Two Must-Have Music Anthology Box Sets by Selena

If you are a fan of Selena Quintanilla, or even someone who has heard about her and is curious to know where to begin, there are two must-have anthologies of her work. Note that Selena has over 40 albums, if you include all of the posthumous compilations and boxed sets. Obviously, there are a lot of repeats, depending on the album you choose. Here are two of my personal favorites, which carry most, if not all, of Selena's popular tracks and a few lesser-known songs.

My number one pick is: La Leyenda (Super Deluxe Edition, 4 Disc Box Set). Apparently there are three editions of this set, but the Super Deluxe is by far the best one. It contains just about all of Selena's English material, most of her live tracks from the last concert at the Houston Astrodome and all of her biggest Spanish hits. You'll even find songs that don't appear on many Selena anthologies like: Mentiras, Costumbres, Tengo Ganas De Llorar, Always Mine and Don't Throw Away My Love.

It also has "extras" for the hard-core fans. There are several booklets inside which include messages from Selena's family, friends, and fans from all over the world. According to one article, fans were originally asked to send in not only messages, but also pictures of themselves to be included in the booklets, but because of legal issues related to copyrights, EMI Latin decided not to include them. The box set is worth it just for the music alone, but as a Selena fan, it's nice to have these dedications as well. Though is album was released 15 years after her death, the album made it to #7 on the US Billboard Latin Album charts.

My second pick is: Anthology(3 Disc Set). Released in April 1998, it covers recordings from 1986-1995. Some songs were never released. It gives a nice overview of Selena's career and for those who are new to her, you'll find a good selection of songs that aren't on the shorter greatest hits albums. Anthology went platinum six times.

This album set is divided into three parts. Disc 1 is a set of remixed songs. Some are well known tracks like No Quiero Saber, La Bamba and I'm Getting Used to You and others are rare tracks like Don't Throw Away My Love, which was an unreleased remix of My Love).

Disc 2 is Selena's Mariachi album and contains great tracks like Dame Tu Amor, Siempre Hace Frio, and Tu, Solo Tu. What is nice is that the notes give you background on some of these tracks. Like the fact that Siempre Hace Frio was recorded when Selena was young, but she was sick at the time and it created a rich quality to her voice that made her sound more mature. This disc is probably my favorite of the three because as much as I love the cumbias and modern ballads, there's something hauntingly beautiful about Selena's mariachi music.

Disc 3 is the Cumbia album. There are a few well known tracks like Baila Esta Cumbia, No Debes Jugar and La Llamada, but you can also find other songs that you would otherwise have to search for: La Puerta Se Cerro, Te Amo Solo A Ti and Carino Mio.

Bonus: For those of you looking for rare, early tracks, there is Classic Series Vol. 1-5, which is basically a re-issuing of early Selena y Los Dinos albums from 1986-1988. Volume One contains songs from when Selena was only 14. I haven't seen this as a boxed set, but you can purchase each volume individually. For some reason, they don't include the 1984 and 1985 albums, but this is still a good way to get acquainted with the early stuff (or relive it if you've been a long time fan).

There is something timeless about Selena Quintanilla's music and her influence on American and Latino culture. After 15 years, people still mourn her and carry her in their hearts. About three and a half years ago, when I wrote my first article about Selena (Top Ten Songs by Selena), I never expected that in 2010 I would still get comments from fans pouring our their hearts and telling me how much they love and miss her. According to a search today on Google Adwords, "Selena Quintanilla" is googled about 550,000 times per month by people all over the world. Selena may be gone, but her music will not be forgotten.