The Disco Discharge series, dormant for over a decade, has been recently reactivated by Demon Music Group's Edsel label for one of its boldest projects yet. The 5-CD collection Disco Discharge Presents Box of Sin (also available on 4 LPs of highlights) is a journey through the gay club scene of 1980-1989 via 54 full-length or extended tracks from artists both expected and unexpected - including Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Donna Summer, Dreamgirls Sheryl Lee Ralph and Jennifer Holliday,
Let Me Roll It: Paul McCartney's 'Band on the Run' to Be Reissued with New "Underdubbed" Mixes
In 2010 - not even a year after this site was founded! - Paul McCartney announced the arrival of the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, a catalogue project involving his post-Beatles works (as a solo artist and Wings) in partnership with Hear Music/Concord. A baker's dozen of his works, from solo debut McCartney (1970) to the acclaimed Flaming Pie (1997), were given the box set treatment, occasionally baffling fans with omissions, from non-LP B-sides only being digitally available on the Flowers
The Weekend Stream: December 2, 2023
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts. This week's latest includes anniversary projects from Alicia Keys, live vault material from Bruce Springsteen, an oddity from The Alan Parsons Project and possibly the only article where Taylor Swift shares space with Minor Threat! Alicia Keys, The Diary of Alicia Keys 20 (RCA/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Legacy Recordings celebrates two decades of R&B
Release Round-Up: Week of December 1
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Sound of Music: Super Deluxe Edition (Craft Recordings) 4CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Craft Store (picnic meadow green) This remarkable new 4CD/1BD box set invites listeners to hear The Sound of
Only Country Music: Garth Brooks Boxes 2014-2020 Albums, Premieres "Time Traveler," On New Box Set
Garth Brooks' first edition of The Limited Series arrived in 1998. The collection of the superstar artist's first six albums became the first-ever box set to debut at No. 1 on two charts, and set a record for the best first-week sales of any box set to that point in the SoundScan era. He followed it with the second Limited Series in 2005. The Walmart/Sam's Club-exclusive set collected his next three albums plus the previously unreleased The Lost Sessions and a DVD of music and interviews.
Heaven In Your Arms: Iconoclassic Brings Dan Hartman's "It Hurts to Be in Love" to CD for First Time
On December 8, Dan Hartman would have turned 73. Sadly, the singer-songwriter-producer-musician-engineer's life was cut short by an AIDS-related brain tumor on March 22, 1994. He was just 43. The immense musical legacy of the "I Can Dream About You" hitmaker hasn't been forgotten, though. On his birthday, Iconoclassic Records will bring his 1981 solo album It Hurts to Be in Love to CD for the very first time. This newly remastered, expanded edition adds a pair of rare outtakes from the
Freedom Is More Than a Word: Cherry Red, Grapefruit Collect Complete Recordings of Procol Harum Offshoot Band
Freedom...at last! Grapefruit has recently collected the five albums recorded by Procol Harum offshoot Freedom in one handsome box set. Born Again: The Complete Recordings has the band's album discography plus a handful of bonus tracks for easy, one-stop-shopping. Guitarist Ray Royer and drummer Bobby Harrison were enlisted by Gary Brooker and Keith Reid to join them in the initial lineup of Procol Harum. Royer played on their landmark debut single "A Whiter Shade of Pale," but Harrison was
THE SECOND DISC'S 2023 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!
