Live Box is a set of 4 live CDs, a live DVD and a 36-page booklet by Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic singer/songwriter/musician Björk

Björk

Björk Guðmundsdóttir , known as Björk , is an Icelandic singer-songwriter. Her eclectic musical style has achieved popular acknowledgement and popularity within many musical genres, such as rock, jazz, electronic dance music, classical and folk...

, released in August 2003

2003 in music

-January:* January – following an investigation by The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and London detectives, police raids in England and the Netherlands recover nearly 500 original Beatles studio tapes, recorded during the Let It Be sessions. Five people are arrested...

. Each live CD roughly corresponds to one album in her (at the time of release) four album solo discography.

Background

When Björk was pregnant with her daughter Ísadóra in 2002 she decided to start sorting through the hundreds of hours of live recordings she had collected from her tours. Assisted in the process by the head of Smekkleysa

Bad Taste (record label)

Bad Taste is one of Iceland’s most important record labels; located in Reykjavík and known worldwide for being home to The Sugarcubes, it also publishes poetry books, short films, greeting cards and Icelandic gifts...

, Ásmundur Jónsson, they decided on the best performances from each of the tours to include on the live albums. This release of live material was initially confirmed by the inclusion of live tracks on the It's in Our Hands

It's in Our Hands

"It's in Our Hands" was a single released along with Björk's Greatest Hits CD in late 2002. The song was previously heard during her Vespertine Tour in 2001. The song relies heavily on a sample taken from To Rococo Rot's song Die Dinge Des Lebens from the album The Amateur View...

 single in 2002, credited to the "Forthcoming album Vespertine Live". This was followed by an announcement in 2003 of a distribution-deal with US record company Navarre

Navarre Corporation

Navarre Corp. is a public distribution and publishing company founded in 1983 by Eric H. Paulson. The company is headquartered in New Hope, Minnesota...

 that would include "both CDs and DVDs". Björk's official website later confirmed the release of a box set containing live recordings, not only from Vespertine but from the past ten years of Björk's solo career. Björk only started to have soundboard recordings

Mixing console

In professional audio, a mixing console, or audio mixer, also called a sound board, mixing desk, or mixer is an electronic device for combining , routing, and changing the level, timbre and/or dynamics of audio signals. A mixer can mix analog or digital signals, depending on the type of mixer...

 of her live shows from the Homogenic tour onwards, so the first two discs (Debut Live and Post Live) are made up primarily of the audio from the corresponding live DVDs. Shortly before the official release, a free download of "Hyperballad" from the Post Live disc was made available on the Abercrombie Vintag

Abercrombie & Fitch

Abercrombie & Fitch is an American retailer that focuses on casual wear for consumers aged 18 to 22. It has over 300 locations in the United States, and is expanding internationally....

e website. The originally announced track listing for Post Live included 18 tracks (the final version has 13), and so would have included nearly the full audio from the Live at Shepherds Bush Empire

Live at Shepherds Bush Empire

Live at Shepherds Bush Empire is an official DVD/home-video released by Björk on November 19, 2001. The live show was recorded at the end of the Post tour on February 27, 1997, at a special fan-club only free concert at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London, England. The majority of the songs are...

 DVD, from which the album takes most of its material.

The box set also includes a 36-page booklet featuring numerous photos and an in-depth conversation with Björk and Ásmundur in Björk's home, discussing her career, her recordings and her live tours. The box set was originally announced as a limited release of 30,000 copies, although it is still available for purchase. The individual live discs were later released separately in May 2004.

Artwork

The artwork was designed by M/M Paris, whom Björk has worked extensively with since 1999's Volumen release.. At the time of release many online stores displayed an incorrect earlier version of the artwork for the box set, which features alternate artwork for the Post Live and Homogenic Live albums. For the album artwork of each live album, Björk herself found a selection of different photos available on the Internet. Because of the small resolution of the images chosen for Homogenic Live and Vespertine Live, these appear pixelated on the actual album covers.

