One of Genesis’ key members, bassist and later guitarist Mike Rutherford, will celebrate the solo side of his career with a new career-spanning compilation. Looking Back – Living the Years is a new 16-track collection culling from nearly every one of Rutherford’s albums with side project Mike + The Mechanics, for which he is the sole consistent member. (Every one of the band’s many vocalists will be represented on the set.) Marking 40 years since the group’s self-titled debut in 1985 – the same year Genesis bandmate Phil Collins’ own solo career attained…
Soundtrack Watch: ‘Rain Man,’ ‘Quigley,’ ‘English Patient’ Set for Reissues
A breakthrough for one of Hollywood’s biggest composers, a cult classic Western and an Oscar-winning ’90s film are among the film scores being revisited by some of our favorite reissue labels this month. La-La Land has released a new presentation of Hans Zimmer’s score to 1988’s Rain Man. The Barry Levinson comedy-drama (a four-time Oscar winner, including Best Picture and Best Director) stars Tom Cruise as a brash young man who discovers that his late father’s estate was bequeathed to an autistic brother he never knew he had, portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in…
Not Just a Mirage: Esoteric Offers Expanded, Remixed Albums by Prog Rockers Camel
Some years after a massive box set took a look at the work of British prog rockers Camel, Cherry Red’s Esoteric imprint will break out some of that material in five expanded 2CD/Blu-ray presentations. Reissues of Mirage (1974), Music Inspired by The Snow Goose (1975), Moonmadness (1976), Nude (1981) and Pressure Points: Live in Concert (1984) will roll out over the next few months from Esoteric, boasting expanded versions of the original albums remastered by engineer Ben Wiseman, as well as remixes of the four studio albums on CD (in stereo) and Blu-ray (in stereo and 5.1 surround) by…
Like Gangbusters: JoBoxers’ Complete Works Get Anthologized by Cherry Red
If you’ve ever wanted to search beyond “Just Got Lucky,” the worldwide hit from British New Wave group JoBoxers, a new triple-disc anthology from Cherry Red has you covered. The aptly-titled Just Got Lucky: The Complete Works 1983-1986 highlights the release of the band’s sole album, 1983’s Like Gangbusters, along with material from two planned follow-up records and a live recording from the band’s commercial peak – some 28 unreleased tracks in all. The group, recently reunited in the 2020s, is on board with the release: bassist Chris Bostock has overseen and compiled the unreleased…
Excess All Areas: Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes’ Live Team-Up to Be Expanded
A rare concert team-up between one of the great blues-rock bands of the last four decades and one of the greatest guitarists of all time is getting revisited in a new 3CD or 6LP set due for release next month. Originally released in 2000, less than a year after it was recorded, Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes’ Live At The Greek was a double album featuring the group and the former Led Zeppelin guitarist tearing through renditions of classics from the latter band’s catalogue, plus a heap of blues standards. Now…
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The Weekend Stream: February 15, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! We’re taking it way back today with reissues and rarities by Peggy Lee, Brenda Lee, The Fleetwoods, and The Five Satins – plus more Luther Vandross rarities! Luther Vandross, Never Too Much: Greatest HIts (Epic/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Released late last year ahead of the new documentary on the late R&B legend, Luther Vandross’ Never Too Much: Greatest Hits has already been expanded, and for good reason! The album’s biggest discovery was…
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The Voice of Love: Julee Cruise’s Collaborations with Badalamenti and Lynch Compiled in New 2CD Set
In one of the more unintentionally-timed releases of the year, Cherry Red will revisit the most popular works of the late singer Julee Cruise, known for her haunting work with the late, influential filmmaker David Lynch. FALL_FLOAT_LOVE (Works 1989-1993), available April 25, brings together expanded editions of 1989’s Floating Into the Night and 1993’s The Voice of Love, both of which were written and produced by the iconoclastic writer/director and his longtime musical collaborator, Angelo Badalamenti. It’s on that first album that listeners first heard “Falling,” an ethereal piece of dream-pop whose instrumental…
Thankful N’ Thoughtful: Legacy Releases Soundtrack to Sly Stone Documentary
A pleasant surprise available digitally today and on CD and 2LP in May is the soundtrack to an exciting new documentary about one of the great musical icons of the ’60s: Sly Stone. SLY LIVES! (aka The Burden of Black Genius) – the latest documentary by The Roots’ drummer Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, who picked up an Academy Award for his work on 2021’s Summer of Soul (…or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) – has a new companion album that features 21 favorite hits and album cuts, about half of which are…
