Roy Orbison - The Soul Of Rock And Roll (2008) [4CD Box Set] RE-UP

Even the seasoned Orbison fan will find themselves needing to get this set. I know that there has always been among the fans a huge dissapointment with re-releases, we'd get the same set of songs on ten different cds with different package titles. Absolutely not the case here. You can tell instantly that love and so much care was put into this package from day one. Question is "How did they decide on what to put on this set?" ….considering Roys career spanned over 50 years and hundreds of songs. You will find right away from "Ooby Dooby" to the final track on Disc 4 "We'll Take The Night" they covered every corner of his career when he was huge on Monumental Rds. through MGM, when he put out songs in the late 60s and 70s that failed to chart in America, yet was still big with fans all over the world.

The highlights of this awesome package is the twelve unreleased songs that come in the form of demos, concert performances etc. However, if you have never heard of "King Of Hearts" cd released in 1992, you are in for treat right there as there are eight of ten tracks from that cd on this package. The other huge highlights of this is the demo "Precious" that many knew existed but we never had the chance to hear it but through a Arlene Harden back in the 60s when she covered Roys tunes on an lp. The song is just Roy and his guitar which that alone is haunting. The other one would be "Its Over" from his final concert just two days before his voice would cease. It leaves you stunned teary eyed, but at the sametime you can hear in his voice that he was so happy again with the amazing comeback that was ahead of him, and the audience lets him know this instantly both at the start of the song and when he finishes. Roy shared with Tony Webber that night in his final interview just how great the show was with two standing ovations for "Crying" alone.

In 1988, Columbia Records released a four-disc Roy Orbison retrospective called The Legendary Roy Orbison. It contained 74 tracks. It was a great package except for one thing: it sounded terrible, as the mastering techniques in the first days of the CD were not what they are now. The Soul of Rock and Roll, issued in 2008, is an enormous improvement in the sonic arena, just for starters. This four-disc collection contains 107 tracks (33 more than the previous box) with selections from all the labels Orbison recorded for. There are 12 previously unreleased performances, including the last tune Orbison ever committed to tape (strangely, a live version of "It's Over," recorded a scant two days before his death in Akron, OH). It contains a very solid book with essays by his widow Barbara, producer Fred Foster, and Roy Jr., and numerous testimonials from fans and friends including Tom Waits, Glenn Danzig Eric Clapton, Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen, Joe Melson, Barry and Robin Gibb, and John Mellencamp, among others.

Because of his unique place in rock history, Orbison has long been worthy of this type of definitive career retrospective, one taking into account the creative and popular renaissance he enjoyed at the end of his life as a solo artist and as a member of the Traveling Wilburys. Orbison never quit working, even during the obscure 1970s when he briefly went back to Monument; cut an album for Elektra; and recorded the spotty Class of '55 with Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis for Mercury. A great collection of the earliest years with the Teen Kings is here, as are the important Sun and Monument singles, carefully chosen album tracks, selections from the films Zabriskie Point and The Fastest Guitar Alive, and even "That Lovin' You Feelin' Again," a duet with Emmylou Harris from the film Roadie. There are some stellar live performances from Barbara Orbison's enormous archive, including an unreleased monster rave-up of Chris Kenner's "Land of 1000 Dances."

Disc four contains material from the posthumously released discs Mystery Girl and the better tracks from King of Hearts. The Wilburys are represented by "Not Alone Anymore" and the hit "You Got It," written by Orbison, Jeff Lynne, and Tom Petty. Soundtracks also figure: "In Dreams" from the Blue Velvet soundtrack; the hauntingly strange "You May Feel Me Crying" from Wim Wenders' film The End of Violence, which was overdubbed by Brian Eno in 1997; the Will Jennings and David Briggs-produced single "Wild Hearts (Run Out of Time)" from the soundtrack of the film Insignificance; and the Rick Rubin-produced "Life Fades Away" from the Less Than Zero soundtrack. "Crying," Orbison's now legendary duet with k.d. lang from Black & White Night, is also included. The most memorable thing here, however, is the unreleased demo of "Precious," recorded in either 1968 or 1969. It's just The Voice with his guitar. It's chilling. The only track really missing is "Southbound Jericho Parkway," from 1969, Orbison's singular moment of psychobilly and his seven-minute, darker-than-midnight answer to "MacArthur Park." This box is the first true compendium of popular and obscure Orbison resources.

– Thom Jurek, allmusic.com