Customer Reviews

Pandora's Box (3 Cds in Double Jewel Case)

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This 3 cd set is one of my most often played rock box sets which I own. It is comprised mostly of material from their classic Columbia years 1972-82. It includes unissued and live material, alternate takes and material from various side and solo projects. Hailing from Boston, Aerosmith was the best hard rock band from the United States during the seventies. They took their influences from the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds, Led Zeppelin, the blues, and funk and created a great sassy sound. Steven Tyler's high energy vocals compliment the bluesy riffing of guitarists Joe Perry and Brad Whitford perfectly. Their influence can be heard in such bands as the "Black Crowes", and "Guns & Roses". The set includes such hits as "Dream On", "Sweet Emotion", "Walk This Way", "Back In The Saddle", and others. Rarities include great cover versions of Fleetwood Mac's "Rattlesnake Shake", Otis Rush's "All Your Love", and The Beatles "Helter Skelter". Live cuts from the classic 1976-78 era are also included. Some may be outtakes from the "Live Bootleg" recordings, but the performances sound more inspired than their work on that album. The set also includes a lot of my personal favorites like "Movin' Out", "Mama Kin", "Write Me A Letter", "Rats In The Cellar", "Milkcow Blues", "Cheese Cake", and "Chip Away The Stone". However there are still some cuts which should have been included such as "S.O.S. (Too Bad), "Sick As A Dog", "Lightning Strikes", "Get The Lead Out", "Lick And A Promise", "Get It Up", "Woman Of The World" and Joe Perry's solo version of "Let The Music Do The Talking". That being said, this is a great bargain for those who can not afford all their individual albums. It does a better job of summarizing the band from this period than "Greatest Hits", "Gems", "Live Bootleg", and "Classics Live Vols 1 & 2". It is a shame that except for their live work on this compilation, the live work on their other albums doesn't capture the energy of their concerts. I have seen them a few times and they put on a great show! Maybe sometime they will release a compact disc of their performances at "Texxas Jam", some of which are included here and on the video. If you want a single disc compilation you might try to seek out an import copy of "Greatest Hits" with the 6 bonus cuts.

"Pandora's Box" collects more than fifty singles, album tracks, demos, outtakes, live cuts and rarities, including all the best and best-known songs from Aerosmith's 1970 debut until 1982's "Rock And A Hard Place".
Also included is solo material from Joe Perry and Brad Whitford, as well as an early track from Steven Tyler when he fronted a band called Chain Reaction in the '60s ("When I Needed You"), and while this is not a career-spanning box set, it is a really wonderful overview of Aerosmith's best period.

The hits should attract the casual admirer: "Dream On" is here, along with "Walk This Way", "Mama Kin", "Draw The Line", "Sweet Emotion" and many more. And the more obscure selections will surely please the longtime fan: "Rattlesnake Shake", "On The Road Again", the great, raunchy blues "Big Ten-Inch Record", a demo of "Movin' Out", live versions of "Adam's Apple", "Write Me A Letter" and "I Wanna Know Why" are all great, as is the previously unreleased "Let It Slide", an instrumental which was to become the basis for the song "Cheese Cake", and which shows Joe Perry's too-rarely heard prowess on the slide guitar.

And my favorite Aerosmith rocker is here too, penned by sideman Richie Supa (keyboards, occational guitar): "Chip Away At The Stone", complete with one of Joe Perry's best guitar riffs.
The band's cover of John Lennon's "Come Together" is included as well, of course, as is a great, slow rendition of the Otis Rush-classic "All Your Love (I Need Lovin')", and several underrated album tracks like "Seasons Of Wither", "No Surprize", "Three Mile Smile" and "Cheese Cake".

One of the best box sets of the 90s, "Pandora's Box" really delivers the goods for both hardcore fans and more casual listeners who don't want all the band's original albums. Get this fine collection, and the recent two-disc "Young Lust" anthology which draws from 'Smith's 80s and 90s Geffen albums, and you're all set!
4 1/2 stars. An excellent package.

This is a great box set. It's the "hodge-podge" format which as you already know it includes live cuts, demos, originals, previously unreleased, etc. ANYONE could enjoy these 3 Aerosmith albums but mostly this is an album for die-hard Aerosmith fans or someone that's already into the band atleast on some level.

Are the newer releases remastered? NO! But the 1991 set sounded great to begin with. Like Led Zeppelin's box set in 1990 it was done right to begin with.

