Time-Life compilation CDs

For compilation-o-philes, the Time-Life collections are the Holy Grail. The licensing muscle of Time-Life has more pull than any other collections, anywhere, at any price. I've listed the entries to the following series:

Sounds Of The Seventies
Sounds Of The Eighties
Classic Rock [primarily 1960s]
The Rock 'N' Roll Era [primarily 1950s]
Guitar Rock
Superhits
Modern Rock
Body Talk

I've provided scans of the back covers of what I have. They're in print-worthy PDF format. (The '70s series is scanned in black and white at 300 dpi and also includes the CD artwork and track credits. All others are just the back covers.)

Sounds Of The Seventies

The "Sounds Of The Seventies" collections are the largest and best-sounding '70s collections I've ever run across, anywhere, ever. Not a single track is mastered from vinyl, and you even get Bee Gees cuts! Needless to say, you should buy any of these if they turn up used; most are out of print (dang!). There are 48 CDs in this series, and they're all shown below. (You can use this as a checklist - it's complete.) The scans are all 300 dpi black and white pdf files, suitable for printing.

1970 (released 1989)
1971 (1989)
1972 (1989)
1976 (1989)
1977 original and rerelease (1990)
The original pressings of this CD had Abba's "Dancing Queen" as track 2. Later pressings replaced it with Earth Wind and Fire's "Serpentine Fire". Both pressings have identical serial numbers and the only significant difference in artwork is that the "1977" watermark on the rear cover [not shown in my b/w scans, unfortunately] is tilted for the original release, and horizontal for the rerelease. I'm sure that all of this will keep you up at night...

1973 (1990)
1974 (1990)
1975 (1990)
1979 (1990)
1978 (1990)
1970: Take Two (1990)
1971: Take Two (1990)
1972: Take Two (1991)
1973: Take Two (1991)
1974: Take Two (1991)
1975: Take Two (1991)
1977: Take Two (1991)
1976: Take Two (1991)
1979: Take Two (1991)
1978: Take Two (1991)
Rock 'N' Soul Seventies (1991)
Seventies Top Forty (1992)
Guitar Power (1992)
FM Rock (1992)
Seventies Generation (1992)
FM Rock II (1992)
Dance Fever (1992)
FM Rock III (1992)
FM Rock IV (1993)
Punk And New Wave (1993)
AM Top Twenty (1993)
AM Pop Classics (1993)
AM Pop Classics II (1993)
The Late '70s (1993)
AM Nuggets (1993)
More AM Nuggets (1994)
AM Heavy Hits (1994)
Celebration (1994)
Pop Nuggets: Late '70s (1995)
TV Themes (1996)
Pop Nuggets: Early '70s (1996)
A Loss For Words (1995)
'70s Dance Party 1972-1974 (1997)
'70s Dance Party 1975-1976 (1997)
'70s Dance Party 1976-1977 (1997)
'70s Dance Party 1978-1979 (1997)
'70s Dance Party 1979-1981 (1997)
'70s Dance Party 1979 (1990)

For those who like to quibble:

The Time-Life numbering scheme for discs 1-37 is "SOD-01" through "SOD-37".
The Time-Life numbering scheme for discs 39-48 is actually "R840-01" through "R840-10".
Disc 38 ("Celebration") doesn't seem to fit in with the rest of the series, but I listed it here based on this entry from one of Time-Life's own printed catalogs.
Disc 48 ("70s Dance Party 1979") is really the same as disc 9 ("1979"), but with slightly different artwork. The songs are identical.

Sounds Of The Eighties

It's straight up-the-middle pop. On the whole, they're excellent, but there are some oddities, like the last note being cut off from The Power Station's "Some Like It Hot", and inclusion of the too-long album version of "Freeway Of Love". All single CDs. Some of the levels are inconsistent, track-to-track. Vols. 14, 17, 18, 20, 22 and 23 are mastered by Dennis Drake. The Time-Life numbering scheme is R988-xx.

The Rockin' Eighties (released 1994)
1985 (1994)
1983 (1994)
1986 (1994)
1982 (1994)
1984 (1994)
1980 (1995)
1981 (1995)
1987 (1995)
1988 (1995)
1983-1984 (1995)
1985-1986 (1995)
1989 (1995)
1980-1982 (1995)
The Mid-'80s (1996)
The Early '80s (1996)
The Mid-'80s: Take Two (1996)
The Early '80s: Take Two (1996)
The Late '80s (1996)
The Late '80s: Take Two (1996)
1986-1989 (1997)
1980-1983 (1997)
1984-1985 (1997)
Everything '80s (2002)
The Rolling Stone Collection 1980-1981 (1995)
The Rolling Stone Collection 1982-1983 (1995)
The Rolling Stone Collection 1983-1985 (1995)
The Rolling Stone Collection 1986-1987 (1995)
The Rolling Stone Collection 1987-1988 (1995)
The Rolling Stone Collection 1988-1989 (1995)
Cinemax Movie Hits of the '80s (1996)
TV Themes of the '80s (1996)

There are only 32 CDs in this series.

