Well, another New Year is in sight, the CD still isn't dead (told you so!) and celebration is in the air at The Second Disc. Back on December 23, Mike shared The Year in Reissues both here and over with our pals at Popdose. Do not pass go, do not collect 200 bucks until you read these indispensable columns!

Are you back with me? Good. Now, I'd like to take this opportunity to take a fun look back at a few of my favorite things via Joe's Gold Bonus Disc Awards! I'm awarding these to the reissues that have raised the bar over the past 12 months. You'll notice a number of titles that have already been praised by Mike, as well as new entries, but overall, I've simply tried to recognize as many diverse, worthy releases as possible. It's my sincere hope, though, that you'll take a chance on a title previously unknown to you; all of the artists, producers, and labels mentioned here have kept great music alive in 2010.

Friends, as always, please share your thoughts and comments below. Without further ado, let's celebrate 2010's best of the best. Welcome to the Gold Bonus Disc Awards!

Which releases take home the gold?  Hit the jump to find out!

All winners are in bold.

BEST SURROUND SOUND REISSUE

Chicago, Chicago Transit Authority - Quadradisc (Rhino Handmade)
Nat "King" Cole, Love is the Thing and The Very Thought of You (EMI/Acoustic Sounds)
King Crimson, 40th Anniversary Series (Inner Knot)
Tom Petty, Damn the Torpedoes: Deluxe Edition (Geffen/UMe)

2010 saw a mini-resurgence in surround sound formats; among new releases, Tom Petty released his Mojo as a 5.1 Blu-Ray Audio disc, and afforded the reissue of Damn the Torpedoes the same treatment. Acoustic Sounds premiered the first releases in its Nat "King" Cole reissue series on SACD (in three-channel surround, stereo and mono), with stunning mastering by Steve Hoffman and Kevin Gray. Robert Fripp rewarded fans with immersive surround remixes for his band's catalogue to celebrate King Crimson's 40th anniversary.

But Rhino's premiere Quadradisc release, Chicago Transit Authority, takes home the Gold Bonus Disc as the label finally acknowledges the deep trove of quadraphonic recordings in the WEA vaults. (Other labels are sitting on similar gold mines!) Many quadraphonic mixes were created concurrently with the more familiar stereo mixes, and it's about time that these are rediscovered. While it was disappointing that the release was in DTS and not in a high-resolution format such as DVD-A or Blu-Ray Audio, the formidable Bill Inglot and mastering engineer Robert Vosgien saw that the sound was top-notch. Rhino followed up Chicago Transit Authority with The Best of Aretha Franklin; what will 2011 bring? (Click for Joe's reviews of Chicago Transit Authority and the Nat "King" Cole reissues.)

BEST HISTORICAL REISSUE

Bob Dylan, The Bootleg Series, Volume 9: The Witmark Demos (Columbia/Legacy)
Bob Dylan, The Original Mono Recordings (Columbia/Legacy)
Kris Kristofferson, Please Don't Tell Me How the Story Ends: The Publishing Demos 1968-1972 (Light in the Attic)
Various Artists, The Apple Box Set (Apple/EMI)
Various Artists, Next Stop is Vietnam - The War on Record, 1961-2008 (Bear Family)

Compilers in 2010 clearly had posterity on their minds when curating the above collections, all of which capture an era in time vividly and in great detail. Light in the Attic's all-too-unheralded collection of Kris Kristofferson's demos accompanied them with a bursting-at-the-seams 58-page booklet offering tremendous background into the creation of the songwriter's beloved catalogue. (Please, oh please, will the label tackle Carole King's demos next?) The Apple Box Set, while short on unique packaging or content, finally puts in one place the eclectic, electric music that could only have come from the time when the Fabs ruled the world and earnestly attempted to change it. Bear Family offered a stunning document of a world in turmoil via the overwhelming 13-disc Next Stop is Vietnam box, consisting of both music and spoken word.

