Director Cameron Crowe is expanding the classic Almost Famous soundtrack into a limited-edition box set due out in July.
When you tell someone that you’re a music journalist, at least 7 times out of 10 they’ll bring up Almost Famous in conversation. They’ll ask if it inspired you to pursue your career. They’ll ask if it’s anywhere near as glamorous as that in real life (hint: it’s not).
The semi-autobiographical story follows a teenage journalist writing for Rolling Stone in the 70’s, touring with the fictional band Stillwater. There was a notable turn as the excellent music journalist Lester Bangs by the late, great Philip Seymour Hoffman. The film would go on to be nominated for four Oscars, winning one for Best Original Screenplay.
The film was celebrated its 20th anniversary last year with a podcast, cast reunion, and unearthing of Crowe’s archive. It was the soundtrack that really stood out back in 2000 though, filled with some of the greatest artists from the 70’s. Simon & Garfunkel. The Who. The Allman Brothers Band. David Bowie. Cat Stevens. It was so good that it won the 2001 Grammy for Best Compilation Soundtrack Album for a Motion Picture.
Now, as per Rolling Stone, the upcoming expanded box set will be the first-ever release of all the music featured in the film. It includes all five Led Zeppelin songs as well as the iconic cast singalong to ‘Tiny Dancer’.
The ‘Uber Box’ edition contains 103 tracks spread across five CDs, seven LPs, and a seven-inch of Stillwater’s ‘Fever Dog’. It also includes William Miller’s Rolling Stone cover story on the band, a 40-page photo book, backstage passes, Lester Bang’s Creem business card, and more. The works of Stillwater also feature, their songs being written by Crowe, Nancy Wilson, and Peter Frampton.
“We are extremely proud to revisit Almost Famous with a very special bounty of goodness,” Crowe said in a statement. “For the first time, we’ve created a deluxe soundtrack that features nearly every song from the film, along with Nancy Wilson’s wonderfully evocative score.
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We’re also thrilled to finally preserve both versions of the film, along with a collection of rare new bonus features, on these beautiful new 4K and Blu-ray releases as part of Paramount Presents. Long live physical media!”
The Almost Famous limited-edition box set is set for release on July 9th via UMe.
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Check out ‘Tiny Dancer’ in Almost Famous:
