Love, Luther

t's very very sad that it took Luther's death for a comprehensive box set to be released. That said this one is a very mixed bag. There are two versions of this set; a small standard (will fit on your cd shelf) edition, and an oversized long box edition. First the good news: The presentation and booklet are near perfect. For me, it was worth it just for the box and booklet alone. Next there are seven true rarities included on this set. The box claims more than that, but the "Lady Is A Tramp" duet is previously available on Frank Sinatra's duets album and the new live mix of A House Is Not A Home is indeed better sounding than the original 2003 Radio City Music Hall cd, but not different otherwise. There are a few other extended versions etc., but nothing else truly rare. Was it worth it for just seven new trax? You betcha! But that brings us to the bad news ONLY 7 RARE CUTS ON A 4 CD BOX SET. Not near enough for his long suffering fans. Even if you give the set the benefit of the doubt and included every alt, extended, remixed version, and count things like Hot Butterfly, which I'll bet most fans already have (and which I'm very glad was in fact included here) we're still only talkin' like 13 or 14 items that aren't on Luther's standard discography!!! There should have been TONS of previously unreleased live trax and TONS of lesser known studio cuts and TONS of unreleased material. Come on now, we all know they exist!!! What about including "She's So Good To Me" from THE GOONIES soundtrack (even though luckily I already have that cut on a UK promo cd single)? What about more than just the single cut from Luther's first two albums on Cotillion Records (and again... thank goodness I already have them both)? There should have been an entire disc devoted to unreleased live material, an entire disc devoted to unreleased studio trax, an entire disc devoted to alt versions and remixes and then finally a disc of regular run of the mill album cuts that you could get just about anywhere. THAT'S WHAT THIS SET SHOULD HAVE BEEN!!! If this sounds like sour grapes, it's not. The set for all my complaints is a very nice overview collection, but seeing as how most fans have the vast majority of this material already, it seems like a huge missed opportunity to me. Still, this is better than nothing at all and I'm very happy that Luther finally gets the box set treatment. Or better yet, how 'bout a do over!!!