But Legacy wins the Gold Bonus Disc for the latest volume in Bob Dylan's The Bootleg Series. This endlessly fascinating set offered great insight not only into the process of one of America's greatest living writers, but into musical history itself. The music on The Witmark Demos, at the crossroads of pop, rock, folk and country, was simply too significant to remain locked away. Kudos to Legacy for, at long last, liberating it. Perhaps that Complete Bob Dylan box is on the way next? (Click for Joe's reviews of The Bootleg Series Volume 9 and The Apple Box Set, and Mike's review of Bob Dylan's The Best of the Original Mono Recordings. )

BEST LOST ALBUM REISSUE

Jan and Dean, Carnival of Sound (Rhino Handmade)
Ray Charles, Rare Genius: The Undiscovered Masters (Concord/Hear Music)
Jimi Hendrix, Valleys of Neptune (Experience Hendrix/Legacy)
Mr. Mister, Pull (RCA/Legacy)
CHIC, Nile Rodgers Presents The CHIC Organization Volume 1: Savoir Faire (Rhino France)

The myth of the lost album is an integral one to the entire rock ethos. Artists from Neil Diamond to Neil Young have recorded entire LPs only to abandon them in the wake of rejection either by the record label or the artist's own high standards. Whenever such an album is eventually released, it's usually a labor of love for the artist and a major treat for the fans. There was considerable excitement when Experience Hendrix announced that it would be releasing Valleys of Neptune, the first "new" Jimi Hendrix album from Sony's Legacy division. While Valleys wasn't conceived by the artist as an album per se, it had more than its share of blistering guitar from Hendrix. Similarly, Concord crafted a number of unreleased Ray Charles tracks, including a duet with Johnny Cash, into the altogether-enjoyable Rare Genius.

Another project that took a considerable amount of vault-hunting was Rhino Handmade's beautiful set honoring Jan and Dean's lost album (actually, almost entirely the work of Jan Berry), Carnival of Sound.  And like most carnivals, it's fun, wild and wacky! Its infectious and idiosyncratic music could only have come from Berry's fertile imagination. Released both in a standard CD format and an LP-sized box containing the album on both vinyl and CD, Carnival of Sound's release allowed listeners to finally experience this wonderful California psych-pop creation in a form as close as possible to Berry's original intention, and this long-awaited release takes The Gold Bonus Disc. A couple of decades later, Mr. Mister found their 1990 effort Pull shelved by RCA. It belatedly saw release this year in digital format, reminding listeners that there's a lot more to the band than just a lyric in a Train song. Meanwhile, Rhino France's CHIC boxed set offered a tantalizing glimpse of another great lost album, the CHIC-produced I Love My Lady by Johnny Mathis. Based on the quality of the three songs contained in the box, Legacy should follow up their Mr. Mister success and free Mathis' exciting disco venture immediately.  (Click for Mike's review of Pull and an interview with Mr. Mister frontman Richard Page.)

BEST ANTHOLOGY BY A SINGLE ARTIST OR GROUP

Jimi Hendrix, West Coast Seattle Boy (Columbia/Legacy)
Louis Armstrong, Hello, Louis!: The Hit Years 1963-1969 (Verve/Hip-o Select)
James Brown, The Complete James Brown Christmas (Polydor/Hip-o Select)
Perry Como, The Complete Christmas Collection (Collector's Choice)
Tammi Terrell, Come On and See Me: The Complete Solo Collection (Motown/Hip-o Select)

Limited edition labels Rhino Handmade and Hip-o Select continued to produce collector-oriented releases of the utmost quality throughout 2010. Hip-o's James Brown, Louis Armstrong and Tammi Terrell anthologies both rounded up rare and difficult-to-find tracks by these beloved artists and presented them in lovingly-assembled two-disc sets.  Collector's Choice delivered one of its best packages yet, a three-CD set compiled and annotated by Richard Carpenter collecting all of Perry Como's Christmas sides in one place. And Legacy and Experience Hendrix finally delivered a product worthy of their new partnership with West Coast Seattle Boy, a four-CD/one-DVD set primarily consisting of unreleased material but also featuring a first disc compiling many of Jimi Hendrix's recordings as a studio sideman. This disc sets West Coast Seattle Boy apart from all past Hendrix sets, and illustrates the artist's growth into a master of so many musical forms. The icing on the cake is the DVD documentary Jimi Hendrix: Voodoo Child, directed by Bob Smeaton of The Beatles Anthology. Informative track-by-track liner notes in a well-designed package make West Coast Seattle Boy indispensable to anyone interested in the incendiary guitarist, and by that, I mean anyone interested in rock. It wins The Gold Bonus Disc!  (Click for Joe's review of Perry Como's Complete Christmas Collection and Mike's review of James Brown's The Complete James Brown Christmas.)