That being a given, this set is quite excellent. It focuses on the first 7 albums from 1973 to 1982. Most of the greatest hits sets out there (2 disc sets) focus on the 1985 - 2001 era such as "Gold" does. O Yeah! The Ultimate Aerosmith set has about 1/3 pre-1985 stuff on it. They dedicate about 1/3 to each decade. If the early stuff is your favorite, then this set is the true gold. There are a couple of single discs (Greatest Hits and Gems) which focus on the 70's, but as some of us know there are edited versions of some songs on Greatest Hits.

If you want to get into the early 70's stuff I suggest getting each album, especially now that those are remastered. And they really are. 20 bit. But if you don't want to buy all six or seven of those, this set is the next best thing and you can get it very inexpensively used/new here on Amazon.com Even if you have all of the 70's albums there are 20 previously unreleased tracks on Pandora's Box. So, there is plenty there for the collector or the new fan of 70's material.

Man I gotta tell you that this was the CD that really got me into Aerosmith and they sure know how to play some great rock 'n' roll and what amazes me the most is that they're still alive doing the same thing after the hell they put themselves through with hard living, sex, drugs, rock 'n' roll and bitter relationships with the bandmates and their wives.

Disc 1.
The first CD features some rare tracks and demos and tracks from their debut album and Get Your Wings and you also get to hear one of Steven Tyler's early bands when he was in the Chain Reaction with the single 'When I Needed You' which is a very good song even though it sounded a little too much like the Beatles, and I wonder why they didn't include On the Road Again on their debut album cause it was a great song, songs from the first album features Dream On, Make It, Mama Kin, One Way Street and the alternate version of Movin' Out, which was the first song that Steven Tyler and Joe Perry wrote together, now the songs from the Get Your Wings album are Same Old Song and Dance, Train Kept a Rollin', Seasons of Wither and Pandora's Box (Which marked drummer Joey Kramer's composition debut).
Also featured is the 10 minute live version of Rattlesnake Shake and a cover of Rufus Thomas Walkin' The Dog and the live version of Lord of the Thighs from the Texas Jam '78.

Disc 2.
The boys proved that third time's the charm with their '75 release of Toys in the Attic when they scored their first Top 40 hit with Sweet Emotion, also featured is the title track, You See Me Crying, Round and Round, No More No More and the Top 10 hit with Walk This Way (which they got the title from Young Frankenstein), and the songs from their other classic period album Rocks which features Rats in the Cellar, Lick and a Promise, Nobody's Fault and the remixed version of Last Child which has a guitar solo at the end, and for the songs from the Draw the Line are the title track and Critical Mass, also featured from this disc is Krawhitham (the letters from Joey 'Kra'mer, Brad 'Whit'ford and Tom 'Ham'ilton and they recorded the song when Steven Tyler and Joe Perry were locked in their rooms sky high on drugs), and we have a great live version of Adam's Apple which is even better than the studio album, and it's a shame that they didn't include All Your Love on the Draw the Line album.

Disc 3

The third disc isn't as strong as the first two due to more unreleased cuts and a downward spiral for Aerosmith, the disc begins with the live version of Kings and Queens which is a beautiful killer track and a leftover track from the Draw the Line album called Milkcow Blues, and the songs featured from the Night in the Ruts album are Three Mile Smile, No Surprize, Bone to Bone (Coney Island Whitefish Boy) and Cheesecake which doesn't belong onto this album and they should've put Chiquita instead, one interesting thing about Cheesecake is that they played that song in one outtake with no overdubs, and Joe Perry admits that even though Aerosmith was falling apart, it was a testament to how they were playing. Also on the album is the classic Chip Away the Stone which was a Non-LP cut and it's a great song in serious need of more recognition, and Come Together is another killer classic, even better than the Beatles version even though former Beatles producer George Martin co-produced it, also featured is South Station Blues and Sharpshooter which was recorded by the Joe Perry project and Brad Whitford/Derek St. Holmes respectively, they actually left Aerosmith due to internal conflicts and guitarist Jimmy Crespo and Rick Dufay replaced them, in '82 they release Rock in a Hard Place which took about 2 years to record and it features a classic song Jailbait but why isn't Lightning Strikes included, and we have a leftover track from 'Rocks' with Back in the Saddle, one of the prime Aerosmith cuts and the album ends with the uncredited track 'Circle Jerk' which was recorded during the Draw the Line sessions when Aerosmith was a trio due to Steven Tyler and Joe Perry's drug infected situations.

If you want to have just one Aerosmith album, buy this album otherwise you're missing out on something great cause Aerosmith was and is still a great rock 'n' roll band and it's great that they are still together.

