Author Archive / Joe Marchese

Review: The Beatles, “Rubber Soul: 60th Anniversary Edition”

October 1, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 5 Comments
The Beatles Rubber Soul 2026 Cover

“Standards are cruelly high at the top,” George Harrison observed in a May 1965 interview. “Every time we get a record released, it has to go to No. 1.  If it doesn’t, we’ll be slipping.”  Today, we take for granted that The Beatles certainly didn’t slip.  Just months later, on October 12, the group started sessions for what would become their sixth original U.K. studio album: Rubber Soul.  Yet more than just charting further No. 1s – the album itself went to that position in both the U.K. and U.S., and the…

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If I Fell: Three Solo Albums from Sir George Martin Reissued on CD, LP, Digital

September 24, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments
George Martin And I Love Her

Sir George Martin would have turned 100 earlier this year, on January 3.  Before the year’s out, Warner Music UK will celebrate the legacy of the producer-arranger-composer-conductor with a trio of reissues.  On November 6, the label will revisit 1964’s Off the Beatle Track, 1965’s Help!, and 1966’s And I Love Her on vinyl and streaming everywhere, and on CD in the United Kingdom.  The first two albums feature Martin’s lush orchestral renditions of Beatles favorites, while the third blends Beatles songs (including the title track) with other hits of the day. …

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Monkeeing Around: Rhino Preps 60th Anniversary Edition of The Monkees’ Debut

September 17, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 9 Comments
The Monkees The Monkees

In 1967, Monkeemania was sweeping the country. “I told people I would outsell The Beatles, and they laughed at me,” impresario Don Kirshner once recalled. “Then the first album sold four million.” That first album which led the television foursome of Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith, and Peter Tork to outsell The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Beach Boys and, well, everybody else in 1967 is being revisited (again) with a new 3CD/1LP box set due October 30 from Rhino. The basis of this set is Rhino Handmade’s long out-of-print 4CD…

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You’re Gonna Get It! Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ Early Years Chronicled in ‘Origins’ Box

September 16, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 8 Comments
Tom Petty Origins 1971 1978

50 years ago, Gainesville, Florida native Tom Petty formed the group that would take him and his bandmates into the stratosphere.  Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers blazed a path of rootsy rock and roll for over forty years, curtailed only by Petty’s untimely passing in 2017 at the age of 66.  Now, UMe is celebrating the birth of the legendary band with Origins 1971-1978, a new 4CD/1DVD/1BD or 5LP/1DVD/1BD box set.   (An “Uber Deluxe” vinyl edition limited to just 500 copies will also be available.)  The set shines a spotlight on the…

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Harder Rain: New Bob Dylan Box Continues the Rolling Thunder Revue Review

September 15, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 12 Comments
Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder 1976

“I’m trying to get to the core of what this Rolling Thunder thing is all about…and I don’t have a clue!”  Bob Dylan impishly addressed his most famed concert tour – and, indeed, one of the most famed of all time – for the 2019 fact-meets-fiction film Rolling Thunder Revue: A Bob Dylan Story by Martin Scorsese.  The Academy Award-winning director knew that there were many stories surrounding Dylan’s carnival-esque Rolling Thunder tour of 1975-1976 – true, false, and everything in between – and all of those stories were manifested in the…

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Any Way You Want It: BMG Preps First Volume of Dave Clark Five Albums Series

September 3, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 22 Comments
Dave Clark Five Glad All Over the World Vol 1

At last, the long-unavailable albums of The Dave Clark Five will be coming to CD…sort of.  BMG has announced a three-volume set reissuing the Five’s core North American album catalogue, beginning with the October 23 release of Glad All Over the World: The Hits and Albums Volume 1 (1964-1965).  Five DC5 albums are presented on five CDs in this volume, with the discs housed in a ten-panel fold-out digipak also containing a 24-page booklet.  However, the track listings mirror the 2019 digital remasters which were substantially altered and resequenced; they do not…

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And The Music’s All Right: “The Who By Numbers” Goes Super Deluxe

September 1, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 8 Comments
The Who by Numbers

May 1975 found Pete Townshend turning 30 and troubled by thoughts of the future.  What would it hold for The Who, the music business, and rock and roll itself?  He poured his anxieties and emotions into The Who by Numbers, the October ’75 release of which would become the band’s seventh studio album.  On October 30, Polydor and UMe celebrates 51 (!) years of The Who by Numbers with a new 5CD/1Blu-ray Super Deluxe Edition. Sessions for the album began in April 1975 and continued through early June, with producer Glyn Johns…

