Okay Jellyfish fans. If you don't own this or haven't heard of it before, get out a paper bag and get ready to hyperventilate. This 4-CD set officially replaces any and all bootlegs, EPs and B-sides in one handy easy-to-buy installment. Rather than keep you in suspense any longer, I'm going to just give you the tracklisting and THEN give you the overview:

It's pretty self-explanatory. Disc one: pristine home demos for Bellybutton. This includes songs that didn't make the cut and a few other random tunes. Fans of Beatnik Beatch will be overjoyed with a handful of cuts on here that are only marginally Jellyfish songs. But what the hell. This is THE Jellyfish boxed set and we should expect no less thorough compilation. A couple of these tracks were B-sides on the "New Mistake" single, making the old "EP" obsolete. Here we have the full album, pretty much. Plus a few new treats. On your knees, boy!

Disc two chronicles Jellyfish's evolution as a live band entity. Interview snippets and pretty much flawless live versions of Bellybutton's songs make this more than your usual live bootleg. This is your first inkling that Jellyfish were as explosive live as they were meticulous in the studio. They had no problem being energetic and polished - the harmonies were always perfect, and audiences from Budokan to Wembley were treated to exciting live versions of their favorite Jellyfish songs. Some Jellyfish songs were reportedly never recorded for posterity other than in their live incarnation; "Mr Late", "Will You Marry Me" and "Hello". These were three songs that would have blown away a lot of Bellybutton material and yet did not fit into the ideas of Spilt Milk. They've been forever shoved in between the cushions of Jellyfish history. If you were wondering why you need this boxed set, here's three reasons. These songs kick ass.

After the departure of Jason and Chris, Andy and Rog got right to work on the next album. Which brings us to Disc 3. Here in glorious stereo in the entirety of what exists, are the demos for Spilt Milk. Yes, put that paper bag away and get out the tissues. I won't spoil all the surprises, but get ready for a humbling experience. Andy sang at least most of the parts on "Hush" on the final record, but here it sounds like it's mostly (if not 100%) Roger Manning doing his best Beach Boys impressions. And no, it's not hokey. It's beautiful. Excuse me... *sniff*. Okay, composing myself here, fans of the "pomp rockers" Lollipop Factory will notice David Tweed's guitar work setting the stage for all guitarists to come later on "Joining a Fan Club". Then we get a frighteningly ornate version of "Sebrina...". Remember kids, these are HOME DEMOS. Lyle Workman adds THE guitar solo to "New Mistake" and yes, that catchy outro is on there, even in this "early" stage. This may be the perfect pop song, and sampled drums and early 90's keyboards can't hold it back. Andy Sturmer pours his heart out vocally. "Glutton Of Sympathy" has an amazing quirky intro that longtime fans will probably hit "rewind" to hear a few times. Fast forwarding a little bit (I told you I don't want to ruin ALL the surprises!) there's a new song on Spilt Milk called "Family Tree" that was also on that "New Mistake" single/EP. It's easy to see why they left it off, but I think everybody will be glad it's on here. Included on the same disc (but after the end of Spilt Milk) are a few more non-album same-period jewels of rare/unreleased stuff. There's that catchy 'shrooms-addled Nintendo song, a few songs written for Ringo's album, and a special message to the fans, circa '93.

And here on Disc four - ooh la la... Eric Dover and Tim Smith are full-fledged band members bringing their vocal and instrumental prowess to the fold. This disc is a LOT of material from the "Socrates Pathos and Plato" bootleg, and one could also say that it replaces that disc. NotLame has a few surprises for us here though - a nice acoustic version of The Move's "I can hear the grass grow" - NotLame's Bruce Brodeen mentions in the liner notes that they couldn't get the rights to (or couldn't find) one of the amazing electric versions. Like disc two, the disc is rife with interesting cover tunes. In fact, the final track is a cover song, but it's a studio track. What's more is that it's the final song ever recorded by Jellyfish, Harry Nillson's "Think About Your Troubles". A poignant and fitting end to the boxed set, I think. You had to get this song on the "for the love of harry" tribute album. Jellyfish were handpicked by Nillson to do this particular song (he had a requited love of the 'fish). It was recorded actually AFTER Jellyfish had unofficially broken up, and this is the product of their final meeting. The tension is palpable. I'm sure Sturmer and Manning parted ways with little fanfare that evening, and this quiet little song faded into history. I can hear every heartbroken Jellyfish fan take their headphones off at the end of this track, sigh and put disc one back on.

I CAN'T FIND IT ANYWHERE!!!
A lot of people have been emailing me and trying to trade OTHER Jellyfish items for bootleg copies of this one. As I said before, this box negates most other non-albums - the Scary-go-round EP is on here on disc 2, Socrates is on disc 4, all the b-sides from "New Mistake" are either on disc 1 or 3. If you're having trouble finding this anywhere, it's because it's popular. But before you point your mouse to EBay or Amazon, head to the source. NotLame records are the fellows reponsible for the idea of this thing in the first place, and if anybody has a copy or two sitting around for you, it's them. They can be reached at www.notlame.com. If it's momentarily out of print (which it will be from time to time in between pressings), try www.ebay.com. Of course, you're better off placing a pre-order with NotLame and waiting a while, but the more impatient people will want to browse the "used" markets like EBay. You're looking at $60 new, $75 used!