This is great. It shows an evolution (not for the best) of Aerosmith through about 10 years. These live songs are awesome. Like Write Me A Letter, which is a great live version of this song. I also REALLY enjoyed the 10+ minute journey of Rattlesname Shake and the surprisingly incredibly done version of Walking The Dog. Lord Of The Thighs is just another long version of it but hey, if you're a die hard Aerosmith fan like I am, you wont care. I Wanna Know Why and Big Ten-Inch Record is brilliant. I'd listen to it over and over and over again. Adam's Apple is done great and so is Kings and Queens. The Alternate version of Major Barbara isnt really too different but it is and you will hear the difference. On The Road Again, All Your Love, Krawhitam (named after Joey Kramer, Brad Whitford and Tom Hamilton who were the only ones involved in the song), and Riff & Roll are all great unreleased tunes.

This is raw, powerfull, and explosive! You can't get this much rare recording's of AEROSMITH any where else. Three cd's full of great songs, a great way to put there history together. When I first bought it, I couldn't stop listening to it. It's that good! Well worth every pennie, deserves more reconision. No AEROSMITH collection is complete without it. You get a full colored booklet, with lot's of pictures and ton's of quotes from Steven and the gang. Don't just sit there, ORDER IT!

The only reason i gave it five stars, is becaus i couldn't give it more. A true piece of history- with everything. you can see how a song is been formed, hear a rare antique versions of Rattlesnake Shake & Walking The Dog from a radio station- 2 years before the 1st album, & some great live cuts (especially Lord Of The Thighs). Another great feature is the booklet, with the band's story, lots of pictures from the seventies & marks from the band about every song. The only minus is the silly overlook of one of their best albums, Rock In A Hard Place. In conclusion, if you are not an Aerosmith fan, you will be after hearing this.

This compilation is dynamite, but I've noticed in the previous reviews that nobody's mentioned live cut of "Adam's Apple" on disc #2------absolutely killer! Better than the studio version, which is outstanding in it's own right. Another great gem is the longer, alternate version of "Movin' out". Great piece......sounds almost as if the band is just sitting back & jamming in the studio without knowing the tape is running. 10-minute live performance of "Rattlesnake Shake" from 1971 also a gold nugget (from it, you can hear where the riff of "Rats in the Cellar" originated). Can not end without mentioning superb live cut of "Big 10-Inch Record", either; nearly twice as long as their studio version & far more entertaining to listen to. Incredible harmonica intro really does it justice. Classic collection of rock'n'roll worth every penny!

This is Aerosmith's best album. It has all their best stuff. If you buy one aerosmith album, it better be this one. Each CD is great.

Disc 1: This is Aerosmith form 1972-1974. It starts off with a song by Steven Tyler's pre-Aerosmith band Chain Reaction, it isn't as good as the Aerosmith stuff, but it's a decent song. The remixed and alternate versions are great. This disc is my personal favorite, highlights include "Movin Out", "One Way Street", "Same Old Song and Dance", and "Dream On".

Disc 2: This is Aerosith most popular years during the seventies (1975-1978), and has the most hit songs of the three discs. It starts off with "Toys in the Attic" and includes outtakes like "Krawhitham" and "All Your Love". Like the other two discs, it icludes live versions of some songs. The closing track "Critical Mass" is one of the weaker points points of the album. I'd have prefered disc 2 to close with the great live version of "Kings and Queens" that opens disc 3.

Disc 3: This is deffinitely the weakest CD, focusing on the years where drug use and switching guitarists really hurt Aerosmith (1979-1982). If you aren't a big Aerosmith fan, "Back in the Saddle" and "Kings and Queens" might be the only songs you've heard of. Track 2, "Milkcow Blues", is something you'll press the skip button for, even with it's cool guitar intro. "No Surpize" (which tells the story of how Aerosmith got a record deal) is one of the highlights, along with "Come Together", "Major Barbara", and the instrumental "Let it Slide" which has a wild west feel to it. Some of the songs on this disc are riffs that they turned into songs. "Back in the Saddle" is the last song on the whole box set. Which is weird since the rest of the songs were ordered mostly by release. I think it was placed last to relate to Aerosmith comeback in the 80's.

Besides over fifty songs, it includes a great booklet with comments on every song, and biography of Aerosmith, and the lyrics to Aerosmith's more meaningful songs. This box set is mostly targeted at Aerosmith fans that don't have a lot of Aerosmith songs or CD. Since alot of the songs were previously released on albums during the seventies.

The most amazing rock compilation I have ever heard. If you are an Aerosmith fan then you need to hear this amazing set! The three CDs track early progression and every track is worth a listen. It's a must-have.