The Epic Masters

What a delight it is to have this complete set of Shakin' Stevens's output with Epic Records. Stevens was a major star on the British rock scene in the 1980s, and some of his success carried over to the states. He could be classified as a retro rockabilly singer and that would be close enough to the truth. Think of him as a mixture of Elvis, Eddie Cochran, and Rick Nelson. He has great vocal chops and a great feel for the music he performs. He was the biggest hitter on the British charts throughout the 80s. Not unlike the Beatles, Stevens's US releases were chopped up versions of his British albums. A lot of his British work never made it to the states. What is also worth noting is that the various compilation CD's that exist really slight the excellence of his later work. Knowing only what was on those complilation CD's, I had assumed that his later material was significantly below his earlier work. However, it appears that the compilation CD's almost deliberately chose the least interesting songs from his later work. This collection gathers together all nine of Stevens's Epic albums and throws in a largely uninteresting 10th CD of different mixes and extended cuts of eight Stevens classics. But at $64.00 this means that we are getting the original nine CD's for about seven bucks each. And each is worth well more than seven dollars. I have been a Stevens fan for years and, through this set, I have discovered that his output of first-rank work is more than double what I thought it was. One CD cannot hold the best of Stevens's recorded work. Like Elvis, Rick Nelson, and the Beatles, Stevens simply made great albums. These are all remastered and the sound is terrific. Although he had a huge string of hits in England and elsewhere in Europe, he remains a largely under-appreciated performer here in the states. This collection is an excellent place to discover one of the great rock performers of the 1980's. I assume he is still in good voice. If so, he needs to still be recording.

I was aware of Shakin' many years before when "Cry Just A Little" came out and a friend of mine had a DJ copy of the 12" extended remix. I always loved that song. I had the chance to pick up a Bonnie Tyler CD with their duet of the Benton/Washington hit "A Rockin' Good Way" and I'm still playing the hell out of that track! It's a shame it wasn't a hit in the U.S. Listening to these cd's I am suprised he didn't hit the charts here. The man can sing, and he picked excellent tunes and had great producers. I highly recommend this box set to anyone who likes rockabilly. You can't go wrong and the price is great. I also enjoyed the CD of the 12" mixes of some of his songs. All I can say is buy it before it goes out of print you'll be glad you did!

For anyone who thinks they have enough Shakin' Stevens, this is STILL a MUST HAVE and he's still going strong. It's a shame he never really made a dent in the U.S. 10 cds resemble mini-lps, compact-size, with a nice little booklet to go along with it.

Shakin' Stevens was the top chart artist of the 1980s in England, but only managed one minor hit stateside. His albums were a pop/rock/rockabilly blast, so this collection of all of his discs is fantastic--and the bargain price makes it irresistible.

rock and roll as it should be and has been forgoten in this era. well worth it.

Shakin Steven's is a well kept secret in the US. His pre l985 stuff is really good. As an older lad I really like listening to him.. Very good at the rock a billy type of music. Recommend all of you out there to give a listen. Also has excellent musicians backing him!!!!

If you love rockabilly performed with real enthusiasm than this collection is one you should really consider. Welsh bron singer Shakin' Stevens has recorded some great songs and you are sure to find many that you enjoy.

Shakin Stevens was pretty plastic but he always had _great_ session men on his records. His songs were above average too. I read somewhere his breakthrough was playing Elvis on the stage. Maybe that's why I see him as theatrical. I do have some old "Shakin Stevens and the Sunsets" material that comes across as raw. This '80s Shaky sound may be assembled from parts but the mechanic had vision and skill.

Fantastico

Pour ceux qui aiment Shaky, ce coffret est superbement bien fait.Transfert musical top + pochettes originales + les morceaux parus qu'en 45t.Que c'est plaisant !maintenant ce coffret atteint des prix non raisonnables (?)

This is a wonderful collection on disc of Shakin' Stevens music.I've been a fan since the 80's when Shakey got to no.1 with 'This ole house' and built up a collection of LP's and cassette tapes. Although I had one or two cd's, the majority of tracks were spread out over the early formats as stated. More recently, I copied my tracks onto my iPod. Again, they were disparate songs spread out over three decades. So I decided to try and get ALL songs on the one format from which I could pick and choose tracks to transfer onto other formats. This collection did not disappoint. The only downside in my situation is that I've got a lot of songs replicated. But I knew that before purchasing this collection anyway. So I am not factoring this in my rating.Shakey's songs are great to work-out to as a lot of the rock n'roll hits are extremely fast tempo. I think you need to be a fan or at the very least just like ole style rock n' roll if you're contemplating buying this collection. Rock n' roll may be the only type of music that I may have a preference of vinyl or digital format, opting for the former. But I'm really not that much of a connoisseur.This collection is fab. If you've bothered to read this review, then you must surely be thinking of purchasing. Wonder no more. Buy this!

WOW!!! Ja ist denn heute schon Weihnachten? Ja ist es!!!Ich kann mich meinen Vorredner nur anschliessen, schliesslich war 1983 das Jahr, wo ich Shaky zum ersten Mal live in der Düsseldorfer Philipshalle erleben durfte (und 1993 noch einmal auf der Loreley, samt Autogramm vom Meister selbst!). Dieses erste Konzert in meinem jungen Leben damals, "vorm Kriech", werde ich nie vergessen, obwohl ich bis heute noch regelmässig auf Konzerten bin, wird dieses immer einen Platz in meinem Herzen haben! Selbst meine verstorbene Mum rockte eins auf den Stühlen rum und war begeistert von seiner Show!Zum Thema: bis auf das Weihnachtsalbum "Merry christmas everyone" & dem letzten Album "Now listen" ist fast alles drauf, was wir Shaky-Fans, ja ich bekenne mich mit 39 Jahren dazu, sehnlichst erwartet haben. Da "Take One"(Hot dog Album in D.), "Shaky", "Give me your heart tonight" & auch "Lipstick, powder & paint" nie als CD erschienen sind, sind diese allein ihr Geld wert! Aber die B-Seiten aller Singles, sowie alle anderen Veröffentlichungen hat Sony endlich freigegeben! DANKE DAFÜR!! Auch wenn es über 20 Jahre gedauert hat, das Warten hat sich gelohnt, auch wenn einige Maxi-/12" - Versionen, wie von TEARDROPS und der Mega-Mix-of-Hits schmerzhaft fehlen. Besser geht es fast nicht! Danke auch an SHAKY selbst, der sich dazu durchgerungen hat, das diese Box erscheinen konnte. Jetzt fehlt eigentlicht nur eine CD mit den Songs, die er seit Jahren auf seinen Konzerten spielt und die es bis heute noch nicht auf CD etc. gibt...aber auch darauf warte ich von mir aus nochmals 20 Jahre, denn der Mann ist immer noch jeden Cent wert! Jetzt werde ich erst einmal weiterhören & geniessen! Unbedingt kaufen!!! Ach, das waren noch Zeiten...Keep rocking Shaky! Danach kommen meine Stray Cats/Brian Setzer-Scheiben wieder dran... Rock nRoll / Rockabilly ist halt Musik, im Gegensatz zu dem RAP-Müll!

que de souvenirs le temps à passer mais shakin'stevens est toujours aussi mignon et on l'aime toujours autant ainsi que ses nouvelles chansons.