BEST ANTHOLOGY BY VARIOUS ARTISTS

Book a Trip: The Psych Pop Sounds of Capitol Records (Now Sounds)
Bless You California: The Early Songs of Randy Newman, Volume 2 (Ace)
Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour, Season 3 (Ace)
CTI: The Cool Revolution (Masterworks Jazz/CTI)
The CHIC Organization Box Set Volume 1: Savoir Faire (Rhino France)
Hey, Beach Girls!  Female Surf 'n' Drag 1961-1966 (Ace)

The U.K.-based Ace label is the pre-eminent specialist in the field of various artists anthologies, with many long-running series (Songwriters and Producers, The London American Label, The Golden Age of American Rock 'n' Roll, Chartbusters USA) chronicling every facet of American rock and soul. This year the label didn't disappoint, tackling another volume of early, impossible-to-find compositions by beloved songwriter Randy Newman on Bless You, California (named for a Beau Brummels song penned by Newman) and anthologizing the sun-kissed sounds of California girls on Hey, Beach Girls! The label has also created a landmark series with its three volumes of songs from Bob Dylan's XM radio show; only on Theme Time Radio Hour, Season 3 could you hear Fred Astaire, Marlene Dietrich, Nirvana and Was (Not Was) on one amazing disc. Sony's Masterworks Jazz label delivered a fine four-disc overview of Creed Taylor's seminal 1970s jazz label, CTI, with the LP-sized box The Cool Revolution, and Rhino France thrilled fans of great pop and dance music with the Nile Rodgers/Bernard Edwards-produced The CHIC Organization Box Set Volume 1.

But the crown jewel of compilations this year was Now Sounds' Book a Trip: The Psych Pop Sounds of Capitol Records. Producer Steve Stanley took a dive into the Capitol vaults and rescued some of the most intoxicating yet virtually unknown sounds of the 1960s. This ever-rewarding album is in the spirit of Rhino's classic Nuggets series, and with familiar names like Peter Cetera, Ted Neeley and even The Lettermen making surprise appearances, the sparkling Book a Trip probably spent more time on my CD player than any other disc this year. I'm ready to book another trip with Now Sounds at the very next departure. (Click for Joe's review of Book a Trip: The Psych Pop Sounds of Capitol Records and his interview with its producer, Steve Stanley.)

BEST BOXED SET

Bruce Springsteen, The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story (Columbia/Legacy)
David Bowie, Station to Station (EMI)
Delaney and Bonnie and Friends, On Tour with Eric Clapton: Deluxe Edition (Rhino Handmade)
John Lennon, Signature Box (EMI/Capitol)
Paul McCartney and Wings, Band on the Run: The Paul McCartney Archive Collection (MPL/Concord/Hear Music)
The Monkees, The Birds, the Bees and the Monkees and Head (Rhino Handmade)

2010 offered an embarrassment of riches where boxed sets were concerned, especially in the area of boxed sets devoted to one single album. These lavish creations added thick books (Band on the Run), 180-gram vinyl pressings (Live at Leeds, Station to Station, Exile on Main Street) and unique masterings (Station to Station) to the core CDs, not to mention bonus tracks of outtakes, alternates and live tracks. The best of these boxes even doubled as art objects themselves thanks to the creativity of the designers (Rhino Handmade's The Birds, the Bees and the Monkees and Head, both of which are perfect time capsules for fans of the group). Rhino also gave the deluxe boxed set treatment to Delaney and Bonnie's live concerts recorded in the waning days of December, 1969. Housed in a case resembling a touring trunk (shades of the inventive Rhino boxes of old!), On Tour with Eric Clapton captures this travelling rock show in its prime, with guest musicians galore. Capitol's Signature Box afforded the grand treatment to John Lennon's catalogue, but its omission of certain albums proved controversial.