Live Book

To accompany the release of the Live Box, a separate book was released titled "Live Book". This features the interview with Ásmundur Jónsson that is also included in the 36-page booklet that comes with the Live Box, but also new interviews with Lynn Fox, Zeena Parkins

Zeena Parkins

Zeena Parkins is a harpist active in rock music, free improvisation and jazz. Parkins plays standard harps, as well as several custom-made one-of-a kind electric harps; she also plays piano and accordion...

, Matmos

Matmos

Matmos is an experimental electronic music duo originally from San Francisco but now residing in Baltimore signed to the Matador Records label. M. C. Schmidt and Drew Daniel are the core members, but they frequently include other artists on their records and in their performances, including...

 and Leila

Leila Arab

Leila is an Iranian recording artist, producer and dj based in London.She has worked with prominent European musicians such as Björk, and has released music on Rephlex Records, XL Recordings and Warp Records....

, who were all involved in Björk's 2003 tour. Although now largely out of print, the book is still available for purchase at the official Björk online store.

CD1 - Debut Live

1. "Human Behaviour
   Human Behaviour
   "Human Behaviour" is Icelandic singer Björk's first solo single, taken from the album Debut. It contains a sample of "Go Down Dying" by Antonio Carlos Jobim. The lyrics reflect on human nature and emotion from a non-human animal's point of view. The song is the first part of a series of songs that...
   
   "
2. "One Day"
3. "Venus as a Boy
   Venus as a Boy
   "Venus as a Boy" is a song by Björk, released as the second single from her 1993 album Debut.-Background:Björk explained in an interview with David Hemingway:...
   
   "
4. "Come To Me"
5. "Big Time Sensuality
   Big Time Sensuality
   "Big Time Sensuality" is a song by Björk, released as the fourth single from her 1993 album Debut. The song helped boost Björk's popularity worldwide, particularly the U.S., where she charted for the first time.-Background:...
   
   "
6. "Aeroplane"
7. "Like Someone in Love
   Like Someone in Love
   Like Someone in Love is an album by the American jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald, with a studio orchestra arranged and conducted by Frank DeVol...
   
   "
8. "Crying"
9. "Anchor Song"
10. "Violently Happy
    Violently Happy
    "Violently Happy" is a song by Björk, released as the fifth and final single from her album Debut in 1993. The song peaked at #13 in the UK and reached #3 on the US dance charts.-Background:...
    
    "

Notes

1. The original versions of all of the tracks can be found on Debut. Two songs from Debut are missing: "There's More To Life Than This" and "Play Dead
   Play Dead (song)
   "Play Dead" is a song by Icelandic singer Björk, and was released as the third single from her 1993 album Debut.-Background:It is a dark piece underscored by moody strings with lyrics about acting numb to prevent emotional pain....
   
   ", although "Play Dead" is strictly speaking not on Debut, but is included as a bonus track on the re-release. Indeed, neither of the two songs were performed on the MTV Unplugged performance from which this disc takes most of its material, but the latter was performed on the Debut Tour after its single release.
2. All songs except "Venus as a Boy
   Venus as a Boy
   "Venus as a Boy" is a song by Björk, released as the second single from her 1993 album Debut.-Background:Björk explained in an interview with David Hemingway:...
   
   " are from MTV Unplugged
   MTV Unplugged
   MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
   
   in 1994. The original broadcast (and subsequent bootlegs) of the MTV concert featured "Venus as a Boy", so it is unclear why that version could not be included here.

CD2 - Post Live

1. "Headphones"
2. "Army of Me
   Army of Me
   "Army of Me" is a song by Björk, released in 1995 as the first, and leading, single from her second solo album Post. The song also appeared, later in the same year on the soundtrack of Tank Girl as well as in the soundtrack of Sucker Punch in 2011...
   
   "
3. "One Day"
4. "The Modern Things"
5. "Isobel
   Isobel
   "Isobel" is a song by Icelandic singer Björk. It was released as the second single from her 1995 album Post. The lyrics describe a primitive girl who seems to be a personification of Mother Nature, and who tries to warn the technological world of its potential dangers. The music is underscored by...
   
   "
6. "Possibly Maybe
   Possibly Maybe
   "Possibly Maybe" is a song by Björk, released as the fifth single from her 1995 album Post. It is a song with deep electronic tones and soft beats that reflects on potential love....
   