Classic Rock

The definitive '60s set. Sound levels are a bit low, but the insanely thorough track selection makes up for it. Outstanding, all of them. Single discs, with about 22 tracks each. I'm not sure how many are in the series. The Time-Life numbering scheme is 2CLR-xx.

1965 (released 1987)
1966 (1987)
1964 (1987)
1968 (1987)
1967 (1988)
1969 (1988)
1966: The Beat Goes On (1988)
1965: The Beat Goes On (1988)
1964: The Beat Goes On (1988)
1967: The Beat Goes On (1988)
1968: The Beat Goes On (1989)
1969: The Beat Goes On (1989)
1966: Shakin' All Over (1989)
1965: Shakin' All Over (1989)
1967: Shakin' All Over (1989)
1964: Shakin' All Over (1989)
Rock Renaissance (1989)
Creedence Clearwater Revival (1989)
1968: Shakin' All Over (1989)
1969: Shakin' All Over
Rock Renaissance II (1990)
1966: Blowin' Your Mind
1965: Blowin' Your Mind
1967: Blowin' Your Mind (1990)
On the Soul Side (1990)
Rock Renaissance III (1990)
1968: Blowin' Your Mind (1991)
On the Soul Side II (1991)
Garage Rock Nuggets
Rock Renaissance IV

The Rock 'N' Roll Era

The definitive '50s set. Sound levels are a bit low, but the insanely thorough track selection makes up for it. The single-artist collections are especially collectible. Single discs, with about 22 tracks each. I haven't seen higher than Vol. 50. The Time-Life numbering scheme is 2RNR-xx.

1957 (released 1987)
1962 (1987)
The Beach Boys: 1962-1967 (1988)
1961 (1987)
1958 (1987)
Elvis Presley: 1954-1961 (1988)
1963 (1986)
1954-1955 (1988)
The Everly Brothers: 1957-1962 (1987)
1964 (1987)
1960 (1987)
The Supremes: 1963-1969 (1987)
1959 (1988)
1956 (1987)
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons: 1962-1967 (1987)
1962: Still Rockin' (1988)
1957: Still Rockin' (1988)
1961: Still Rockin' (1989)
1963: Still Rockin' (1989)
1959: Still Rockin' (1989)
1958: Still Rockin' (1989)
1960: Still Rockin'
1956: Still Rockin' (1989)
The '50s: Keep On Rockin' (1989)
The '60s: Keep On Rockin' (1989)
Elvis, The King: 1954-1965 (1990)
Teen Idols (1990)
The '50s: Rave On
The '60s: Rave On (1990)
Roots Of Rock: 1945-1956 (1990)
Ricky Nelson: 1957-1972
Red-Hot Rockabilly
The '50s: Last Dance (1990)
Roy Orbison: 1960-1965
The '60s: Last Dance
Axes & Saxes: The Great Instrumentals
Weird, Wild & Wacky
Rock Classics: The Originals (1991)
The New Orleans Sound
The '60s: Teen Time
R&B Gems
The '60s: Sock Hop
Roots Of Rock II (1992)
Lost Treasures
Street Corner Serenade
The '60s: Jukebox Memories (1992)
Teen Idols Redux
R&B Gems II
Lost Treasures II
Street Corner Serenade II (1992)

Guitar Rock

Very nice collections of, well, guitar rock. A little overlap with the "Sounds Of The Seventies" pop series, but otherwise, strong collections. Single CDs, with 17-21 tracks each. Levels all pretty consistent, with no clipping at all. Graphics all the same, with lots of red. I'm not really sure how many are in the series; I listed what I have. The Time-Life numbering scheme is R968-xx.

