The Best Vinyl LP Box Sets of 2012

TOP 10 BOX SET RELEASES FOR 2012

Hello and Happy New Year!   We survived the apocalypse and can still collect vinyl records!!  After another great year of vinyl sales, we also saw some great box sets come out on vinyl.  Here are my Top 10 releases from 2012:

10) Into It. Over It.  52 Weeks 4LP Box Set

Released on No Sleep Records, this was originally put out as a Double CD in 2009.  But this project demanded a release on vinyl and it couldn’t have turned out better.  If you didn’t know, Evan Weiss decided to write, record and release a new song every week back in 2007.  By the end of the project, over 300,000 downloads allowed various people to be introduced to his style of music.   This high quality release features 52 tracks spread out over 4LPs with a 52 page book that captures the journey Weiss took 4 years ago.

Pressing Info:

1000 total copies (500 180g Black, 300 White and 200 Clear Red)

Note:  An additional 99 copies were made for their 2012 tour on Clear Vinyl and personalized to each person who purchased it.

I have the Clear and Red Versions.

9) Smashing Pumpkins Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness 4LP Deluxe Reissue.

For those who jumped on the Smashing Pumpkins bandwagon late and were never able to get one of the 3LP Numbered copies released in the UK on Hut Records (nor wish to pay $500 for it on Ebay), then this release is for you.  Finally available in the US, this 4LP set comes on 180g vinyl, was remastered and housed in a 12x12 rigid slipcase with 2 books containing personal notes, new collage artwork, lyrics and more.

8) Codeine  When I See The Sun 3LP Box Set

Chicago’s Numero Group is well known for their attention to detail and great packaging.  So it was a surprise when this set was announced in 2012.  As a fan of the band when they were on Sub Pop, I was excited to see this release happen and it didn’t disappoint.  This set included new essays by Sub Pop’s Jonathan Poneman, Love Child’s Alan LIcht and the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne and Steven Drozd.  The albums were each restored from their original masters and are accompanied by a plethora of singles, demos, live records and Peel Sessions.  The Box was limited to 1000 copies and if you were one of the early pre-orders (first 500), you got a bonus 7” single in a “Sub Pop” style singles club sleeve and Numero also re-made the classic Sub Pop loser shirt as a Winner edition (100 only).

7) Elbow Definitive Collection 7LP Box Set

Apparently now sold out on both Universal UK’s site and Amazon’s UK site, this box set was limited to just 2000 copies.    Each LP was placed on heavyweight vinyl and features the following: 

• Asleep In the Back - featuring the track 'Asleep In The Back' for the first time on vinyl
• Cast of Thousands - currently out of press on vinyl, and first time it will be available as a double gatefold
• Leaders of the Free World - currently out of press on vinyl, and first time it will be available as a double gatefold
• The Seldom Seen Kid
• Build A Rocket Boys!
• Dead In The Boot
• Live at Abbey Road - previously only available as a CD release and not available outside of this box set.
• USB of all tracks in high resolution .Wav files (Note:  USB stick is in its own gatefold sleeve and inside it states that this spot is reserved for the next Elbow album)

6)  CAN The Lost Tapes 5LP Box Set

This limited Vinyl Box Set, includes 5 x 180g vinyl LP's, a 28 page 12" booklet and a 24" poster - includes 30 previously unreleased tracks.  The Lost Tapes was curated by Irmin Schmidt and Daniel Miller, compiled by Irmin Schmidt and Jono Podmore, and edited by Jono Podmore. When the legendary Can studio in Weilerswist was sold to the German Rock N Pop Museum, they bought everything, including the army mattresses that covered the walls for sound protection, and relocated it to Gronau. Whilst dismantling the studio, master tapes were found and stored in the Spoon archive. With barely legible labelling, no one was sure what was on these until Irmin Schmidt and long time collaborator Jono Podmore started to go through over 30 hours of music. What they found was years of archived material, not outtakes, but rather tracks which had been shelved for a variety of reasons - soundtracks to films that were never released and tracks that didn't make it onto the final versions of albums due to space.  Let’s hope 2013 sees the release of the rumored deluxe vinyl box of all of Can’s albums.