One set, however, may be the most heralded reissue of 2010, deservedly gaining attention in the mainstream media. This set is Bruce Springsteen's The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story, and within its spiral-bound notebook are three CDs and three DVDs or Blu-Rays of concerts and documentaries providing literally hours of all-encompassing entertainment. While ostensibly a reissue of Darkness with many extras, The Promise stands on its own as a new album, never feeling simply like a collection of outtakes. Bruce Springsteen never sounded so hungry as he does on these discs, and this rare glimpse into his "alternate history" quickly established itself as one of the most impressive, must-own boxed sets of the CD era. (Click for Joe's reviews of The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story, Station to Station, Band on the Run and The John Lennon Signature Box.)

BEST ONGOING REISSUE SERIES

Various Artists, Songwriters and Producers (Ace)
Bing Crosby, The Bing Crosby Archive Collection (Collector's Choice)
The Guess Who reissue series (Iconoclassic)
Smokey Robinson, The Solo Albums (Hip-o Select)
Various Artists, The Ace Story (Ace)
Various Artists, The London American Label (Ace)

The only downside to Ace's long-running Songwriters and Producers series, recipient of the Gold Bonus Disc, is that the label can't tackle everybody...yet! In 2010, the series offered such invaluable discs as one devoted to Phil Spector's pre-Philles productions, a retrospective of Van McCoy's divine work as a songwriter long before "The Hustle" and a look back at Randy Newman's days at Metric Music, California's answer to the Brill Building! This series wasn't the only successful one to make waves in 2010, though. The label also offered volumes in their London American Label series, anthologizing the classic label that cherry-picked some of the best American 45s for British audiences, and The Ace Story, with its heaping helpings of good old New Orleans rock and roll. Iconoclassic continued delivering terrific reissues of the Canadian band The Guess Who's deep catalogue, and Hip-o Select has been releasing in timely fashion a series of expanded two-fers collecting the long out-of-print solo output of Smokey Robinson. Collector's Choice mined Bing Crosby's personal archives for the first comprehensive reissue series for one of the artists who practically invented American popular music. The Crosby reissues particularly thrill for their vivid, pristine sound quality, thanks to Crosby's pioneering belief in tape and meticulous preservation of his recording career. Simply put, a fan or collector can't go wrong with any of these series. (Click for Joe's review of an entry in The Bing Crosby Archive Collection, The Crosby Christmas Sessions.)

THE HIDDEN TREASURE AWARD

Paul Williams, Someday Man (Now Sounds)
David Bowie, David Bowie: Deluxe Edition (UMC/Deram)
The Holy Mackerel, The Holy Mackerel (Now Sounds)
Lou Johnson, Incomparable Soul Vocalist (Ace)
Matt Monro, The Complete Singles Collection (EMI Gold)
Various Artists, Promises, Promises: Original London Cast Recording (Kritzerland)

Often, the best, most fulfilling reissues are those that take the listener completely by surprise. Listening to Lou Johnson's Incomparable Soul Vocalist, it's impossible to believe that Johnson didn't find bigger stardom. His is truly the sound of New York soul, and kudos to Ace for making such a rare find available at last. Universal unearthed another minor classic in the form of David Bowie's eccentric and long-maligned debut album, delivering it in a Deluxe Edition packed with rarities and tracks in both mono and stereo. Yes, "The Laughing Gnome" has received the red-carpet treatment at last! This edition proved that this album was worthy to stand alongside Bowie's acknowledged classics. Another truly unexpected surprise was EMI U.K.'s excavation of the complete singles of Matt Monro, the vocalist often said to be Britain's answer to Frank Sinatra. While this isn't quite accurate as each man had a very different style, Monro left behind decades of superb singing, and he's far too unknown on American shores. Richard Moore and the singer's daughter Michele lovingly packaged every A and B side into the splendid The Complete Singles Collection. For any fan of traditional vocal pop, this set just can't be beat.