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One Step Closer to the Danger Zone: Foreigner Sets Expanded Remix of ‘Head Games’

August 31, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 5 Comments
Foreigner Head Games Deluxe

Following last year’s deluxe expanded edition of Foreigner’s 1981 album 4(opens in new tab) – the band’s fourth overall album – Rhino is turning back the clock to another multi-platinum album, 1979’s Head Games.  On October 30, Head Games will return in a 3CD/1Blu-ray edition as well as a standalone 1LP vinyl edition of the new album remix at the centerpiece of the full box set. Head Games marked a time of transition for Foreigner. Co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, Dusty Springfield), Mick Jones, and Ian McDonald, it featured Lou Gramm…

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In Other Words: “Sinatra at the Sands” 60th Anniversary Celebrated with New 5CD Box Set, Remixed LP

August 27, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 6 Comments
Sinatra at the Sands 2026

“How did all these people get in my room?”  Frank Sinatra quipped when he strode onstage at The Sands’ Copa Room in January 1966 for his sold-out concerts, but, in truth, there was no doubt that it was Sinatra’s room.  Las Vegas was his kind of town.  Supported by Count Basie and His Orchestra under the baton of arranger-conductor Quincy Jones, the Chairman of the Board – who had recently turned 50 years old and entered the September of his years, was in his element.  His electrifying shows were preserved on his…

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You Are The Magnet: Edsel Collects Walter Egan’s Early Albums On “The Collection”

August 19, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment
Walter Egan The Album Collection

Walter Egan’s first album was titled Fundamental Roll, and, indeed, the New York-born singer-songwriter was certainly on a roll.  Egan and Duane Scott co-produced the 1977 album with Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham and Steve Nicks – fresh off the release of Rumours – and the Buckingham/Nicks duo returned for 1978’s Not Shy, bringing along Richard Dashut.  Not Shy yielded Egan’s signature hit, “Magnet and Steel,” which went to the U.S. top ten.  Now, Edsel has celebrated the first chapter of Egan’s solo career with the new 4CD box, The Album Collection 1977-1980,…

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Light Shine on Me: The Waterboys Revisit “Fisherman’s Blues” with New “Atlantic Rain” Box

August 13, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 5 Comments
The Waterboys Atlantic Rain

Since bursting onto the post-punk scene with 1983’s self-titled album The Waterboys, the band led by Scottish singer-songwriter Mike Scott has lived up to its moniker as “the big music.”  The Waterboys’ sound has taken in rock, folk, rhythm and blues, soul, pop, country, classical, jazz, and beyond.  Perhaps no album in the band’s catalogue, however, was more expansive than their fourth album, 1988’s Fisherman’s Blues. Recorded over two years in Dublin and Galway by Scott, saxophonist/mandolinist Anthony “Anto” Thistlethwaite, violinist Steve Wickham, bassist Trevor Hutchinson, and many others, Fisherman’s Blues found…

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How Sweet It Is: Rhino’s New Quadio Batch Includes James Taylor, James Gang, David Gates, Herbie Mann

August 12, 2026 by Joe Marchese | No Comments
Rhino Quadio August 2026

Rhino’s Quadio series has recently announced its latest batch of four titles, and as usual, they comprise a quartet of eclectic titles from the 1970s.  Two singer-songwriters – James Taylor and Bread’s David Gates – are joined by soul-jazz titan Herbie Mann and the rockers of The James Gang.  Each Blu-ray Audio Disc in the Quadio series includes the original four-channel quadraphonic mix with a high-resolution 192/24 stereo mix, with both sourced from the original analog tapes.  (The lone exception here is the Herbie Mann quad mix, which was sourced out of…

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How It Is Done: Cherry Red Collects The Riot Squad, Including David Bowie Recordings, On New 3CD Collection

August 11, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments
Riot Squad I Take It That We're Through

The Riot Squad only released seven singles on the U.K.’s Pye label between 1965 and 1967.  But thanks to the discovery of Joe Meek’s Tea Chest Tapes, the story of the band that might be best known for a short-lived collaboration with David Bowie can now be told in full.   I Take It That We’re Through: Anthology 1965-1967 arrives from Cherry Red’s Strawberry imprint on August 21, with 3 CDs and 83 tracks (40 of which are previously unreleased and another 14 of which are new to CD). Ron Ryan (guitar), Graham…

