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The first double album was Benny Goodman's Live at Carnegie Hall, released by Columbia Records in 1950.^{[citation needed]} The first rock double album, and first studio double album was Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde in 1966,^[1] also on Columbia, although at the same time the Mothers of Invention (featuring Frank Zappa) were preparing the double album Freak Out!, released two months after Blonde on Blonde. The best-selling double album of all time is Pink Floyd's The Wall^[2], with over 30 million copies (60 million units) sold worldwide, including 13,5 million in the US (including Soundscan sales)^[3][4] and 11,3 million copies in Europe.^[5]

The double album has become less common since the decline of the vinyl LP and the advent of compact discs. A single LP had two sides, each of which had a capacity of up to 30 minutes (although shorter sides are more typical to avoid compromising sound quality), for a maximum of 30 to 50 minutes per record. A single CD has a capacity of 80 minutes (originally 74 minutes until the 1990s), thus many old double-LP albums have been re-released on a single CD. However, other double-LP albums are re-released as double-CD albums, either because they are too large even for a CD, or simply to retain the feeling or continuity of the original.

There are also double-LP albums, such as Mike Oldfield's Incantations and Chick Corea's My Spanish Heart, for which some some tracks were left off of or shortened for a single 74-minute CD release, though both were later re-released in their entirety when 80-minute CDs were developed.

Though the average album length has increased since the days of LPs, it remains rare for an artist to produce more than 80 minutes of studio material for one album. Thus, the double album format is now more commonly used for several formats other than studio albums. Live albums which either present all or most of a single concert, or material from several concerts are commonly released on multiple CDs. Compilations such as greatest hits records can often comprise double albums. Soundtracks and scores are also commonly released on two CDs; particularly soundtracks to musicals, which typically last longer than 80 minutes, are commonly released in their entirety as double albums, occasionally offering a second single-disc version featuring the most notable songs. The double album format is also frequently used for concept albums.

The double album is not entirely obsolete when it comes to studio albums, however. Some artists still occasionally produce a large enough quantity of material to justify a double album. For example, Barenaked Ladies recorded 29 songs (initially intending more than 30) for their first original album following the completion of their contract with Reprise Records, including several songs that were cut from past albums under that contract. Without needing to get a label's approval, they were able to release a 25-track "deluxe edition" double album Barenaked Ladies Are Me, as well as releasing the album as two separate single albums, as well as a variety of other formats. Nellie McKay reportedly fought with her label to get her debut album, Get Away from Me released as a double album, even though the material would have fit on a single disc. She has been said to be the first female artist to have a double album as a debut.

Esham was the first Hip hop artist to release a double album, Judgement Day. 2Pac made Hip hop history, despite Easy-E's early attempt which failed due to his untimely death in 1995, with the his first ever double album by a gangsta rapper, All Eyes on Me, having recorded it in 2-week span almost immediately after joining Death Row Records following his bailout from prison by label CEO Suge Knight. He released it in early 1996, months before being killed in a drive-by shooting in Las Vegas, thus making it also his last album released while still alive. Then in 1997, Notorious B.I.G., having also been killed in a drive-by, had his Life after Death released over two weeks later as the first East Coast Hip Hop double album, and despite it taking over a year to finish, became (in 2000) the first gangsta rap album to be certified diamond, while a year later, in 1998, 8Ball (of the rap duet 8Ball & MJG) released the first solo album to be double called Lost.

[edit] Sesquialbum

There are only a few examples of a sesquialbum (i.e. one and a half records). Johnny Winter released what would be the first three-sided rock album on two 12-inch discs, with the flip side of the second disc being blank. Joe Jackson's 1986 release Big World is another example. In 1982, Todd Rundgren and his band released the self-titled album Utopia featuring one full LP of 10 songs and a second 12-inch disc with 5 bonus tracks and the same 5 tracks on the flip side. The Monty Python album Matching Tie and Handkerchief was originally issued with two concentric grooves with different programs on side B. Elvis Costello and The Clash (amongst other 1980s acts) would sometimes release early pressings of their albums with extra material on a 45 rpm single. In 2005, The Mars Volta released their album Frances the Mute, on which the vinyl pressing spans five sides of vinyl, the sixth is an etching of tree roots. In 1994, the Norwegian band Motorpsycho released their album Timothy's Monster, where the vinyl edition contains three LPs - five sides with music, the sixth side has a drawing/etching. They used the same technique for Motorpsycho Presents The International Tussler Society (four sides of vinyl, three with music and one with a drawing).

[edit] Triple album

Among the first successful triple albums were Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More, released 15 August 1970, and George Harrison's All Things Must Pass released 27 November 1970. A triple album may be live, such as Led Zeppelin's How the West Was Won; or a compilation of an artist's work, such as Stevie Wonder's retrospective anthology Looking Back. Yes' live album Yessongs was made a triple-album due to it including many of the band's longer compositions.

Triple albums are released across genres, including punk with The Clash's Sandinista!, alternative rock with Pearl Jam's 11/6/00 - Seattle, Washington, and mainstream pop with Prince's Emancipation.

American hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco's canceled third studio album release LupEND would have been a triple-album., composed of discs titled Everywhere, Nowhere & Down Here