The Classic Albums Box

This is a very nice box set despite the fact some of the albums have substituted song titles. My copy of both, the covers and CDs were made in the EU. The sound quality (on my copy) is identical to the Ace label releases which were issued in the UK and Germany between 1994 and 1996. Having the covers issued in mini LP form is great. I would have liked to have seen the CDs replicate the actual labels on the discs, rather than just have plain blue labels. Inner sleeves for the CDs would have been nice to have as well. Some of the albums have gatefold sleeves which are made very tightly, making it hard to pull the CD out from the sleeves. Although not made perfect, this is a nice CD box set to have.Having said all of this, the Ace label releases are more complete. (These CDs come in jeweled boxes rather than as mini LPs and in most cases 2 albums are included on each disc.) All the album tracks are correctly included and some of the Ace albums add bonus tracks to each CD. Interestingly enough, the bonus tracks that are on the Ace label CDs seem to be the tracks that were substituted for some of the regular tracks on the box set. Ace also issued the Christmas album (not included in the box set) as well as a fold out cover of the gazette on the "Genuine Imitation Life Gazette" album. (However, as far as I know, Ace never released the "Folk Nanny" album on CD.)The box set does have its imperfections, but it is a nice collection of most of the albums by the band. The mini LP cardboard sleeves are a plus too. Sound quality (in my opinion) seems identical to the Ace releases. (Some reviewers have indicated in their comments that the USA Curb label CDs have the same identical substitutions as in the box set.) All in all, it's a nice box set to have if you are a fan of the Four Seasons.

As a huge 4 Seasons (& Frankie Valli) fan from the beginning, I already had everything they ever released on both vinyl and CD (including both the ACE and Curb CD versions). Nevertheless, it's great to have 18 of their 20 studio albums all packaged together in a handy boxed set. Apparently, there are different versions of this set. My copy does not have any of the substitutions as in the Curb editions. On Broadway Tonight, Don't Think Twice, and all the other tracks others had noted as missing are on my copy. I agree with others that it would have been nice to have the bonus tracks added on the ACE editions, especially Sunday Kind of Love which was on the original release of the Entertain You LP. The CDs have the exact same tracks as the original vinyl, and everything sounds great. Since the Folknanny album only has 3 songs not on other albums, I would have preferred a compilation CD with Connie O, Silver Wings & Star Maker along with the many songs never released on a regular studio album: I've Cried Before, Girl Come Running, Let's Hang On, Opus 17, I've Got You Under My Skin, On the Good Ship Lollipop & You're Nobody 'til Somebody Loves You by the Wonder Who, Watch the Flowers Grow, Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow, Raven, The Singles Game, & Electric Stories. Of course it would have been nice to have the missing two CDs: The Christmas Album (The 4 Seasons Greetings), and Chameleon (or better yet, the Motown album which includes bonus tracks). I appreciate the original art in miniature, except on Bigs Hits by David/Bacharach/Dylan which should have Old English lettering and medieval styled borders as on the original vinyl. Also it would have been nice to have had a paper booklet of all the other pages of the Gazette album's newspaper.

Nothing here you haven't heard before, Some of the discs are really short (12 songs) representative of the original vinyl LP's without any of the bonus singles that were thrown in on the now out of print Ace titles. The Overall sound is really good, I hear more low end on a few of these albums that weren't on the Ace titles as well as more volume. Not a bad collection, but not complete at all....too many songs are missing a true fan will know "Raven, Watch The Flowers Grow, Electric Stories, Opus 17" just to name a few and "Cry For Me & Fallen Angel" are missing from the Frankie Valli Box. Biggest Disappointment is that "On Broadway Tonight' is listed on the Rag Doll CD but it's not there, "I've Got You Under My Skin" is in it's place. $85 for 16 CD's would normally be a great price for a box set but all these discs running 8-12 tracks each isn't worth the money. I gave it 5 stars on content & packaging, but i'm not happy with it overall. Replicating each LP was nice but you could have easily fit all 16 CD's on 7 or 8 leaving out all the duplicate tracks. I should be able to return this set just on the notion that a listed track is missing but I don't think Amazon will allow that. If you don't have any of these tracks by all means buy this set, if you're a completist then it's right up your alley.