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Wowie Zowie: Frank Zappa’s “Freak Out!” Goes Super Deluxe For 60th Anniversary

August 5, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments
Frank Zappa Freak Out 2026

Freak Out!  Frank Zappa’s 1966 Verve Records debut with his band The Mothers of Invention was a call-to-arms to the Los Angeles underground music scene.  Subverting notions of traditional pop and rock, the album blended searing social commentary with doo-wop pastiches, rhythm and blues, absurdist comedy, jazz, and musique concrete.  Even today, the Mothers’ clarion call to the counterculture sounds like no other album, but it was just a portent of things to come from Zappa.  On September 25, Zappa Records and UMe will revisit Freak Out! on the occasion of its…

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Being Rhythmically Admired: Elvis Costello’s Debut Gets Box Set Edition This Fall

August 4, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 11 Comments
Elvis Costello My Aim Is True SDE Cover

With Buddy Holly glasses, a slender frame, and a famous moniker, Elvis Costello burst onto the album scene in July 1977 with My Aim Is True.  Though critics and listeners alike were quick to place the artist born Declan Patrick MacManus as a punk or new wave artist, his musical roots ran far deeper.  My Aim Is True, produced by Nick Lowe, set Costello on the uncompromising path to a current tally of 33 studio albums, six live sets, numerous singles and EPs, and a still-flourishing concert career.   Now, on October 2,…

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Review: Joni Mitchell, Dusty Springfield, and Cher in Rhino High Fidelity

July 30, 2026 by Joe Marchese | No Comments
Cher 3614 Jackson Highway

Rhino High Fidelity, the label’s series of deluxe audiophile reissues, continues to prove its bona fides with a latest batch of limited-edition vinyl releases from three great women of song: Joni Mitchell’s Court and Spark, Cher’s 3614 Jackson Highway, and the late Dusty Springfield’s Dusty in Memphis. Joni Mitchell embraced pop on her sixth studio album, 1974’s Court and Spark, while continuing to develop her jazz stylings and maintaining her singular voice as both a singer and songwriter.  Produced by Mitchell, collaborating with engineer Henry Lewy, Court and Spark epitomized the sound of the Southern California musical…

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The Word: The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” Is Remixed, Expanded For New Box Set

July 29, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 21 Comments
Beatles Rubber Soul 2026

Beep-beep, beep-beep, yeah: a remixed and remastered Rubber Soul is on the way from Apple Corps. The Beatles’ sixth studio album, 1965’s Rubber Soul is often considered to be the Fabs’ “folk-rock” album, but its mélange of styles makes it far more than that. Now, with the release on October 2 of a 4CD or 5LP/7″ box set as well as a single-disc Blu-ray, 2CD and 2LP expansions and CD and LP remixes, it’s a richer and fuller collection than ever. With a schedule free of concert and film commitments, The Beatles…

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Back For More: Cherry Red Expands Lulu’s “Independence” with Remixes, Singles, Videos, More

July 22, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments
Lulu Independence

Scottish singer Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie was just fifteen years old in 1964 when, under the stage name of Lulu, she made listeners want to “Shout!” with a rip-roaring rendition of The Isley Brothers’ classic.  She parlayed that memorable U.K. top ten hit into an international career that’s encompassed records, film and television roles, West End appearances, multiple books, and a concert career.  Lulu remained on Decca Records, the home of “Shout!,” for a two-year stint, departing the label in late 1966 to sign with producer Mickie Most EMI’s Columbia Records arm…

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Won’t Get Fooled Again: Four Who Classics Revisited by Analogue Productions on Vinyl, SACD, Reel-to-Reel

July 17, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 8 Comments
tommy

What’s next for Analogue Productions?  How about Who’s Next?  The label has announced that four classic titles from The Who will be receiving the deluxe audiophile treatment across various formats including UHQR Vinyl, 45 RPM LPs, hybrid SACDs (playable on all CD players), and Ultra Tape Reel-To-Reel Formats.  My Generation and Live at Leeds arrive next week, July 24, while Tommy and Who’s Next will follow (date TBD). These releases have been sourced from the original analog master tapes and mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering (with SACD editions mastered…

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’80s Romance: Edsel Reissues “The Belle Stars” With Singles, Remixes, More

July 14, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments
The Belle Stars

