AC/DC - The Coolest Box Set Ever?

Maybe you have to be a guitar player to appreciate it, but the new AC/DC box set just may be the coolest one ever released.

Not only does the $200 box set come with musical rarities and memorabilia, but it's packed inside a fully functional 1-watt guitar amplifier.

Inside the working amplifier comes three CDs, two DVDs, one vinyl LP, a 164-page hardcover book and memorabilia from the band’s earliest days of touring including a button, sticker, tour flier, track sheet, temporary tattoo, guitar pick, three lithographs, a poster and a replica of one of the fake $100 bills used to shower audiences during the ‘91 Moneytalks tour. The package is now available from the AC/DC Backtracks website.

The Backtracks CDs includes six never-before-released tracks, plus two discs of “live rarities” spanning from 1977’s Sydney Arts Festival to a 2000 show in Phoenix.

Another cool thing is that rather than include material already available, the DVDs pick up where the double-DVD Family Jewels left off, with music videos, live tour footage, 20 cuts from the band’s 2003 tour and “making of” videos for “Hard as a Rock” and “Rock ‘N Roll Train.”

The book includes “rare and unseen photos spanning 1974-2009,” original press releases, tour itineraries, tour books, test pressing labels and vintage advertisements, and the vinyl LP is audiophile-quality 180-gram vinyl featuring 12 studio rarities (it's also available on one of the three CDs if you don't have a turntable).

If you don’t believe that the amp can really be played, check out the Backtracks website, which includes videos of Angus Young playing the riffs to “You Shook Me All Night Long” and “Back in Black” on one of the box sets.

The AC/DC box set is just another example excellent use of Music 3.0, as the band provides their true fans with material that they're keen for in a very appealing package.