When the CD is finally gone, we will miss the box set: That orgy of unnecessary packaging, recycled songs and windy liner notes that helped fund the record biz’s heady Nineties peak, but still made us quiver with materialistic longing. Most box sets make you buy a lot of music for the few songs that you actually want. These five exceptions are all-killer, no-filler artifacts that help define an artist’s career, or even an entire genre of music. Let’s hear your nominations next.

• Tracks, Bruce Springsteen
• Star Time, James Brown
• One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost and Found, Various Artists
• Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968, Various Artists
• Pure Genius: The Complete Atlantic Recordings (1952-1959), Ray Charles

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