As we hurtle ever-closer toward TBHE —The Big Holiday Event — with December continuing to unfold at its usual, breakneck, “where did all the time go” pace, I’m going to continue onward with my music box set recommendations for any/all of your potential gift recipients and/or personal wishlist coffers accordingly. Here in Part 3, I’ll cover five more great boxes that are sure to make any music lover’s ears smile (well, you know what I mean).

THE ROLLING STONES

BLACK AND BLUE

50TH ANNIVERSARY SUPER DELUXE EDITION

Let’s face it—The Beatles and The Rolling Stones have been sharing a mostly friendly rivalry since they both came out of the club-level trenches to spearhead The British Invasion in the early 1960s. Though The Fab Four essentially called it a career by officially rolling up their active recording/performing sidewalk at the dawn of the 1970s, The Stones have long since rolled on (and on) quite mightily, and they continue to mount gargantuan world tours and release new music to this day. (More power to ’em, I say. Much like the first-gen blues musicians they’ve always revered, I want to see how long The Stones can keep at it.)

Just like The Fabs still do from their seemingly bottomless vaults, The Stones continue to release historical box sets with annual(ish) regularity, and this year is no different. While The Beatles dropped their massively impressive 12LP/8CD Anthology collection back on November 21, 2025, The Stones decided to fete a half-century catalog anniversary for the first album they recorded with Faces expat guitarist Ronnie Wood—April 1976’s Black and Blue—with a wonderful (and typical) multiplatform approach a week earlier via Polydor/UMe on November 14, 2025. For whatever various reasons, Black and Blue has been unjustifiably underrated across all these ensuing years, but this box set—35 tracks deep and clocking in at just under 3 hours’ worth of music, all told—goes a long way to rectify that mischaracterization.

Depending on your holiday budget constraints and/or Stones-completist inclinations, you have a number of options to choose amongst here as to how to approach your Black and Blue (re)immersion. The flagship Black and Blue Super Deluxe Edition 5LP/1BD box set sports an SRP of $229.99 and features 1LP with Steven Wilson’s 2025 remix of the core album, 1LP with six studio outtakes and jams, and 3LPs of rare live performances from Earls Court 1976, while the comparable digital-centric 4CD/1BD edition runs somewhat less at $131.76. The official Stones online store version of the 5LP/1BD box with blue vinyl instead of black will run you a tad more at $249.98. If you wanna start smaller than any of those options, abridged analog/digital editions are as follows: 2LP black vinyl is $37.99; 2LP blue-marbled vinyl is $39.98 (as seen below); limited-edition 1LP zoetrope vinyl is $35.98; 1LP of just the core album is $29.98; 2CD set with the outtakes and jams included is $24.98, and the “basic” 1CD is $13.98. (Collect ’em all, if you dare!)

Both big box sets contain a Blu-ray with prime audio and video content—and I’ll delve into that in just a moment. The ever-ubiquitous and above-noted Steven Wilson was indeed tapped to provide B&B with a new-to-2025 24-bit/96kHz PCM stereo mix, in addition to a 24/96 DTS-HD Master Audio mix (in 5.1, that is), and a Dolby Atmos mix. These 2025-mixed options are all enjoyable on their own merits, depending on your aural preferences/proclivities. I compared the new stereo mix with that of my original 1976 B&B LP on Rolling Stones Records, as distributed by Atlantic (COC 79104)—more specifically, it’s the PRC Richmond pressing, with lacquers cut by Lee Hulko—and found that spirited ’76 LP to be entrenched in its mid-’70s production charm just as it should be, given the quality of that original pressing and how well it’s held up in my collection. Wilson’s new mix—or new “remix,” depending on where the related phraseology shows up in/on the box set—broadens the B&B stereo palette with more detail, a wider soundstage, and an added clarity of percussion, ARP synth, horns, and other musical elements beyond what The Stones themselves provided as a band on the basic tracks. If you’re an O.G. mix purist, you may balk at reading about all that, but I like having multiple listening options, depending on my mood. Me, I quite like going from the original needle-drop mixes to full 360-degree immersion, and back again.

Speaking of immersiveness, Atmos fans will absolutely relish the breadth of all-encompassing 360-degree elements like the heaven-sent ARP synth-strings on “Memory Motel,” plus Billy Preston’s piano presence permeating “Hot Stuff” and his organ-and-vocal work on “Melody.” The BD also includes 11 filmed tracks from Les Rolling Stones Aux Abattoirs, Paris-Juin 1976 that aren’t on vinyl—as touted on both the box set hype sticker and on the BD cover itself (albeit with an abbreviated title distinction)—in addition to their full Earls Court 1976 set that’s on the bigger boxes (LPs 3-5; CDs 3-4). Both performances show how freakin’ vital and interlocked The Stones continued to be onstage at that point, who were then barely just a decade-plus into their career, if you think about it. The six bonus studio tracks are “only” in stereo on the BD, but I’m cool with that. Either way, I still can’t get enough of hearing The Stones and Jeff Beck interweave their magic together on “Freeway Jam” (LP2, Side 4, Track 3; CD2, Track 6).

