Keith Emerson celebrated with 20-disc box set Variations

(Image credit: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images)

Variations, a career-spanning 20-disc box set celebrating the work of Keith Emerson, will be released through Spirit Of Unicorn Records on October 13. You can watch a video trailer for the new box set below.

The set contains rare early tracks with The T Bones And Chris Baber, music from The Nice and of course Emerson, Lake & Palmer, all of Emerson's solo albums, his soundtrack work, recent collaborations with conductor Terke Mikkelsen such as The Three Fates project and a host of live sets featuring previously unavailable material.

The collection has been curated with the full involvement and blessing of the Emerson family. Aaron Emerson, Keith’s son, says “It is with great excitement that we can share all of dad’s great work, expanding throughout his long career. I hope it gives you as much joy as it has done for all of us”.

Variations will be housed in a special 10 x 10 inch box, and the 20-CDs are accompanied by sleeve notes written by Jerry Ewing, Editor of Prog Magazine. Ewing casts a magnifying glass over the immense Emerson catalogue and speaks with many of his collaborators to deliver a fascinating history of the man behind the keyboard. Variations will also feature a 48-page book containing many never-before-seen photos taken directly from the Emerson family archive.

You can see the contents and artwork for Variations below.

Pre-order Variations.

VARIATIONS CONTENTS

PART ONE: THE EARLY YEARS / THE BANDS

DISC ONE

PART TWO: THE SOLO ALBUMS

DISC TWO: Honky

DISC THREE: Changing States

DISC FOUR: Emerson Plays Emerson

DISC FIVE: Keith Emerson Band

PART THREE: THE SOUNDTRACKS

DISC SIX: Inferno

DISC SEVEN: Nighthawks

DISC EIGHT: Murderock

DISC NINE: Best Revenge / La Chiesa

DISC TEN: Iron Man

DISC ELEVEN: Harmagedon / Godzilla

PART FOUR: COLLABORATIONS

DISC TWELVE: Three Fates Project

DISC THIRTEEN: Beyond the Stars

PART FIVE: LIVE COLLABORATIONS

DISC FOURTEEN: Boys Club (Live from California)

DISC FIFTEEN: Moscow Pt 1

DISC SIXTEEN: Moscow Pt 2

DISC SEVENTEEN: Live from Manticore Hall

DISC EIGHTEEN: Off The Shelf

DISC NINETEEN: Live at BB Kings - 21/05/2004

DISC TWENTY: B.B.Kings - NYC - 21/05/2004 / The Keith Emerson Trio Live At BB Kings

Writer and broadcaster Jerry Ewing is the Editor of Prog Magazine which he founded for Future Publishing in 2009. He grew up in Sydney and began his writing career in London for Metal Forces magazine in 1989. He has since written for Metal Hammer, Maxim, Vox, Stuff and Bizarre magazines, among others. He created and edited Classic Rock Magazine for Dennis Publishing in 1998 and is the author of a variety of books on both music and sport, including Wonderous Stories; A Journey Through The Landscape Of Progressive Rock.