for Wings Wild Life and Red Rose Speedway.

For some reason, 2019 was the only year without a new reissue since the program started in 2010, but they made up for it by releasing a rather lavish box set for Flaming Pie this year. The album is a highlight in Macca’s discography to begin with, and was just made even better with this 5CD/2DVD box that includes the newly remastered album, home recordings, demos, non-album singles and all kinds of rarities. The DVDs contains documentaries, music videos, interviews, performances, behind-the-scenes material and more. However, the books and prints have always been one of the most amazing things about these boxed sets. Everything from the detailed story of the album, full song dissections, pictures, anecdotes and more is captured in several books and booklets, printed on high quality paper. This really is an immaculate set.

3) The Kinks: Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, part 1 (Deluxe Edition)

My second favourite album by the Kinks got its 50^th Anniversary Deluxe Box treatment this year. Lola versus Powerman and the Moneygoround, part 1 – most often simply referred to as Lola versus Powerman, or just Lola – is the band’s eighth studio album, recorded and released in 1970. This is not the biggest box set by any means, but not too shoddy either, containing three CDs, two 7’’ singles, art cards (images of the band) and a book.

The three CDs contain the expected – the original album newly remastered, single a/b-sides (stereo and mono mixes), and unheard BBC/live performances from that time.

The true gold on this set, however, takes the shape of a series of tracks labelled Ray’s Kitchen Sink – which are home recordings of songs in progress, sometimes even hearing him actively work on things and trying his way through his ideas and fragments of ideas. Hearing these very early drafts take shape is as interesting as it gets. These are accompanied by band demos and alternate versions which are also highly interesting. We also get some songs from the Lola sessions that have never been heard before, as well as old songs in totally new 2020 mixes. To top it off, we also have conversation tracks with Ray and Dave Davies, talking their way through the songs on the album and sounding like they enjoy sharing in their memories with one another. That in itself may be the biggest surprise on the set.

The book is highly interesting, including a detailed essay about the creation of the album with input from every band member, a fully illustrated discography of all album and single releases related to this album, a timeline chronicling all band member activities of 1970, plenty of great pictures from the time, a grand collection of news clippings, and track listing details for every song featured on the set – including transcripts of the Ray and Dave conversations on each individual track. This set boasts an attention to detail that everybody with a fondness for the band will find utterly endearing.

Sadly this attention to detail did not extend to the discs in the set, with disc 1 being identical to the 1CD reissue of the album (missing one track), and disc 2 identical to the second disc of the 2CD release with a totally different track list altogether, missing several of the highly sought after “kitchen sink” demos. Hopefully this can be rectified with replacement discs shortly.

4) The Rolling Stones: Goat’s Head Soup (Deluxe Edition)

After last year’s disgraceful effort, it is good to see a decent box set from the Stones again. It’s nothing less than expected, as Universal is a totally different operation than ABKCO.

Goat’s Head Soup from 1973 has always been a semi-forgotten album, with the previous year’s Exile On Main Street taking a lot of the attention as the ultimate Stones album, and the title track of next year’s It’s Only Rock’n’Roll being the shining period hit. Not that Soup didn’t have any hits – look no further than Angie – but the album itself is not often talked about.

This box set may go some way towards redeeming that, with the first of the three CDs giving us a brand new stereo mix of the album, enabling even hardened fans to listen to it as it for the first time. The second disc is the treasure trove of the set, featuring outtakes, original 1973 Glyn Johns mixes, alternate versions and demos. The third disc features the complete live show from Forest National Arena in Brussels, 17 October 1973, commonly known as A Brussels Affair. This show has been in circulation amongst fans for a while and is highly regarded as one of the best shows the band ever did, and it is absolutely spectacular. It is fantastic to see it get an official release in top notch sound quality.

The set also includes a Blu-ray with the album in glorious high-resolution Dolby Atmos surround sound as well as promo video footage. The real prize here is the gorgeous hardbound large coffee-table sized book in the deluxe edition, loaded with amazing archive photos and liner notes recapping the album’s chaotic sessions and consequent tour in high detail. The box even features four rolled (not folded) tour posters, and a leaflet with the actual recipe for how to make genuine Jamaican goat’s head soup! If anyone actually tried to make it, I want to hear from you!