The box set packaging is sturdy and somewhat unique unto itself—the black-striped cross-hatching on its removable plastic encasement two-tone mirrors the full-color band photo on the original B&B LP’s front and back covers—and the 100-page hardbound book is awash in tons of photos and big-type liner notes from Paul Sexton, all pluses in my book. (A poster commemorating the Paris gig is also included.) Missing, however, are detailed tracklisting stats as to all the who-played-what (and where) stats, the requisite minutiae we liner-notes freaks crave—and, at these hefty SRPs, frankly deserve. The hype sticker has more info about that stuff than the book does, which isn’t really saying much. Still, the “standard” 12.5 x 12.5in-wide dimensions of the vinyl-size box ensures it will fit nicely alongside other Stones collections of recent years—which number no fewer than 17, by my current on-shelf count. (The Stones have also released some odd-sized, hard-to-shelve boxes as well in the interim, but we won’t go all over that now.)

Rest assured, and regardless of those mini-nits, the expanded collection(s) of Black and Blue reinforce just how deftly those mid-period Stones, especially when they’ve been self-produced by The Glimmer Twins—a.k.a. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards—honed a gutbucket, genre-hopping but rock/blues-based studio groove that’s instantly recognizable, fascinatingly enjoyable on repeat/multiple listens, and sounding just like poor boys should, especially on vinyl. Hot stuff—can’t get enough.

Ratings (on our goes-to-5 scale): Music: 4.5. Sound: 4. Packaging: 3.5. (The B&B box structure and overall presentation is a 4, but it gets a half-point off for that dearth of recording information.)

I’m now going to now summarize and rate four more top-shelf music boxes in this installment, each of which have their own merits and should appeal to one, if not more, of your gift-giving target audience, as it were. Here we go!

THE CARS

HEARTBEAT CITY: DELUXE EDITION

I semi-sheepishly admit that I passed on buying The Cars’ hit March 1984 LP Heartbeat City when it first came out, essentially due to its inherent omnipresence on MTV at the time. (Loved all those stylish, art-school-inspired ’80s videos, though.) My first obtainment of Heartbeat City came a decade-plus later on CD, which again reminded me that I often wound up regretting some of my non-purchases during that formative era, only rationalized by the fact that I had quite the limited discretionary funds at the time.

At any rate, the ostensible 40th anniversary 1LP/4CD deluxe edition of Heartbeat City—which was released via Elektra/Rhino on October 31, 2025, and has an SRP of $79.98—is a fine reminder of how guitarist/vocalist Ric Ocasek, keyboardist Greg Hawkes, guitarist Elliot Easton, bassist/vocalist Benjamin Orr, and drummer David Robinson reached the zenith-point of marrying their angular new-wave arrangements with pure pop confection/perfection. Less-exposed tracks like “Stranger Eyes” (LP Side A, Track 5; CD1, Track 5) and bonus cuts like “Shooting for You (Re-recorded Version)” (CD2, Track 11) benefit from fresh ears, and fresher mixes. A 17-track live set from The Summit in Houston on September 11, 1984 (CD4, Tracks 1-17), bears aural witness to how honed the Boston-bred band’s meet-the-moment sensibilities were. The liners are insightful—as is drummer/designer David Robinson’s story about Art-O-Matic Loop di Loop, the striking painting by Peter Phillips that serves as the album’s still eye-catching cover art.

You might think you know The Cars and their music, but it’s always good to take them out for another test drive (or ten) to remind yourself (or learn for the first time!) just how ahead of the curve of the alt-rock road they were—and how fresh they still sound.

Ratings: Music: 4. Sound: 4. Packaging: 4.5. (Half-point off for having no band/album title IDs on the inner gatefold spine and not the outer spine, regardless of how beautiful the overall presentation is.)

ROBIN TROWER

FOR EARTH BELOW – 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION

What an absolute pleasure it was seeing British guitar rock royalty Robin Trower play in a taut power-trio format inside a local church hall venue back in July 2025—proving how vibrant he still is onstage at 80 years young. Trower was there to mainly support his May 2025-released Come and Find Me LP (Provogue), but he was also honoring the 50th anniversary of February 1975’s power-rifftastic For Earth Below, which was released on June 27, 2025, in both 4CD ($46.65) and 2LP ($40) formats via Chrysalis (technically speaking, his original label).

