Unwound - No Energy LP Box Set

Numero Group (2014)

For this week's Unwound Wednesday, I'm taking a look at the 3rd Unwound box set from Numero Group.  There's only one more to go after this and we're starting to enter into the territory of Unwound songs I'm not really as familiar with.

Starting off with 1995's The Future Of What, this box set starts off with a bang.  This is the last Unwound album I bought back in the 90's.  I was starting to move on to other things around this time and while I really did like this record, I never loved it quite as much as some people.  I'll stand by my claim that New Plastic Ideas is their best record.  Listening to The Future Of What twenty years later, I'm much more struck by how good of a record it is.  Unwound was definitely maturing in their songwriting and while they still had their share of noisy freak outs, the album is held together with a darker, bass driven undertone.

By the time 1996's Repetition came out, I wasn't paying as much attention anymore.  I'm sure I must have heard it at some point, but I never bought it and certainly don't remember much of it anymore.  So for me, this was like listening to a brand new Unwound record (as will everything in the next box set coming out).  I enjoyed Repetition way more than I thought I would and honestly, I can't figure out why I didn't like this when it came out.  Especially considering that "Corpse Pose" is such a ridiculously good song.

The last LP is a bunch of singles and rarities.  Maybe they're not quite as strong as the songs on the LPs, but everything on here is also pretty darn great.

As always, Numero did a stellar job with the box set.  The original album art is recreated on the inner album sleeves, which are then encased in larger, sturdy cardboard sleeves.  It comes with another incredible booklet with detailed writing about this stage in Unwound's history and everything is housed in in an outer box.  If you've seen the first two sets, you know what you're getting into.  This set is every bit as good as those.

I can't recommend these Unwound box sets enough.  For the price you pay (Less than some of the BS reissues you'll see on Record Store Day) you just can't beat the quality or all of the great music.

Public Enemy - 25th Anniversary Vinyl Collection LP Box Set

Public Enemy - 25th Anniversary Vinyl Collection LP Box Set, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Def Jam (2013)

In the late 80's and early 90's, there were very few things in the world I liked more than Public Enemy (& Boogie Down Productions). As an impressionable young person, I was really drawn the the conviction of these bands. Not too mention the beats and rhymes were really strong and innovative for the time. These bands were the measuring stick I used to judge all hip hop bands until Del The Funky Homosapien changed everything for me in '91.

This box set should have been too expensive for me to buy. When pre-orders for it started popping up it was averaging around $200 (It's actually come down a bit and there's a few places selling for $175 now). Given that I do have a tight record buying budget, despite what you probably think if you're a regular reader of this site, I just figured I'd have to pass.

Then one day, I was tipped off that the Best Buy website had this for sale for $79. I immediately bought it, figuring it was doubtful they'd actually fulfill my order. I was even more sure of it when hours later the price on the Best Buy website was right back up to $200. The box set was delayed, the release date got pushed back months at a time and I just waited for the cancellation notice to come through. Then one day, I got an email telling me my ordered shipped. Victory, I got this box set for $79 plus $6 shipping and I'm thrilled with it.

The box for the set itself is really hi quality. The records all sit in the orange part and the red top slides over top. I would have liked some sort of retrospective liner notes, but I'll forgive as the records themselves are identical to the originals, even down to the ads for buying Public Enemy VHS tapes.

The music is still greatest at the peak. Yo! Bum Rush The Show always felt a little half baked to me and the production quality wasn't quite there yet. It Takes A Nation Of Millions To Hold Us Back was always my favorite and still holds up today as one of the greatest hip hop records ever released. Fear Of A Black Planet is also amazing, and to me doesn't feel dated at all. I vividly remember buying the Apocalypse '91 CD the day it came out when I was a freshman in high school. It still blows me away. This is kind of where Public Enemy and I parted ways.

They released a CD called Greatest Misses a few years later (It's not included in this box set) and I just hated it for some reason. I never bought another PE record after that, so this box set was the first time I heard Muse Sick-N-Hour Mess Age and the He Got Game Soundtrack. Muse Sick is pretty good and has a handful of real stand out tracks, but it loses me on the songs that sound like they were built off of leftover Pete Rock and CL Smooth beats. He Got Game didn't really hold my interest at all. They both are just missing the cutting edge urgency of the earlier records.

Despite the set ending on a whimper and not with a bang, this box set is completely worth owning for the Nation to Apocalypse trilogy. Three of the best albums ever released in the genre. It is doubtful I would have ever picked this up for $200, but for $79, I would never pass it up.