But the Gold Bonus Disc goes to Now Sounds' loving expansion of Paul Williams' seminal 1970 sunshine pop opus, Someday Man. As with the label's acclaimed reissue of The Holy Mackerel, the only LP from Williams' early band, the label proved that a deluxe reissue can be a single-disc affair and still offer all of the essentials in one attractive package: compelling liner notes, stellar sound from the original master tapes, and plenty of bonus tracks! Someday Man is a must-own for anyone with even a passing interest in '60s and '70s pop/rock, great songwriting and lush orchestration. (And who reading this doesn't have at least one of those interests?) But moreover, it's the kind of reissue that will make a first-time listener a fan for life, and will thrill a longtime enthusiast with many new extras. This is one hidden treasure you'll cherish. (Click for Joe's reviews of David Bowie and Someday Man.)

REISSUE OF THE YEAR (CAST ALBUM/THEATRE)

Various Artists, Promises, Promises: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Kritzerland)
Various Artists, Promises, Promises: Original London Cast Recording (Kritzerland)
Various Artists, Sugar: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Kritzerland)
Various Artists, What Makes Sammy Run?: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Masterworks Broadway/Arkiv Music)
Various Artists, The Zulu and the Zayda: Original Broadway Cast Recording (Masterworks Broadway/Arkiv Music)

Kritzerland pulled out all of the stops for its 2010 reissue of 1968's Promises, Promises: The Original Broadway Cast Recording, winner of the Gold Bonus Disc for Reissue of the Year (Cast Album/Reissue). In addition to presenting the album in its original mix on CD for the very first time, producer Bruce Kimmel and mastering engineer James Nelson created a revelatory remix that exceeded all expectations, using modern technology to make Burt Bacharach and Hal David's thrilling music sound better than ever. I can think of no better way to honor the memory of original star Jerry Orbach. A two-disc set preserving that original mix on Disc 1 alongside the new version on Disc 2, and also containing an unreleased bonus track, Kritzerland's Promises, Promises sets the standard for cast album reissues. The label followed the Broadway Promises with the long-unavailable London Cast Recording of the show, rescuing that LP from a longtime rights quagmire. This delicious "alternate take" on the beloved Bacharach/David score sounded fresh in its remastered splendor. Kritzerland then released a fun, more-than-welcome remix of Jule Styne and Bob Merrill's score to their 1972 musical Sugar.  Sony's Masterworks Broadway division reactivated in 2010 with long-requested titles like Harold Rome's The Zulu and the Zayda and Ervin Drake's What Makes Sammy Run? starring Steve Lawrence (in its stereo CD debut), but like most of the label's releases of late, these are unfortunately only available as a download or a CD-R from Arkiv Music. (Click for Joe's review of Promises, Promises: The Original Broadway Cast Recording and his interview with Kritzerland's Bruce Kimmel.)

REISSUE OF THE YEAR (SOUNDTRACK)

The Monkees, Head (Rhino Handmade)
John Barry, The Deep (Intrada)
Pino Donaggio, Carrie (Kritzerland)
Danny Elfman, Batman and Batman Returns (La-La Land)
Hugo Friedhofer, One-Eyed Jacks (Kritzerland)
Henry Mancini, The Curse of the Pink Panther (Quartet)

