50-CD box set of Al Stewart

[jkelman]

He’s a one-hit wonder!

Hardly..if nothing else, "Time Passages" also got a lot of radio play back in the day.

Like many, he's an artist with a long career but who peaked and, since then, has put out solid albums that stopped getting radio play and hits. Other artists who fall easily into that category: Richard Thompson (he never had any real hits but peaked in the mid-70s to mid '80s; I still buy all his albums and they're always worth it), Mark Knopfler (who still releases consistently solid albums also), and Fairport Convention (ditto).

[JKL2000]

Hardly..if nothing else, "Time Passages" also got a lot of radio play back in the day.

Like many, he's an artist with a long career but who peaked and, since then, has put out solid albums that stopped getting radio play and hits. Other artists who fall easily into that category: Richard Thompson (he never had any real hits but peaked in the mid-70s to mid '80s; I still buy all his albums and they're always worth it), Mark Knopfler (who still releases consistently solid albums also), and Fairport Convention (ditto).

It was a joke - he has many good albums!

[jkelman]

It was a joke - he has many good albums!

Ah, sorry....didn't see it as that (damn online emotive articulation!!)....he does, though I'm only familiar with a few, which is why I'm getting the box....

[3LockBox]

50 CDs ? Somebody be liking them some AL Stewart. Yowza. I don't think I own more than 10 or 15 CDs of any artist

[jkelman]

50 CDs ? Somebody be liking them some AL Stewart. Yowza. I don't think I own more than 10 or 15 CDs of any artist

It's called a pathology ... and I'm proud to have it!

After all, I could spend money on other things that are either ephemeral or just plain wastes, at least IMO...I don't drink (gives me migraines) or smoke (quit decades ago).

I kinda feel that spending money on music, including these mega box sets, is a good thing as they're permanent, rather than things like alcohol, which (even if I didn't get migraines from it) may be enjoyable at the time but once it's gone it's gone,

And these career-spanning mega box sets? I love them as they allow me to learn, in one big chunk, a whole lot about an artist. I also love writing about these big box sets as they really give me the chance to take a deep dive into their careers and understand, as best I can, their evolution, whether it's career-spanning or, in the case of sets like the recent Fripp Exposures box, period-spanning. And if it's an artist that, like Al Stewart, I'd not followed to a large extent over the course of my life, it lets me do it now. And I absolutely love it. The sense of discovery really appeals to me.

But even without the mega box sets, from my early teens if I liked an artist once I discovered them, I'd tend to follow them from that point forward and, as much as possible, go backwards as well to learn how they got to where they are.

Of course this ain't for everyone, but thankfully my wife also has the same desire to learn as much as possible about the artists she loves, so picks up as much as she can by them just as I do.

[Brad 2 the Bone]

50 CDs ? Somebody be liking them some AL Stewart. Yowza. I don't think I own more than 10 or 15 CDs of any artist

I don't go for these type of mammoth boxed sets, but there are several artists from whom I own 50+ individual albums: Peter Brotzmann, Satoko Fujii, Ken Vandermark, William Parker, Acid Mothers Temple, Boris, maybe Anthony Braxton, Richard Pinhas must be getting close. I think Tatsuya Yoshida is over 100 if you include all his various projects.

A side benefit of the big 'completist' boxed sets is that they create a surplus of the individual albums on the secondary market. I was able to fill all the holes in my VdGG collection within the first 2-3 months of the boxed set's release last year. And if I wanted more Caravan I could have bought plenty of cheap second-hand Caravan CDs last fall too. I already own both "Exposure" and "Let the Power Fall", but I expect used CD stores to be littered with copies in the coming months.

[EBES]

I don't go for these type of mammoth boxed sets, but there are several artists from whom I own 50+ individual albums: Peter Brotzmann, Satoko Fujii, Ken Vandermark, William Parker, Acid Mothers Temple, Boris, maybe Anthony Braxton, Richard Pinhas must be getting close. I think Tatsuya Yoshida is over 100 if you include all his various projects.

A side benefit of the big 'completist' boxed sets is that they create a surplus of the individual albums on the secondary market. I was able to fill all the holes in my VdGG collection within the first 2-3 months of the boxed set's release last year. And if I wanted more Caravan I could have bought plenty of cheap second-hand Caravan CDs last fall too. I already own both "Exposure" and "Let the Power Fall", but I expect used CD stores to be littered with copies in the coming months.

Interesting point! I've had trouble finding affordable copies of the last several Al Stewart albums so perhaps this will be a bonus if I can't afford the actual box set.

[jkelman]

Whew! My copy arrived a couple hours ago, so I'll start ripping the discs into my music library tomorrow morning. The box looks fab as expected, with all the detail one could want in the two included books.

My copy of the Fripp Exposures box is also in town so I should have that tomorrow, so I'll have to spend a whack of fine ripping the high res content from it as well, so I expect the next 3-4 days to be busy feeding my Blu Ray ripper and loading the music onto my high res DAP as well.

It's always a lot of work, in this case especially with two such massive box sets, but I'm looking forward to diving in!

[Garyhead]

Checked in with ImportCD website today and they have a release date of 6/24/22. The price has dropped to $369.99 Looking like I'm getting a bit "Screwed" for pre-ordering. I was charged $399.99 back in February.

[Garyhead]

Just got my shipping notification from ImportCD.