Holy crap, this set is friggin' incredible. Not only does it contain the standards of the era, I have also been clued to a mess of awesome bands that I had previously never heard of. God bless Rhino Records. Now how 'bout a 90's box set?

I got that one too. It is incredibly good.

it forgot some great bands i think though (Galaxie 500, Spacemen 3, Mekons...)

Wow. Now that you mention it, it does seem a bit incomplete. Where's Big Black?

Good points about Spacemen 3, Big Black, and Galaxie 500. I think the Mekons were on the punk box, if I recall. (Not that that would exclude them from this box!)

The liner notes point out that several of the compilers lobbied for Big Black, Oingo Boingo, The Alarm, Midnight Oil, The Cult, Wire Train, and Let's Active.

As a whole, it's not as satisfying as the punk box because it seems a little disjointed at points, but that's also why it's cool. Segues from Prefab Sprout to The Cramps to Sisters of Mercy are pretty much what 80's college radio was all about...

I was very happy with this collection, although I'd guess that I owned at least 50% of these songs in other places.

I've suggested Rhino do a power pop box to complement the power pop discs from the DiY series a few years back...