Cyber Monday is upon us today, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it's time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring (more than) a few of our favorite things for the music enthusiast in your life. Sure, we might not have included raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but we've filled the guide with around 50 essential selections: sprawling box sets and deluxe vinyl editions, as well as releases on CD from favorite artists that just might make great stocking stuffers. So
The Weekend Stream's Christmas Cornucopia 2023
Welcome to a special edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts. With the most wonderful time of the year officially in full swing, it's worth going back and highlighting some great holiday hits and Christmas curiosities made available to stream and download in the last month or so. Which ones are you excited to find under the tree? Elton John, Step Into Christmas (Mercury) (iTunes / Amazon) One of the best "recent" additions
Hooked: Williams, Horner, Mancini, Jarre Bring Black Friday Gifts to La-La Land
Two scores from a late, modern icon of film soundtracks; a classic late-period soundtrack to a Hitchcock classic, an informal kickoff to another soundtrack legend's centennial celebration; and a major gap filled in the most notable director-composer canon? La-La Land always brings out the big titles for their last batch of releases on Black Friday, but they've really outdone themselves this year with an era-spanning offering of five great archival score CD releases. Perhaps the most exciting
The Second Disc's Guide to Black Friday Record Store Day 2023: Our Essential Picks
From all of us here at Second Disc HQ to all of you, we hope you've enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving in the company of beloved family and friends. Of course, from this day which conjures nostalgic and warm feelings comes a celebration of a different kind with this year's annual Black Friday Record Store Day event. In keeping with tradition, Mike, Randy, and Joe have once again selected some essential picks of the roughly 200 titles being released tomorrow at independent record stores
Release Round-Up: Week of November 24
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the titles in stores today. While today is traditionally not a big day for general retail releases, check out our coverage of Record Store Day's Black Friday event for more new releases! We are an Amazon affiliate, and we earn from qualifying purchases. Yes, The Yes Album: Super Deluxe Edition (Rhino/Atlantic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rhino.com) Rhino lavishly expands Yes' 1971 third LP, The Yes
UPDATE: Something Big: Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme Celebrated on Upcoming Public Television Special, "Ultimate Collection" CD Box Set and More
"Steve and Eydie represent all that is good about performers and the interpretation of a song," Frank Sinatra once observed. "They're the best." Without a doubt, anyone who'd had the opportunity to see Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme onstage - or any of their hundreds of television appearances over five decades - would agree with the Chairman of the Board's assessment. Now, the couple's extraordinary career is being celebrated on a remarkable new Public Television special which debuts on
Spheres of Reflection: David Gilmour and The Orb's "Metallic Spheres" Reimagined, Listeners Invited to Remix Selections
Much has been made lately of Artificial Intelligence (AI), from the new "machine learning" program that made The Beatles' "Now and Then" and further stereo remixes of mono material possible, to the more eyebrow-raising applications proliferating around the media landscape. Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and UK electronic group The Orb recently released Metallic Spheres in Colour, a reimaging of their 2010 ambient collaboration Metallic Spheres. Producer Youth commented, "The idea for Metallic
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Bob Dylan, "The Complete Budokan 1978"
We're kicking off our Holiday Gift Guide Review series with a look at Bob Dylan's The Complete Budokan 1978. Long before Madonna, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift, Bob Dylan was reinventing himself. The artist who stepped onstage at Tokyo's Budokan arena in 1978 only bore superficial resemblance to the firebrand who was proclaimed a "Judas!" by an irate fan over a decade earlier at Manchester Free Trade Hall. That audience member was famously angry over the then-folkie's decision to plug in and
The Weekend Stream: November 18, 2023
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to float you into the weekend. Our pre-Thanksgiving feast includes three legendary women of rock, a summit of country icons, and some unexpected live gems from an alternative '80s outfit - plus so much more. Tina Turner, Tina Turns the Country On! / Acid Queen / Rough / Love Explosion (Parlophone) Country: iTunes / Amazon Acid
