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Aboxed set, orbox set (American English), 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 haveanthology 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 asPink Floyd'sOh, by the Way andDiscovery sets. Sometimes bands release expanded versions of their most successful albums, such as Pink Floyd'sImmersion versions of theirThe Dark Side of the Moon (1973),Wish You Were Here (1975) andThe Wall (1979) boxes. Pink Floyd have also releasedThe Early Years 1965–1972 box set, which features mostly unreleased material.
Other music box sets compile different artists from a particular genre such asbig bandjazz, 1960srock and roll, oropera. 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 areLegacy Recordings andRhino Records; both have won multipleGrammy Awards. Prior to Rhino and Legacy, companies such asTime-Life Records andReader's Digest also issued box sets.
In rare cases, box sets contain all original material, such as the 11-disc setBlue Guitars byChris Rea,In Search of The, a 13-disc set byBuckethead, orKlaus Schulze's 10-disc setContemporary Works I. Some box sets become best sellers, such asLed Zeppelin'sLed Zeppelin (1990),George Strait'sStrait Out of the Box (1995),Nirvana'sWith the Lights Out (2004) andThe Beatles' twinThe Beatles Stereo Box Set andThe 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, likesymphonies orchamber music, performed by a certain orchestra,ensemble or conductor.
Well-known authors and artists who have written or produced several related books or portfolios offine 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 ofShakespeare, collection ofJ. R. R. Tolkien novels, orAnsel Adams photographic prints. There are now also digital boxed set collections, such as21 Shades of Night.[1]
Films, television and other video programs onBlu-ray andDVD are sometimes sold as boxed sets, as were certain titles on the now-discontinuedVHS andLaserDisc formats. Such a boxed set might include an entireseason 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 theStar Wars series or theLord of the Rings trilogy, and a selection of adaptions of a particular author such asStephen King orJane Austen. Some boxed sets contain different versions of one film, as in the case ofBlade Runner andAlien Quadrilogy.
One of the most popular boxed sets of all time is "TheNightmare on Elm Street Collection" released in 1999 byNew Line Platinum Series,[citation needed] which contained the original seven films, a bonus DVD containing special features titledThe Nightmare Series Encyclopedia, two pairs of 3-D glasses for the last ten minutes ofFreddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare, a commemorative booklet about the films titledThe Nightmare is Alive and more. Other notable boxed sets include theDragon 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 ofShirley 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 thespecial editions.
In the context of streaming services such asNetflix, the term "boxed set" often refers, particularly but not exclusively inCommonwealth English, to a series or season where all episodes are available to watchon demand, either in addition to or in place of traditionalscheduling.