Retailers are off and running, kicking in the holiday season earlier than ever before.
You know it’s bad when Halloween costumes, decorations and candy are getting tossed to the side in favor of Christmas fare two weeks before Halloween.
Not to be outdone, Pauseandplay.com has come up with its annual gift guide for reissues and rarities coming out before Dec. 25. Box sets, deluxe editions, greatest hits, you name it. It’s all here, along with some extras.
Happy Holidays!
Nov. 13, 2015
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Paul Butterfield Blues Band | “The Complete Albums: 1965-1980” (14-CD box set) | (Rhino / Elektra) |
| Eric Clapton | “Slowhand at 70: Live At The Royal Albert Hall [CD/DVD]” (Deluxe Edition; CD + Blu-ray; LP + DVD) | (Eagle Rock) |
| Kurt Cobain | “Montage of Heck: The Home Recordings” (includes the late Nirvana singer’s cover of The Beatles’ “And I Love Her”; Read here; MP3; MP3 Deluxe Edition; see related DVD/Blu-ray below) | (The End of Music, LLC / UMe) |
| Paul Davis | “The Very Best of Paul Davis” | (Varese Sarabande) |
| Tennessee Ernie Ford | “The Tennessee Ernie Ford Collection 1949-61” (two CDs, 58 songs; MP3) | (Acrobat) |
| Aretha Franklin | “The Atlantic Albums Collection” (19 CDs) | (Rhino / Atlantic) |
| Marvin Gaye | “Marvin Gaye Volume Two 1966-1970” (seven-LP box set) | (Motown / UMe) |
| Hilary Hahn | “Hilary Hahn: The Complete Sony Recordings” (five-CD box set; Hear here) | (Sony Classical) |
| Chico Hamilton | “The Complete Recordings 1953-1958” (five-CD box set) | (Enlightenment) |
| Vladimir Horowitz | “Return to Chicago” (his final recital in Chicago’s Orchestra Hall, recorded on Oct. 26, 1986; MP3) | (Deutsche Grammophon) |
| The Knickerbockers | “The Challenge Recordings” (four-CD, 80-song box set; Hear/read here; iTunes) | (Sundazed Music) |
| Mario Lanza | “The Mario Lanza Collection” (four CDs, 72 songs; Read here; MP3) | (Acrobat) |
| Arthur Lee & Love | “Coming Through to You: The Live Recordings (1970-2004)” (four-CD box set) | (RockBeat, Nov. 17) |
| Little Richard | “The Little Richard Collection 1951-62” (two CDs, 60 songs; MP3) | (Acrobat) |
| Rod McKuen | “Reflections: The Greatest Songs of Rod McKuen” | (Varese Sarabande) |
| Roscoe Mitchell | “The Complete Remastered Recordings on Black Saint & Soul Note” (nine-CD box set) | (Black Saint / Soul Note) |
| Buck Owens | “Buck ‘Em! The Music of Buck Owens (1967-1975) – Volume Two” (two CDs, 50 songs; Read here) | (Omnivore Recordings) |
| The Staple Singers | “Faith and Grace: A Family Journey 1953-1976” (five-disc box set) | (Stax) |
| A Tribe Called Quest | “Peoples’ Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm (25th Anniversary Edition)” (1990 album; remastered from the original tapes by Grammy Award-winning engineer Bob Power; includes new remixes by several of today’s biggest hip-hop artists; MP3; iTunes) | (Jive / Legacy) |
| Various artists | “Walt Disney Records: The Legacy Collection” (28-CD box set features the expanded soundtracks to “Pinocchio,” “Fantasia,” “Cinderella,” “Lady and the Tramp,” “Sleeping Beauty,” “Mary Poppins,” “The Lion King,” “Toy Story”) | (Walt Disney) |
| Various artists | “Ellie Greenwich – The Kind of Girl You Can’t Forget: The Early Years 1962-1964” (33 songs; Track list) | (Rare Rockin’) |
| Neil Young and Bluenote Café | “Bluenote Café” (double album is the latest Performance Series release from the Neil Young Archives, recorded during his 1988 tour; includes a 19+-minute version of “Tonight’s the Night” from The Pier in New York City; Vinyl; MP3) | (Reprise) |
Nov. 20, 2015
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Tracy Chapman | “Greatest Hits” (18 tracks; MP3) | (Rhino / Elektra) |
| John Coltrane | “A Love Supreme: The Complete Masters” (1964 album; remastered; two-CD deluxe edition; Super Deluxe Edition; MP3) | (Verve) |
| Creed | “With Arms Wide Open: A Retrospective” (three-CD collection includes hits, non-album studio tracks, previously unreleased demos and studio and live acoustic versions) | (The Bicycle Music Company) |
