Roy Orbison - The Monument Vinyl Box FLAC download

You know, I often sit here scratching my head wondering what’s up with compilations, who puts ‘em together and how much consideration is taken when purchasing them, with me thinking that someone merely sees a couple of songs they like on the liner notes and it’s off to the races.Roy has always presented himself as being a bit weird and troubled, enunciating this vocal images with a sense of high anxiety through his quivering falsetto. When on stage his nervousness lead to extravagant hand gestures, all while standing nearly perfectly still, his eyes shaded from view, with many (including me) originally thinking that he was some sort of white blind Ray Charles. Of course the first door Roy walked through was that of Sun Records, where cutting the rock-a-billy number “Ooby Dooby,” Sam Phillips proclaimed that he simply wasn’t right for the fledgling rock n’ roll sound … in every manner.This of course brings us to Monument Records, where the tables turned in favor of Roy, where his peculiarities were viewed as beneficial charismatic and quite intriguing. If I were to suggest that Roy’s life was one dichotomy after another, it would be an understatement, where he lived and breathed with those circulating the Grand Ole Opry, yet behind the scenes he was as chemically fueled as Jerry Lee Lewis and Elvis Presley, it’s just that no one talked about it in those days. His wife was killed in a motorcycle accident, a fire killed two of his sons, yet through it all, there stood Roy, singing and dreaming behind those shades.While Roy wasn’t the most versatile performer, what he showed in the studio was sheer perfection, where once he was locked into a groove, he gave every song over to his entire being. Therein lies the dilemma, I can read the music charts, I can see that he was always putting out new tunes, yet even his last ones, songs such as “I Drove All Night,” come across as steeped in history, as if they’d been released during a half forgotten era. He was a powerful vocalist and composer, he influenced everyone from the Everly Brothers to The Beatles (just consider “From Me To You). No matter the subject or the style of song, Roy is painfully romantic and beautiful in the same breath; an artist few have even scratched the surface of.There are 29 formal Roy Orbison albums, in the neighborhood of 100 singles, often with repeated sides, and if you can believe this 198 compilations. Seriously, one would think that after all this time that someone would just reissue the albums as remastered brilliance and be done with all of this insanity. Nevertheless, if you love vinyl as much as I, this set is a downright keeper, sounding brilliantly smooth and elegantly wasted, a step back in time when vinyl was heavy and the recording process was all mono. While this 4 record set, containing 48 songs is not in mono, it has been delivered on 180 gram vinyl, which should please your ears no-end. Now, if you want those staggering mono singles, you’re gonna have to shift gears, slide on over and discover The Monument Singles Collection, which I have sitting here as well.The sonic delivery is nearly flawless, I’m sure that none of the early source material is the original analog tape, regardless, it sounds smooth rich full ebbing and downright wonderful.Review by Jenell Kesler

I'm surprised this doesn't have any reviews. Fantastic sounding release. I've only ever had old beat-up Orbison compilations before this, but it's been great being able to listen to these albums in their entirety. Found myDefinitely recommend!