If you're a major Frankie Valli fan like I am, this is the set for you! It encompasses almost all of the studio albums by the Four Seasons. All of these are on their own CD as well as in a replica LP sleeve with even a couple opening like a gatefold LP. These seem to all be mastered digitally or to the most modern sound available. I wish this set did include EVERYTHING the Four Seasons did including some of the greatest hit compilations and a few other studio albums not included in this set. What would also make this more enticing would be if it included all of Frankie Valli's solo albums that are incredibly hard to find on CD alone. Otherwise, this set is great and for $50-$60, it is well worth the price.

Nice to have all the band's albums. This box, together with The Motown Years and Jersey Beat, makes virtually all the songs of the band. When I receive Valli's box then I will have virtually all Valli's songs. I plan to listen to this box regularly when working or traveling.

Diese Rezension bezieht sich auf  The Classic Albums Box Die US-Firma Rhino galt für mich immer als Garant hochwertiger CD-Re-releases alter Vinylplatten. Mit dieser insgesamt ziemlich preisgünstigen Box machen sie ihrem Namen jedoch nicht alle Ehre. Da wimmelt es von Fehlern, der Sound ist zwar offenbar remastered, aber mindestens bei den ersten zehn CDs fast durchweg mehr oder weniger verzerrt. Und zu schlechter Letzt gibt es überhaupt kein Booklet, sondern eben nur die Original-LP-Hüllen im Kleinstformat. Die sind aber teilweise kaum zu entziffern, und bei einigen fehlen die Autorenangaben zu den Titeln auf den Pappdeckeln (die waren seinerzeit gewiß auf dem runden LP-Label drauf, und sie finden sich denn auch tatsächlich auf der Silberscheibe).Merkwürdigkeiten und FehlerUnvermittelt präsentiert sich der ein oder andere Titel aus den 60er Jahren in Mono statt in Stereo - innerhalb eines Original-Albums, wohlgemerkt. Das kommt überraschend häufig vor, wenngleich der weitaus überwiegende Anteil bei den Stereoversionen liegt.Auf mindestens zwei CDs befinden sich falsche Tracks, d. h., die laut Mini-Sleeve zu erwartenden Stücke fehlen und wurden durch andere ersetzt. Folgende Beispiele sind mir bislang untergekommen:# CD "Rag Doll" (Juli 1964)(1) Statt "Mr. Broadway" ist der Titel "I've Got You Under My Skin" zu hören.# CD "New Gold Hits" (Mai 1967)(2) Statt "I'm Gonna Change" hört man "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright",(3) anstelle von "Dody" kommt "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow",(4) für "Lonesome Road" muß man mit "Bye Bye Baby" Vorlieb nehmen.Für mich deutet alles darauf hin, daß die Tracks von verschiedenen Quellen herangezogen wurden, und das wiederum ist ein Indiz dafür, daß von analogem Vinylmaterial kopiert und dabei remastered wurde. Dazu paßt auch der m. E. schrille Sound.SoundcheckIch muß vorwegschicken, daß ich ein notorischer Kopf-Hörer bin und Musik nur in Ausnahmefällen (bzw. so nebenbei) per Boxen anhöre. Insofern mag es sein, daß anderen Leuten meine Kritik unverständlich erscheint. Jedenfalls empfinde ich den Klang der hier versammelten Aufnahmen aus den 60er Jahren, technisch gesehen, als oft verzerrt, unsauber, übersteuert und schrill. Gerade bei den hier häufigen Chorgesängen hört man das deutlich. Für mich heißt das: Es wurden ausschließlich Vinylplatten als Vorlagen genutzt, nicht die originalen Masterbänder. Davon ist denn auch auf der äußeren Pappschachtel nicht die Rede, es ist also durchaus keine Mogelpackung. Dafür spricht auch die uninspirierte Mischung von Mono- und Stereo-Versionen innerhalb einer Produktion. Womöglich waren auf der Vinylvorlage fehlerhafte Stellen, die mittels Ausweichen auf Tracks einer anderen Vinyl-LP ausgebügelt wurden. Damit könnten sich auch die merkwürdigen Verwechslungen erklären, zwischen den laut Cover angeblich und den tatsächlich zu hörenden Titeln. Wäre hier der enorme Aufwand mit Masterbändern getrieben worden, dann hätte die Vertriebsfirma dies unter Garantie werbewirksam aufgedruckt.InfomaterialKomplette Fehlanzeige. Allerdings stecken die CDs in den originalen, miniaturisierten LP-Covern - deren Texte kann man jedoch fast nicht lesen. Da hätte man sich schon ein kleines Beiheftchen gewünscht. Auf jeder CD sind - in durchgehend blauem Layout - alle Tracknamen sowie deren Autoren aufgedruckt.Attribute und Wertungen+ Attraktive Sammlung von originalen LPs, wenn auch nicht kompletto Titel-Dubletten auf einigen CDs. Das entspricht jedoch den historischen Vorgaben!o Keine Singletitel als Bonuso Chronologie der Originalalben ist nicht durchgängig; es fehlen mehrere Produktionen- Für meine Ohren ist der remasterte Sound an sich transparent, aber häufig verzerrt, schrill und unsauber- Mischmasch von Mono- und Stereoaufnahmen (innerhalb ein- und derselben LP)ResümeeInsgesamt recht schlampig produzierte CD-Box, die in erster Linie über den vermeintlich günstigen Preis ihre Daseinsberechtigung erhält. Zu bedenken ist jedoch, daß die Anzahl von 18 CDs nicht darüber hinwegtäuschen kann, daß die frühen LPs nur um die 35 Minuten Laufzeit haben und deswegen zwei Originale bequem auf einem Silberling Platz gefunden hätten. Ärgerlich sind fehlerhaft deklarierte Tracks auf einigen CDs, und für mich hält auch der Sound den von anderen Wiederveröffentlichern gesetzten Standards (z. B. Bear Family) nicht stand. The Classic Albums Box

