This double-CD set is essential listening – not just for Downliners Sect fans, but for anyone who's ever worn out copies of any of the first three Rolling Stones albums or owns anything by the Yardbirds, the Pretty Things, Them, the Graham Bond Organisation, the Animals, early John Mayall, the Shadows of Knight, or any of countless blues-inspired American garage bands. In content, it's approximately equivalent to Charly's Yardbirds Ultimate Collection, encompassing the complete contents of the Downliners Sect's three original LPs, from the bluesy "Baby, What's Wrong" to the pounding, proto-psychedelic "Glendora." Thus, listeners don't get the EP and demo tracks "Cadillac," "Roll Over Beethoven," "Beautiful Delilah," or "Shame Shame Shame," and "I Can't Get Away from You" and "Roses" are also missing from the other end of their history – all of which are present, along with a lot else, on See for Miles' Definitive Downliners Sect: The Singles A's & B's, which is the perfect complement to this set.
This 50 CD Box Set was released in 1996 by BMG Netherland. The set comes with a 94-page-book and a certificate of authenticity which says: " The Original Elvis Presley Collection has been compiled by BMG Nederland BV, authorized by RCA Records, the exclusive worldwide owner of Elvis Presley's sound recordings. - Elvis Presley is the greatest recording artist of all time." The box includes previously released original CD albums, only the cover art is different. This collector item was not sold in music stores. It was only available through a dutch book club.
First the good news, which is really good: the sound on this 340-song set is about as good as one ever fantasized it could be, and that means it runs circles around any prior reissues; from the earliest Aristocrat sides by the Five Blazers and Jump Jackson & His Orchestra right up through Muddy Waters' "Going Down to Main Street," it doesn't get any better than this set. The clarity pays a lot of bonuses, beginning with the impression that it gives of various artists' instrumental prowess. In sharp contrast to the past efforts in this direction by MCA, however, the producers of this set have not emasculated the sound in the course of cleaning it up, as was the case with the Chuck Berry box, in particular.