   "
7. "Hyperballad"
8. "I Go Humble"
9. "Big Time Sensuality"
10. "Enjoy"
11. "I Miss You
    I Miss You (Björk song)
    "I Miss You" is a song by Björk, the sixth and final single release from her 1995 album Post. It is amongst her least-well performing singles in the UK, but it hit #1 on the U.S...
    
    "
12. "It's Oh So Quiet
    It's Oh So Quiet
    "It's Oh, So Quiet" is a song by American singer Betty Hutton, released in 1951 as the B-side to the single "Murder, He Says". It is a cover of the German song "Und Jetzt ist es Still", performed by Horst Winter in 1948, written by Austrian composer Hans Lang and Erich Meder...
    
    "
13. "Anchor Song"

Notes

1. Tracks 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11 & 12: Original versions on Post. "Cover Me" and "You've Been Flirting Again" are missing, although "You've Been Flirting Again" appears on 'Homogenic Live' and "Cover Me" only received its first performances during the 2007-2008 Volta Tour.
   Tracks 3, 9 & 13: Original versions on Debut
   Track 8: Only found the Japan edition of Post and on Isobel
   Isobel
   "Isobel" is a song by Icelandic singer Björk. It was released as the second single from her 1995 album Post. The lyrics describe a primitive girl who seems to be a personification of Mother Nature, and who tries to warn the technological world of its potential dangers. The music is underscored by...
   
    single.

CD3 - Homogenic Live

1. "Vísur Vatnsenda Rósu"
2. "Hunter"
3. "You've Been Flirting Again"
4. "Isobel"
5. "All Neon Like"
6. "Possibly Maybe"
7. "5 Years"
8. "Come To Me"
9. "Immature"
10. "I Go Humble" (featuring lines from "Wanna Be Startin' Something")
11. "Bachelorette
    Bachelorette
    Bachelorette is an American English term for an unmarried woman. The term is derived from the word bachelor, and is often used by journalists, editors of popular magazines, and some individuals. "Bachelorette" was famously the term used to refer to female contestants on the old Dating Game TV...
    
    "
12. "Human Behaviour"
13. "Pluto"
14. "Jóga
    Jóga
    "Jóga" is a song by Björk, and the first single from her 1997 album Homogenic. It features a mix of classical string instruments with heavy electronic beats which is present in the whole album.-Background:...
    
    "
15. "So Broken"
16. "Anchor Song"

Notes

1. Tracks 2, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 & 14: Original versions on Homogenic
   Homogenic
   Homogenic is the fourth studio album by Icelandic musician Björk, released in September 1997. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B and Markus Dravs, it was released on One Little Indian Records...
   
   . "Unravel", "Alarm Call" and "All Is Full of Love" are missing, although "Unravel" and "All Is Full of Love" appear on 'Vespertine Live'.
   Tracks 3, 4 & 6: Original versions on Post
   Track 10: Bonus track from the Japanese edition of Post
   Tracks 8, 12 & 16: Original versions on Debut.
   Track 1: Original version on Possibly Maybe
   Possibly Maybe
   "Possibly Maybe" is a song by Björk, released as the fifth single from her 1995 album Post. It is a song with deep electronic tones and soft beats that reflects on potential love....
   
    single (traditional Icelandic song).
   Track 15: Original version on Jóga
   Jóga
   "Jóga" is a song by Björk, and the first single from her 1997 album Homogenic. It features a mix of classical string instruments with heavy electronic beats which is present in the whole album.-Background:...
   
    single.

CD4 - Vespertine Live

1. "Frosti"
2. "Overture"
3. "All is Full of Love
   All Is Full of Love
   "All Is Full of Love" is a song by Björk, released as the fifth and final single from her album Homogenic. The version of the song used in the video is actually the original version of the song, while the version on Homogenic is a remix by Howie B...
   