This is a fantastic collection, with some rare tracks, all the titles i tried sounded really clear, and most of the tracks, including their early hits are in stereo, the only dissapointment for me was that this collection does not include, ''opus 17 (don't you worry bout me'') and also ''let's hang on'', but the others are brilliant, i didn't know they made so many different records, including country n' westen, which is featured in this collection, even if you're not a Frankie Valli and the four seasons fan, i know that some of these tracks, you will find yourself playing over and over again.

I've been a hard core fan of this band right from the beginning. I had a couple of their albums but lost them in a fire and they were irreplaceable. I went on amazon to look for their Born To Wander album, one I always wanted. So searching through amazon looking for this album, I came across this box set. I had to order it immediately. This collection has all 18 Four Seasons albums in it. Every album is a gem. It's great to hear them again in a clean, refreshed sound. You can always tell the Four Seasons by the distinct Frankie Valli sound. The only album that is not included in this package is the Four Seasons Christmas album but I have that one anyway. If you are a fan of the best American band of the sixties, then this collection is for you. I am absolutely thrilled to have found and purchased this collection. I'm through the first 9 albums and have 9 more to go. Can't wait to hear them. I highly recommend this collection. You won't be disappointed.

What a fantastic collection from one of the best American groups of the 60s. A small gripe would be the lack of a bonus disc with 'b' sides not included on any of the albums but that's me just being greedy. The quality over all is excellent on all of the albums, bar the odd turkey here and there, which is inevitable given the number of tracks (their decision to cover some Bob Dylan tracks on a 1965 album is quite odd to be honest!) and I can't praise this collection enough. Wonderful stuff!

I received this article in time for Christmas and was very surprised at the rapid delivery service supplied by Canada Post.This product was exactly as I had imagined it would be.Very pleased!!Keep up the great service Amazon.I'm a customer for life.