Area is so, so good. I discovered them early in 2002, I think, and collected most of their recordings only months before the box was released (dammit). I'm not generally a prog fan, either, but the two groups cited by Dominique Leone in his Pitchfork review---Magma and Soft Machine---are favorites and okay points of reference, in the sense that they created fascinating soundworlds in/around prog and psychedelia, and both had rather, er, _different_ vocalists that placed an indelible stamp on the groups' work. Demetrios Stratos' voice might be the only off-putting thing about Area for a newcomer who hasn't braved the Magma "shivery falsetto" skreech yet. Not that Stratos does that, exactly, but he does ornament his vocal drama with, well, yodels. What else could we call them? Yodels, growls, ululations, glossolalia...Stratos crushes up and spits and wipes and ruminates language like very few singers anywhere near the rock idiom. Those who are impressed by Mike Patton's range and perversion would do well to seek out Stratos' work with Area. In terms of chops, SM/Magma really is a kind of marginally helpful comparison, because though all three bands jam, there are more than a few moments where there's no better comparison than some of Herbie Hancock's groups from the Seventies. Balanced against Area's ultra-tight kick-ass funk-fusion ejaculations are passages of open-ended perversity that outdo any other prog groups I can think of...though I think most of these might be on records like the great MALEDETTI (not inlcuded in this Area box, but available from the same label, Akarma). My own preference would be for this album, though at the price, the four disc box set can't be beat, if you found it for only $40. For a "popular" band, Area might have included almost everything they did on four full CDs, instead of four ~40min CDs, but that is the "value oriented American" in me. Also, when did Paul Lytton and Steve Lacy sit in with any other prog band, the way they do with Area? (Well, this was on MALEDETTI; I can't remember if that happens on any of the box set titles.) I personally recommend Area with devil-signs in the air. If the descriptions don't have you convinced, then try MALEDETTI, and if you like it, the box will be a must. (Though MALEDETTI is probably the stranger of the discs, all things considered.) -----s