   "
4. "Cocoon"
5. "Aurora"
6. "Undo"
7. "Unravel
   Unravel
   "Unravel" is the third song on the album Homogenic by Björk, which was released in 1997. The song features a prominent example of Björk's use of a half-singing, half-speaking technique which, according to folklore specialist Njall Sigurason, is comparable to that of Old Icelandic...
   
   "
8. "I've Seen It All
   I've Seen It All
   "I've Seen It All" is a song by Icelandic singer Björk, with lyrics by Sjón and Lars von Trier. It was released as the first promotional single from the Dancer in the Dark soundtrack, Selmasongs. The song features vocals from Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke...
   
   "
9. "An Echo, a Stain" (With Tanya Tagaq)
10. "Generous Palmstroke"
11. "Hidden Place
    Hidden Place
    "Hidden Place" is a song by Icelandic recording artist Björk, taken from her fourth English language , Vespertine . It was written by Björk, Guy Sigsworth and Mark Bell and produced by Björk...
    
    "
12. "Pagan Poetry
    Pagan Poetry
    "Pagan Poetry" was the second single from singer Björk's album Vespertine. The single peaked at number 38 in the UK and number 12 in Canada. It was written and produced by Björk with additional production by Marius De Vries and mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent...
    
    "
13. "Harm of Will"
14. "It's Not Up to You"
15. "Unison"
16. "It's in Our Hands
    It's in Our Hands
    "It's in Our Hands" was a single released along with Björk's Greatest Hits CD in late 2002. The song was previously heard during her Vespertine Tour in 2001. The song relies heavily on a sample taken from To Rococo Rot's song Die Dinge Des Lebens from the album The Amateur View...
    
    "

Notes

1. Tracks 4, 5, 6, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 & 15: Original versions on Vespertine
   Vespertine
   Vespertine, is the fifth studio album by the Icelandic recording artist Björk, released on 27 August 2001. On this album, Björk creates a quiet, introverted world of microbeats and personal lyrics...
   
   . The tracks "Sun in My Mouth" and "Heirloom" are missing, of which "Heirloom" received its first performance on the subsequent 2003 Greatest Hits Tour, and "Sun in My Mouth" was performed live at the Icelandic television in February 2011 in a celesta version of the song, played by Jónas Sen.
   Track 1 is mistitled as "Frosti", which is on the album too, but it is actually the music box version of Pagan Poetry
   Pagan Poetry
   "Pagan Poetry" was the second single from singer Björk's album Vespertine. The single peaked at number 38 in the UK and number 12 in Canada. It was written and produced by Björk with additional production by Marius De Vries and mixed by Mark "Spike" Stent...
   
    found on the Cocoon single.
   Tracks 3 & 7: Original versions on Homogenic
   Homogenic
   Homogenic is the fourth studio album by Icelandic musician Björk, released in September 1997. Produced by Björk, Mark Bell, Guy Sigsworth, Howie B and Markus Dravs, it was released on One Little Indian Records...
   
   
   Tracks 2 & 8: Original versions on Selmasongs
   Track 16: Original version on the It's in Our Hands
   It's in Our Hands
   "It's in Our Hands" was a single released along with Björk's Greatest Hits CD in late 2002. The song was previously heard during her Vespertine Tour in 2001. The song relies heavily on a sample taken from To Rococo Rot's song Die Dinge Des Lebens from the album The Amateur View...
   
   single.
   Track 10: Original version found on the "Hidden Place
   Hidden Place
   "Hidden Place" is a song by Icelandic recording artist Björk, taken from her fourth English language , Vespertine . It was written by Björk, Guy Sigsworth and Mark Bell and produced by Björk...
   
   " single and as a bonus track in Japanese pressings of Vespertine.

DVD bonus

1. "One Day"
2. "It's Oh So Quiet"
3. "Jóga"
4. "Aurora"
5. "It's Not Up To You"

Notes

1. The performance of "It's Oh So Quiet" is previously unreleased.

Charts

Chart (2003)	Peak position
U.S. Billboard Top Electronic Albums Top Electronic Albums Dance/Electronic Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top-selling electronic music albums in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated June 30, 2001. It originally began as a fifteen-position chart and has since expanded to twenty-five...	12
France	99

External links

• Live Box mini-site