Vinyl Icons

Original Vinyl
Spectrum was released on Atlantic on the 1st of October 1973 in a gatefold sleeve with a painting by Jeff Snider on the front, two superimposed photo portraits of Cobham on the rear [see below] and a photo of him playing his transparent acrylic Fibes kit across the inner gatefold along with the album credits. The UK catalogue number was K 40506 while in the US it was SD 7268.

The Canadian version, which shared the US catalogue number, came in a single sleeve with the tracklisting credits superimposed on the back cover composite portrait.

Cassette And 8-Track
In the US, Spectrum arrived on two cassettes on Atlantic in 1973, one in a standard case with the lettering printed on a white shell and one with a pink shell in a slipcase. Both had the catalogue number CS 7268. The UK cassette came out early the following year, with black shells and red paper labels [K440506]. An 8-track cartridge was released in 1973 in the US only [Atlantic TP7268].

CD and DVD Audio
The first CD release came in 1992 in Europe as part of the Atlantic Jazz Remasters series [7567-81428-2 YG, see top right], and in the US in the Atlantic & ATCO Remasters Series [7268-2], digitally remastered by Zal Schreiber.

In 2001 Atlantic and Rhino released a DVD Audio/Advanced Resolution version of Spectrum in the US, a double-sided disc with both stereo and surround sound mixes. The package came with a booklet. Cobham is listed as executive producer of the surround sound remix, which was undertaken by Filippo Bussi. The DVD side includes a video interview with Cobham [R9-78408]. The version released in Germany had the catalogue number 8122-78408-9.

A remastered Japanese CD was released in 2007 on The Fusion Masterpiece 1500 series through Atlantic and Rhino [WPCR-25057] with an insert in Japanese with a sky blue and white obi, and a disc design based on the Atlantic record label but in pink and brown.

In 2016 in the US, Audio Fidelity released the album on a numbered limited edition Hybrid Multichannel disc, with a mix in SACD surround sound and the original mixes in SACD stereo and CD stereo. It was remastered by Kevin Gray at Cohearent Audio [AFZ5 234].

Box Set
No extra tracks emerged from the Spectrum sessions until 2015, when Atlantic, Warners and Rhino released an 8CD box set in Europe, Billy Cobham: The Atlantic Years 1973-1978 [0081227952433, see below]. Bonus tracks on the Spectrum CD included edited stereo and mono mixes of 'Stratus' and an outtake, 'All 4 One'.

Audiophile Vinyl
Atlantic released a 180g vinyl LP in the US in 2010 [SD 7268] before teaming up with Music On Vinyl for a European release in 2018 [MOVLP2167].