| Los Angeles Philharmonic | “Frank Zappa: 200 Motels (The Suites)” (double album captures the Oct. 23, 2013, performance of Zappa’s 1971 masterwork at Walt Disney Concert Hall by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen; Read here) |
(Zappa Records / UMe) |
| Lee Michaels | “Lee Michaels: The Complete A&M Album Collection” (seven-CD box set, featuring his A&M albums cut from 1968-73), “Heighty Hi: The Best of Lee Michaels” (20-song compilation; MP3) | (Manifesto) |
| Queen | “A Night At The Odeon” (Hammersmith Christmas concert from 1975; box set contains four CDs, a DVD, Blu-ray and 12-inch vinyl; Standard CD; Vinyl; DVD; Blu-ray) | (Hollywood) |
| Carly Simon | “Songs from the Trees: A Musical Memoir Collection” (an audio companion piece to her “Boys in the Trees: A Memoir,” out Nov. 24; two CDs, 31 songs; Read here; MP3) | (Rhino / Elektra) |
| Frank Sinatra | “Frank Sinatra: A Voice On Air (1935-1955)” (100-plus-track, four-CD deluxe box set culled from a collection of rare radio broadcasts and rehearsals) | (Legacy Recordings) |
| Spock’s Beard | “The First Twenty Years” (two-CD, 15-song retrospective) | (InsideOut Music) |
| Status Quo | “Accept No Substitute! The Definitive Hits” (three CDs, 54 songs; Read here) | (U.K. – UMTV) |
| Underworld | “Second Toughest in the Infants” (1996 album; remastered; four-CD super deluxe edition, featuring singles, B-sides, remixes, previously unreleased tracks and live performances; Read here; Vinyl) | (Universal Music Enterprises) |
| The Velvet Underground | “The Complete Matrix Tapes” (four-CD box set; recorded Nov. 26-27, 1969, in San Francisco; Read here) | (Polydor / UMe) |
| Roger Waters | “Roger Waters The Wall” (from his sold-out 2010-2013 “The Wall Live” tour; producer: Nigel Godrich; Vinyl; MP3; film version on DVD and Blu-ray scheduled for Dec. 1) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| Weather Report | “The Legendary Live Tapes: 1978-1981” (four-disc box set of previously unreleased live concert performances, featuring the classic lineup of Joe Zawinul, Wayne Shorter, Jaco Pastorius, Peter Erskine and Robert Thomas Jr.; MP3) | (Legacy Recordings) |
| The Who | “Live in Hyde Park [CD/DVD]” (CD/Blu-ray; Vinyl/DVD) | (Eagle Rock) |
| Timi Yuro | “Something Bad On My Mind + The Unreleased & Rare Liberty Recordings” (1968 album, with a compilation of a previously unreleased tracks and three songs off her 1976 “The Timi Yuro Album”; Read here) | (U.K. – Morello / Cherry Red) |
Nov. 27, 2015
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| The Flaming Lips | “Heady Nuggs 20 Years After Clouds Taste Metallic 1994-1997” (deluxe 20th anniversary box set edition of the group’s 1995 album “Clouds Taste Metallic,” with rarities, B-sides and bonus tracks; Vinyl; MP3) | (Warner) |
| Goo Goo Dolls | “A Boy Named Goo: 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition” (1995 album; remastered, with seven previously unreleased tracks, all recorded live at The Academy in New York in November 1995; LP + MP3; MP3) | (Warner / Metal Blade) |
| Jethro Tull | “Too Old To Rock ‘N’ Roll: Too Young To Die! (The TV Special Edition)” (1976 TV soundtrack album and five original LP tracks; remixed to stereo by Steven Wilson; Super Deluxe Edition; MP3) | (Chrysalis) |
| B.B. King | “Here’s One You Didn’t Know About: From the RPM & Kent Vaults” (25 tracks; Read here) | (U.K. – Ace) |
| Klaatu | “3:47 EST” (1976 album, featuring “Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft” and “Sub-Rosa Subway”; remastered; the album was renamed “Klaatu” when it was released in the United States by Capitol Records; Read here) | (Conveyor / MVD) |
| Love | “Reel-to-Real (Deluxe Edition)” (the group’s final studio album, from 1974, makes its CD and digital debuts; remastered, with 12 bonus tracks; Hear here; Vinyl; MP3) | (High Moon) |
