Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up!

George Michael, Listen Without Prejudice 25 (Columbia/Legacy)

2-CD (Disc 1 & 2 Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
3-CD/1-DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Legacy is delivering a deluxe edition of George Michael’s classic 1990 album.  Listen Without Prejudice 25 sees release in several formats.  The biggest is a 3-CD/1 DVD box set.  The first CD contains a remastered version of the original album.  The second disc is the CD premiere of Michael’s MTV Unplugged concert from October 1996 at Three Mills Studio in London.  CD 3 contains remixes, edits and B-sides from the era.  The DVD contains the two music videos from the album, a performance of “Freedom! 90” from MTV’s 10^th Anniversary special and Listen Without Prejudice Southbank Show Special.  There will also be a 2-CD edition with the remastered album and the MTV Unplugged concert  Note that the 2-CD set features new cover art as well as one additional bonus track: a new remix of Listen-era B-side “Fantasy” by acclaimed producer Nile Rodgers. (The track will be included as a bonus download in the box set, which ostensibly manufactured earlier than the smaller set.)  Vinyl and digital editions are also due today.  Get the full scoop here.

The Smiths, The Queen is Dead: Deluxe Edition (Sire/Rhino)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
3CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.

The Smiths’ The Queen is Dead gets the deluxe, expanded treatment from Rhino in an edition approved by Morrissey.   The 3-CD/DVD Deluxe Edition includes the original, remastered album plus a bonus disc of nine demos and outtakes (only one previously issued) and four B-sides; a previously unreleased Boston concert from less than two months after the original album’s release; and a DVD featuring the album in high-res stereo and Derek Jarman’s The Queen is Dead short film.  The release will also be available as a 5-LP set and in 2-CD highlights form!  Read more here!

 

The Jam, 1977  (UMC/Polydor) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

UMC/Polydor looks back on The Jam’s incendiary year of 1977, a new 4-CD/1-DVD box set comprising remastered editions of both The Jam and This is the Modern World, as well as unreleased demos and live recordings.  Five postcards and a lavish 144-page book round out the package, with the latter boasting new liner notes, period photos, and an array of memorabilia images.  Each disc is housed in its own CD wallet with a printed inner sleeve; In the City will feature the U.S. version of the inner sleeve, and This is the Modern World will have an alternate image by cover photographer Gered Mankowitz.  Read more here!

Nick Lowe, Pinker and Prouder than Previous / Party of One (Yep Roc)

Pinker and Prouder CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
Pinker and Prouder LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.

Party of One CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
Party of One LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.

Yep Roc finishes out its Nick Lowe reissue campaign with these fifth and sixth titles, from 1988 and 1990, respectively.  Though Pinker and Prouder has just the original album sequence, Party of One is expanded with four (previously issued) bonus tracks.  These two releases see that Lowe’s entire 1978-1990 discography is now in print from Yep Roc.  Both titles are available on CD and LP, and you can peruse full track listings here!

Pet Shop Boys, Yes/Further Listening 2008-2010 (Parlophone)

3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.

Pet Shop Boys continue their deluxe, remastered reissue series with this 3-CD expansion of their second-to-last album, 2009’s Yes.  Its lead single, “Love Etc.,” was a British Top 20 hit and broke a U.S. record for most Billboard No. 1 dance hits by a duo or group. Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr appears on several tracks, including “Did You See Me Coming?” and “Beautiful People.” Two discs of B-sides and bonus material are added, including a version of “The Loving Kind,” a hit for Girls Aloud, and demos from the theatrical production My Dad’s a Birdman.  The original album will also be available in remastered form on vinyl LP.  Read more here!

Pet Shop Boys, Elysium/Further Listening 2011-2012 (Parlophone)

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.
LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon Canada / Amazon U.K.

Pet Shop Boys’  2012 Elysium, described by Neil Tennant as the duo’s “most beautiful album,” was inspired by Kanye West’s 808s and Heartbreak. It featured the singles “Winner” and “Leaving,” and here is expanded with a disc of bonus material, including three previously unreleased demos.  The original album is also available as a remastered vinyl LP.  You’ll find more details here!

Fred Astaire, The Astaire Story (Verve/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

S’wonderful!  Verve reissues this classic 1953 album from the song-and-dance legend on 2 CDs.  For The Astaire Story, the star was backed by an all-star sextet of jazz’s finest: pianist Oscar Peterson, trumpeter Charlie Shavers, saxophonist Flip Phillips, guitarist Barney Kessel, bassist Ray Brown and drummer Alvin Stoller.  This edition restores a pair of tracks from the 1978 reissue which weren’t included on the previous CD iteration, and adds a newly discovered alternate take of “I Won’t Dance.”  This musical autobiography from one of Hollywood’s greatest and most influential stars isn’t to be missed!  Read more here!