The Belle Stars’ catalogue is a relatively tiny one, consisting of just one complete studio album, a handful of non-LP singles, and a live album that didn’t see release until long after the group had broken up.  Now, Edsel has reassembled the all-girl band’s audio discography in a new 3CD, 7-inch-sized box simply titled The Belle Stars – essentially a generously expanded edition of their same-titled debut LP. The Belle Stars were born out of the ashes of two-tone/ska revival band The Bodysnatchers when five of its seven members decided to press…

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Ready: Cat Stevens’ “Buddha and the Chocolate Box” Returns to CD, LP, Digital Formats

July 13, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments
Cat Stevens Buddha and the Chocolate Box

Cat Stevens’ Buddha and the Chocolate Box, originally released in 1974, is the latest title in the singer-songwriter’s venerable cat-o-log to get the remastered reissue treatment.  One of Yusuf’s four consecutive LPs to reach the top three in both the United States and Great Britain and his sixth A&M release overall, Buddha returns September 4 on CD, vinyl, and digital formats. In many respects, Buddha and the Chocolate Box was a homecoming for Stevens.  After retreating to Jamaica to self-produce the R&B-influenced Foreigner (also reissued as part of the Cat-o-Log series), he…

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All I Want: Joni Mitchell’s “Blue” Turns 55, Rhino Unveils Vinyl and Reel-to-Reel Reissues

June 22, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments
joni mitchell blue

Joni Mitchell’s landmark Blue turns 55 this year, and Rhino isn’t letting the occasion go unnoticed.  On July 10 – just weeks after the album’s actual anniversary on June 21 – the label will unveil High Fidelity editions on both vinyl and reel-to-reel tape. (For audiophiles who prefer shiny silver discs, Blue was reissued last year on Blu-ray Audio with Atmos, quadraphonic, and high-resolution stereo mixes.) On Blue, Mitchell turned her artistry fully inward for an act of stunning musical self-reflection.  Upon hearing the original album, Kris Kristofferson famously quipped “Save something…

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Review: Carly Simon, Randy Newman, Seals and Crofts, and Mongo Santamaria in “Quadio”

June 18, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 4 Comments
Quadio Batch 12

Last month, Rhino announced its newest batch of Quadio titles, re-presenting vintage quadraphonic surround mixes on Blu-ray Audio Discs.  This time out, the label has turned its attention to four ‘70s classics from three artists returning to the series (Carly Simon, Randy Newman, Seals & Crofts) and one making his Quadio Blu-ray debut (Mongo Santamaria).  All four titles, also containing high-resolution stereo mixes of the original album, are shipping now exclusively from Rhino.com. Carly Simon’s self-titled debut album arrived on Elektra Records in the spring of 1971, nestled in the label’s discography between…

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Review: Hank Marvin, “The Studio Album Collection 1982-1995”

June 17, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments
Hank Marvin Studio Album Collection

Brian Robson Rankin of Newcastle-upon-Tyne moved to London while still a teenager, armed with a guitar and a dream.  He adopted the name Hank Marvin, melding his childhood nickname of “Hank” with the first name of American country singer Marvin Rainwater, and put on a pair of glasses inspired by Buddy Holly’s.  His school friend Bruce Welch joined him, and before long, the pair had met Cliff Richard’s manager. In 1959, Richard’s band then known as The Drifters became The Shadows, and Richard, Marvin, Welch, and Brian Bennett (who replaced drummer Tony…

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I Feel Free: Esoteric Collects Jack Bruce Albums, Concerts on “Halfway to the Stars”

June 16, 2026 by Joe Marchese | No Comments
Jack Bruce Halfway to the Stars

The recording career of the late Jack Bruce (1943-2014) spanned the 1960s through the 2010s, encompassing tenures in the Graham Bond Organisation, John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers, Manfred Mann, West, Bruce and Laing, and, of course, Cream (among other bands).  Between 1969 and 2014, Bruce released fourteen solo studio albums as well as numerous live sets, videos, and compilations.  Now, Cherry Red’s Esoteric Recordings imprint has recently bundled two studio albums and two live sets from the turn of the (new) century as Halfway to the Stars: The Recordings 2001-2003. The bassist/singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist was known…

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Upcoming Releases
Coltrane 100 vinyl box
John Coltrane 100 – Selections from 1951-1967
John Coltrane
October 2, 2026
US UK CA
Elvis Costello My Aim Is True SDE Cover
My Aim is True (49th Anniversary Edition)
Elvis Costello
October 2, 2026
US UK CA
beatles rubber soul
Rubber Soul [Various Formats]
The Beatles
October 2, 2026
US UK CA
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