This is how I like seeing/hearing expanded boxes, with the original Below mix from 1975 in its 2025 remastered form on LP1 and CD1, and the new 2025 stereo mix on LP2 and CD2. (Naturally, I would have also liked to have gotten a Dolby Atmos mix of Earth on an additional BD as well—akin to what Chrysalis did with last year’s 3CD/1BD clamshell Trower box for April 1974’s Bridge of Sighs—but that’s how the earth rotates sometimes.) In the clamshell box version of Earth, Outtakes & Rarities rule CD3 (all hail “The Moody One [Instrumental Take 2],” [Track 5] and “Confessin’ Midnight” from a BBC Radio Top of the Pops performance on January 28, 1975 [Track 9]), while an incendiary live set from the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles from March 16, 2025, owns CD4 (“Too Rolling Stoned” [Track 7] and “Alethea” [Track 9] most especially). Look out for Below, because its contents will reiterate just how Trower wrangles and mangles that axe of his into unearthly submission.

Ratings: Music: 4. Sound: 4. Packaging: 4.5.

BOB DYLAN

THE BOOTLEG SERIES VOL. 18

THROUGH THE OPEN WINDOW, 1956-1963

As an inveterate Bob Dylan fan/completist, I’m more than happy to look and listen through any open window into the Bard’s creative process—and his ongoing, decade-plus-long Bootleg Series, now up to its 18th incarnation, has been a veritable wealth of outtakes and previously unheard materials (unheard “legally,” that is), traditionally centered on particularly specific recording sessions, historical live outings, and tours. Said latest collection—The Bootleg Series Vol. 18: Through The Open Window, 1956-1963, which was released by Columbia/Legacy/Sony Music on October 31, 2025—is another treasure trove of aural Zimmermanna from the literal earliest phase of Dylan’s then-budding career. As per usual, multiple configurations are offered for Vol. 18: 4LP box set ($119.99), 8CD box set ($159.99), and a more truncated 2CD option ($33.98). Kudos to the Legacy powers that be who ensure the expanded Bootleg CD boxes continue to come out in a similar, 8.5in-square shape so that they can all be shelved together.

The opening Vol. 18 salvo released to the public—a biting sift through “Rocks and Gravel” (LP2, Side C, Track 4; CD3, Track 20), a 1962 outtake from Bob’s sessions for his second studio LP on Columbia, May 1963’s The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan (which is now also available on Side 1 of the recent RSD edition of Freewheelin’)—let us know what was still coming, and why Dylan was already one of, if not the most important songwriter of the 20th century (and on into our current one, for that matter). You may very well need to get both of these big boxes in hand, as every song—along with Bob’s perfectly-Bob-like introductions—from an early, mostly unreleased landmark concert at Carnegie Hall in NYC on October 26, 1963, reside on CD7 and CD8 in the 8CD box, while the 4LP set only shares eight of them on LP4. However you slice and dice it, Vol. 18 is eminently essential.

Ratings: Music: 4.5. Sound: 3.5. (Some of it is 4 and some of it is 3, given the source material.) Packaging: 4.5.

DAVID BOWIE

6. I CAN’T GIVE EVERYTHING AWAY (2002 – 2016)

Last but certainly not least is this potentially final installment in the late, great David Bowie’s career-encompassing box set series—6. I Can’t Give Everything Away (2002 – 2016), which appears in both (get ready) 18LP and 12CD collections that were released September 12, 2025, by Parlophone. That “6” prefix designates it as being the sixth in this series of multidisc boxes that started with recordings of his from 1969. No. 6 is quite the meaty investment, to be sure, and it also carries quite the physical, emotional, and psychic heft to it—but it’s an all-in legacy capper that delves into the most prolific, waning hours of Bowie’s one-of-a-kind artistry.

To briefly summarize its contents, Everything comprises of Heathen (2002), Reality (2003), A Reality Tour (2016), The Next Day (2013), The Next Day Extra EP (2013), ★ (Blackstar) (2016), and the No Plan EP (2017), plus a previously unreleased 31-track live set from Bowie’s 2002 Montreux Jazz Festival performance and Re:Call 6, containing 41 rare non-album tracks. It’s taken me quite some time to digest all of the 6 box, truth be told, but if you had any level of affinity for the dynamic chances Bowie continued to take in his last 15 years of recording and exploring, this one’s for you. I’m still haunted by the lingering imagery and heavy feelings evoked every time I cue up the box set’s title track, “I Can’t Give Everything Away,” initially the final song on ★ (Blackstar) (Side 2, Track 4) that was released in January 2016, just a day before Bowie himself passed on into the great beyond. Bowie may not have been able to give everythingaway, but this legacy-capping collection leaves the balance of his 21st century output on the table to discover for many years to come.

Ratings: Music: 4.5. Sound: 4.5. Packaging: 5. (Another box that would go up to 11 if it could!)

And there you have it—five more most definitely worthwhile physical-media holiday blessings. More music box set recommendations to come in the following week(ish), so—as always—happy gathering, and happy listening to one and all!

For Part 1 of my end-of-year multi-part “Best Music Box Sets” series that centered on Beatles-related group and solo box sets and posted on S&V on November 24, 2025, go here.

For Part 2 of my end-of-year multi-part “Best Music Box Sets” series that included the likes of The Smashing Pumpkins, Love, and Phil Collins, and posted on S&V on November 29, 2025, go here.