Paul McCartney unveils Egypt Station ‘Traveller’s Edition’ box set

It’s strangely in keeping with its theme of travel and trains (at least for those of us in the UK) that Paul McCartney‘s Egypt Station box set arrives so late. The fact that a box set was in production was clear from day one, but details of this ‘traveller’s edition’ super deluxe have only just been announced and the set itself won’t be shipping until May, eight months after the album was released. Read on to find out the details of this limited set…

Perhaps aware that some were left disappointed with the level of availability of the Paul McCartney & Wings 1971-1973 box set, Paul’s team are at pains to inform fans that this new box will be ‘strictly limited’ and will have a one-time-only pressing of 3,000 units.

The box set – the Traveller’s Edition – is packaged in a vintage style suitcase and promises “previously unreleased tracks, hidden rarities” and more but as will become apparent it is one of those sets that ‘gathers’ bits together rather than presenting something entirely unique.

Here’s what is inside the box:

• Limited Edition Concertina Tri-Fold Deluxe 180G Vinyl Double Black Disc Pressing of Egypt Station
• Exclusive Limited Edition Bonus 180G Vinyl Pressing of Egypt Station II in “Night Scene” blue, featuring three previously unreleased tracks — ‘Frank Sinatra’s Party,’ ‘Sixty Second Street’ and extended cut of Egypt Station single ‘Who Cares’ — as well as four live performances of Egypt Station tracks taken from Abbey Road Studios, The Cavern Club, LIPA, and Paul’s iconic performance at Grand Central Station
• Limited Edition Egypt Station Concertina CD
• Exclusive Limited Edition collector’s Egypt Station Blue Cassette
• HD Audio of all tracks upon shipment
• Additional rare performances footage hidden inside

Here’s the other ‘stuff’ or what Paul’s team are calling ‘special features’:

• Luxury vintage-style embossed Egypt Station artwork suitcase
• An exclusive copy of a handwritten note from Paul
• Fold out, vintage-style Egypt Station illustrated map suitable for framing
• Travel memorabilia including “travel itinerary”, postcards, baggage tickets and first class ticket
• Egypt Station luggage stickers
• Travel journal featuring copies of Paul’s handwritten lyrics
• Two Egypt Station lithographs of Paul’s paintings
• 500+ piece jigsaw puzzle
• Egypt Station playing cards
• And additional hidden surprises and rarities

This box set is being promoted as an ‘event’ and fans are being encouraged to sign up here by the end of today, and they’ll be emailed a unique link for access to the pre-order. This means it’s a D2C (direct-to-consumer) offering and won’t be available via normal retailers. The Traveller’s Edition box will ship on the 10 May 2019.

This release represents the ninth physical edition of Egypt Station. What do you think of it? Leave a comment on SDE.

Egypt Station Collectors’ update:

• MusicVaultz in Canada have the Spotify 2LP green vinyl in stock
• MusicVaultz also have the orange/blue ‘concertina’ 2LP vinyl in stock
• MusicVaultz also have the 2LP black ‘concertina’ vinyl (the one in the box)