| Meco, et al | “Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album” (1980 album; remastered; features Jon Bon Jovi, credited credited as John Bongiovi, on lead vocals on “R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas”; Hear here) | (LMLR) |
| The Mickey Finn | “Garden of My Mind: The Complete Recordings 1964-1967” (17 tracks; Hear here; Read here) | (U.K. – RPM / Cherry Red) |
| The Murmaids | “A Few of the Things We Love: The Chattahoochee Recordings and More” (21 tracks, including “Popsicles and Icicles”; Hear here; Read here) | (U.K. – Ace) |
| Édith Piaf | “Intégrale 2015 Limited Edition Box Set” (20-disc box set celebrates what would have been the French cabaret singer’s 100th birthday on Dec. 19; remastered in high definition from the original master tapes; more than 350 tracks and 20 hours of music, with a 30-page book and a 10-inch vinyl; Read here) | (Rhino / Parlophone) |
| Billy Joe Royal | “The Complete Early Recordings 1961-1966” (31 tracks; Track list) | (Dynamic Voice) |
| The Telescopes | “Splashdown: The Complete Creation Recordings 1990-1992” (two CDs, 36 songs; Read here; MP3) | (U.K. – Cherry Red) |
| Various artists | “Bobby Gillespie Presents Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down” (20-song compilation, selected by the Primal Scream lead singer, features tracks by the 13th Floor Elevators, the Beach Boys, the Byrds, Gene Clark, Kris Kristofferson, Ronnie Wood, Willie Nelson, Jerry Lee Lewis, etc.; Read here; Vinyl) | (U.K. – Ace) |
| Various artists | “Say I’m Your Number One: The Stock Aitken Waterman Singles Box Set” (30-disc CD singles collection, featuring Bananarama, Rick Astley, Donna Summer, Dead or Alive, Kylie Minogue, etc., with 12-inch mixes, rare B-sides and bonus cuts; more than 250 tracks in total; Read here) | (U.K. – Edsel) |
| John Williams | “Close Encounters of the Third Kind (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) [Hybrid SACD]” (1977 album; remastered) | (Audio Fidelity) |
Dec. 4, 2015
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| The Allman Brothers Band | “Idlewild South” (1970 album; remastered; three-CD, Blu-ray combo; Hear here; Read here) | (Universal) |
| Glen Campbell | “Love Songs” | (RockBeat) |
| Johnny Cash | “Man In Black: Live In Denmark 1971” (with guests June Carter Cash, The Carter Family, Carl Perkins, The Statler Brothers; See here; Read here; MP3) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds | “B-Sides and Rarities” (three CDs) | (Mute) |
| The Choir of King’s College Cambridge / David Willcocks | “The Complete Argo Recordings” (29-disc box set; Read here) | (Decca) |
| Nat King Cole | “Stardust: The Rare Television Performances” (two CDs, 35 songs; remastered by Mike Milchner; featuring songs from NBC’s “The Nat King Cole Show,” as well a 1963 appearance on Australian television) | (Real Gone Music) |
| Cream | “The Singles 1967-1970” (vinyl box set contains 10 7-inch singles; Read here) | (Polydor / UMe) |
| Miles Davis | “The Last Word: The Warner Bros. Years” (eight-CD box set) | (Rhino / Warner) |
| The Dictators | “Go Girl Crazy! 40th Anniversary Remastered & Expanded Edition” (1975 album; remastered, with two bonus tracks) | (Real Gone Music) |
| Fleetwood Mac | “Tusk (Expanded Edition)” (1979 album; remastered, with two additional CDs containing session outtakes, demos and remixes; Standard CD; Deluxe Edition, featuring five CDs, one DVD and one LP; MP3 Expanded Edition; MP3 Deluxe Edition) | (Rhino / Warner) |
| King Curtis | “The Complete Atco Singles” (three CDs, 66 songs) | (Real Gone Music) |
