It was released by Arista Records in the United Kingdom on 2 June 2003 and includes five of Stansfield's studio albums with bonus tracks and a sixth disc with remixes, rarities and one previously unreleased song.

Digitally remastered limited edition white and silver embossed box set includes all of Stanfield's studio albums released through 2003.

Stansfield's very first band, Blue Zone, with husband Ian Devaney and school mate Andy Morris is represented on Live/Rare/Mixed by "There Was I", "Dirty Talk" and the previously unreleased "The Answer" (recorded in 1986).

The mixes are by Massive Attack, Driza Bone, and The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and do a nice job of funking up Stansfield's often reserved style.

[4] Alex Bettucchi also wrote a positive review and noted that the only flaw is the fact that The Complete Collection does not include any songs from Big Thing (1988) or Swing (1999).