There is a lot of music over these 3 discs and it really is essential for those who want to dig a little deeper into Serge's fascinating career, since basically none of the soundtracks he contributed to are available as reissues (with the exception of Cannabis/Ce Sacre Grand-Pere, Je T'Aime,Anna.....and the way out of print Japanese only issue of Madame Claude, which is extremely hard to track down, and outrageously expensive if you do happen to find a copy). There are some less than great tracks on here and, given that most of the tracks are instrumental, it sometimes does feel like a very long, disjointed soundtrack. The selections from the available soundtracks are terrific choices, I was particularly happy that the brilliant title track from Ce Sacre Grand-Pere is included. It's really a beautiful track, though I suspect that Gainsbourg was not the main contributor to it (this is a collaboration with Michel Simon and Michel Colombier). There are a plenty of gems scattered across the discs, too many to mention, though some notable ones are the version of Strip-Tease performed by Nico, which turns out to be better than the Juliette Greco version (also included), the two Anna Karina bonus tracks, Woom Woom Woom, Breakdown Suite, Comment Trouvez-Vous Ma Soeur, Lamour En Prive (featuring Francoise Hardy) and many others that I can't think of at the moment. The first disc is probably the best in terms of consistency, since it is taken from Serge's early jazz period and all of the cuts are very solid. The second disc is a bit more haphazard, though more adventurous and the third disc is, to be honest, pretty patchy, as it moves over the second half into Serge's more dubious 80's work. All in all though, a great set, very nicely boxed too with great liner notes and interviews. A must for Gainsbourg fans.

News, one of best of gainsbourg. Pieces as "comment trouvez vous ma soeur?" excellent. Nico "strip tease" inédit. anna karina. The whole of the box is quite carried out. I have adored gainsbourg knowing all these pieces of A to Z, I am fan for 23 years.

With when exits of Dominique Walter, Marianne faithfull, stone and these rather old-fashioned pieces but so much surprising by the writing of gainsbourg. If there are fans of gainsbourg you can contact me

Serge Gainsbourg was a true artist whose music, in this case for cinema, chronicled the changes taking place, usually quite sinister in world society. From 1959-63 the sound is fun and sophisticated but beginning with 1966 it becomes more and more sinister as did the world at the same time. You hear the world, its modern history in this music.