Manfred Mann were a very underrated British Invasion band which brought a heavy jazz influence to the blues/beat/R&B they played in the early 60s London clubs. If you are a fan of 1963-65 era Rolling Stones or Animals, you need this box set. The Manfreds were more musically proficient, & this incarnation of the group had Paul Jones as vocalist - he was a genuine U.K. rival to Jagger at the time. This very reasonably priced 2014 5-cd European Union release from Warner Music/Rhino features that era Manfred Mann w/their albums #1, 2, 3 & 5, released on the British HMV label (The Five Faces of Manfred Mann, 9/64; Mann Made, 10/65; Mann Made Hits, 9/66; Soul of Mann, 1/67 - missing is the 4th album, 1966's As Is on the Fontana label) plus the throwaway Paul Jones solo album from 1966. Albums 1 & 2, plus Jones' album, are in true stereo, as is most of album 3 (tracks #4, 12, 13 are mono - see back of box Amazon picture for songs). Interestingly, the Soul of Mann album (a collection of mostly instrumental tracks recorded by the original band before their 4th album release - As Is {the group changed members by this 4th album}) is in mono, but 6 of these songs (#'s 1, 3, 4, 6, 10, 14) are also (originally) on the first 2 albums where they are in stereo. The Mann Made Hits album is a comp of early hits & B-sides which were not released on the first 2 LPs, & contains their most well known songs for the casual listener. Typical w/the "Original Album Series", each disc slips into a sturdy cardboard front/rear cover replica sleeve of the original British release, which all slip into a slightly larger box, roughly the size of a double cd jewel case. Totally bare bones: no booklet/info or extra tracks. Sound is excellent (I assume re-mastered; no info given on box). What I love is playback level is very even between discs so I can make a consistent level playlist for my portable playback unit (this series is often not too good in this regard). Since it wasn't unusual at that time, singles, B-sides, & 4-song EP releases often did not end up on albums, so an excellent supplement to this box is Ascot/EMI's The Best of Manfred Mann: The Definitive Collection (25 tracks, 14 of which are not on this box) - as an added perk, this Definitive Collection has a playback volume level just a tad lower than the box, so I could make a relatively level sounding chronological playlist.