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A boxed set or (its US name) box set is a set of items (for example, a compilation of books, musical recordings, films or television programs) traditionally packaged in a box, hence 'boxed', and offered for sale as a single unit.
Artists and bands with a long and successful career often have anthology or "essential" collections of their music released as box sets. These often include rare and never-before-released tracks. Some box sets collect previously released singles or albums by a music artist, and often collect the complete discography of an artist, such as Pink Floyd's Oh, by the Way and Discovery sets. Sometimes bands release expanded versions of their most successful albums, such as Pink Floyd's Immersion versions of their The Dark Side of the Moon (1973), Wish You Were Here (1975) and The Wall (1979) boxes. Pink Floyd have also released The Early Years 1965–1972 box set, which features mostly unreleased material.
Other music box sets compile different artists from a particular genre such as big band jazz, 1960s rock and roll, or opera. They generally feature a collection of various hits from some of the top artists of a particular genre. The scope of such box sets varies widely, with some genre-specific box sets (such as one featuring rock music) focusing on a specific style (for instance, guitar rock or "Summer of Love" music). Two of the companies best known for making box sets are Legacy Recordings and Rhino Records; both have won multiple Grammy Awards. Prior to Rhino and Legacy, companies such as Time-Life Records and Reader's Digest also issued box sets.
In rare cases, box sets contain all original material, such as the 11-disc set Blue Guitars by Chris Rea, In Search of The , a 13-disc set by Buckethead, or Klaus Schulze's 10-disc set Contemporary Works I . Some box sets become best sellers, such as Led Zeppelin's Led Zeppelin (1990), George Strait's Strait Out of the Box (1995), Nirvana's With the Lights Out (2004) and The Beatles' twin The Beatles Stereo Box Set and The Beatles in Mono discography box sets (2009).
In classical music, box sets often contain all works of a certain composer or all works in a certain genre, like symphonies or chamber music, performed by a certain orchestra, ensemble or conductor.
Well-known authors and artists who have written or produced several related books or portfolios of fine art photography or other artistic mediums whose work is considered historically, culturally, or socially significant may have certain works sold as box sets. For example, one can buy box sets of the plays of Shakespeare, collection of J. R. R. Tolkien novels, or Ansel Adams photographic prints. There are now also digital boxed set collections, such as 21 Shades of Night. [1]
Films, television and other video programs on Blu-ray and DVD are sometimes sold as boxed sets, as were certain titles on the now-discontinued VHS and LaserDisc formats. Such a boxed set might include an entire season or seasons, or the complete series, of a popular TV program, a collection of films by a well-known director or starring a well-known actor/actress, or a collection of films of a particular genre such as horror, sci-fi or westerns. Other criteria for boxed sets have included all films of a series such as the Star Wars series or the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and a selection of adaptions of a particular author such as Stephen King or Jane Austen. Some boxed sets contain different versions of one film, as in the case of Blade Runner and Alien Quadrilogy .
One of the most popular boxed sets of all time is "The Nightmare on Elm Street Collection" released in 1999 by New Line Platinum Series, which contained the original seven films, a bonus DVD containing special features titled The Nightmare Series Encyclopedia, two pairs of 3-D glasses for the last ten minutes of Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare , a commemorative booklet about the films titled The Nightmare is Alive and more. Other notable boxed sets include the Dragon Ball "Dragon Box" sets, often considered to be the best release of the shows to date due to the high quality of the remasters and the plentiful number of features; the "Shirley Temple Little Darling" DVD collection, an 18-DVD boxed set of Shirley Temple films which were constantly advertised on TV for years as a "limited time offer"; and the " Star Wars Trilogy: The Definitive Collection" LaserDisc boxed set, which was one of the last home-video releases of the original trilogy before the special editions.
In the context of streaming services such as Netflix, the term "boxed set" often refers, particularly but not exclusively in Commonwealth English, to a series or season where all episodes are available to watch on demand, either in addition to or in place of traditional scheduling.
Art rock is a subgenre of rock music that generally reflects a challenging or avant-garde approach to rock, or which makes use of modernist, experimental, or unconventional elements. Art rock aspires to elevate rock from entertainment to an artistic statement, opting for a more experimental and conceptual outlook on music. Influences may be drawn from genres such as experimental music, avant-garde music, classical music, and jazz.
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song released around the same time as the original in order to compete with it. Now, it refers to any subsequent version performed after the original.
Space rock is a music genre characterized by loose and lengthy song structures centered on instrumental textures that typically produce a hypnotic, otherworldly sound. It may feature distorted and reverberation-laden guitars, minimal drumming, languid vocals, synthesizers, and lyrical themes of outer space and science fiction.
Rhino Entertainment Company is an American specialty record label and production company founded in 1978. It is currently the catalog division for Warner Music Group. Its current CEO is Mark Pinkus.
