It was the first compilation of songs by the band (not counting Coda, which some sources list as a studio album)[a] and the selection and remastering of the tracks were supervised by Jimmy Page.

Debuting at number 40 on the Billboard 200, the box set was described by Los Angeles Times journalist Dennis Hunt as "one of the most expensive albums ever to reach the Top 40", noting its retail price of $65 on CD and $55 on cassette.

"Travelling Riverside Blues" was recorded on 24 June 1969 at the BBC Maida Vale Studio.

The "Moby Dick/Bonzo's Montreux" mix took place at the Atlantic Synclavier Suite in New York, in May 1990.

To further the confusion, in both cases this is different from The Complete Studio Recordings box set released three years later, which includes all nine of the band's studio albums on ten discs, with the three extra tracks appended to Coda, along with the 1969 recording "Baby Come On Home", first released on the two-disc Led Zeppelin Boxed Set 2.