5) Def Leppard: The Early Years 79-81 (Deluxe Box Set)

Joe Elliot said in an interview that this box set was Def Leppard’s Covid-19 isolation project. They were not alone in digging through their archives in lieu of touring, as the list of archive releases this year testifies to. Interestingly, Def Leppard chose to make the early years the focus of their efforts, resulting in a very interesting collection that may even snare in those who subsequently found Pour Some Sugar On Me to be eight steps too far. To some, Dep Leppard were at their best in the days when they were part of England’s New Wave of British Heavy Metal wave with tough riffs and songs about getting wasted on a Saturday night.

The Early Years finally gives that era its due by anthologizing the first two albums On Through the Night and High And Dry. Getting them remastered is nice, but the draw of this box set is a surprisingly crisp-sounding live album from 1980 which is frankly speaking one of the most energetic and exciting Leppard shows I had the pleasure to listen to. A further CD collects b-sides, early versions and rarities of the era (including the first Def Leppard self-issued EP), and finally a CD is dedicated to the band’s BBC sessions from 1979 and 1980. An attractive hardbound book is the cherry on top, generous with images and press clippings of the time (it really looks like they must have found close to all of them!), essays on several aspects of the early days, candid band photos, and detailed song information. An affordable price tag makes this high value for your investment.

6) Iggy Pop: The Bowie Years (Deluxe Edition)

Conceptually, this box set makes a ton of sense. It collects the two albums that the Igmeister recorded with David Bowie in 1976/77 – The Idiot and Lust For Life – with Bowie producing, co-writing and performing on both. These albums are largely considered his best.

The set boasts seven CDs – the two albums remastered, four live discs each containing a show from the Lust For Life tour, and one disc labelled Edits + Outtakes (although it is light on actual outtakes – it consists of edits (single and otherwise), alternative mixes, a live b-side, and a new interview with Iggy about recording The Idiot). One of the live CDs is the classic release TV Eye Live, whereas the others are previously unreleased. The box also contains a small, hardbound book detailing the making of The Idiot and a leaflet with a strong vintage punk fanzine-feel, featuring write-ups, images, and period piece adverts. It’s all about the details.

One could wish for some sprinklings of actual outtakes or work in progress demos, which is what this box set does not contain. The albums, edits and fair chunk of live material does however manage to give a good impression of the whirlwind that was the Pop/Bowie alliance during those hectic months in Berlin. It’s classic, timeless stuff.

7) Elton John: Jewel Box (Deluxe Box Set)

Of all the box sets we saw arrive in 2020, this is possibly the hardest to describe. Rather than being a comprehensive career-covering trawl from beginning to end, it feels more correct to view it as several different collections, each one conceptually distinct from the others, that are all housed in one disparate, epic box set. Does it work? That really depends on your view. Some calls it a weakness that the fans who want to hear Elton’s earliest demos may be a totally different audience from the one that wants his latter day content, and it’s a fair point to make, but the overriding concept of avoiding hits and focusing on deep cuts or rarities may be enough of a unifying factor to make it work.

CD 1 and 2 are titled Deep Cuts, and consist of Elton John’s personally selected non-hits favourites from his albums. The concept is interesting enough, and is made even more as Elton has written a piece about each of these selections in the accompanying book. This gives the “deep” tag a double meaning; in addition to being deep cuts in his catalogue, the essays bring us deeper into the songs as well. As a standalone concept it is brilliant. As an opening to the rest of this box set, it certainly tells us a little more of the artist. The fact that this is all fully available material is a strike against it, but the essays add a lot.

CDs 3 to 5 form the rarities section of the box set, each CD covering 1965-1968, 1968, and 1968-71 respectively. These discs will without question be the selling point for most fans. This is a period several fans have clamoured for, and even though the sheer amount of piano ballads is a bit too overwhelming at times for my own taste, there is no denying how interesting it is to listen to them from a music archivist perspective. There are also several band arrangements and demo versions of the song, mixing it up a bit. Included in this collection are songs from his unreleased Regimental Sgt. Zippo album (1968). It is also fun to hear how inspired he was by contemporary acts before finding his own style.

CD 6 and 7 are b-side collections, marked ‘part 1: 1976-1984’ and ‘part 2: 1984-2005’ respectively. This is exactly what it says on the tin. The quality of this material varies highly, ranging from great to grating. It’s an interesting listen, and crucially, this is the first time these b-sides have been collected anywhere like this. Unfortunately it is not a comprehensive collection, but most of the 36 tracks had not been released digitally before, making them highly sought after.

It all ends with CD8, titled ‘And this is me…’ – another collection of tracks from Elton’s career, mostly non-singles again, which he has collected as the official soundtrack to his memoir. This indicates that these tracks in particular have personal significance, making the choices all the more intriguing. Like the “deep cuts” these also gets special mention in the accompanying book. Does it belong on a box set like this though?