| Roy Orbison | “There Is Only One Roy Orbison” (1965 album; remixed and remastered), “The Orbison Way” (1966 album; remixed and remastered), “The Classic Roy Orbison” (1966 album; remixed and remastered), “Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson” (1967 album; remixed and remastered), “Cry Softly Lonely One” (1967 album; remixed and remastered), “The Fastest Guitar Alive” (1967 soundtrack album; remixed and remastered), “Roy Orbison’s Many Moods” (1969 album; remixed and remastered), “One of the Lonely Ones” (previously unreleased 1969 album; remixed and remastered), “Hank Williams The Roy Orbison Way” (1970 album; remixed and remastered), “Big O” (1970 album, originally not released in the U.S.; remixed and remastered), “Roy Orbison Sings” (1972 album; remixed and remastered), “Milestones” (1973 album; remixed and remastered), “Roy Orbison: The M-G-M Years 1965-1973” (13-CD box set; MP3) | (Roy Orbison) |
| Simple Minds | “Once Upon a Time (30th Anniversary Edition)” (1985 album; remastered; two-CD deluxe edition; Standard CD) | (Virgin / UMe) |
| Bruce Springsteen | “The Ties That Bind: The River Collection” (1980 album; remastered; 52 tracks on four CDs with unreleased material and four hours of never-before-seen video on three DVDs; Hear here; Read here; CD/Blu-ray box set; MP3) | (Columbia / Legacy) |
| Them | “The Complete Them 1964-1967” (three CDs, 69 songs; Read here) |
(Legacy Recordings) |
| Various artists | “American Roots Music: Pre War Blues, Country & Folk” (box set) | (RockBeat) |
Dec. 11, 2015
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| Art Blakey | “The Complete Blue Note Collection: Part One 1954-1957” (eight full albums on four CDs), “The Complete Blue Note Collection: Part Two 1957-1960” (eight full albums on four CDs), “The Complete Blue Note Collection: Part Three 1960-1962” (eight full albums on four CDs) | (Enlightenment) |
| Johnny Cash | “The Complete Sun Releases and Columbia Singles 1955-62” (three CDs, 81 songs; Read here) | (Acrobat) |
| Eva Cassidy | “Nightbird” (two-CD collection contains the complete Blues Alley concert recordings, with 12 previously unreleased songs; Hear here) | (Blix Street) |
| Judy Collins | “Colors of the Day: The Best of Judy Collins [Hybrid SACD]” (1972 compilation; remastered) | (Audio Fidelity) |
| Alice Cooper | “Muscle of Love [Super Audio CD – DSD]” (1973 album; remastered) | (Audio Fidelity) |
| Fats Domino | “The Complete Hits 1950-62” (three CDs, 79 songs; Read here) | (Acrobat) |
| The Five Satins | “The Complete Releases 1954-62” (two CDs, 56 songs; Read here) | (Acrobat) |
| Kitty Kallen | “The Kitty Kallen Collection 1939-62” (two CDs, 51 songs; Read here) | (Acrobat) |
| Loggins & Messina | “Sittin’ In [Super Audio CD – DSD]” (1971 album; remastered) | (Audio Fidelity) |
| Fats Navarro | “The Fats Navarro Collection 1943-50” (two CDs, 39 songs; Read here) | (Acrobat) |
| Phineas Newborn Jr. | “The Classic Albums 1956-1962” (five CDs, 85 songs) | (Enlightenment) |
| Pantera | “The Complete Studio Albums 1990-2000” (five-CD box set; Vinyl) | (Rhino / Atlantic) |
| Quartetto Italiano | “Quartetto Italiano: Complete Decca, Philips & DG Recordings” (37-CD box set; Read here) | (Decca) |
| Siouxsie & The Banshees | “Classic Album Selection, Volume One” (six-CD box set) | (U.K. – Polydor) |
| Various artists | “111 Years of Deutsche Grammophon: The Collectors’ Edition” (111-CD box set; Hear/read here) | (Deutsche Grammophon) |
| Various artists | “From Sacred to Secular: A Soul Awakening” (eight-CD box set exploring the roots of soul music from 1927-1963, featuring Nina Simone, Ray Charles, Mahalia Jackson, etc.; Hear here; Track list) | (History of Soul) |
| Amy Winehouse | “Amy Winehouse: The Collection” (eight-LP box set) | (Island / UMe) |
| Link Wray | “Early Recordings” (14 songs; Hear here) | (U.K. – Ace) |
More Box Set Gift Ideas
| Artist: | Title: | Label: |
| America | “The Warner Bros. Years 1971-1977” (eight-CD box set) |
(Rhino / Warner) |
| The Beach Boys | “The Pet Sounds Sessions” (four-CD box set) |
(Capitol) |
| The Beatles | “The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings)” (17-disc box set) |
(Capitol / Apple) |
| Bee Gees | “Mythology: The 50th Anniversary Collection” (four-CD box set includes Bee Gees and Andy Gibb hits) |
(Rhino) |
