  With the advent of large scale surveys (i.e., Legacy Surveys) it is now
possible to start looking beyond the galaxy luminosity function (LF) to more
detailed statistical representations of the galaxy population, i.e.,
multivariate distributions. In this review I first summarise the current
state-of-play of the B-band global and cluster LFs and then briefly present two
promising bivariate distributions: the luminosity-surface brightness plane
(LSP); and the colour-luminosity plane (CLP). In both planes galaxy bulges and
galaxy disks form marginally overlapping but distinct distributions, indicating
two key formation/evolutionary processes (presumably merger and accretion).
Forward progress in this subject now requires the routine application of
reliable bulge-disk decomposition codes to allow independent investigation of
these two key components.
