The first album was released in February 1996 in the UK and 9 July 1996 in the US.

This second album included songs from the film that did not make the cut for the first album, as well as songs that did not appear in the final film but were involved at earlier stages or were used as inspiration by the filmmakers, and one duplicate song.

The popularity of the first volume led EMI to reissue it and continue to press it since 16 June 2003.

[8] In 2007, the editors of Vanity Fair magazine ranked the original Trainspotting soundtrack as the 7th best motion picture soundtrack in history.

[9] It was ranked #17 on Entertainment Weekly's 100 Best Movie Soundtracks.