Bill Nelson

First question: “How the hell do you approach a review of a 6 CD boxed set”? All normal reviewing forms go out of the window when you are presented with 6 CDs/121 Tracks recorded in three different home studios over a 10 year period. Frankly, if this were by almost anyone other than Bill Nelson I would dismiss it as an extreme example of writer’s wank and leave it at that.
But it isn’t by anyone else; it is by one of the most prolific and productive artists around, a workaholic with insomnia and who actually is VERY picky about the material he releases. Incredibly, this is an album of such rare genius as to make the normal comparisons and descriptions a bit foolish.

Nelson recorded all the material on analog tape systems and was about to install a digital system in the year 2000 when he decided to collate all the unreleased material he had ‘lying around’. Hoping for a full album worth of material. In the event he found that there was a vast amount of material and when all was collated and sorted it developed into this package.

The album comes as a 6 CD box and each of the discs is an album worth of material in its own right, thematically or aurally matched to create 6 complete albums. All of the covers were individually matched to the music and the result was issued on 2002 but was only available for a short while before the distributor went broke – the upshot is that this release has been highly prized and sells for ridiculous amounts between private collectors. Esoteric have, in my opinion, done a stunning job of packaging the set, including a sumptuous booklet, and the remastering has produced albums of superb sound quality and a package to own with pride.

Musically the set goes from theme to theme; the 21st century electro-Blues of ‘Old Man Future Blows The Blues’ to the country tinged ‘Stargazing Ranger Bill’ leads into ambient western swing with ‘Sunflower Dairy Product’. ‘King Frankenstein’ holds the harder and more rhythmic material, leading off with ‘Planet of Guitars’ while ‘Console’ manages to represent radio and the listening experience (in many respects it sounds like Radio 4 Extra) and finally ‘Playtime’ featuring songs for the more adult and discerning listener.

Frankly, this cannot be listened to in a single sitting.
Each album deserves thorough absorption and with this quantity of material this is a labour of a lifetime to fully understand but every minute rewards the listener and given Bill Nelson’s status as one of the great auteur musicians it is worth investing the time and the effort.