5) William Basinski’s The Disintegration Loops 9LP Box Set

I could go on and on how great this release is and how wonderful a job Temporary Residence did in producing it, but I’ll let their own words due the set justice:

For a collection of music built around the poignant inevitability of decay, there has been a great many hopeful and inspired words devoted to William Basinski's The Disintegration Loops: stunning, ethereal, majestic, transfixing, life-affirming... and for good reason. From its 20-year gestation period to its infamously fateful completion, The Disintegration Loops is one of the most powerful manifestations of the inevitable cycle of life ever committed to tape, even as it documents the inevitable decay of all that is committed to tape. The very passage of time is its most effective instrument. To mark the 10-year anniversary of its original release -- and its forthcoming induction into the 9/11 Memorial Museum this year -- Temporary Residence Ltd. is honored to collaborate with William Basinski in presenting The Disintegration Loops in a fashion truly befitting a library of music with such a lasting legacy. This massive limited-edition box set contains all four historic volumes, plus a pair of stunning live orchestral performances from the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the 54th Venice Biennale, both previously unreleased. Remastered from the original recordings and pressed onto 100% virgin vinyl for the first and only time, this exquisite box set also includes all of the remastered recordings on 5 CDs, the extremely rare 63-minute The Disintegration Loops film on DVD, and a 144-page full-color coffee table book featuring rare photos taken during the making of The Disintegration Loops, and liner notes by Basinski, Antony, David Tibet of Current 93, Ronen Givony of the Wordless Music Series, and Michael Shulan, Creative Director of the National September 11 Memorial Museum.

The Disintegration Loops has never appeared on vinyl, and will never appear so again outside of this sincerely special, breathtakingly beautiful collection.

4) Various Artists—Music That Changes the World 4LP Box Set

Originally released on Record Store Day (in limited quantities due to production issues), this box got lost in the shuffle in my opinion, yet was one of the nicest sets released in 2012.  This 4LP box set features 34 EXCLUSIVE tracks, most of which have never been released on vinyl until now.   2500 copies of this box were produced and it features a gorgeous 42 page color book with an introduction by David Lynch.  The book is illustrated by Romio Shrestha and artist Davel Hamue.    This Box features tracks from artists such as Peter Gabriel, Iggy Pop, Moby, Neon Trees, Maroon 5, Jakob Dylan, Donovan, Charlatans, Ben Folds, Dave Stewart, Amanda Palmer, Alanis Morissette, Rodrigo y Gabriela, Andy Summers and more.

Do yourself a favor and seek out this box set and add it to your collection.  You’ll help the David Lynch foundation and get a great release at the same time!

3) Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross—The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo Soundtrack  6LP Boxset

A truly stunning piece of art, since ice and winter were a major theme in the tone of the music, it became the inspiration for the look and feel of the box set.

An acrylic “ice” slipcase houses a book of six vinyl records, an exclusive fold-out poster by Neil Kellerhouse, and an 8gb USB razor blade pendant inspired by Lisbeth’s necklace in the film. The USB drive contains the album in high definition 96k FLAC.  Each package is numbered in an edition of 3000, and each is personally signed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.

See some great pics here:  http://www.topdesignmag.com/the-girl-with-the-dragon-tattoo-soundtrack-packaging/

2) Incubus HQ Live Box Set

Limited to just 1000 copies, this massive box set was a huge surprise with great design, a great price (based on what you get) and a must for any live music fan.   This set included:

• An autographed, 48 page coffee table photo book embedded with a unique piece of art from the actual canvases created by the band and fans at HQ Live.
• (4) 180 Gram LP Vinyl Set, including live versions of the albums: Morning View, Make Yourself and If Not Now, When?. Vinyl set will also include The Best Of Nights 3-5.
• DVD/Blu Ray (2) Disc Set with 5.1 Surround Sound featuring live performances from the HQ Live Sessions, interviews with the band & fans, Behind The Scenes footage, clips from the musicians clinics and much more.
• (6) CD set of each night's performance
• Commemorative collector's laminate

1) Ryan Adams Live After Deaf 15LP Box Set

When this box went on sale in June, there was a lot of mystery around it….how many copies were made?  Where were the live shows from? Went it went on sale it crashed the website so badly that several fans were shutout and cursed the Ryan and PaxAm Records on Facebook, Twitter and Message Boards.  Supposedly limited to around 300 copies, this mega box set contains 144 Live Tracks from Ryan’s European Tour from 2011.  The bonus?  The box contained a download card that gave you an additional 74 bonus tracks too!!

This will be one of the most highly collectible and sought after box sets in many years.

Honorable Mentions (In no particular order):

• Rolling Stones GRRR 5LP Box Set
• NOFX 126 Inches 7” Box Set
• Thrice Anthology 4LP Box Set
• Blur 21 13LP Box
• Black Sabbath Vinyl Collection 1970-78 9LP Box
• The Who—Studio Albums 14LP Box
• Beatles Stereo 14LP Box Set

                      What Box Sets did you enjoy in 2012?  

                       Also--be on the look out for my Record Store Day 2013 post soon.  We've already had a few releases by Flaming Lips, Codeine, Mad Season and Best Coast announced.