| Black Sabbath | “Black Box: The Complete Original Black Sabbath (1970-1978)” (nine-disc box set) |
(Rhino / Warner) |
| David Bowie | “Sound + Vision” (four-CD box set) |
(Rhino) |
| Johnny Cash | “The Legend” (four-CD, 104-song box set) |
(Columbia / Legacy) |
| Chicago | “The Studio Albums 1969-1978 (Vol. 1)” (10-CD box set), “The Studio Albums 1979-2008 (Vol. 2)” (10-CD box set) |
(Rhino) |
| John Coltrane | “The Complete 1961 Village Vanguard Recordings” (four-CD box set) |
(Impulse!) |
| Sam Cooke with the Soul Stirrers | “The Complete Specialty Records Recordings” (three-CD box set) |
(Specialty) |
| Alice Cooper | “The Studio Albums 1969-1983” (15-CD box set) |
(Rhino / Warner) |
| Creedence Clearwater Revival | “Ultimate Creedence Clearwater Revival: Greatest Hits & All-Time Classics” (three CDs, 52 songs) |
(Fantasy) |
| The Doobie Brothers | “The Warner Bros. Years 1971-1983” (10-CD box set) |
(Rhino / Warner) |
| The Doors | “The Complete Studio Recordings” (seven-CD box set) |
(Elektra) |
| Bob Dylan | “Biograph” (three-CD, 51-song box set) |
(Columbia / Legacy) |
| Electric Light Orchestra | “Flashback” (three-CD box set) |
(Epic / Legacy) |
| Fleetwood Mac | “25 Years – The Chain” (four-CD box set) |
(Warner) |
| George Harrison | “All Things Must Pass” (1970 album; remastered; two-CD deluxe edition) |
(Parlophone) |
| Michael Jackson | “Michael Jackson: The Ultimate Collection” (four-CD, one-DVD box set) |
(Epic / Legacy) |
| Billy Joel | “The Complete Hits Collection: 1973-1997” (four-CD box set) |
(Columbia / Legacy) |
| Elton John | “Elton John – Greatest Hits 1970-2002” (two CDs, 34 songs) |
(UTV) |
| Led Zeppelin | “The Complete Studio Recordings” (10-CD box set) |
(Atlantic) |
| Artist: | Title: | Label: | Little Feat | “Rad Gumbo: The Complete Warner Bros. Years 1971-1990” (13-CD box set) |
(Rhino) |
| Bob Marley | “Songs of Freedom” (four-CD box set) |
(Tuff Gong / Island) |
| Van Morrison | “Still On Top – The Greatest Hits” (three CDs) |
(Polydor / UMe) |
| Nilsson | “The RCA Albums Collection” (17-disc box set) |
(RCA / Legacy) |
| Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers | “Playback” (six-CD box set) |
(Geffen / UMe) |
| The Police | “Message in a Box: The Complete Recordings” (four-CD, 78-song box set) |
(A&M / UMe) |
| Prince | “The Hits/The B-Sides” (three CDs, 56 songs) |
(Warner) |
| Queen | “Greatest Hits I, II & III – The Platinum Collection” (three CDs, 51 songs) |
(Hollywood) |
| The Replacements | “The Complete Studio Albums 1981-1990” (eight-CD box set) |
(Rhino) |
| The Rolling Stones | “Singles Collection: The London Years” (three-CD box set) |
(ABKCO) |
| Roxy Music | “The Complete Studio Recordings” (10-CD box set) |
(Virgin / UMe) |
| Simon & Garfunkel | “The Complete Albums Collection” (12-CD box set) |
(Columbia / Legacy) |
| Sly & The Family Stone | “Higher” (four-CD box set) |
(Epic / Legacy) |
| Bruce Springsteen | “The Essential Bruce Springsteen” (three CDs, 42 songs), “The Album Collection Vol. 1 1973-1984” (eight-CD box set) |
(Columbia / Legacy) |
| Steely Dan | “Citizen Steely Dan: 1972-1980” (four-CD box set) |
(Geffen / UMe) |
| Rod Stewart | “Storyteller – The Complete Anthology: 1964-1990” (four-CD box set) |
(Rhino) |
| Donna Summer | “Singles … Driven By the Music” (23 CD singles and a bonus disc of unreleased mixes; Read here) |
(Driven By the Music) |
| Various artists | “Ken Burns Jazz: The Story of America’s Music” (five CDs, 94 songs) |
(Columbia / Legacy) |
| Various artists | “Hitsville USA: The Motown Singles Collection 1959-1971” (four-CD box set) |
(Motown) |
| Various artists | “Stax: 50th Anniversary Celebration” (two CDs, 50 songs) |
(Stax) |
| The Who | “The Who: The Ultimate Collection” (two CDs, 35 songs) |
(UTV) |
| Stevie Wonder | “At the Close of a Century” (four-CD, 70-song box set) |
(Motown) |
| Neil Young | “Decade” (two CDs, 35 songs) |
(Reprise) |
| The Zombies | “Zombie Heaven” (four-CD, 119-song box set) |
(Big Beat UK) |