10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thinking Inside the Box, January 12, 2001
This review is from: Brain in a Box: The Science Fiction Collection (Audio CD)
This offering from Rhino Records sets a new standard for graphic design! Really, it's absolutely terrific. Before ever getting around to opening the box, I luxuriated in the marvelously rendered details, the perfect switches and gauges, the tongue-in-cheek labels from the "brainstorm" light to the warning to "replace fluids every 3000 hours." I got more kicks from just reading the box than I've gotten from many novels!
And the box is only the beginning! The 200-page booklet is a sheer delight for fans of 1950s sci-fi B-flicks. Really, you can't appreciate the genius that went into this package until you experience it for yourself! More than a box, it's Art.
Very highly recommended!
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10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nostalgia at it's best., April 4, 2001
This review is from: Brain in a Box: The Science Fiction Collection (Audio CD)
The first thing you will notice is the beautiful box. Though not metal (decorated to look as if), it has a really cool hologram on three sides, with all track listings on the back. Decent construction, though some may not like the foam insert inside which holds the 5 discs and book.
The 5 discs are packaged with their own cardboard sleeve that is decorated in a 50's style retro design and categorized by a main theme: T.V., Movie, Lounge, Novelty & Pop. But the best part of the inserts is the small hard cover book included. It is chock full of old B-movie posters and artwork, news/articles, and information/history on 'space' related music over the years. This is truly a gem and adds quite a bit to this collection. You will spend hours marveling over the old retro designs and comic like appearance of all things sci/fi that are within this books covers.
Now why only 4 stars? Well though you will be giddy to hear old show tunes like 'Lost In Space', 'The Outer Limits', and some of the movie themes and lounge, it does lack some heavy hitters. One can argue that Rhino probably had hundreds of tunes to sift through, and they picked what they could for licensing reasons and taste, but while others may enjoy some tunes, others will wonder how this made it into the collection. For me, I was a little let down by the Novelty disc....some songs were actually annoying to me.
The biggest let down, and I realize the issues behind it, were the absence of a few major players: There is no Star Wars theme, no Cantina, no Dune, no Klingon music, a few TV shows that were not represented, but you can't please everybody right?
Otherwise a very good collection...and a stellar book.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and cool, but only for ... sci-fi fans, January 11, 2001
This review is from: Brain in a Box: The Science Fiction Collection (Audio CD)
With an ultra-cool holographic box that instantly transports you back to the sci-fi B-movie days of the past, "Brain in a Box" also serves as a fairly comprehensive library of all kinds of music relating to science fiction, from movie and TV themes to pop and novelty songs. If I had to introduce someone to sci-fi music, this wouldn't be a bad way to do it. I could easily quibble over what's missing, but I prefer to focus instead on what you DO get: an excellent hardbound book with info and commentary, several tunes I would never have heard otherwise (like "Tiny Space Man"), and the amazing brain storage container that is it all comes in. I do have complaints: the sound quality varies widely (couldn't be helped, I'm sure)
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