Tim Buckley, Venice Mating Call / Greetings from West Hollywood

Venice Manifesto CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Venice Edsel CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Greetings Manifesto LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
Greetings Edsel CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Tim Buckley’s 1969 Troubadour shows are revisited on two new releases from Manifesto in the U.S. and Edsel in the U.K.!  These two new live albums feature all previously unreleased material!  Watch this space for full coverage of both releases!

Tim Buckley, The Complete Album Collection (Elektra/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Rhino boxes up seven remastered original studio albums and one posthumous rarities disc from the late troubadour as The Complete Album Collection – a fine box (particularly for its inclusion of the long out-of-print Rhino Handmade release Works in Progress) but an altogether misleading title, as this set excludes Buckley’s final two albums, Sefronia and Look at the Fool (both of which were recently reissued on vinyl by Real Gone Music in the U.S. and on CD by Edsel in the U.K.).  As of this writing, this set is unavailable for order on Amazon U.S. but is in stock on Amazon Canada and Amazon U.K.!

Frank Zappa, Halloween 77 (Zappa Records/UMe)

Halloween 77 (Costume Box Set)  (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Halloween 77 (3-CD) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Halloween 77 celebrates the 40th anniversary of Frank Zappa’s run at New York’s late, lamented Palladium from October 28-31, 1977.  The “costume box set” includes a mask and costume certain to spice up your trick-or-treating, in addition to a candy bar-shaped USB drive featuring six shows (158 songs, total) in 24-bit WAV format audio.  For the more traditionally inclined, the label is also issuing a 3-CD highlights version.

Various Artists, Stax Country (Stax/Craft Recordings) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This new, rarities-packed collection brings together hard-to-find and previously unreleased country tracks recorded under the Stax umbrella on imprints such as Enterprise and Truth.  O.B. McClinton is joined by a diverse roster of artists including Connie Eaton (daughter of The Grand Ole Opry’s Brian Eaton), Roger Hallmark, Eddie Bond, Joyce Cobb, Becki Bluefield, and Lee Denson, who supplies a three-hanky weeper just in time for the holidays (“A Mom and Dad for Christmas”).

Joe Jackson, Summer in the City (Intervention Records) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.)

Intervention Records returns to the catalogue of singer-songwriter Joe Jackson for a new 180-gram deluxe vinyl pressing of his 2000 Sony live album, Summer in the City.  Graham Maby and Gary Burke joined the piano man for this August 1999 concert, featuring his original material alongside covers like The Lovin’ Spoonful’s title track, The Beatles’ “Eleanor Rigby,” Steely Dan’s “King of the World,” and more!  This marks the album’s vinyl debut, remastered by Kevin Gray.  Look for an in-depth review soon!

Donald Fagen, Cheap Xmas: Donald Fagen Complete (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Rhino repackages the Donald Fagen solo catalogue just in time for a “cheap Xmas.”  This set was first released as a digital-only collection way back in 2012.  It features five discs worth of Fagen albums and non-LP material. The Nightfly (1982), Kamakiriad (1993) and Morph the Cat (2006), Fagen’s “Nightfly Trilogy,” will be included with the set, as well as the disc of non-LP bonus material that appeared in Rhino’s Nightfly Trilogy CD/DVD box set, released in 2007 and long out of print.

Jackie Shane, Any Other Way (Numero Group) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Numero Group brings the riveting story of Jackie Shane – a transgender pioneer who happened to be one of the most electrifying soul singers of the 1960s – to CD, LP, and digital formats in this remarkable new collection!

Willie Nelson, Willie’s Stash Vol. 2: Willie and the Boys (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Legacy dips into Willie’s Stash for a second volume of previously unreleased music from the country legend – this time with his sons Lukas and Michael, recorded during the 2011 Heroes sessions.  Willie and the Boys features a selection of classic country songs, including seven penned by the legendary Hank Williams.  Available on CD and LP.

Cheap Trick, Christmas Christmas (Big Machine) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Cheap Trick reunites with producer Julian Raymond for this set of nine Christmas favorites and three original songs from the band.

Eat Like a Rock Star by Mark Bego (Skyhorse Publishing) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Ever wanted to know what some of your favorite artists are serving at the dinner table?  Music biographer Mark Bego has the answers for you with this fun and stylish new cookbook!  Weighing in at a generous 258 pages and lavishly decked out with full-color photos to leave you salivating,  Eat Like a Rock Star features recipes personally provided to the author for this book by The Supremes’ Mary Wilson (who also penned the introduction), The 5th Dimension’s Marilyn McCoo, Debbie Gibson, Spanky and Our Gang’s Spanky McFarlane, “Mama” Michelle Phillips, Lou Christie, Rita Coolidge, Richie Sambora, Michael McDonald, Martha Reeves, Sean Lennon, and many more!  In addition to over 100 delectable and varied recipes,  Eat Like a Rock Star is also filled with entertaining anecdotes from the author.  Mangia!