Rant: Box Set Madness
“Where the hell am I supposed to put this?”
That’s my battle-cry these days as I try to find a place to store my box sets. I love those big box sets of CDs. I love the way they continue the arc, the way they tell the whole story (or a decent section of it, anyway), the way there’s a chronology of musical history gathered together in this hand-held storage container.
And in recent months, I’ve acquired a nice little stack of new box sets to add to my collection. The problem is that I don’t know where to put them anymore.
None of them are the same size.
There’s the Doors‘ 6-CD “Live in New York: Felt Forum,” that measures 6″ x 5 3/8″ x 1 3/8″. That one can go on the CD shelf.
Then there’s the AC/DC 2-CD/1-DVD set “Backtracks,” which is almost (but not quite) the same size as the 4-CD “The Rod Stewart Sessions 1971-1998,” which is 5 3/4″ x 7 5/8″ x 1″. They’re too big for the CD shelf, so they get stored on the DVD shelf.
The 4-CD “Do What You Want, Be What You Are: The Music of Daryl Hall & John Oates” measures out to 5 3/4″ x 10 1/4″ x 3/4″, but then the 4-CD/1-DVD “Frank Sinatra: New York” box is just a little bit bigger…in every dimension (6 1/4″ x 11 1/2″ x 1 1/2″). They go on the “longbox” box set shelf.
The 4-CD Big Star set “Keep an Eye on the Sky” is 7 1/2″ x 7 1/2″ x 3/4″, which is fine if you’ve already got a shelf devoted to 45 RPM singles.
And the 4-CD compilation “Where the Action Is! Los Angeles Nuggets: 1965-1968″ is so big (8 7/8″ x 11 1/4″ x 3/8″) that the only place it can go is the book shelf.
Aaaaaarrghhhh!
It used to be that all of my albums (and my album box sets) would fit on the same sized 12 1/2” shelf. Later, all of the CDs (and CD box sets) were generally the same size, too. They were all together and easier to find. Now I’ve got to remember what size the box is or else I have to search on five different shelves – some of which aren’t even in the same room.
It’s almost enough to make me get rid of all this crap and just listen to digital downloads.
Almost, I said. Almost…
I know what you mean — have the same problem with some DVD box sets. Try finding a place for all of the “Lord of the Rings” gift sets (the ones with the statues in them). They won’t fit on any of my shelves.