Customer Reviews

The Lot Boxed Set

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

the good news: this is a really nice box set from a great band.

the bad news: although all the tracks represented in the track line up are technically on the physical CDs - they are not all in CD audio, therefore not playable on a CD player... and some of these are the BEST singles.

these CDs combine CD audio with CD-ROM data, enabling the ability to view the videos on a computer.

however, many of the videos included in the CD-ROM section are omitted from the CD audio. The result: an incomplete reissue of these great albums. when you listen to this on your CD player, you will NOT hear: house of fun, driving in my car, it must be love, the sun and the rain, wings of dove, waiting for the ghost train.

if you are a fan who wants to purchase a CD version of all these great albums convienantly: this ain't it. the highly compressed computer videos are cute, but the sound utterly sucks and you can only experience them on your computer.

it's too bad amazon didn't catch this and take these songs out of the track line up.

the record company (virgin) took a GREAT idea ("the lot") and made it kind of suck. too bad.

This set includes all six Madness albums: One Step Beyond, Absolutely, Seven, The Rise and Fall, Keep Moving, and Mad not Mad. In addition, all 24 music videos are included --- there are no instructions, but they played beautifully on my Windows PC (no indication if they play on Mac).

Although I owned four of the six albums, it was worth the extra purchase for these superb videos. In the early days of MTV you could see creative, intelligent stuff like this; but that was a long time ago. These videos are as good as the songs they illustrate.

This is a must purchase for any Madness fan.

In this collection of the first six 'original' Madness albums, you get a lot of material heretofore missing from American releases. The tracks from "Rise and Fall" and "Seven" are worth the full price of the box set alone. A lot of these tracks have often been hard to track down in the US (especially the RaF material) and are greatly improved on with remastering. While Madness is often viewed as a simple cog in the Ska-revival wheel, the tracks on discs 3-6 prove that they were quality songwriters in their own right and even the overproduced, far too depressing "Mad Not Mad" tracks turn out to be good material on a 5th or 6th listen. Combine this with "The Business" CD set and you have all the Madness your heart could desire.

I owned all six albums in this collection from previous individual releases, and I _still_ bought it. Review: worth every penny! The remastering has done wonders for the sound, especially on "One Step Beyond" (the first album), and when they throw in 24 videos as well, along with a booklet, and unleash it on an unsuspecting public at bargain price, hell, what's to complain about? Well, maybe the booklet, which is a tad skimpy in terms of the notes, but hey at this price, that's nitpicking.

Pick up this boxed set, get yourself a pair of sunglasses, and enjoy that crazy old Nutty sound!

on the packaging. Great tunes and contains many videos that I haven't seen before. My only complaint is the packaging. While the cardboard cd sleeves look great, they tend to be abrade the hard to remove cd's. The liner notes seemed skimpy as well.

This box is fantastic, except when they mastered the One Step Beyond album, someone obviously left the treble on FULL, making that particular album sound awful! (I can't believe I'm the only one who has made this comment)

Example: If you own both this and The Business (complete single box) as I do, you'll note that even the unremastered track "My Girl" (on The Business) sounds FAR superior to the supposed remaster on this box (The Lot). And no, it's not a different "single mix" or anything. The single and album track were always the same.

This applies to the whole album. I can only hope that then new double disc of One Step has rectified this problem...

"Absolutely" is better sounding, but still a little treble-y. Otherwise, great box!

One of the most underrated bands of all time, Madness incorporated elements of reggae,ska,music hall and big band in their marvellous catalogue. All of you who remember Dan Akroyd's "Blues Brothers" dance routine, take a look at the early Madness videos and see what you have been missing. What seperated this group from their peers, was the ability to write and perform in a multitude of styles, with a touch of humor and soul. My daughter and her friends love to dance to the early hits. I hope that Virgin will get around to releasing all their great videos on one DVD shortly as it is a pain having to constantly change discs - my only complaint.

I was born in London and grew up listening to Madness from the late seventies until mid-eighties. I left England for the USA in 1985 and whenever I get that urge to return to London spritually and mentally I turn on my madness songs! I love this nutty group! I love their videos each one has its own flavor and mood. The Lot is a superb collection!

If your a MADNESS fan then you need to buy this. Its totaly right on. Granted its the original 7 albums but its even got the videos for the singles off of the specific album. Its totaly kick @$$