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.