LIMITED EDITION: all saints - all saints (deluxe edition boxset)

Now, I'm going to take us on a trip down memory lane...back to 1997 and girl groups were ruling the charts. There was of course (my favourite) the Spice Girls and their slightly cooler, lil bit more urban sisters All Saints. All Saints debut album 'All Saints' was a collection of slow burning downbeat pop with flavours of R&B and I loved it! This deluxe edition is special to me as I had no idea it existed (no mention of it on most of the internet or wikipedia pages) until a year or so ago, when I was browsing eBay and this appeared in my recommended! So lets pour a cup of Black Coffee and take a trip back to the 90s...
there's gunna be a lot of khaki so hold tight...

The front of the boxset, I think, is pretty strong graphically - that stencil type the band used as their logo was bold and felt a little grungy too. Their first album seemed to have this cammo green palette throughout, which is used for this also.

Close up on the sticker, also you can see there is an almost faux-leather texture to the box.

The lid's off and you are greeted with a big A and S :) (also this kind of constellation motif on the letters used throughout the album art later also). This is an oversized photo booklet, which we'll explore more in a moment, but first, underneath that...

 ...We see the rest of the contents! The original album, a remix album (one of the first remix exclusive albums to be released and chart, fun fact) and - as it's the 90s - a VHS of the band's music videos. *swoon*

Click "Read More" to see the rest of the review and my score for this piece! :)

Now let's dive into that glossy, photo booklet.

YES! Individual band member images, lazing on leather sofas! Hey Shaz!

Sponsored by Adidas, of course.

What I love in this booklet, the designer has filled some pages with just the page number. It shows off that stencil type again and also, each letter is embossed, so the gloss factor gets turned up a notch!

Note to self: buy yellow sunglasses.

Nike tick socks. Just do it, indeed.

This thing is like a time capsule, I can't deal! What I love about VHS was the weight and thickness of them (eh up...), more space for stencil typography!

And now the album - iconic. One thing I loved when I was younger looking at this artwork was how they all seemed to be wrapped up together, almost piled at the bottom and then there was such free space for their name to stand alone at the top. The juxtaposition really spoke to my 7 year old self.

Each full stop after the track number is a coloured square used in the constellation motif on the photo booklet FYI...

The disc and fold out booklet:

Here is the second disc in the set, 'The Remix Album' - and you guessed it, more heavy use of that type, which I am more than happy to see.

And there we have it, that time capsule of late 90s girl group greatness! To sum it up: stencil typography, cammo green, VHS and Adidas. So much Adidas.

I think anyone looking in nowadays at first glance would feel those 90s-isms won't have aged gracefully for this box set - but what carries it is the strong visual palette (greens, fonts, graphic motif choices throughout) that shows a well thought out, quietly confident piece that stands the test of time. Just like the Saints themselves. Never Ever will I let this one out of my collection...

Originality : 9/10

Materials : 9/10

Design : 10/10

The Music : 10/10

Overall : 9.5/10

Rarity : To be honest, I can't find out how limited the run was of these, but they aren't often on eBay - keep your eyes peeled!

Click on the "my editions" tab to see more of my cover-to-cover reviews of limited edition beauties!!