10 albums a day #59

The Rolling Stone Collection: 25 Years of Essential Rock (7 CD boxed set)

I know that I have several, perhaps many, albums that someone, somewhere at some time originally ordered from a TV commercial. However, there are only three that I can think of that I so ordered myself: a Mamas & the Papas CD, Freedom Rock, and this one. I remember that it didn't seem too expensive for such a large set,* and I thought it might help expand my own knowledge of rock history and fill in some blanks.

The reader should note that this is not a collection of the greatest hits from 1967 to 1992. It is a collection of what the Rolling Stone critics and editors believe are "essential rock." Caveat emptor.

It is an interesting journey through rock history. Many of these songs are by famous artists, but they are not necessarily songs that that artist is most famous for. Like I said, it's not a collection of the biggest radio hits.

The booklets with the CDs have a lot of information on the songs and artists, although skewed by Rolling Stone group-think and over-gushery.** I think this might be a good collection for a newbie who wants to learn more about how rock got where it is today (or at least where it was in the early 90s), but for the old-timers it would be pretty much useless.

I suppose since this is a boxed set I can't count it as 7 albums. So, it only counts for 1.

Album count: 604.

*A commenter at Amazon says it retailed for $100 when it was first released. No way did I pay that much for it. I think I paid around $40. Also, the other commenter there obviously 1) did not listen to the whole collection, and 2) wasn't paying attention to the description when he ordered it.

**I made that term up. I don't know how else to put it. It means: when someone says all kinds of cool things about something because they can't think of anything intelligent to say about it.