CD Choice:Rock

PINK FLOYD
Oh By the Way EMI ****

There are box sets and there are box sets, and then there is Oh By the Way. A collector's item? No 1 on the fan's wishlist? A Christmas present to a favourite uncle from

a favourite nephew? A handy replacement kit for overused and overplayed records by one of the most famous of legacy rock acts? Something else entirely?

Let it be said from the off that there are no surprises here: no previously unreleased tracks, no lost gems from the cutting room floor, no outtakes from sessions. Rather, it's all 14 Pink Floyd

studio albums (from 1967 to 1994, including two movie soundtracks - More and La Vallée) clothed in mini vinyl sleeves and presented in a box whose outer design jokingly riffs on the surreal cover to Ummagumma. The set includes other little design extras such as cardboard bookends and an exclusively designed 40th anniversary poster.

For those who see Pink Floyd as symptomatic of rock's excesses, then this set will further strengthen their view. For those who view the band as innovators, stylists and progenitors of top quality psychedelia, experimental space rock and musical effects/ideas, it is a triumph of influence as much as content.

Taken as an overview of one of the world's most predominant and celebrated rock bands, the box set is close to flawless. From early whimsy-meets-rock compactness (1967's The Piper at the Gates of Dawn and 1968's Saucerful of Secrets) and flawed but fascinating song and sound structure experimentation (1969's Ummagumma, 1970's Atom Heart Mother, 1971's Meddle) to highly defined, streamlined classic rock (1973's Dark Side of the Moon, 1975's Wish You Were Here, 1994's The Division Bell), the set highlights how internal frictions and wilful creative moods clashed to produce significant and long- standing pieces of musical art.

Downsides are few. Self- indulgence is rife throughout (1977's Animals, 1979's The Wall, and 1983's The Final Cut are the main culprits), but cutting a swathe through it is that rare thing in rock: a requirement to make new sounds. Those vouchers you received for Christmas? Sorted. www.pinkfloyd. com

Download tracks: Bike (from The Piper at the Gates of Dawn), Echoes (Meddle), Brain Damage/Eclipse (Dark Side of the Moon)