Public Enemy - Rebel Without A Pause:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=8apEcVO5dbA

Public Enemy - Burn Hollywood Burn:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=71un0nkjKB8

Public Enemy - Can't Truss It:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=am9BqZ6eA5c

The Lillingtons - 6xLP Box Set - Metal Version (/50)

The Lillingtons - 6xLP Box Set - Metal Version (/50), a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Clearview (2013)

The Lillingtons are a band that I never got into the way it seems a lot of people did. At the time they were around, I never really ranked them with the bands I truly loved. They just weren't as good as The Mr. T Experience, Sicko, Zoinks! or Green Day. I held them in the same regard as I did more 2nd tier bands like Squirtgun or Chixdiggit. I have no problem with either of those bands, they just always seemed way more straight forward and not quite as dynamic as some of the others.

With a decade or so of hindsight, I can look back at these Lillingtons records with a new found respect. I still don't think they're in that upper echelon of pop punk, but I do enjoy their records more than I used to. I've grown more accustomed to the vocals of Kody Templeman. His crystal clear, but somewhat nasal delivery doesn't allow for as much melody as I tend to like, but it absolutely works within the context of the band.

Individually the records stand very strong, with Death By Television and The Backchannel Broadcast absolutely being the highlights. Having this box set is great, because it puts just about the entire recorded output of this band at my fingertips, however, I have to say that this is a band that's not meant to listen in large doses. If you try to sit down and listen to this entire box set, it's very fatiguing. The albums are best left enjoyed on their own.

The box set itself came in several super limited versions. The one I managed to grab was limited to 50 copies and came with all of the records on 200 gram red vinyl. They really do sound fantastic and the weight of these records is really something else. This version also has a metal box that goes over the regular cardboard box set. The metal box has the Lillingtons "L" die cut out of it so that the printed white "L" of the cardboard box shows through it. It's a really slick looking set, but it is really, really heavy. Don't drop it. I do wish it had come with some sort of liner notes, but that's not really a deal breaker for me.

It probably sounds like I'm not as excited as I am about picking up this set. I'm thrilled to have all of the records on vinyl now. It was even better to manage to grab one of the limited variants. Anyone who wants these records on vinyl should pick up this set. It's beautifully put together, and everything sounds great. Are they the best band in the world? No. But if you like some old school Ramones influenced poppy punk, it's a pretty essential set.

The Lillingtons - Black Hole In My Mind:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEoapQdUJ_M

The Lillingtons - Final Transmission:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4j0vce4mcQI

The Lillingtons - All i Hear Is Static:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=puxDKu-PVKo

Bright Eyes - Vinyl Box Set

Bright Eyes - Vinyl Box Set, a photo by Tim PopKid on Flickr.

Saddle Creek (2003)

One thing that never ceases to be odd to me is how shocked most people are when they find out that I like Bright Eyes ( I get a similar reaction about early Oasis as well). While the Bright Eyes discography is inconsistent at best, there are some incredible songs throughout and I think the band gets a bad rep from folks too cool for school.

This box set came out in 2003 and contains the 1st 3 Bright Eyes full lengths and 2 EPs. Saddle Creek has recently started reissuing these records individually and that has sent the price of this box set plummeting. This thing at times went for close to $300, I grabbed this for way less than it would have cost to buy the reissues separately. Plus I bought it from a mustachioed man that I met at a Starbucks in what may likely be the dorkiest psuedo drug exchange ever. Regardless, I'm happy i got the box set instead of the reissues. It has bonus tracks, fancy art and everything sounds really good.

To briefly discus each album; let's be frank. A Collection Of Songs flat out sucks. It's the epitome of the asshole-in-his-bedroom-with-a-guitar nonsense that sends me running for the hills. I haven't listened to that record since I got the CD for free way back when, and it's even worse than I remembered. Letting Off The Happiness is a gigantic leap forward, and though it's still spotty in places, it shows a lot of potential. The Every Day and Every Night EP is where the band really announced their arrival. There are some really great songs on here, including one of my favorites Bright Eyes ever did; "A Perfect Sonnet." Then we move on to Fevers & Mirrors. To me this is the absolute best Bright Eyes record, and even though it's dark, depressing and borderline whiny, I still love it. Such interesting instrumentation & sounds, plus the version in this box set has 2 bonus tracks. Lastly is the Don't Be Frightened of Turning The Page EP. Not quite as good as Fevers, but still containing some great songs.

I didn't plan on writing this much, but when you're dissecting a 7 LP set, I guess it's tough to keep it brief. Here's a couple of songs:

Bright Eyes - Perfect Sonnet:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXYM6-X8c3o

Bright Eyes - Something Vague:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NSMAmiMOBM