Features / Release Round-Up

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today.

Elton John, Honky Château: 50th Anniversary Edition (Rocket/UMC)

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

Hot on the heels of his final U.S. live performances, Elton John is looking back with a 50th anniversary edition of his 1972 LP Honky Château.  The reissue will feature the original album (boasting such classics as “Rocket Man,” “Honky Cat,” and “Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters”) alongside nine session demos covering eight of the album’s tracks (including two versions of “Slave”) and eight Honky tracks from a set at the Royal Festival Hall, recorded only days after the album sessions came to a close. (A double LP will include just the session tracks on the second vinyl album.) Each set comes with a new booklet (40 pages for the CD and eight for the LP) offering rare photos, memorabilia and a new essay featuring interviews with the players. Elton’s official store also offers a gold vinyl pressing of the original album and various merch bundles.  Read more here!

Pink Floyd, The Dark Side of the Moon / Live at Wembley 1974 (Pink Floyd Records)

2CD/2LP/2BD/1DVD/2-7″ Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1CD: Live at Wembley 1974: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
1LP Live at Wembley 1974: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada

Pink Floyd’s 1973 landmark album is returning for its 50th anniversary in a new box set.  The Dark Side of the Moon: 50 Years features the original Dark Side (in various mixes) and a 1974 live concert from the previous Immersion box while adding a vinyl component and new Dolby Atmos mix.  The 2CD/2LP/2BD/1DVD set contains:

• Remastered original album on CD in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet;
• Remastered original album on 180-gram vinyl in gatefold sleeve with original stickers and poster;
• Remastered The Dark Side of the Moon: Live at Wembley 1974 on CD in gatefold sleeve with 12-page booklet;
• Remastered The Dark Side of the Moon: Live at Wembley 1974 on 180-gram vinyl with two posters featuring designs by Gerald Scarfe and Ian Emes;
• Original album (5.1 and high-resolution stereo mixes) on Blu-ray;
• Original album (5.1 and remastered stereo mixes) on DVD;
• Original album (Dolby Atmos and high-resolution stereo mixes) on Blu-ray; and
• Two replica seven-inch singles (“Money” b/w “Any Colour You Like” and “Us and Them” b/w “Time”).

Like the original album, the Live at Wembley 1974 concert (which premiered as part of the 2011 campaign) has been newly remastered for its appearance here.  It’s the only additional audio supplement here, other than the four single versions which are only included as replica 45s.  Live at Wembley is also available as a standalone CD or LP.  Read more here.

Whitney Houston, I Go to the Rock: The Gospel Music of Whitney Houston (Gaither Music Group/Arista/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

This new collection gathers together 14 hymns and spirituals recorded by the late Whitney Houston. Most of the songs stem from soundtracks, one of the few places she flexed her muscles within the genre (on 1992’s juggernaut The Bodyguard and more notably on 1996’s The Preacher’s Wife); six of the tracks are previously unreleased, and at least one was recorded in 1981, before Houston signed a deal with Clive Davis’ Arista Records. The set also includes a stirring cover of Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” performed live on VH1 in the mid-’90s alongside gospel icon CeCe Winans. An accompanying documentary of the same name will dive deeper into Whitney’s gospel roots, with commentary from host Winans. The special will air on the UPtv and AspireTV networks on March 24 and will also receive a DVD release on an unconfirmed date. Get more details here.

Nancy Sinatra and Lee Hazlewood, Nancy and Lee Again [Various Formats] (Light in the Attic)

Junie Morrison, Evacuate Your Seats: Expanded Edition (Iconoclassic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Iconoclassic Records)

Iconoclassic expands and remasters the 1984 album from Ohio Players and Parliament-Funkadelic veteran Junie Morrison.  This worldwide CD premiere of Evacuate Your Seats has been remastered by Nick Robbins from the original masters and adds six bonus tracks including three Arthur Baker remixes of “Tease Me,” the U.K. single edit and 12-inch remix of “Techno-Freqs,” and dub mix “T-Freqan.” Andy Kellman has written the new liner notes in the 16-page booklet. Read more here.

The Kinks, The Journey: Part I (BMG)

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

The Kinks look back at the first part of their illustrious discography on the 2-CD or 2-LP collection The Journey: Part I, featuring 36 remastered songs on CD and 30 on vinyl including “You Really Got Me,” “All Day and All of the Night,” “Tired of Waiting for You,” “Waterloo Sunset,” “Days,” and “Celluloid Heroes.”

Gene Clark and Carla Olson, So Rebellious a Lover [Vinyl] (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Sunset Blvd. Records has a new vinyl edition of Gene Clark and Carla Olson’s 1987 studio album So Rebellious a Lover.  The album, which beautifully meshed folk, rock, country, and soul, will be presented with a gatefold jacket, new liner notes, and a bonus 45 featuring “Gypsy River” (with The Textones) and “Number One Is to Survive.”  This new edition is pressed on blue vinyl and celebrates the vibrant musical partnership of these two great artists.

Willie Nelson, The Words Don’t Fit the Picture (Music on CD) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

U.K. label Music on CD is bringing Willie Nelson’s 1972 RCA album to CD for the first time. The Words Don’t Fit the Picture features guest musicians James Burton and Charlie McCoy, and includes Willie’s first solo recording of his Waylon Jennings co-write “Good-Hearted Woman.”

Jessye Norman, The Unreleased Masters (Decca) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

Decca collects three discs of unreleased performances by late soprano Jessye Norman (1945-2019) in this new box set, including works by Richard Strauss, Haydn, Berlioz, Britten, and Wagner.

Various Artists, Dance Craze: The Best of British Ska…Live! (Chrysalis)

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

The (English) Beat, Madness, and The Specials are among the artists featured on this expanded 3-CD edition of Dance Craze: The Best of British Ska…Live!  The 42-song reissue contains the previously unreleased soundtrack as actually heard in the concert film, newly remastered from the original production masters, plus the original album presentation.  Also available as a 3-LP vinyl box; both formats contain a replica poster.