Jewel Box is certainly a fascinating set – wildly disjointed as a set, but as a total package to learn something more about an artist it may give listeners more than you expect. It comes in the form of a slipcase, housing a huge coffee-table book which houses the discs and a hundred pages of text from Elton John himself and detailed essays (particularly on the 1960s) and track info. For all its potential faults, you really meet Elton John as an artist and person here. Everything is personally curated by him, and he assures fans in the foreword that he is an avid record collector himself and has worked hard to make sure his fans gets something he would have loved to see from his own favourite artists. And at the end of the day, those words ring true.

The “value for money” category:
Big Country: Out Beyond the River – The Compulsion Years Anthology (Box Set)

Some boxed sets get the lavish deluxe treatment, featuring elaborate boxes with hardbound books, generous amounts of never-before-heard material, posters, memoribilia, and what have you. Others are quietly put out in very simple yet handy clamshell boxes, preferring to let the music itself be the grandiose element.

When Big Country released The Buffalo Skinners in 1993, it was considered a mighty return to form and even a comeback of sorts. The resulting tour was chronicled on the live album Without the Aid of A Safety Net, released in 1994. These two releases make up their output on the Compulsion label, and it is this material and related songs that make up this 5CD/1DVD set.

Two of the CDs make up the expanded edition of the WTAOASN live album, and the DVD is a straight reissue of the standalone release. Most fans will have these releases, but none of these have been in print for a while and are now at least available again. The performances are incredible, opening with an acoustic set before delving into full-blown electric.

Of the three remaining CDs, one is a straight duplication of the still readily available Skinners remaster from 2005 with four bonus tracks. That leaves two CDs with less-than-obvious fare and potentially rarities. One of them collects all the b-sides from these years. They have been reissued a few times and faithful will surely have them, but they have never all been collected in one place like this before. The final CD features demo versions of all the songs on the album in album playing order. This is where you will find the only versions not available anywhere else, as monitor mixes are provided for We’re Not In Kansas, Ships, and the Neil Young cover Rockin’ In the Free World.

One additional CD of instrumental play-through versions was touted to the record company, but unfortunately they felt the set was big enough and declined. A shame, as that would have given the set something genuinely unique and new, making it a must-buy for even the most passing Big Country fan.

The accompanying booklet contains archive band member comments on all the songs and a good overview of the band’s activities during the Compulsion era.

If this was a pure ranking of albums, this would be on the top of the list. The box set receives top marks for the music itself, and the simple packaging also keeps the price down, making it excellent value for money. This definitely isn’t a particularly lavish set, opting for a basic but effective presentation. From a contents perspective, the fact that rare material was available but not used is downright disappointing and a lost opportunity. The key value of the set thus lies in neatly collecting everywhere in one place, making the set more of a convenient purchase to faithful fans than a necessary one (but they will get it anyway). If for some unfathomable reason you don’t have the albums on offer, or don’t have all the b-sides or demos, you should not hesitate.

And finally… the “I expected more” category:
Uriah Heep – 50 Years In Rock (Deluxe Box Set)

Uriah Heep is one of my favourite bands. I like them in all their incarnations, but must admit that every line-up does not provide me equal levels of satisfaction. Basically, with Ken Hensley and David Byron in the line-up (1970-1976), they were one of the best bands in the world. The Hensley/John Lawton era (1976-79) was right behind, and I will add that the current line-up is also up there for me, having producing some incredible late-career albums (like this one).

2020 marked the band’s 50^th anniversary, and a boxed set was duly announced. If you are new to the band and want to pick up their discography in one fell swoop, this set is perfect for you. Presented in a heavy-duty album-shaped box, what it largely contains is each and every studio album that the band ever recorded – 24 of them – plus the classic Live 1973 double album. Considering the number of labels the band has released music on over the years, having them all collected like this is very impressive and worth some serious kudos.

On the other hand, none of the albums have anything extra on them in terms of bonus tracks, nor are such bonus tracks collected on any standalone discs. This is disappointing given that each and every album is available individually with bonus tracks – several of them with so many extras that they are available as 2CD sets. As such, this box set won’t replace a single album in your collection if you already have them all.

Maybe they focus on the presentation? No, not really. The album sleeves are basic cardboard pockets, and some (mainly early) albums have been put together on the same disc, with the graphic of both albums printed on the sleeve. Very unsatisfactory and it gives the box a distinct “let’s save some money by combining discs” feeling. That’s not how you should feel after buying an expensive box set.

