Search - Various Artists :: Disco Box

Good Disco Primer for Novices

prymel | Anaheim, CA USA | 12/10/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

""Disco Box" is an excellent starting point for folks wanting a thorough retrospective of the top disco hits of the 70's and early 80's. With this set and the "Saturday Night Fever" soundtrack (or a good Bee Gees retrospective), the casual fan will have all they need for an entertaining listen.Naturally, presenting these songs in their extended or 12" forms is beyond the scope or intent of this set, but, as usual, Rhino taints one of their "Various Artists" collections by including needlessly shortened versions of tracks, which makes it hard for collectors looking to get their hands on songs that could, in some respect, be construed as "full-length". For example, the very first song, "Love's Theme" is nearly 35 seconds shorter than the Love Unlimited Orchestra album version. It doesn't seem like it should have been too difficult to include this album-length version. Numerous other tracks suffer the same edit job. As a result of this pointless economizing, "Disco Box" get 3 stars."

From the music programmer's side

CyberRadio2000 | Chicago | 02/28/2002

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This is a nice sanitized set of top 40 songs and disco songs that made the top 40 and disco songs that never really did much. I rate this CD according to my tastes, I'm sure it will please many. People wonder why songs aren't on this set. That has a few reasons, some are: 1 - Not available to license for compiliations (some artists NEVER appear on comps for many reasons) 2 - The artists with the big big hits may want to much for the licensing of their track (either royalty or advance)3 - The programmer's of the disc know only what they've been told and didn't live the era.What I'm a fan of is the hardcore lost stuff. I played it then in the clubs and it lit up floors. Many people may remember them if they hit the clubs back then but the songs only were in the mixes or on DISCO stations, not the played out top 40 stuffExamples: John Davis, Liquid Gold, Le Pamplemousse, France Joli, CJ & Company and others. This is nice but not deep."

Good, But 80 Songs Are From Complete

bushsupporter04 | 05/25/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Rhino Records can usually be counted on to release high - quality essential collections for the obsessive music fan. To capitalize on the cravings of the many disco fans still around today, they released this slapdash collection which features 4 discs of some great music. But still, with 80 songs, you can't help but feel the incompleteness.Disc1 and 2 will only appeal to the casual disco fan, as they stand out as the ones with the most familliar songs. Tracks like "Love's Theme" by The Love Unlimited Orchestra, "Dancing Machine" by The Jackson 5, "Get Down Tonight" and "That's The Way (I Like It) by KC and the Sunshine Band, "Disco Inferno" by The Trammps and "Shame" by Evelyn "Champagne" King remain radio staples today. Alas, there is some rarely heard stuff here, like 5000 Volts' "I'm On Fire" and the forgotten Candi Staton standard "Young Hearts Run Free" remain some of the best rumpshakers ever. Discs 3 and 4 should appeal more to the hardcore disco fans, as there's a lot of rare tracks here, like "Instant Replay" by Dan Hartman, "Love And Desire (Part 1)" by Arpeggio, "I Shoulda Loved Ya" by Narada Michael Walden, "I'm Caught Up (In A One Night Love Affair)", "A Lover's Holiday" by Change", and "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life" by Indeep. Still the classics like "I Will Survive", "We Are Family", "Le Freak" and "YMCA" weigh out the rarer stuff.It's okay, but far from complete. There are lot of rarely heard disco stuff not here that would have made it more interesting and appealing to the buyers. What songs? Songs like "My Sweet Summer Suite" by The Love Unlimited Orchestra, "I Don't Wanna Lose You" by Hall And Oates", I Caught You Act" by The Hues Corporation", "Catfish and "H.E.L.P", both by The Four Tops". And if that's not enough. Even some essential classics are missing. I would've loved to see "Love Hangover, "Best Of My Love", "Shadow Dancing", "September", "Boogie Wonderland", "You're The First, The Last, My Everything" and any Bee Gees song here. Aso, a few dance classics from the 1980s' are missing, like "Holiday" by Madonna, "Take Your Time" by The S.O.S. Band, and "Out Of Touch" by Hall and Oates.If you are an obsessive disco fan, than I highly suggest this set. Otherwise, please consider other collections before buying this."