Website: The Gothic Box
There are scores of classic gothic song compilations on the market. And for every compilation, there’s a kid who made their own mix CD for their car or to share with friends. There’s not much more helpful for shaping cliche-laden and embarrassing kindergoths into people who understand and respect the history and mentality of the scene as a whole. Without paying careful attention to roots, the leaves can’t survive.
Such is the appeal of Rhino’s 3-CD/1-DVD Gothic Box: not only does Rhino produce some of the best all-encompassing box sets on the market, but they also saw fit to make everything about this set fit its audience. From the packaging — a laced-leather corset sleeve — to a book and DVD running through such essentials as “How To Run a Goth Club” and “How To Dance Gothic”, there’s not much that The Gothic Box misses in its appeal.
But what about the song selections? Well, every classic band that one would expect to see has found at least one slot in the three-disc span. Yes, there’s Echo and Siouxsie and Sisters, but not the overplayed songs that the mundanes laughingly associate with the scene. Aside from some odd inclusions wandering into punk and industrial territories, the set is surprisingly even, if obscure. The DVD contains more mainstream singles, but those are the ones that have videos, so at least it’s a treat for hearing the same songs for the 800th time.
As far as compilations go, The Gothic Box is more complete and stands up much more to the test of time than many others around. This is history. This is education for the youngins as well as reflection for the elders. Even if you own the songs already, the pretty packaging and videos make the set worth tossing out a few dollars.
