When Kate Bush returned to music in 2005 after a 12-year absence, about all that could be expected was the unexpected...and the sonic auteur, naturally, delivered. Her 21st century work and assorted ephemera has been collected by Parlophone as one box of remastered CDs and two box sets of remastered vinyl LPs. Aerial opens Parlophone's CD Box 2, and Remastered in Vinyl Box 3. The record was conceived as two halves, one on each disc. The first, A Sea of Honey, is a collection of
The Big Sky: Kate Bush's "The Other Sides" Getting Standalone Release In March
Last year, Kate Bush surprised fans with a series of fully-remastered box sets presenting her entire albums discography plus numerous bonuses on CD and vinyl. The second CD box (the simply-titled CD Box 2) included four discs of rare bonus material, all of which were also released as the fourth vinyl box (Remastered in Vinyl IV). Now, those four CDs are being broken out on their own. The Other Sides, due on March 8 from Parlophone, brings together one disc of extended 12-inch mixes, two
Review: Kate Bush, "Remastered in Vinyl" Boxes 1 and 2
Late last year, Parlophone unveiled a series of lavish box sets on both CD and vinyl collecting the complete works (to date) of Kate Bush. The enigmatic singer-songwriter oversaw the remastering of these sets as well as their visual presentations; indeed, each album has been newly adorned with the logo of her own Fish People label. Today, we're taking a look at the first two vinyl box sets! The four LPs of Remastered in Vinyl 1 takes listeners from The Kick Inside (1978), housed in its
A Deal With God: Kate Bush's Catalogue Remastered For CD, Vinyl Box Sets
Kate Bush was just nineteen years old when her debut single "Wuthering Heights" topped the U.K. Singles Chart for four weeks in 1978. Since that time, the singer-songwriter has placed 25 singles within the chart's top 40 and released ten studio albums. She became the first British solo female artist to top the country's album chart and the first female artist, period, to enter the album chart at No. 1. Yet despite such accolades, Bush has never wavered from her own, truly singular career
One Little Spark: New Label Launches With Kate Bush, Ben Folds, Laura Nyro, "The Sound of Music"
With its upcoming roster boasting titles from Kate Bush, Ben Folds Five, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, Laura Nyro and Julie Andrews, the new audiophile label Analog Spark is pulling out all the stops for its debut this spring. Yesterday, Razor & Tie announced the launch of Analog Spark, a new imprint which will focus on reissued releases on both 180-gram vinyl and SACD. Razor & Tie co-owners Cliff Chenfeld and Craig Balsam commented, “We’re very excited about the launch of Analog Spark
More Kate Bush Reissue Details Emerge
For fans of great classic pop-rock, there are two great pieces of news today: Capitol's confirmation of releasing The Beach Boys' SMiLE this year (!!!) and the promise of a new Kate Bush album in May, her first since 2005. There are some details on that release, Director's Cut, which will be of some interest to our readers: not only is it an album of sort-of-re-recorded songs (it will feature partially but not entirely new versions of songs from The Sensual World (1989) and The Red Shoes
Short Takes: Early Details on Reissues from Pearl Jam, Kate Bush
A new Rolling Stone article has revealed some details about the upcoming batch of catalogue titles from Pearl Jam. The forthcoming reissues of Vs. (1993) and Vitalogy (1994) will feature "previously unheard bonus tracks (including an alternate version of “Corduroy” and a guitar-and-organ version of “Betterman”), an entire 1994 Boston show and a cassette from their Monkeywrench radio series." The article is not clear, but it seems as though both albums and bonus material may be paired together,
Don't Look Down: Go West Expand 'Dancing on the Couch' with Remixes and Live Material
It was a pleasant surprise to see British '80s duo Go West get a deluxe edition of their debut album last year. Chrysalis is making lightning strike twice early this year for fans with a follow-up: an 3CD/1DVD expansion of the duo's 1987 release Dancing on the Couch. After Peter Cox and Richard Drummie scored a Top 5 hit in their homeland with "We Close Our Eyes" in 1985, they'd amassed a solid fan base who'd be curious to hear what a follow-up sounded like. Working again with producer Gary
Mighty Love: The Spinners' "Ain't No Price on Happiness: The Thom Bell Studio Recordings" Box Arrives Friday
