‘Peel’: Marvelous Peek at Velvet Underground : THE VELVET UNDERGROUND “Peel Slowly and See” ****, <i> Polydor Chronicles</i>

It’s easy to suspect that greed and filler are at work when a box set goes much beyond two discs, but it’s hard to imagine anyone voicing those complaints after listening to this Velvet Underground collection.

There isn’t a track in the five-disc set that doesn’t contribute to a marvelous look at the creative process of a group that played an invaluable role in the expansion of rock’s horizons.

The late-’60s New York band’s minimalist studies in social realism focused on issues of sex, drugs and obsession with an arty, daring edge. It was music that jolted, disturbed and seduced--music that made the New York streets as important a landmark in rock as Highway 61 and Abbey Road.

Thanks to the Velvets’ being cited as an influence by U2, R.E.M., Sonic Youth and hundreds of other ‘80s and ‘90s bands, serious rock fans should already be acquainted with several of the key albums by the band, whose most celebrated lineup included Lou Reed on vocals and guitar, John Cale on bass and viola, Sterling Morrison (who died last month) on guitar and Maureen Tucker on percussion.

Even for someone who already has all four of the band’s studio albums, however, this package is a marvel. Besides those albums, the set includes 25 previously unreleased recordings, including demos, outtakes and live recordings.

The main prize is a series of early demos that allows you to see how the group was able to move from some borrowed musical concepts (especially the delicate, Simon & Garfunkel folk feel of the original “Venus in Furs” arrangement) to its own stark and profoundly original style.

It’s also a treat to hear for the first time a song so steeped in Dylanesque imagery (“Prominent Men”) that the band was wise never to have put it on an album--as well as early versions of Lou Reed songs, including “Satellite of Love,” that wouldn’t show up on record until Reed’s solo albums years later. A splendid, revealing package, complete with an excellent 88-page booklet about the band’s history.

*** Sly & the Family Stone, “A Whole New Thing,” Legacy/Epic. Because it was the year of Sly & the Family Stone’s spectacular Woodstock appearance and of its epic breakthrough album “Stand!,” it is easy to assume that the career of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame group largely began in 1969. But Sly & the Family Stone--whose radical, psychedelic soul vision was shaped by leader Sylvester Stewart--released three albums before “Stand!,” starting with this 1967 debut. While “Thing” doesn’t fully showcase Stewart’s captivating vision, it--along with two 1968 albums, “Dance to the Music” and “Life”--gives you an exciting peek into the birth of that vision. All three are available for the first time on CD.--R.H.

And Finally . . . The latest package in the excellent Turner Classic Movies Music/Rhino Movie Music series is a four-disc collection titled “Mickey & Judy,” which contains the first-ever release of soundtracks from four MGM musicals directed by Busby Berkeley and starring Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland: “Babes in Arms,” “Strike Up the Band,” “Babes on Broadway” and “Girl Crazy.”

Albums are rated on a scale of one star (poor), two stars (fair), three stars (good) and four stars (excellent).