More is the third studio album and first soundtrack album by English rock band Pink Floyd. It was released on 13 June 1969 in the United Kingdom by EMI Columbia and on 9 August 1969 in the United States by Tower Records. The soundtrack is for the film of the same name, which was primarily filmed on location on Ibiza and was the directorial debut of Barbet Schroeder. It was the band's first album without former leader Syd Barrett.
A double album is an audio album that spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold, typically either records or compact disc. A double album is usually, though not always, released as such because the recording is longer than the capacity of the medium. Recording artists often think of double albums as being a single piece artistically; however, there are exceptions, such as John Lennon's Some Time in New York City and OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below . Since the advent of the compact disc, albums are sometimes released with a bonus disc featuring additional material as a supplement to the main album, with live tracks, studio out-takes, cut songs, or older unreleased material. One innovation was the inclusion of a DVD of related material with a compact disc, such as video related to the album or DVD-Audio versions of the same recordings. Some such discs were also released on a two-sided format called DualDisc.
A tribute act, tribute band, tribute group or tribute artist is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act. Tribute acts include individual performers who mimic the songs and style of an artist, such as Elvis impersonators covering the works of Elvis Presley or groups like The Iron Maidens, an all-female band that pays tribute to Iron Maiden.
Record collecting is the hobby of collecting sound recordings, usually of music, but sometimes poetry, reading, historical speeches, and ambient noises. Although the typical focus is on vinyl records, all formats of recorded music can be collected.
An album cover is the front packaging art of a commercially released studio album or other audio recordings. The term can refer to:
Uncut is a monthly magazine based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections. A DVD magazine under the Uncut brand was published quarterly from 2005 to 2006. The magazine was acquired in 2019 by Singaporean music company BandLab Technologies, and was published by NME Networks from December 2021. to August 2023, when the brand was sold to Kelsey Media.
Pulse is a concert video by Pink Floyd of their 20 October 1994 concert at Earls Court, London during The Division Bell Tour. It was originally released on VHS and Laserdisc in June 1995, with a DVD release coming in July 2006, with the latter release containing numerous bonus features.
A concert film or concert movie is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian.
The Committee is a 1968 British independent black-and-white film noir film directed by Peter Sykes. It features original music by Pink Floyd as well as Arthur Brown's song "Nightmare".
The Definitive Collection of Mini-LP Replica CDs Boxed Set is a compilation of twelve compact discs featuring albums by the English rock group Led Zeppelin. It was distributed by Atlantic Records in collaboration with Rhino Entertainment on 4 November 2008. This collection comprises all nine of Led Zeppelin's original studio albums that have been digitally remastered. Additionally, it includes previously unreleased tracks that were initially part of the 1990 Boxed Set, now presented on disc 12. The set also encompasses the two-disc remastered edition of the film soundtrack The Song Remains the Same, incorporating bonus tracks. The albums are organized chronologically and each is presented in miniature replica sleeves mimicking the original vinyl releases. Prior to this boxed set, these replica CDs were only obtainable as separate releases in Japan. An exclusive Japanese deluxe boxed set was initially offered from 10 September 2008, and was limited to 5,000 copies in the SHM-CD format.
The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings), also known as The Beatles: Stereo Box Set, is a box set compilation comprising all remastered recordings by English rock band the Beatles. The set was issued on 9 September 2009, along with the remastered mono recordings and companion The Beatles in Mono and The Beatles: Rock Band video game. The remastering project for both mono and stereo versions was led by EMI senior studio engineers Allan Rouse and Guy Massey. The Stereo Box also features a DVD which contains all the short films that are on the CDs in QuickTime format. The release date of 09/09/09 is related to the significance to John Lennon of the number nine.
Pink Floyd bootleg recordings are the collections of audio and video recordings of musical performances by the British rock band Pink Floyd, which were never officially released by the band. The recordings consist of both live performances and outtakes from studio sessions unavailable in official releases. In some cases, certain bootleg recordings may be highly prized among collectors, as at least 40 songs composed by Pink Floyd have never been officially released.
Collaborations is a four-disc compilation box set by the Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar and the former Beatle George Harrison. Released in October 2010 on Dark Horse Records, it compiles two studio albums originally issued on that label – the long-unavailable Shankar Family & Friends (1974) and Ravi Shankar's Music Festival from India (1976) – and Chants of India, first issued on Angel Records in 1997. Although all three albums were originally Shankar releases, for which Harrison served in the role of music producer and guest musician, both Shankar and Harrison are credited as artists on the box set. Each of the collaborative projects represents a departure from Shankar's more typical work as a sitarist and performer of Hindustani classical ragas, with the box set showcasing his forays into, variously, jazz and rock, Indian folk and orchestral ensembles, and devotional music.
The Early Years 1965–1972 is a box set that compiles the early work of the English rock band Pink Floyd, released on 11 November 2016. It was released by Pink Floyd Records with distribution held by Warner Music for the UK and Europe and Sony Music for the rest of the world.
The RCA Albums Collection is a 2016 box set edition of the RCA recordings of Elvis Presley.