1974-1975 (released 1993)
1978-1979 (1993)
1976-1977 (1993)
1980-1981 (1994)
1972-1973 (1994)
1970-1971 (1994)
1968-1969 (1994)
The Mid '70s (1994)
1966-1967 (1994)
Classics (1994)
The Early '70s (1994)
The Late '60s (1994)
The Early '80s (1994)
The Late '70s (1995)
FM Classics (1995)
The Mid-'70s: Take Two (1995)
The Late '70s: Take Two (1995)
The Heavy '80s (1995)
The Early '70s: Take Two (1995)
The '80s (1995)
The Early '70s: The Hard Stuff (1995)
The Late '60s: Take Two (1996)
Live! (1996)
The '80s: Take Two (1996)
The '90s (1996)
?
Power Ballads (1999)

Superhits

Although the tracks are a little sleepy for my tastes, the collections are put together superbly. Similar in flavor to Rhino's "Have A Nice Day" CDs, with a lot of overlap with other Time-Life series. All single CDs, with 21 or 22 tracks each. Later repackaged by Time-Life as the "AM Gold" series; I have the first 21 in the series under the "Superhits" name with the light-blue graphics, and I'm not sure how many are in the series. Especially noteworthy is the Carpenters collection, which features the original untinkered-with hit versions of the songs. The Time-Life numbering scheme is SUD-xx.

1966 (released 1990; re-released as AM Gold 09)
1968 (1990; re-released as AM Gold 04)
1965 (1990; re-released as AM Gold 10)
1970 (1990; re-released as AM Gold 02)
1967 (1991; re-released as AM Gold 08)
1962 (1991; re-released as AM Gold 18?)
1969 (1991; re-released as AM Gold 01)
1963 (1991; re-released as AM Gold 17)
1964 (1991; re-released as AM Gold 11)
1971 (1991; re-released as AM Gold 06)
1972 (1991; re-released as AM Gold 07)
The Mid-'60s (1991; re-released as AM Gold 05)
1973 (1992; re-released as AM Gold 03)
The Late '60s (1992; re-released as AM Gold 14)
The Early '60s (1992; re-released as AM Gold 19?)
The Early '70s (1992; re-released as AM Gold 13?)
Mid-'60s Classics (1992; re-released as AM Gold 16)
Late-'60s Classics (1992; re-released as AM Gold 12)
Early-'60s Classics (1992; re-released as AM Gold 20?)
Early '70s Classics (1992; re-released as AM Gold 15)
Carpenters Collection (1993) - complete artwork because this is pretty rare

New additions that only appear as AM Gold:

1974
1975 (1996)
1976 (1996)
1977 (1997)
1978 (1997)
1979 (1997)
?
Teen Idols Of the '70s (1999)
#1 Hits Of The '70s: '70-'74 (2000)
#1 Hits Of The '70s: '75-'79 (2000)
Mellow Hits Of The '70s (2000)
?
The '60s Generation (2001)

Modern Rock

These are 2-CD sets, with 12 tracks per CD. I think these were Time-Life's answer to Rhino's "Just Can't Get Enough" series. Sound quality is excellent overall; all of these were mastered by Dennis Drake. Several of the tracks are too-long LP versions, unlike the Rhino series that has all-45 versions. I've seen only up to Vol. 21. The Time-Life numbering scheme is R828-xx.

1982-1983 (released 1999)
1980-1981 (1999)
1984-1985 (1999)
1986-1987 (1999)
Dance (1999)
The '70s (1999)
1988-1989 (1999)
Early '80s (2000)
Mid-'80s (2000)
Late '80s (2000)
Early '90s (2000)
1980-1984 (2000)
1984-1989 (2000)
Lost Hits of the Early '80s (2000)
Lost Hits of the Mid '80s (2001)
The Mid '90s (2001)
Lost Hits of the '70s (2002)
Loud and Raw (2002)
Under the Covers (2001)
Nightclubbing (2001)
Club '80s (2001)

Body Talk

The definitive mellow series. These are 2-CD sets, with 12 tracks per CD. The only negative thing I can think of is that no one (outside of slow-dance DJs) needs so much mellow music. Otherwise, superb track selection and sound quality. Vols. 7 and 13-22 are mastered by Dennis Drake. Outstanding! I've seen up to Vol. 22. The Time-Life numbering scheme is R834-xx.

Forever Yours (released 1996)
Just For You (1996)
Moonlight Nights (1996)
Together Forever (1996)
Sealed With A Kiss (1996)
Only You (1996)
Hearts In Motion (1996)
On My Mind (1996)
Magic Moments (1996)
From The Heart (1997)
After Dark (1997)
By Candlelight (1997)
Just The Two Of Us (1997)
Love And Tenderness (1997)
Once In A Lifetime (1997)
Sweet Nothings (1997)
Heart To Heart (1997)
Romantic Moments (1998)
Always And Forever (1998)
Heart And Soul (1998)
Hearts On Fire (2000)
Forever Love (2001)

Excel spreadsheet of Sounds Of The Seventies and Sounds Of The Eighties series.