Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, packed with heavy hitters!
David Bowie, Who Can I Be Now (1974-1976) (Parlophone)
12-CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
13-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
David Bowie - Who Can I Be Now? (1974-1976), the second in the late artist's series of deluxe albums box sets, will contain the following albums plus a 128-page booklet in the CD edition (or 84 pages in the vinyl edition. You'll find more details here, and watch for Joe's review soon!
- Diamond Dogs (Remastered) 1-CD
- David Live (Original Mix) (Remastered) 2-CD
- David Live (2005 Mix) (Remastered) 2-CD
- The Gouster (Previously Unreleased as an album) 1-CD
- Young Americans (Remastered) 1-CD
- Station to Station (Remastered) 1-CD
- Station to Station (Harry Maslin 2010 Mix) 1-CD
- Live Nassau Coliseum '76 2-CD
- Re:Call 2 (Single Versions and non-album B-sides) 1-CD
Fleetwood Mac, Mirage [Various Editions] (Warner Bros./Rhino)
3-CD/1-DVD/1-LP Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
2-CD Expanded Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Remastered Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Fleetwood Mac's 1982 chart-topping album featuring "Hold Me" and "Gypsy" arrives from Rhino/Warner Bros. in a variety of formats, below. Watch for Joe's review later today!
- Deluxe Edition (3 CD/1 DVD/1 LP): Original album remastered, plus a disc of B-sides and rarities; the original album on vinyl; a disc of live performances; and a new 5.1 mix on DVD
- Expanded Edition (2 CD): Original album remastered, plus a disc of B-sides and rarities
- Remastered Edition (1 CD): Original album, remastered
Randy Newman, The Randy Newman Songbook [Box Set] (Nonesuch) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The Randy Newman Songbook box set marks the first-ever vinyl release of all three of the legendary songwriter's piano-and-voice Songbook albums (including the new Vol. 3) recorded in 2003 and 2010 with producers Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker. All songs have been resequenced as one cohesive, thematically-linked listening experience spread over 4 LPs. Additionally, the box boasts five exclusive, previously unreleased bonus tracks: the now-standard "Feels Like Home," "A Wedding in Cherokee County," "I'm Dreaming," "Family Album: Homage to Alfred, Emil and Lionel Newman," and "Wandering Boy" - the latter the debut recording of one of Newman's oldest compositions. Not a fan of vinyl? Don't worry; Nonesuch has CD and DD iterations of the box set due later in 2016, with the exact date yet to be announced.
Randy Newman, The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 3 (Nonesuch) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The new Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 3 is another mini-tour through the Newman oeuvre and the songwriter's many sides, with 16 never-before-released tracks including "I Love to See You Smile," "Short People," "Mama Told Me Not to Come," "Love Story," "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear," "You've Got a Friend in Me," and "Real Emotional Girl." Vol. 3 is being released on compact disc and digital download, and also as part of a limited edition 4-LP vinyl box set ,as seen above. (A CD box edition will follow later this year.) Read more on Randy here!
Bruce Springsteen, Chapter and Verse (Columbia) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Randy Newman sang of his "very good friend," a certain Mr. Bruce Springsteen, in his classic song "My Life is Good." Now Randy's sharing a release date with The Boss. In advance of next Tuesday's publication of his memoir Born to Run, the legendary New Jersey troubadour releases a companion CD and LP to that volume. He has selected the 18 career-spanning tracks on Chapter and Verse, including five previously unreleased songs from his pre-E Street Band days (1966-1972)! Available on CD and vinyl. Read more here!
My Chemical Romance, The Black Parade/Living with Ghosts: 10th Anniversary Edition (Reprise)
2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.
Bruce isn't the only NJ artist featuring in this week's line-up! The 10th anniversary of My Chemical Romance's dark concept album The Black Parade will be celebrated as a deluxe 2CD or 3LP set, featuring a bonus disc of 11 unreleased demos and outtakes entitled Living with Ghosts. Final versions of "My Way Home is Through You" and "Kill All Your Friends" were issued as B-sides, and lead track "The Five of Us Are Dying" is an early version of the title track. Read more here!
Zappatite, Frank Zappa's Tastiest Tracks (Zappa/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Zappa Records and UMe offer up a serving of Zappa's "tastiest tracks" from "Trouble Every Day" off the 1966 Freak Out! album to 1987's "Strictly Genteel" featuring The London Symphony Orchestra. This sampler platter includes "Valley Girl," "Peaches en Regalia," "Don't Eat the Yellow Snow" and more from the late musical iconoclast.
Ray Charles, The Atlantic Years in Mono (Atlantic/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Rhino collects Ray Charles' classic Atlantic output as a 7-LP box set, with each remastered title pressed on 180-gram vinyl. It's packaged in a hardbound box containing a 12x12 booklet featuring liner notes by David Ritz and photos by Lee Friedlander.
The Searchers, The Very Best of The Searchers (Varese Vintage) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Varese compiles 18 classic tracks from the British Invasion hitmakers including "Sweets for My Sweet," "Sugar and Spice," "Love Potion No. 9," "When You Walk in the Room," "Needles and Pins," "Don't Throw Your Love Away," and more!
Pink Floyd, Atom Heart Mother / Meddle / Obscured by Clouds (Pink Floyd Records/Sony)
Atom Heart Mother: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Meddle: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Obscured by Clouds: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Pink Floyd continues its vinyl reissue series launched earlier this year with three more titles from the band's storied discography!
The Verve, A Northern Soul: Super Deluxe Edition (Virgin/Universal) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The Verve's 1995 sophomore studio album gets the box set treatment, adding associated B-sides, two previously unreleased BBC radio sessions and seven unreleased studio tracks. This set, housed in a lift-off-lid box covered in a silver mirror board in the style of the original LP, also boasts four postcards, a poster, and a 36-page booklet.
The Beach Boys, Classic Albums: Pet Sounds (Eagle Rock/Universal) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. TBD / Amazon Canada)
The new, fully authorized Classic Albums documentary on The Beach Boys' 1966 classic comes to DVD and Blu-ray with an additional 30 minutes not aired on the initial U.K. broadcast including a look at the making of "Good Vibrations" and more.
Various Artists, A Capitol Christmas (Capitol/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
A Capitol Christmas, available on CD and vinyl, presents 24 swinging holiday tracks from the label's golden era including selections from Frank Sinatra, Nat "King" Cole, Bing Crosby, Ella Fitzgerald, Lou Rawls, Margaret Whiting, Peggy Lee and others! It's bookended by "The Christmas Song" - first in Nat's solo rendition, then in his virtual duet with daughter Natalie!
Murray says
If they had included the Ryko bonus tracks in that Who Can I Be Now box, I'd be tempted. I'm blown away at that oversight. Plus The Gouster ain't that great, so that's not gonna hook me. Too bad.