The fourth in an ongoing series of box sets chronicling the creation of a classic album, documents the making of the most celebrated album, 1972's . Like the and sets before it, doesn't contain the parent album among its CDs; is relegated to the Blu-ray, where it sits in a high-res stereo version and 5.1 mix alongside singles and , an early version of the album that was released separately on Record Store Day 2014. That leaves the five CDs to gather various demos, outtakes, stray songs, and especially, live performances recorded around the whirlwind of . The five discs roughly break down into a disc of early demos, augmented by recordings from 's short-lived group and a clutch of rehearsals from Haddon Hall; two discs of BBC performances, including sessions hosted by as well as a spot on The Old Grey Whistle Test; a disc of well-known outtakes ("Round and Round," "Velvet Goldmine," the original single version of "John, I'm Only Dancing") plus live recordings from Boston in October 1972; finally, a collection of stray songs that features a number of new mixes. The preponderance of previous reissues and collections does rob this set of some of its surprise because so much of this music has been in circulation. That said, this set does indeed contain some excavated rarities, highlighted by "So Long 60s" -- would rewrite this folky number into the bracingly modernist "Moonage Daydream" -- and two unheard songs from the album's early days. "Shadow Man," which would later revisit for , is an acoustic dirge that threatens to achieve liftoff, while the sprightly "It's Gonna Rain Again" veers toward the sunnier side of ("Only One Paper Left," another known tune of this era, remains undiscovered). Ultimately, that handful of genuine rarities function as attractive accents on what's a familiar story -- namely, how the conception of the character helped focus , letting him lean into the roar of guitarist , drummer , and bassist . All three were present in but as the they sounded seductive, sinewy, and sometimes sinister, a chemistry that's as palpable on as it is on the proper album itself. That energy, undiminished by either the passage of time or repetition, is reason enough for an immersion into this box set. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine