Customer Reviews

The Soul of Rock and Roll

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Even the seasoned Orbison fan will find themselves needing to get this set. I know that there has always been among the fans a huge dissapointment with re-releases, we'd get the same set of songs on ten different cds with different package titles.

Absolutely not the case here. You can tell instantly that love and so much care was put into this package from day one. Question is "How did they decide on what to put on this set?" ....considering Roys career spanned over 50 years and hundreds of songs. You will find right away from "Ooby Dooby" to the final track on Disc 4 "We'll Take The Night" they covered every corner of his career when he was huge on Monumental Rds. through MGM, when he put out songs in the late 60s and 70s that failed to chart in America, yet was still big with fans all over the world.

The highlights of this awesome package is the twelve unreleased songs that come in the form of demos, concert performances etc. However, if you have never heard of "King Of Hearts" cd released in 1992, you are in for treat right there as there are eight of ten tracks from that cd on this package. The other huge highlights of this is the demo "Precious" that many knew existed but we never had the chance to hear it but through a Arlene Harden back in the 60s when she covered Roys tunes on an lp. The song is just Roy and his guitar which that alone is haunting. The other one would be "Its Over" from his final concert just two days before his voice would cease. It leaves you stunned teary eyed, but at the sametime you can hear in his voice that he was so happy again with the amazing comeback that was ahead of him, and the audience lets him know this instantly both at the start of the song and when he finishes. Roy shared with Tony Webber that night in his final interview just how great the show was with two standing ovations for "Crying" alone.

This package will blow the Bear Family set out the window both in price and in covering his career. It is absolutely worth the money, and the Orbison fan cannot be without.

Sadly the packaging may be a problem if you order by mail. The four disks are housed in cardboard slots. They can easily slide out (Two of the disks I received were scratched, one badly). You might be better off purchasing it at a store and have it opened before you buy. Somebody at Sony should have had the prescence of mind to design a more secure disk holder. Otherwise a great tribute to a great artist and a wonderful man.

After reading everyone's reviews of the flimsy packaging, I ordered my copy online at BEST BUY for $ 29.99, and picked it up in-store, and yes,OPENED IT RIGHT THERE, and inspected the discs, which were fine in my case. My son came up with the idea of storing the 4 discs in thin jewel cases in my apothecary drawers, and keeping the box, book, etc. seperate. THANK YOU to everyone for your warnings, esp. B.Saines. GREAT BOXED SET Barbara, horrible, cheap packaging Sony !!!!

Amazing! So much attnetion lavished on this box? You would never know it by the packaging. The music is great. The mastering is terrific. The packaging is...cheap!

A flimsy cardboard piece that flimsily hold the four cds in slits. No protection for them. They easily pop out and get scuffed and scratched. I have bought used Cds that have looked better. For an artist of this importance, you would think more care was put in to the packaging.

Sony needs to redesign this. What's wrong with jewel cases? That way the cds would be protected and preserved.

Two stars docked as a result.

The music itself it great, and covers Orbison's career from beginning to end.

There is an insert to plead the case for putting Orbison on a stamp, and a fake Wink HS yearbook insert in a wax envelope.

The included box-sized book is extensive, and includes a lot of photos.

And then there is the packaging...HORRIBLE!!! I bought a completely new set, but the CDs themselves are stuffed into cardboard inserts, and it caused extensive CD scratches before I even opened the set up. The CDs should be in a jewel case - the amount of scratches on the CDs is completely unacceptable in a brand-new release.

One only need to look at the content (all the hits, career spanning selections, lots of unreleased stuff) to know why this gets a 5* rating. It's the best compilation ever done on one of the greatest singers of our time. 'Nuff said about that.

But BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ about the ridiculous sleeve inserts the discs are housed in. Sure, once in your own control and storage, it's easy to manage. But between the pressing plants, the warehouses, the stockrooms, the store shelves and the trucks that get them to your door, these things WILL pop out and WILL get scratched. And that is wholly unacceptable.

Enough of the "eco friendly" scapegoating. If folks care enough to buy a BOX SET that houses discs, books, posters, and all the other inserts, they're gonna keep it all in one place, so spare us the jewel box / landfill excuse.

The best anthology to date and a great value for the money. Fans of Roy will delight in the 12 unreleased tracks and marvel in his majestic voice once more. Personal faves are "The Fastest Guitar Alive" and "Pistolero" from movie star Roy.

I must say that it is so very obvious that the Orbison family put A LOT of time and effort into this box set. Everything about it is exceptional. I don't think Roy would have had or wanted it any other way. Although all of the musical content is nothing short of fulfilling, it is the booklet inside that will urge me to tell every Orbison fan to go out now, and get this set. Even the art behind the wording of the booklet was thought out well.

I learned much more about the life of Roy from the Booklet. Also, the opening letter from Barbara was touching. It is always nice to hear from the people who were with Roy on a day to day basis.

The only thing that could have made this box set even better would be if Roy himself, popped out of the packaging, and sang a song to me himself!

Five stars in my book!

From the fudged version of Claudette to Less Than Zero's closing credits Life Fades Away, this set has everything.

Unfortunately, 'everything' includes a distracting audio defect on most of the older tracks. You may call it hiss, white noise, whatever, it's loud enough to distract from Roy's amazing voice. If you have at least a basic equalizer, you'll want to knock out 8 kHz to fully appreciate a lot of these songs.

Otherwise... no regrets with this set, go for it.

I've got a confession to make - I never really listened to a ton of Roy Orbison until really recently. It's not that I particularly disliked his music, I just hadn't been too familiar with him more than his huge singles - "Pretty Woman," "Crying," "Only the Lonely," etc.

After a recommendation from a friend for this box set, I decided I should give it a shot. (the price on Amazon is great, btw!) It arrived pretty quickly, and I popped in disc 1 while I was at work, and wound up listening to the whole thing during the day. If you've ever had an interest in Roy or the roots of rock and roll in general, this is a must-hear box set of some fantastic material.