Freddie Mercury & Montserrat Caballé, Barcelona: Deluxe Edition (Island U.K.)
The Queen frontman's final solo effort - an ambitious collaboration with a Spanish opera legend - has been given new life on CD, with its original synth instrumentation fully fleshed out by an orchestra. A super deluxe box includes scores of audiovisual extras, and the newly-orchestrated album is also available on vinyl.
Judas Priest, Screaming for Vengeance: Special 30th Anniversary Edition (Columbia/Legacy)
A special CD/DVD edition of this classic metal album includes studio and live bonus tracks (including the original bonus tracks from the 2001 reissue) and the band's 1983 performance at the US Festival for the first time on video.
Billy Paul, 360 Degrees of Billy Paul: Expanded Edition / Dionne Warwick, Dionne: Expanded Edition (Big Break)
The week's BBR slate includes an underrated 1972 Philly soul classic (with the fantastic soul smash "Me and Mrs. Jones") and a hit pop crossover for Dionne Warwick, produced by none other than Barry Manilow. Bonus tracks on each include single edits, and in the case of Billy Paul, one live cut.
Various Artists, Action! The Songs of Tommy Boyce and Bobby Hart / The Ramones Heard Them Here First (Ace)
Two new compilations from the venerable U.K. label: one spotlighting the songwriters known for Monkees classics from the TV series theme to "Last Train to Clarksville" (but a disc featuring, naturally, some more esoteric recordings alongside notable tracks like Jay & The Americans' "Come a Little Bit Closer" and recordings by Del Shannon and The Shangri-La's); and another generous disc of 24 hits that were notably covered by one of the most influential punk bands ever.
Various Artists, Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap - Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Legacy)
Out on CD after a short time as a digital-only title, this soundtrack to a new documentary from rapper Ice-T features classic rap cuts from the 80s and '90s and some newly recorded freestyles from legends of the genre.
Green Day, The Studio Albums 1990-2009 (Reprise)
Available in the U.S. through Best Buy, this simple box consists all of the band's proper studio albums in one set.
Rhino's Record Store Day Black Friday Lineup Includes Phil Collins, Doors, Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Steve Martin, Yes, More
Listen to the Music: Rhino's Rocktober Slate Features Doobie Brothers, Yes, Fleetwood Mac, Monkees, More
RSD Round-Up: Spotlight on Omnivore, Iconoclassic, Friday Music, Dark Horse, Light in the Attic, and More
Rhino's Record Store Day Lineup Features Doors, Talking Heads, Faces, Todd Rundgren, Linda Ronstadt, Four Seasons, Dio, More
Anyone have an idea what happened to Harmless "The Roots of Philadelphia International"? Nothing on the Demon website, no info at Amazon.co.uk
I'll see what I can find out, Mike.
Thanks Joe - also any news of what will be in the Taj Mahal megabox and who is remastering?
Hopefully I can save Joe some much-needed time re: the Roots of PI. I was reading on the Soulful Detroit forum that it has been temporarily shelved due to "contractual stuff". This was as of August 25th, 2012, so fairly recent, and this is according to Ian Dewhirst, the hard working compiler at Harmless. Reading the particular thread, it seems like it's quite a lot of work for Harmless to compile these projects.