Canadian Gift Guide

Few musicians – if any – have protected their legacy as feverishly as The Beatles, and perhaps that’s why they’re such legends after all. Last year was a mini bout of Beatlemania, complete with the release of their pimp box set (which yes, I own) including every Beatles song, ever, as well as their very fun, addictive, and family-friendly take on Rock Band.

While The Fab Four have bonded together on preserving their image, Yoko Ono is the gatekeeper to all things John Lennon. In commemoration of what would have been his 70th birthday, a new ‘Signature’ box set is being released with Lennon’s complete remastered collection of albums. This deluxe set includes eleven discs, plus thirteen previously unreleased home recordings for the diehard Lennon fan. Plus it includes a few essays from those closest to Lennon – Yoko, Julian and Sean Lennon among them. Did I mention it’s only available in limited quantities?

Like Harry Potter, The Beatles are another one of those golden gift mines. Anyone that loves the Beatles typically loves to obtain Beatles stuff, see Beatles shows, and get the latest remastered version of their albums.  The Lennon gift set ain’t cheap ($140) although relatively speaking, it works out to just over $10 an album, which isn’t bad at all. If you gifted someone still reminiscing about the days of Beatlemania last year with one of the various Beatles items I mentioned earlier, perhaps this is a way to continue the trend this year. It’s never to early to start shopping for Christmas after all.

I like music gift sets because they are one of the things you might not buy for yourself, but if you know someone is a true fan of a particular artist, it’s a nice way to solidify that fandom with a little something extra special, to make them feel like they really are a superfan. With hard copy music potentially heading the way of the dinosaur, gift sets give you an excuse to buy a hard copy and spend time poring over the glossy booklets and other goodies within, instead of feeling obsolete when you walk into a music store and pick up a regular ol’ CD. As I said though, with the price tags these sorts of sets have, it’s probably only worth it if you know the giftee would sell a kidney to see the artist in person…if that were even possible. Imagine!