Ozzy Osbourne, Blizzard of Ozz / Diary of a Madman: Legacy Edition (Epic/Legacy)
The Prince of Darkness' first two LPs, finally put back into print with the original drum and bass tracks and expanded with bonus material (including a previously unreleased live disc for Diary). A box set packs all the CDs in with vinyl, a commemorative book and the new documentary Thirty Years After the Blizzard. (Official site)
Twisted Sister, Under the Blade: Deluxe Edition (Eagle)
Another welcome hard-rock reissue that restores the original mix of Twisted Sister's debut LP to CD and adds some bonus EP tracks and a DVD of the band's gig at the Reading Festival in 1982. (Official site)
Kate Bush, Director's Cut (Fish People/EMI)
The magnificent singer/songwriter's latest album project - her first in six years, and already released in the U.K., where it hit No. 2 - features remixed and re-recorded versions of tracks from The Sensual World (1989) and The Red Shoes (1993). A deluxe set features those original albums remastered as well. (Official site)
James Taylor, JT (Mobile Fidelity)
One of Taylor's most satisfying albums gets the hybrid SACD treatment. (Mobile Fidelity)
The Guess Who, Flavours: Expanded Edition (Iconoclassic)
The Guess Who reissue series continues with the band's penultimate LP for RCA. (Iconoclassic)
The O'Jays, Back Stabbers: Expanded Edition / Jon Lucien, Song for My Lady: Expanded Edition / Linda Lewis, Woman Overboard: Expanded Edition / Linx, Intuition: Expanded Edition (Big Break Records)
The latest crop of BBR reissues makes its way to U.S. shores. Back Stabbers looks like it's gonna be a good one, what with one of the best Philly soul songs ever in "Love Train." (Big Break Records)
Listen to the Music: Rhino's Rocktober Slate Features Doobie Brothers, Yes, Fleetwood Mac, Monkees, More
I'm Doin' Fine Now: "Groove Machine: The Earl Young Drum Sessions" Spotlights Philly Legend
The Weekend Stream: October 14, 2023
Release Round-Up: Week of April 7
For Kate Bush, only one of the two old albums has been remastered for the Deluxe set.
The O'Jays COULD be good, if it doesn't suffer from the patented BBR "mastering on BLAST" technique applied to most of their other reissues. The only people who should be able to touch the PIR masters, IMHO, are the Sony mastering engineers (Mark Wilder, Vic Anesini...)