Would that I could, I'd give each one of the above titles a Gold Bonus Disc for creatively expanding classic soundtrack LPs in definitive presentations on CD. Preserving the contents of original album presentations alongside actual film recordings, these masterful sets resulted in comprehensive collections that could make a film score collector's head spin. Kritzerland's remarkable slate of reissues turned the spotlight on one amazing composer after another, from the familiar (Henry Mancini, Marvin Hamlisch) to those deserving of more notice. In that latter category is Pino Donaggio, and the label's Carrie preserved the many colors of his strikingly-effective score in a two-disc set, unearthing fun bonus tracks in addition to premiering the complete score for the very first time. Similarly, the label introduced many listeners to the underrated Hugo Friedhofer's score to One-Eyed Jacks with another deluxe two-CD edition. La-La Land continued its winning streak with restorations of Danny Elfman's haunting and popular scores to Batman and Batman Returns, while Intrada turned its sights to John Barry's score to The Deep. This CD debut featured not only the disco-flecked LP in its entirety (with Donna Summer tracks alongside a lengthy Barry suite) but also the lush, expansive original recordings. Rhino Handmade resumed its Monkees reissue series with two extraordinary boxes which were good as gold to fans.

And so The Gold Bonus Disc for Reissue of the Year (Soundtrack) goes to the label's reissue of the trippy Head. Like The Birds, the Bees and the Monkees, this is a classy, beautiful three-CD set with every conceivable kind of bonus track: outtakes, demos, live tracks, session material, edits, mono versions, stereo versions. Talk about comprehensive! Bravo to all of these labels, and to Lukas Kendall's Film Score Monthly label, for constantly impressing in design, content and sound quality. The well from which these exemplary labels draw truly seems endless. (Click for Mike's review of Batman: Expanded Archival Collection and Joe's review of the Monkees' Head: Deluxe Edition.)

REISSUE OF THE YEAR

Bruce Springsteen, The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story (Columbia/Legacy)
a-ha, Hunting High and Low: Deluxe Edition (Warner Bros./Rhino)
The Monkees, The Birds, the Bees and the Monkees and Head: Deluxe Editions (Rhino Handmade)
Various Artists, The Apple Box Set (Apple/EMI)
Various Artists, The CHIC Organization Box Set, Volume One (Rhino France)
Paul Williams, Someday Man (Now Sounds)
Paul McCartney and Wings, Band on the Run: The Paul McCartney Archive Collection (MPL/Concord/Hear Music)

Comprehensive major label reissues were far and few between this year, with much of the heavy lifting performed by independent labels (Reel Music, Friday Music, Sundazed, Funky Town Grooves, Ace, Cherry Red-associated labels like Now Sounds and up-and-coming Big Break Records among them) and online arms of the majors (Rhino Handmade, Hip-o Select).Those majors concentrated on big-ticket box sets for their general retail releases, most of which were released near year's end, with some notable exceptions such as Iggy and the Stooges' Raw Power and Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, both of which received deluxe editions from Legacy. EMI did offer the Apple reissue campaign (collected, alas, in the no-frills Apple Box Set) which included multiple new bonus tracks and detailed liner notes for a wide variety of titles and artists; among the highlights of this series was the reissue of James Taylor's embryonic debut, and the return of Badfinger in wonderful new editions remastered by the same team responsible for the Beatles' remasters last year. WMG division Rhino had a number of big successes, from the Monkees boxes to its special reissue of a-ha's Hunting High and Low containing a second disc of the Norwegian hitmakers' demos and additional tracks. The Label's French arm created a compact box that packed a big punch, collecting productions by Bernard Edwards and Nile Rodgers' CHIC for artists such as Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Sister Sledge and Johnny Mathis. Now Sounds brought a big smile to many with its reissue of Paul Williams' Someday Man, while Paul McCartney's coffee-table box set for Band on the Run (with detailed accompanying hardcover book) as released by Hear Music/Concord provided hours of listening, reading and viewing enjoyment.

But the Gold Bonus Disc for Reissue of the Year has to go to The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story for its scope, audacity and cultural significance. Bruce Springsteen has often been reticent to officially release material from his massive archive, but his unflagging high standards produced this creative multimedia extravaganza, all based around one single album, that deserves a place on your shelf. The Promise definitively proves that there's quite a bit of life left in the boxed set and catalogue business, and we can't wait to see what 2011 brings!  (Click for Mike's review of a-ha's Hunting High and Low: Deluxe Edition.)