Nuggets is a series of compilation albums by Elektra Records, continued by Rhino Records.
Contents
Besides 5 box sets, 12 vinyl-only and 3 single-CD albums were also released during the 1980s and 2 new single-CDs were released in 2004. The name of the series, as well as its concept, is a takeoff on the 1972 double LP Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965–1968, originally compiled by Lenny Kaye and released on Elektra Records.
The music found on the Nuggets series is very similar to that of Kaye's original compilation. Many of the songs found on the series' fifteen albums appear on the original Nuggets double LP, while others would eventually wind up on Rhino's box set expansion of Kaye's compilation. Stylistically, the series is focused primarily on relatively obscure garage and psychedelic rock songs from the 1960s. Although most of the music was recorded by American groups, there are a few exceptions, such as The Troggs (English) and The Easybeats (Australian). Notably, however, the music is not as unrefined or as obscure as the songs that tend to populate volumes of the Back from the Grave or Pebbles series.
Original Series
The fifteen volumes of Rhino's Nuggets series were released between 1984 and 1989.