2023 has shaped up to be a banner year for The Spinners. The famed vocal quintet, now in their eighth decade, will be inducted on November 3 into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside the illustrious likes of Willie Nelson, Kate Bush, and George Michael. Earlier this year, Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music celebrated the group's extraordinary legacy with the release of The Complete Atlantic Singles: The Thom Bell Productions 1972-1979, collecting a whopping 43 single sides on two
Holding On: Cherry Red Collects Beverley Craven's Epic Albums on "Memories"
Good - no, great - things do indeed come in small packages. Such is the case with the new collection from Cherry Red's 90/9 imprint. Beverley Craven's Memories: The Complete Epic Recordings 1990-1999 rounds up all three of the British singer-songwriter-pianist's major label albums, as well as a generous host of bonus tracks. Though Craven's catalogue is a small one - this 3-CD set represents roughly half of her released output - it's one rich with melodic charm and often exquisite songcraft
Release Round-Up: Week of November 4
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! Billy Joel, Live at Yankee Stadium (Columbia/Legacy) 2CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Billy Joel's Live at Yankee Stadium, originally released on video, is getting a major makeover. The concert film, shot on June 22 and 23, 1990, has been restored and remixed from original audio and video elements for a 2CD/Blu-ray
Release Round-Up: Week of September 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! The Kinks, Muswell Hillbillies / Everybody's in Show-Biz - Everybody's a Star (BMG) 6LP/4CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Muswell Hillbillies 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Muswell Hillbillies 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Everybody's in Show-Biz 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon
As You Walk on By: New Box Celebrates the Music of John Hughes Films
A wise philosopher...or maybe a punk kid...or maybe an astute screenwriter?...once wrote "Life moves pretty fast - if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." A new box set devoted to that iconic filmmaker - the late John Hughes - will help fans enjoy some of that life a little more through a diverse collection of pop songs he helped bring to the masses. Life Moves Pretty Fast. The John Hughes Mixtapes offers four volumes of songs from the writer/director's popular
Take This Heart: Anthony Phillips Collects Solo Rarities, Genesis Demos, Musical Scores on "Archive Collection" Box Set
Cherry Red's Esoteric Recordings imprint has had a long relationship with composer and founding Genesis lead guitarist Anthony Phillips encompassing reissues of various solo albums as well as his Private Parts and Pieces compilation series. Earlier this year, Esoteric turned its attention to another collection drawn from Phillips' prodigious vaults: the 5-CD box set Archive Collection Volume 1 & Volume 2. Phillips' Archive Collection had its antecedent in Private Parts and Pieces (which
Bright Future in Sales: Real Gone Music Announces Record Store Day Black Friday Offerings with Bangles, Fountains of Wayne, Blue Oyster Cult, More
Time flies when it's seemingly at a standstill. It might be hard to believe, but even with still one more Record Store Day Drop to go (on October 24) it's already time to look ahead at Record Store Day Black Friday, which falls on November 27 this year. Brick and mortar shops nationwide will be releasing special, limited-edition vinyl offerings, and our friends at Real Gone Music have just announced what's on their lineup! The Bangles, Doll Revolution (2-LP, streaked pink vinyl, 1,500
The Way It Goes: Esoteric Collects Albums from David Gilmour-Produced Band Unicorn
Unicorn went through a number of names before the band settled on that mystical creature: The Senders, The Pink Bear, The Late Edition, The Late, and just plain Late. The band wasn't late at all - rather, they were right on time in combining their influences into a striking sound of their own. They'd started as a beat group and put those skills to use backing Billy J. Kramer; then, the discovery of the Southern California sounds of CSN became a major influence. Unicorn blended CSN-style
Release Round-Up: Week of March 13
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! ABBA, Live at Wembley Arena (Polar/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) ABBA brings its 2014 release of Live at Wembley Arena - preserving the group's November 10, 1979 performance at the storied venue - back to vinyl. This edition on 3 LPs has been half-speed mastered by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios. Ella Fitzgerald, The Complete Piano Duets (Verve/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This
