Boxed sets such as this typically are a mixture of "Greatest Hits" material with enough unreleased material to hook die-hard fans into going ahead and spending money. "Dreams" is no exception to this, but it is better organized than most boxed sets. Die hards who already own the albums will get a lot of duplicate material, but roughly a third of it is unreleased and/or difficult to find. Those interested in discovering the group are in for a real treat! This boxed set is the perfect introduction.

Disc one is mostly cuts from the Pre-ABB groups The Allman Joys, Hour Glass, The 31st of February, and The Second Coming. When I saw the track listings after buying the set, I was initially disappointed by this, as I have little interest in being an Allman's "completist." However, I was relieved that all of the early cuts are at least pretty good, and at times, sublime! You hear a clear progression from psychedelic cover band to blues virtuosos to jazz/rock/country fusion. The second half of the disc is downright excellent.

Discs two and three are, by and large, greatest hits from the ABB golden era. If you don't already have a copy of the amazing Live at Fillmore East, there are three remastered cuts of probably the best tracks from Fillmore. Most ABB fans will already have Fillmore, but if you don't it's great to have these.

Over half of Disc four is solo and side project material by ABB members. As with disk one, all of these cuts are at least pretty good, with some really excellent numbers thrown in as well.

I'd rate this as one of the best boxed sets available because it doesn't contain any unnecessary filler tracks. You won't find yourself hitting the skip button very much at all. The breadth of ABB's musical heritage is laid out clearly and will continue to amaze after many listens.

If you're new to the band, as I was, this is a can't-go-wrong purchase.

This was one of the top boxed sets compiled and released along with Clapton Crossroads, and Bob Dylan Biograph.

This box mixes great album tracks, outstanding live cuts (the quadrophonic Fillmore East cuts of Whipping Post and In Memory of Elizabeth Reed for example), terrific unreleased tracks (the Idlewild South outtake of Statesboro Blues, as an example), and thoughtful and insightful solo ventures.

One of the best paced boxed sets. If you only want one Allman Brothers' release this fits the bill nicely.

Oh, and had they done the Doobie Brothers' box (a group that had a similar career) the same way, that would get five stars as well!

A previous review said that he wished that a studio or live version of "Dreams" was on this set in addition to the demo version. Well, the studio version which originally appeared on their self-titled debut from 1969 is indeed in this box set. It's the last track of the first CD.

Now on to the review. This collection is excellent. Unlike what some previous reviewers have said, I like having the pre-Allman Brothers band material in there as well as the post-Allman Brothers band material. A lot of people mentioned that they only listen to the "meat" material--from around the end of CD 1 through CD 3. As far as I'm concerned if you're only interested in the ABB material, then save yourself some money and go with one of the three compilations out there that cover the same turf: "Decade of Hits," "Legendary Hits," or "The Millenium Collection."

As a side note, "Mycology" makes a great companion to this CD. Covers their perhaps surprisingly excellent '90's material extremely well. Think of it as the the box set's "fifth" CD.

Any critical comments i have regarding this box set must be prefaced with this: it is nearly perfect, and is the perfect addition to an ABB collection. However-- it could be a bit better. WHile there are a great number of live tracks, i would not mind hearing even more. As somebody who loves to hear a great jam, some more extented versions of songs would be great. HOwever, the fillmore east Whipping post, and liz reed, and the you don't love me/soul serenade combo do a damn good job of showcasing live Allmans. I am also wondering why Mountain Jam was left out. Besides these small gripes i have, the rest of the song selection is excellent. THe meat of the collection is the two middle cds. While the first has some great pure ABB music, and great duane projects, some of the earlier stuff- while interesting as history- is not as musically genius as the music of the developed, mature band. It is the fourth cd that forces me to give the this collection four instead of five stars. The ABB tunes are from the Brother's weakest period. WHile the basic ABB sound is there, the songs are injected with lots of pop sound. Also Gregg's singing is less emotive as on earlier songs. Their songs at this time lacked the magic of the original band. Their line up lacked the energy and virtuoso skill of the original and present line up. With the exception of the of the sick live '79 version of liz reed (its real nice to hear Gregg soloing) the band's songs from this time are not so memorable. And while Dickey Betts' playing is impressive as always(esp. on Bougainvillea), his country soaked material doesn't quite do it for me. HOwever, the Dickey Betts Band's Duane's Tune has traces of the Haynes/woody era Allmans. The line up is pretty damn good, with Matt Abts delivering real rock n roll drumming, while Haynes and Betts play powerful dual lead guitar. Besides its beefed up, powerful sound, this song is in the tradition of Betts' genius instrumentals. The weakest aspect of this last cd is Gregg Allman's solo work. THe inclusion of his collaboration with cher almost does a diservice to the original Allmans sound, and his other stuff, while well sung, sounds more like pop music. I hardly ever listen to the last cd, despite some gems (basically the liz reed, bougainvellia, and duane's tune). so, while 75% of the collection is basically perfect, the last cd is almost not needed. i'd rather have that space taken up by some sick live songs from the bands golden age when duane and berry were still with the band.

This is a great box set, one of the best box set ever put out. It came out just before the Allmans got back together in 1989 (and have stayed together for the most part since). It has a lot of early stuff they did as the Allman Joys. There's a cover of Shapes of Things which sounds like The Archies, even though Gregg is singing lead. The album has all the great, important material, like the Filmore East versions of Whippin' Post and In Memory of Elizabeth Reed, Revival, Ramblin' Man, Blue Sky, Revival, Don't Want You No More, and It's Not My Cross to Bear. It has some great unreleased tracks (including a blistering live version of One Way Out, which is better than the version on Eat a Peach), a great cover of I'm Gonna Move to the Outskirts of Town, and Gregg's great solo hit I'm No Angel. It also has Gregg's solo cover of Midnight Rider, which is spookier than the original song. There is no really bad material here (and the 2 awful Arista albums, Reach for the Sky and Brothers of the Road, only have one song a piece here, which is good). It's got the classics, and it's got the best material from the vaults. It's a win-win for any Allman Brothers Band fan.