Like my title says, "Finer Things" is simply the best box set ever put together. While many many many artists nowadays have put together some kind of box set, few artists truly deserve one. Steve Winwood, however, I'm happy to say is one of them. This is mainly due to the fact that he's been in a lot of bands as well as having a successful solo career. Because of this, he's very difficult to compile in a one CD collection and in fact, nobody has ever tried. Sure there's been a great Spencer Davis collection, a number of Traffic compilations of varying degrees of value, and a good collection of solo songs that cover his solo debut through his biggest seller, "Back In The Highlife." However, there is no single collection aside from this one which covers his Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, solo and, Traffic work in one place. And frankly, this can only be done in four CD's. Universal did release a new Steve Winwood CD that covers the early part of his career (Spencer Davis Group, Blind Faith, and Traffic) a few months ago under that "Millenium Collection" banner but to get a true retrospective, you really need the solo material which is great as well. Perhaps Universal is planning a second Millenium Collection for Steve?

This collection has all the songs you know, but even rewards the serious fan with fantastic rarities, especially from the Blind Faith period. Every Winwood fan must hear the live cover of the Rolling Stones' "Under My Thumb" at least once and the electric version of "Can't Find My Way Home" is absolutely essential, perhaps even better than the classic acoustic version--no joke. The only thing I would have liked to have seen--and this is a minor detail--is "Here Comes A Man" from Traffic's 1994 album which came out a year before this box set. But the bottom line is that this collection is not to be missed if you're a big fan of all stages of his work. However, if you want to save a few bucks, you can get the Millenium Collection CD and "Chronicles" to get a decent bare-bones overview of his career in 2 CD's.

This reminds us how much Steve Winwood did for music & the music industry. Many people are living a comfortable retirement overlooking Haight & Ashbury from the talents of musicians like Steve Winwood. He reminds the old vets of R&R how great he was, even at the young age of The Spencer Davis era, & up to today's new releases. This Box Set repsents those early years & is a great introduction for the ones that weren't born when Dear Mr. Fantasy was the hit song of the season. The sad reminder is how much we lost with the loss of Wood & Capaldi. If you enjoy grass roots music and talent or want to be introduced to it at its best, this CD set is a good start. Its not music hidden or covered up with digital tweeking. This man & his band mambers played "Music" - Not A Computer Software Program that can make any fool sound good. Thank goodness for people like Steve Winwood, Robert Palmer, Eric Clapton & the likes of John Mayall. Not lip sincing acts such as Madonna & Ashlee Simpson. Maybe one day raw talent will once again be required before you can accept a Grammy.

Because his own career has had a lot of variations over 3 decades (going into a fourth), it was inevitable that they'd have to put it all in one place.

You hear the portrait of a young soul man in the Spencer Davis Group, the experimentalist in Traffic, the supergroup Blind Faith and Ginger Baker's Air Force and lesser known projects like Go and Aiye-Keta and finally the 80s pop superstar that sounds older but just as good as he did in his earlier recordings. That's not even counting sessions with Hendrix, Joe Cocker, Howlin' Wolf, B.B.King, Lou Reed, George Harrison, David Gilmour, Billy Joel, Tina Turner, Jimmy Buffett, Phil Collins, and countless others which speaks volumes about his demand and generosity as a keyboardist.

But the bulk of material focuses on 3 different bands.

The Spencer Davis material contains the classic "Gimme Some Lovin" and "I'm A Man". Keep in mind that he was 16! If the "blue eyed soul" applied anywhere, he'd be one of the first to come to mind.

25(!) tracks come from the Traffic era, which he was barely 19(!!). Dave Mason's hits "Feelin Alright" and "Hole In My Shoe" aren't on here (but are on 2 Traffic compilations), and the 2 eras of Traffic (they broke up for a while) are covered nicely.

In between Traffic's breakup, a one off project named Blind Faith was formed with Clapton, Ginger Baker, and Rick Grech. Being that "Presence of the Lord" was EC's is left off here, but "Can't Find My Way Home" and a bulk of the album is here, including a cover of "Under My Thumb". But what comes next is some of Winwood's best music, a reformed Traffic with an entirely new funkier free form sound that you could tie into bands like Phish, String Cheese Incident or Dave Matthews Band..."Glad/Freedom Rider", "Empty Pages", "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" and some cuts from "When the Eagle Flies".

After Traffic disbanded, Winwood would have to find his own footing as a solo artist. The end of the third CD features tracks from his debut solo album that's purpose was more about transition than anything else.

But the fourth CD starts off with hit single "While You See A Chance" from "Arc of A Diver" (which contains 5 tracks from the album), which has the formula that he'd follow through the 80s. "Talking Back to the Night" has just a couple of cuts, but t"Your Silence is Your Song" taken from an 80s soundtrack is worth a listen.

The next 6 tracks hail from "Back in the High Life" and "Roll With It" and should be the most familiar, the final track "One and Only Man" ending the collection from "Refugees of the Heart", the only track from that CD represented here. The Traffic reunion "Far From Home", his solo "Junction Seven" and "About Time" not represented in this box set.

However, what would be great is if he could put out a retrospective DVD. The Spencer Davis Group has a video planned for next month, there was a Traffic Live in Santa Monica on VHS, his own solo career had around 20 videos, as well as the other appearances on TV over the years.

It would also be great if he put out a 2 CD "best of" that would cover around 30 songs.

Encompassing three decades in the career of one of rock's authorities ,this is one of the best boxed sets ever released.Featured material surveys Traffic,Blind Faith,and,of course,Winwood's stellar solo career.There are lessons in taste,inspiration,and all around good music on these discs,making them essential for any serious collector.

I always enjoyed winwood, but after listening to this compilation I realized just how great he was. The live version of crossing the line was unbelievable! al dimeola's guitar solo was out of this world! If anybody knows where i could find a copy of th Go live cd, I would like to know. thanks