Master of 'Dance Masters': An Interview with Reissue Producer Wayne A. Dickson
Wayne A. Dickson knows a thing or two about timing. The Scottish DJ, manager and compilation producer, perhaps best known for a staggering discography of soul and disco reissues for Cherry Red's Big Break Records label, recalled a passion for getting a proper collection of 12" mixes by CHIC and related artists on CD. "It was greenlit something like four times over six years, and then the project manager who'd greenlit it would get let go, and the project would die with it," Dickson recalled
Release Round-Up: Week of November 17
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the many titles available today in the final "big week" of the holiday release season. We are an Amazon affiliate and earn on qualifying purchases. We're kicking things off with our two Christmas releases from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music! While Amazon's orders are unfortunately delayed, both of these titles are shipping now from Real Gone's webstore! Arthur Fiedler and The Boston Pops, The Ultimate Pops
Hurry Home for Christmas: Arthur Fiedler with Steve and Eydie, "Great Songs of Christmas" Now Shipping from Real Gone Music
Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? Here at Second Disc HQ, we've been in the Christmas spirit with the release of Johnny Mathis' all-new album Christmas Time Is Here (available on LP from Real Gone Music and Second Disc Records, and on CD from Legacy Recordings) and Steve Lawrence and Eydie Gorme's That Holiday Feeling (out on CD and LP from Real Gone). Now, we're proud to announce that our two newest titles celebrating some of the greatest Christmas music of all time are now shipping,
Weekend Stream Extra: Talking Heads, "Stop Making Sense"
With the news that the theatrical re-release of Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense has exceeded the box office gross of the original film, we've given a listen to the recent release of the movie's soundtrack, now streaming everywhere, as we kick off the Weekend (Stream) early! Earlier this fall, the late Jonathan Demme's film of Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense returned to cinemas from buzzy studio A24 (Everything Everywhere All at Once, Priscilla) in a restored print. Variety has just
Best of All Possible Worlds: "Maestro on Record" Offers Leonard Bernstein Recordings, Photos in One Volume
Director-star Bradley Cooper's long-awaiting Leonard Bernstein biopic Maestro, featuring Cooper as the late composer-conductor (1918-1990) and Carey Mulligan as his wife Felicia Montealegre, opens next week in limited theatrical release before arriving December 20 on Netflix. Bernstein's final label home of Deutsche Grammophon (DG) has the official soundtrack album featuring the new recordings made for the film by Yannick Nezet-Seguin leading the London Symphony Orchestra as well as a 2-CD
Just Like Joe: Meek's "Tea Chest Tapes" Series Welcomes Heinz, Glenda Collins, More
In a short, tumultuous life and career, Joe Meek (1929-1967) moved pop into the space age with his innovative use of the studio. The producer-engineer experimented with overdubs, reverb, and sampling in an era when it wasn't commonplace; his 1962 composition and production of "Telstar" for The Tornados became the first record by a British rock-and-roll band to reach No. 1 on the U.S. Hot 100. The Ivor Novello Award winner crossed musical paths with such artists as Tom Jones, Petula Clark,
Short Takes: Josh Groban Expands "Closer," The Kinks Continue "The Journey," Daft Punk Goes "Drumless"
Today's Short Takes gathers news of three upcoming releases, all of which are currently scheduled for this Friday, November 17. We are an Amazon affiliate and earn on qualifying purchases. Josh Groban, currently packing houses as Sweeney Todd, The Demon Barber of Fleet Street at Broadway's Lunt-Fontanne Theatre, is looking back to his 6x Platinum sophomore album, 2003's Closer, for a new 2CD or 2LP anniversary reissue (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada). Like his self-titled debut,
The Weekend Stream: November 11, 2023
Welcome to The Weekend Stream, a relaxing review of notable digital-only catalogue titles. There may be no CD or vinyl, but there's plenty of great new/old music to float you into the weekend. A very chill weekend shows off the latest in Melissa Manchester's forthcoming new album of favorite classics, a stripped-down Record Store Day rarity from Soul Asylum and another trance treasure from the ZTT vaults. Melissa Manchester, Confide in Me (Green Hill) (iTunes / Amazon) Diana Ross' 1977
Release Round-Up: Week of November 10
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Beatles, 1962-1966 (Apple/Capitol/UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The famous "red" compilation chronicling The Beatles' early years returns in a new, expanded edition featuring extra songs and brand-new stereo mixes by Giles Martin and Sam Okell. "I Saw Her
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