Radiohead Box Set
Encyclopedia
Radiohead is a collection of six studio albums and one live album recorded by Radiohead
, reissued as a box set on 10 December 2007. The box set is available as seven CD
box set, a digital download
and a 4GB USB Stick
. The box set peaked at #95 in Canada's album charts.
between 1993 and 2003:
The box set was released in physical form as a limited edition seven CD box set, with each album in original digipak
sleeves, as a digital download as DRM-free
320 kbit/s MP3
files with digital artwork and as a 4GB USB Stick. The USB stick contains all seven albums as WAV
audio files and digital artwork for each album. There have also been reports of certain stores across Australia
and the United Kingdom
stocking boxsets that include special edition
s of the first three albums, as well as Amnesiac.
Hail to the Thief in 2003. Without a record contract the band recorded the album In Rainbows
which was released independently in October 2007 as a digital download for which the customer was able to name their own price and as a "discbox" which included the In Rainbows CD, a bonus CD from the recording sessions, a vinyl edition of In Rainbows contained in two 45 rpm vinyl records, and a hardcover book.
This discbox was available for purchase from the "In Rainbows" website for £40 (US$82), and was shipped to customers in early December 2007.
On 31 October 2007 Radiohead announced that they were signing a new deal with XL Recordings
and that In Rainbows would be released commercially as a CD release. Very soon after, Parlophone announced the release of the box set. It was released exactly one week after the discbox was due to ship and the physical version retailed for about the same price as the discbox. Radiohead were not involved in the decision to release the box set and did not promote it. It has been suggested that the release of the box set is an act of retribution for losing the rights to selling the commercially lucrative Radiohead albums. Parlophone have denied this and Radiohead have refused to comment on the release.
Early in November 2007, search results for the term Radiohead prominently displayed a sponsored link reading "Radiohead - New Album 'In Rainbows' now available as boxset". The advert, however, led not to the In Rainbows website, but to the website where Parlophone was selling the box set of the six previously released albums. Parlophone soon corrected this error and Radiohead accepted it as a genuine mistake rather than an attempt to deceive.
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, reissued as a box set on 10 December 2007. The box set is available as seven CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
box set, a digital download
Music download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
and a 4GB USB Stick
USB flash drive
A flash drive is a data storage device that consists of flash memory with an integrated Universal Serial Bus interface. flash drives are typically removable and rewritable, and physically much smaller than a floppy disk. Most weigh less than 30 g...
. The box set peaked at #95 in Canada's album charts.
Contents
The box set contains their first six albums and one live E.P. recorded by Radiohead for their former label EMIEMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
between 1993 and 2003:
- Pablo HoneyPablo HoneyPablo Honey is the debut studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released in February 1993. The album was produced by Sean Slade and Paul Q. Kolderie and was recorded at Chipping Norton Studio and Courtyard Studio, Oxfordshire from September to November 1992...
- The BendsThe BendsThe Bends is the second studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 13 March 1995 by Parlophone. The Bends was produced by John Leckie at EMI's studios in London, and engineered by Nigel Godrich, who would go on to produce all future albums by the band...
- OK ComputerOK ComputerOK Computer is the third studio album by the English alternative rock band Radiohead, released on 16 June 1997 on Parlophone in the UK and 1 July 1997 by Capitol Records in the US. It marks a deliberate attempt by the band to move away from the introspective guitar-oriented sound of their previous...
- Kid AKid AKid A is the fourth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in October 2000 by the Parlophone label. A commercial success worldwide, Kid A went platinum in its first week of release in the United Kingdom. Despite the lack of an official single or music video as publicity, Kid A...
- AmnesiacAmnesiacAmnesiac was generally well-received by critics. It was also ranked as one of the best albums of the year by several publications. The Village Voice Pazz and Jop poll ranked it number 6 on their top 10 albums of the year. Alternative Press declared it the #1 album of the year...
- I Might Be Wrong: Live Recordings
- Hail to the ThiefHail to the ThiefHail to the Thief is the sixth studio album by the English rock band Radiohead, released in June 2003 through Parlophone Records. After two Radiohead albums that featured heavily processed vocals, less guitar, and strong influence from experimental electronica and jazz, Hail to the Thief was seen...
The box set was released in physical form as a limited edition seven CD box set, with each album in original digipak
Digipak
Digipak is a patented style of CD, DVD or BD packaging, and is a registered trademark of AGI World Ltd., an Atlas Holdings company.-Features:...
sleeves, as a digital download as DRM-free
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
320 kbit/s MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
files with digital artwork and as a 4GB USB Stick. The USB stick contains all seven albums as WAV
WAV
Waveform Audio File Format , is a Microsoft and IBM audio file format standard for storing an audio bitstream on PCs...
audio files and digital artwork for each album. There have also been reports of certain stores across Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
stocking boxsets that include special edition
Special edition
The terms special edition, limited edition and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition and others, are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as books, prints or recorded music and films, but now including...
s of the first three albums, as well as Amnesiac.
Background
The band's contract with Parlophone lapsed in 2004 after the release of their sixth studio albumHail to the Thief in 2003. Without a record contract the band recorded the album In Rainbows
In Rainbows
In Rainbows is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was first released on 10 October 2007 as a digital download self-released, that customers could order for whatever price they saw fit, followed by a standard CD release in most countries during the last week of 2007. The...
which was released independently in October 2007 as a digital download for which the customer was able to name their own price and as a "discbox" which included the In Rainbows CD, a bonus CD from the recording sessions, a vinyl edition of In Rainbows contained in two 45 rpm vinyl records, and a hardcover book.
This discbox was available for purchase from the "In Rainbows" website for £40 (US$82), and was shipped to customers in early December 2007.
On 31 October 2007 Radiohead announced that they were signing a new deal with XL Recordings
XL Recordings
XL Recordings is a British independent record label owned by Richard Russell. It originated as a 1989 offshoot of Beggars Banquet Records.Though only releasing an average of six albums a year, XL Recordings has worked with The Prodigy, Radiohead, The White Stripes, Dizzee Rascal, M.I.A., Vampire...
and that In Rainbows would be released commercially as a CD release. Very soon after, Parlophone announced the release of the box set. It was released exactly one week after the discbox was due to ship and the physical version retailed for about the same price as the discbox. Radiohead were not involved in the decision to release the box set and did not promote it. It has been suggested that the release of the box set is an act of retribution for losing the rights to selling the commercially lucrative Radiohead albums. Parlophone have denied this and Radiohead have refused to comment on the release.
Early in November 2007, search results for the term Radiohead prominently displayed a sponsored link reading "Radiohead - New Album 'In Rainbows' now available as boxset". The advert, however, led not to the In Rainbows website, but to the website where Parlophone was selling the box set of the six previously released albums. Parlophone soon corrected this error and Radiohead accepted it as a genuine mistake rather than an attempt to deceive.