Note: in my haste I forgot to accredit the fine Addicted to Vinyl for first mentioning the Wounded Bird reissue of The 12" Album, which in turn led to my checking for new remasters and having something to report. Thanks, guys!

The Howard Jones box set from late last year, which compiled remasters of Humans Lib and Dream Into Action alongside a bonus disc of vintage live cuts - was a fun if light tribute to one of the more underrated artists of the '80s. Happily, Jones' independent label, Dtox Records, is looking to replicate that success with more reissues.

In a news post reported just before Christmas, HoJo's official site mentioned that a second box set is on the way, which will collect both of Jones' early remix albums: 1984's The 12" Album (the first LP appearance of hit "Like to Get to Know You Well") and Action Replay (1986), the U.S.-exclusive EP which included the artist's biggest U.S. hit, "No One is to Blame," in a re-recorded version produced by Phil Collins. Much like the last box, a bonus disc will be included, which looks to collect other remixes that weren't included across these two EPs.

"We are currently in the process of ordering and processing the original master tapes from Warner's vaults," the release went on. "More details will be announced on the track order as soon as we can confirm if all the tapes we have requested still exist." While that line is a bit of a cause for concern, Jones nevertheless hopes to have the second box ready for February or March.

This discussion of collating the tapes casts suspicion from this writer over a recent reissue of The 12" Album by Wounded Bird Records (WOU-543). Ideally, the forthcoming Dtox box will be as clear as any release these mixes (which we've had fun discussing in earlier Reissue Theory posts) have ever earned on CD.