Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Bert Kaempfert, The Bert Kaempfert Decca Collection (Decca) (Amazon U.S. (not yet available) / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
The Bert Kaempfert Decca Collection collects 24 of the German composer-bandleader's American LPs originally released in the 1960s and 1970s, including the worldwide CD debut of Pete Fountain Plays Bert Kaempfert, plus over 40 bonus tracks. Kaempfert's recording home was Polydor Records, but as that catalogue has been extensively addressed on numerous reissues around the world, the U.S. Decca releases were chosen for this box. (The repertoire does overlap, as the European albums were the basis of the American releases.) Still, longtime collectors may have the U.S. albums courtesy of Taragon Records; the sadly-now-defunct label reissued and expanded most of Kaempfert's Decca albums on CD in the mid- to late 1990s. If you missed out on that long out-of-print series, this appears to be convenient, (almost) one-stop shopping for these delightful instrumental LPs from the composer of "L.O.V.E." and "Strangers in the Night." Read more here.
The Corrs, Best of The Corrs (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Originally released in 2001, The Corrs' first greatest-hits collection - The Best of The Corrs - became one of the most beloved and most successful releases in their catalogue. Today, Rhino re-releases the collection on 2 CDs with three bonus tracks, all celebrating the late Christine McVie and extending The Corrs' relationship with one of their favorite bands, Fleetwood Mac. Read more here!
Dire Straits, Live 1978-1992 (Rhino)
8CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
12LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada
When Mark Knopfler and Dire Straits reissued their classic catalogue in a box set in 2020, it only covered studio recordings. Now, a companion box features their live material, including 29 unreleased tracks. Live 1978-1992 (released late last year in Europe) will offer expansions of two classic Dire Straits concert albums (1984's Alchemy: Dire Straits Live and 1993's On the Night, one of the last releases before their dissolution), the 1993 companion EP Encores, 1995's Live at the BBC compilation and, for the first time anywhere, an album drawn from sets at The Rainbow Theatre in London at the end of 1979. The set, available on eight CDs or a dozen LPs, will include new liner notes from Paul Sexton focusing on Dire Straits as a live act. Read more here!
The Rolling Stones, Hackney Diamonds: Live Deluxe (Polydor) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Expanding their chart-topping 2023 album, The Rolling Stones' Hackney Diamonds: Live Deluxe arrives on 2 CDs with a bonus disc of seven songs recorded at the band's launch event at New York City's Racket club on October 19. The brief set (featuring veteran drummer Steve Jordan, now firmly ensconced behind the kit) encompassed performances of the album's "Angry," "Whole Wide World," "Bite My Head Off," and "Sweet Sounds of Heaven" (the latter with guest vocalist Lady Gaga, who also appears on the album) as well as classics "Shattered," "Jumpin' Jack Flash," and "Tumbling Dice." The Live Deluxe edition anticipates the Stones' U.S. stadium tour which begins on April 28 in Houston, Texas and wraps up on July 17 in Santa Clara, California.
Archie Bell & The Drells, The Albums 1968-1979 (Cherry Red/Robinsongs) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Tighten up! Cherry Red's Robinsongs has collected the Philadelphia-by-way-of-Texas group's albums for both Atlantic and Philadelphia International on this cross-licensed 5-CD box set also including a complement of bonus tracks. Watch this space for a more detailed look at this collection!
The Long Ryders, Native Sons (Cherry Red) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Cherry Red is expanding The Long Ryders' 1984 debut album as a 3-CD, 56-track deluxe set with demos and live recordings from the period. Fusing garage, folk, country, and rock, Native Sons remains a timeless and singular set. The band's Sid Griffin has compiled this expanded edition which features new liner notes from Anthony DeCurtis.
West Coast Consortium, All the Love in the World: Complete Recordings 1964-1972 (Grapefruit/Cherry Red) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint revisits the harmony pop band The West Coast Consortium with this complete 3-CD anthology. All The Love in the World boasts all of their Pye releases as well as subsequent recordings for the short-lived Trend label and four acetate-only 1967-1969 albums recorded in the band's home studio. In total, 20 tracks debut here including material in stark contrast to their heavily-produced, orchestrated singles; the demos instead reveal a garage band with lo-fi Beach Boys (think: Smiley Smile) influences.
Green Day, Saviors (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)
Green Day's 14th studio album was recorded in Los Angeles and London with longtime producer Rob Cavallo and features such songs as "The American Dream Is Killing Me," "Look Ma, No Brains," and "One-Eyed Bastard." It arrives on CD, vinyl, and digitally.
Alan says
Two new Ritchie Family" CDs were released from the Disco era. The legendary TK Studios from Miami and Henry Stone available from Amazon Japan. Would love you to review these and give your reviews of them.
Thanks,