Release Round-Up: Week of July 19
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! James Taylor, The Warner Bros. Albums 1970-1976 (Warner/Rhino) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rhino has a newly remastered box, supervised by Peter Asher, of James Taylor's six studio albums for the label including Sweet Baby James (1970), Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon (1971), One Man Dog (1972), Walking Man (1974), Gorilla (1975); and In the Pocket (1976). Available on CD,
Release Round-Up: Week of March 22
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up. Here's what's on the way today, March 22! Aretha Franklin, Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings (Rhino/Atlantic Catalog Group) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Amazing Grace: The Complete Recordings presents Aretha Franklin's iconic concerts at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles during January 1972 in full. Both the Thursday night and Friday night sets are accounted for, spread across four 180-gram LPs. For
Release Round-Up: Week of March 8
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Pamela Polland, Pamela Polland/Have You Heard the One About the Gas Station Attendant? (BGO) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) BGO collects the two Columbia albums of singer-songwriter Pamela Polland in one deluxe, slipcased package - her 1972 self-titled LP and 1973 follow-up which was shelved and never released...until now! Pamela Polland and Have You Heard the One About the Gas Station Attendant? are filled with enchanting pop
The Year In Review - The 2018 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z
Happy 2019 and welcome to The Second Disc's 9th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! It's time once again to recognize this year's cream of the crop - those exemplary reissues and box sets big and small that proved to be truly outstanding products for physical media lovers worldwide. There was no shortage of great reissue titles in 2018; in fact, we covered over 700 releases in all! And after much deliberation, we're excited to unveil our favorites. This isn't your run-of-the-mill Top 10,
Gone So Fast: Omnivore Brings Unicorn's Lost, Gilmour-Produced Folk-Rock Gems to CD, LP, and Digital
The '70s folk-rock group Unicorn released three albums for EMI during the decade. The recordings were produced by Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and highlighted the band's talent for laid-back folk-rock. Their smooth, Eagles-like sound, Crosby & Nash-esque harmonies, and slick, professional production value could have won them critical acclaim, but history has largely forgotten their lush original material. (Cherry Red's Esoteric imprint has recently taken a look at their core discography.)
Release Round-Up: Week of November 30
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Neil Diamond, 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition (Capitol/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Neil Diamond revisits a 50+-year career with a new 6-CD, 115-song retrospective box set featuring hits, rarities, and 15 previously unreleased tracks including the original demos of "America" and "I Am...I Said." Everything is packaged within a deluxe hardcover book-style format. 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition expands upon 2017's
Release Round-Up: Week of November 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Fleetwood Mac, 50 Years: Don't Stop (Warner Bros./Rhino) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada In celebration of its 50 years, Fleetwood Mac is issuing a new career-spanning collection featuring 50 songs on either 3 CDs or 5 LPs. These include hits, favorites, and a smattering of rarities such as the CD premiere of 2013's "Sad Angel"
Take Me Home: Semisonic's Breakthrough 'Feeling Strangely Fine' Gets Expanded
Out today is a new 20th anniversary edition of Semisonic's breakthrough album Feeling Strangely Fine from UMe/Geffen Records which adds four bonus tracks to the original tracklisting. Hailing from Minnesota, Dan Wilson and John Munson were members of the band Trip Shakespeare. When that group broke up, the joined with drummer Jacob Slichter in 1995 to form Semisonic. The trio recorded an EP, Pleasure, released on an indie label. They were then signed to Elektra, but dropped when the label