The question that raise itself is who this box set was created for. Who will buy such an elaborate box? The die-hard fans, of course. But who will already have all the albums featured in the box? The die-hard fans, of course. I am not sure how many people are expected to buy this that won’t already have at least most (if not all) the albums on offer. The ideal consumer – a would-be fan who does not own any albums, but would be interested in splashing out for all of them in one go – likely does not exist.

Is there nothing in the box, then, for the long-time fans that will mostly be purchasing this? Well, yes and no. The set also includes four discs respectively called Ken Hensley’s Choices, Lee Kerslake’s Choices, Mick Box’s Choices and Paul Newton’s Choices, each curated by the band member in question, containing their favourite Uriah Heep tracks. This is an interesting concept, even though in practice it’s basically four individual Spotify playlists. You can have some fun musing over the actual selections, but there’s still no new music on offer.

My personal favourite inclusion is the vinyl edition of 1972’s The Magician’s Birthday – possibly my favourite album of all time – featuring reimagined Roger Dean artwork which is exclusive to this box. It’s still gatefold format, and sounds and feels great. As iconic as the original sleeve is, this does bring something new to it. This is for those who likes to listen to the music while holding and studying the sleeve. The box also contains individual LP-sleeve sized art cards for Dean’s reimagined + original sleeves for The Magician’s Birthday and Demons & Wizards.

We also have a softback 64-page book containing images, press clips, adverts for albums and gigs, old tour book samples, and new comments (in the shape of individual forewords) by its four curators – Hensley, Kerslake, Box, and Newton. It is bittersweet to see them described as “surviving original members” with both Kerslake and Hensley passing in the time between the curation of this box set and its release, the news about Hensley ironically hitting me on the very same day as I had received the box set and as I was deep into my listen-through of it.

The presentation is fine (combined CDs aside) and the music on offer definitely contains many amazing moments. However, it is very rare of me to purchase such an expensive box set without getting a single second of new music. I was aware of this beforehand, and can’t fault the band for putting out product, but small touches could have gone a long way. Why not a few discs of extras – or just one? Or maybe just a CD with a vintage show from the classic line-up? Or, if there was no more room for more music, how about at least going a bit more all-in on the book? It is devoid of any actual essays on the band, and contains no thoughts or perspectives about the actual music on offer. It ends up closer to a fun scrapbook than anything of actual substance for those of us who are fans of facts and stories. You only need to look at the other entries in the list above to read about hardbound books in glossy paper with essays, information, and anything you could imagine – often at over hundred pages. Just sayin’.

At the end of the day I was perhaps hoping for a level of immersive experience, and while digging through the contents of a well designed box set will nearly always do that, this time it came close to not managing that for me. I wish they would consider doing a companion box set with stuff that didn’t make it into the box this time around – b-sides, demos, live material… That would make the two boxes a killer combo – every album on one hand, every rarity on the other. I don’t hold my breath, but here’s hoping it can happen.

On the off-chance that you don’t own any Uriah Heep albums but would like to get them: this is the box set you have been waiting for. If those people exist, they won’t find a better deal. You get an insane amount of great music here. But be warned: if you become a fan, prepare to buy most of the albums one more time individually for all the bonus tracks.

Which are your favourite box sets of 2020? Leave a comment below!

Some other “tip of the ice berg” mentions of music box sets from 2020 worth investigating:

Black Sabbath – Paranoid (Super Deluxe)
The Doors – Morrison Hotel (50th Anniversary Deluxe)
Cream – Goodbye Tour Live 1968 (Deluxe Edition)
Fleetwood Mac – 1969 To 1974 (8 CD Collector’s Edition)
John Lennon – Gimme Some Truth (Deluxe Supermix)
Joni Mitchell – Archives Vol. 1: The Early Years (1963–1967)
Motorhead – Ace of Spades (Deluxe Box Set)
Tom Petty – Wildflowers & All the Rest (Super Deluxe)
Elvis Presley – From Elvis in Nashville
Keith Richards and the X-Pensive Winos – Live At the Hollywood Palladium (Deluxe Edition)
Rush—Permanent Waves 40th Anniversary Edition
Tears For Fears – Sowing the Seeds of Love
U2 – All That You Can’t Leave Behind (Super Deluxe)
Rick Wakeman – Return To the Centre of the Earth (Super Deluxe)