Release Round-Up: Week of September 18

Box set season is totally in full swing this week! Are you ready?

Michael Jackson, Bad 25 (Epic/Legacy)

The King of Pop's legendary 1987 album gets the deluxe treatment in a number of formats. The standard edition includes the remastered album and a 13-track bonus disc featuring rare and unreleased outtakes and new remixes. (That version is available with a T-shirt at Wal-Mart, and a bonus DVD with all nine original Bad-era short films - including the long performance edits of "Smooth Criminal" and "Speed Demon" from the Moonwalker film - is an exclusive at Target.) Then there's the deluxe box set, featuring those two discs and a CD and DVD of Jackson's July 16, 1988 performance at London's Wembley Stadium; that box is also available as a super-collectible version in a swag-filled box. The Live at Wembley DVD is available separately, as well. Who's bad? Well, that depends on your wallet. Joe's review can be found here!

The Jackson 5, Come and Get It: The Rare Pearls (Hip-O Select/Motown)

Not enough MJ for you this week? How about two discs of unreleased Jackson 5 outtakes, with a collectible vinyl single to boot?

ABBA, The Essential Collection (Polydor/UMC)

While this new U.K. ABBA compilation doesn't offer much of anything new, it does offer every single the band ever released on one set, plus a bonus DVD of music videos (featuring the premiere home video release of the videos for the Spanish versions of "Knowing Me, Knowing You" and "Thank You for the Music").

Steve Miller Band, Children of the Future / Sailor / Brave New World / Your Saving Grace / Number 5 (Edsel)

The first five albums of The Steve Miller Band are reissued by Edsel with new liner notes, lyrics and rare photographs!

Laura Branigan, Branigan: Expanded Edition / Self Control: Expanded Edition / Grace Jones, Inside Story: Expanded Edition (Gold Legion)

The latest expansions from Gold Legion include Branigan's two biggest hit-filled discs (featuring "Gloria" and "Self Control," respectively) and Grace Jones' first post-Island album for EMI, produced by Nile Rodgers. All three are expanded with bonus 12" mixes and expanded booklets.

Angel, Angel / Helluva Band / On Earth As It Is in Heaven (Rock Candy)

You'll agree that Angel - discovered by Gene Simmons and lampooned by Frank Zappa - was one "helluva band" with Rock Candy's remastered editions, all featuring deluxe booklets with new essays, memorabilia and rare photos.

Ben Folds Five, The Sound of the Life of the Mind (ImAVeePee/Sony Music)

Our final spotlighted title isn't a reissue, but the first Ben Folds Five album in 13 years really, truly lives up to the hype. Add to that the fact that Mr. Folds was behind last year's best catalogue title of the year, and we're going to proudly present this as a future catalogue classic that certainly deserves your ears today!

Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, holding positions at Legacy Recordings and Rhino Records and contributing to Allmusic, Discogs, City Pages, Ultimate Classic Rock and Mondo Records, for whom he penned liner notes for his favorite piece of music: John Williams' Oscar-winning score to 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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