A
double album is an
audio album which spans two units of the primary medium in which it is sold (especially
records and
compact discs). A double album is typically, though not always, released because the recording is longer than the capacity of the medium. Recording artists often think of double albums as a single piece artistically; however, there are exceptions such as
Pink Floyd's
Ummagumma, one
live album and one studio record packaged together, and
OutKast's
Speakerboxxx/The Love Below, consisting of one practical solo album by each member of the
hip-hop duo.
Particularly with 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. A new innovation is the accompaniment of a CD with a
DVD of related material, such as video related to the album or
DVD-Audio versions of the same recordings. These could be regarded as a new form of double album; some such discs are also released on as a two-sided format called
DualDisc.
The same principles apply to the triple album, which comprises three units. Packages with more units than two are often packaged as
boxed sets.
History
The first double album was
Benny Goodman's
Live at Carnegie Hall, released by
Columbia Records in 1950. The first rock double album, and first
studio double album was
Bob Dylan's
Blonde on Blonde in 1966,
[Alan Light, , Time, November 13, 2006] also on Columbia, although at the same time the
Mothers of Invention (featuring
Frank Zappa) were preparing the double album
Freak Out!, released two months after
Blonde on Blonde.
The best-selling double album of all time is
Pink Floyd's
The Wall with over 30 million copies (60 million units) worldwide. The best-selling double album for a solo artist is
Michael Jackson's
HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I, with over 20 million copies (40 million units) sold worldwide.
. Other best-selling double albums are
The Beatles'
White Album and
Billy Joel's
Greatest Hits I & II.
The double album has become less common since the decline of the
vinyl LP and the advent of
compact discs. A single LP had two sides, each of which had a capacity of up to 30 minutes (although shorter sides are more typical to avoid compromising sound quality), for a maximum of 30 to 50 minutes per record. A single CD has a capacity of 80 minutes (originally 74 minutes until the 1990s), thus many old double-LP albums have been re-released on a single CD. However, other double-LP albums are re-released as double-CD albums, either because they are too large even for a CD, or simply to retain the feeling or continuity of the original.
There are also double-LP albums, such as
Mike Oldfield's
Incantations and
Chick Corea's
My Spanish Heart, for which some tracks were removed or shortened for a single 74-minute CD release, though both were later re-released in their entirety when 80-minute CDs were developed.
Though the average album length has increased since the days of LPs, it remains rare for an artist to produce more than 80 minutes of studio material for one album. Thus, the double album format is now more commonly used for several formats other than studio albums.
Live albums which either present all or most of a single concert, or material from several concerts are commonly released on multiple CDs.
Compilations such as
greatest hits records can often comprise double albums.
Soundtracks and scores are also commonly released on two CDs; particularly soundtracks to
musicals, which typically last longer than 80 minutes, are commonly released in their entirety as double albums, occasionally offering a second single-disc version featuring the most notable songs. The double album format is also frequently used for
concept albums.
The double album is not entirely obsolete when it comes to studio albums, however. Some artists still occasionally produce a large enough quantity of material to justify a double album. For example,
Barenaked Ladies recorded 29 songs (initially intending more than 30) for their first original album following the completion of their contract with
Reprise Records, including several songs that were cut from past albums under that contract. Without needing to get a label's approval, they were able to release a 25-track "deluxe edition" double album
Barenaked Ladies Are Me, as well as releasing the album as two separate single albums, as well as a variety of other formats.
Nellie McKay reportedly fought with her label to get her debut album,
Get Away from Me released as a double album, even though the material would have fit on a single disc. She has been said to be the first female artist to have a double album as a debut.
Esham was the first
Hip hop artist to release a double album ("Judgement Day"), later followed by
2Pac with
All Eyez on Me and
Notorious B.I.G. with
Life after Death, the latter becoming the first
gangsta rap album to be
certified diamond.
Sesquialbum
There are only a few examples of a sesquialbum (i.e. one and a half records).
Johnny Winter released what would be the first three-sided rock album on two 12-inch discs, with the flip side of the second disc being blank.
Joe Jackson's 1986 release
Big World is another example. In 1982,
Todd Rundgren and his band released the self-titled album
Utopia featuring one full LP of 10 songs and a second 12-inch disc with 5 bonus tracks and the same 5 tracks on the flip side. The
Monty Python album
Matching Tie and Handkerchief was originally issued with two concentric grooves with different programs on side B.
Elvis Costello and
The Clash (amongst other 1980s acts) would sometimes release early pressings of their albums with extra material on a 45 rpm
single. In 2005,
The Mars Volta released their album
Frances the Mute, on which the vinyl pressing spans five sides of vinyl, the sixth is an etching of tree roots. In 1994, the Norwegian band
Motorpsycho released their album
Timothy's Monster, where the vinyl edition contains three LPs - five sides with music, the sixth side has a drawing/etching. They used the same technique for
Motorpsycho Presents The International Tussler Society (four sides of vinyl, three with music and one with a drawing).
Triple album
Among the first successful triple albums were
Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More, released 15 August 1970, and
George Harrison's
All Things Must Pass released 27 November 1970. A triple album may be live, such as
Led Zeppelin's
How the West Was Won; or a compilation of an artist's work, such as
Stevie Wonder's retrospective anthology
Looking Back.
Yes' live album
Yessongs was made a triple-album due to it including many of the band's longer compositions. However, due to the extended space on
CDs as opposed to LPs, many albums that once spanned across three discs have now been able to fit on two discs.
Triple albums are released across genres, including
punk with
The Clash's
Sandinista!,
alternative rock with
Pearl Jam's
11/6/00 - Seattle, Washington, and mainstream pop with
Prince's
Emancipation.
American hip hop artist
Lupe Fiasco's canceled third studio album release
LupEND would have been a triple-album., composed of discs titled
Everywhere,
Nowhere &
Down HereBox set
When albums exceed the triple album format they are generally referred to as box sets. Normally, albums consisting of four or more discs are compilations or live recordings, such as
In a Word: Yes (1969–) and
Chicago at Carnegie Hall, respectively. In a very rare move,
Pan sonic released a four-disc studio album named
Kesto (234.48:4), as did
avant-garde guitarist
Buckethead with his 13-disc set
In Search of The in 2007.
Simultaneous releases
Some performers have released two or more distinct but related albums simultaneously which could be seen together as a double album. Examples include:
See also
