‘Choice’ Series Goes Prime

CBS Records shook up the CD market last year by introducing a “Collector’s Choice” series of budget CDs that sold for less than $10. Consumers accustomed to paying $15 or more for any CD were so delighted that they didn’t even seem to notice that most of the collections were hardly choice.

It was as if someone in the sales department had merely taken a printout of CBS’ huge inventory and put the 100 or so lowest-selling albums in the budget series.

Now that other labels have joined the budget market with far more attractive packages, CBS has been forced to sweeten its series. The result is some terrific buys among the 250 albums in the “Collector’s Choice” line. A sample:

Aerosmith’s “Rocks”--This 1976 package, which includes such explosive yet melodic hard-rockers as “Back in the Saddle” and “Sick as a Dog,” documents why Aerosmith has influenced hundreds of contemporary bands, notably Guns N’ Roses. Also in the budget series: “Toys in the Attic.”

Bob Dylan’s “The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan”--When you see that this 50-minute album includes “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” it’s easy to mistake it for a “best of” compilation. Yet the 1962 release (Dylan’s second album) was merely the start of one of the most extraordinary creative surges in pop history.

Willie Nelson’s “Red Headed Stranger”--An exploration of love, honor and salvation set in the Old West, this ambitious 1975 concept album was as bold in its own way as the Who’s rock opera “Tommy.”

Psychedelic Furs’ “Talk, Talk, Talk”--When “Talk” came out in 1981, the Furs stood alongside U2 as one of rock’s most promising new bands. While disappointing follow-up albums have removed them from that competition, this album remains a work of considerable songwriting and musical imagination.

Sly & the Family Stone’s “Stand”--A convincing expression of Woodstock-era optimism and pride when released in 1969, “Stand”--featuring such tunes as “Everyday People”--now takes on a darker and sadder tone because of what’s happened to Stone’s own drug-plagued career. Also in the series: “There’s a Riot Goin’ On.”

BONUS TRACK: Speaking of CD bargains, Rykodisc’s “Steal This Disc”--a $6.98 sampler of the label’s varied folk, rock, jazz and ethnic catalogue--was such a hit last year that the CD-only company has released “Steal This Disc 2.” The highly recommended, 73-minute collection includes “Lover Man,” a track from the Jimi Hendrix “Isle of Wight” album, which was scheduled to be released by Rykodisc this fall but has been postponed indefinitely. (Rykodisc plans to release in September an album of Hendrix music recorded for the BBC in 1967.) Other artists on the new sampler range from Frank Zappa and Beausoleil to the Residents and Duke Ellington (a selection from the “Anatomy of a Murder” score).

CD READING: Rock & Roll Disc is a bimonthly tabloid devoted to reviewing a wide range of new CD releases, domestic and import. While it needs fine-tuning (too much space is given to interviews and reviews of the sort that could be found in any music magazine), there are a promising ambition and energy in the publication. It’s $12 a year from TAG Enterprises, 3145 Poplar Ave., Memphis, Tenn. 33111. . . . Meanwhile, Pete Howard’s lively, opinionated International CD Exchange newsletter remains the most helpful and entertaining publication devoted to CDs. Howard, in fact, has just been signed by Rolling Stone magazine to do a regular column. His monthly report is $24 and is available through P.O. Box 3043, Santa Monica, Calif. 90403.