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BMG for RSD: Duran Duran, Thompson Twins, De La Soul, Solo Stones and More Coming from Catalogue Label for Record Store Day
Among the bigger surprises of an already packed Record Store Day slate is seeing labels increase their presence within the usual offerings. One such case: BMG, a company steadily growing in prominence since corporate owner Bertelsmann sold a four-year stake in Sony Music and started rebuilding with a host of classic rock, pop and other catalogues as well as new releases from those acts. This year, the company has prepped a baker’s dozen special vinyl titles for the RSD festivities on Saturday, April 12, drawing from a list of well-known acts or…
This is What You Need: INXS Remix and Expand ‘Listen Like Thieves’
INXS’ breakthrough album is getting the red carpet treatment for its 40th anniversary. The Australian group’s 1985 effort Listen Like Thieves is getting a multi-format reissue this spring…and while it will be available around the world, there’s a slight catch: each format has different and unique bonus material. The centerpiece of the campaign, in stores May 9, is a 3CD/LP box set featuring a new remix of the original album by Giles Martin and Paul Hicks plus two discs of unreleased material: one covering unheard demos and outtakes from the album sessions, and the other…
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Found All the Parts: Music on Vinyl Reissues Cheap Trick Albums Box
Elo, kiddies! An out-of-print Cheap Trick box set is coming back to CD as well as a first-time LP adaptation for Music on Vinyl. The Complete Epic Albums Collection, originally released in 2013 as part of a flurry of similar box sets from Legacy Recordings, captured just nearly everything Rockford’s finest put out between 1977 and 1990, including their first 11 studio albums (including the first-time physical release of the “authorized” version of 1983’s Next Position Please), an expanded edition of their breakthrough live release At Budokan and the rare EP Found All…
They Will Have Their Way: Legacy Plans Packed Record Store Day Slate
Is it just us, or has Record Store Day felt a little muted in recent years? Obviously the annual Black Friday celebration boasts less titles than the festivities held every April, but it’s sometimes been a struggle to identify great archival titles or worthy re-pressed discs. Well, that certainly isn’t the case this year: labels seem to have gone into overdrive stockpiling interesting LPs and singles worth a second (or first!) look – and one of the strongest showings might be Sony Music’s Legacy Recordings, who are bowing no less than 16…
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The Weekend Stream: February 8, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! We’ve got new music from Elton John and Bob Mould, a cult classic rock band between New Jersey and Boston, and so much more – including a new music video for one of our ’70s songwriter favorites. Elton John & Brandi Carlile, “Who Believes in Angels?” (Rocket/Mercury/EMI) (iTunes / Amazon) In 2023, the British pop icon (fresh off the end of his final world tour) and the American alt-country…
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Where Dreams Are Born: John Williams’ ‘A.I.’ Soundtrack Comes to Vinyl from Mondo
One of John Williams’ more haunting works for the films of Steven Spielberg bows on vinyl from the Mondo label: his soundtrack to the 2001 film A.I. Artificial Intelligence. The 2LP set, recreating the original soundtrack album on either red and blue or white 140 gram vinyl (remastered by James Plotkin), is packaged in a Tyvek gatefold jacket – that’s right, the high-density polyethylene material that protects structures from moisture that you’ve seen on a construction project or two – with paper inner sleeves and a translucent obi made of vellum. (Jordan Christianson…
Release Yourself from Misery: Pete Townshend Collects Solo Albums (But No Bonus Tracks) for New Box
A prequel of sorts to UMC’s box set of Pete Townshend live recordings is coming this spring: a simple collection of eight of his studio works. The Studio Albums brings together new CD pressings of Who Came First (1972), the Ronnie Lane collaboration Rough Mix (1977), Empty Glass (1980), All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes (1982), White City (A Novel) (1985), Iron Man (1989) and versions of Pyschoderelict (1993) with and without dialogue. While a 2006 reissue campaign from Hip-O Records featured bonus tracks on all albums (and Who Came First was later expanded for a double-disc reissue in 2018), those tracks…
Leave Quite An Impression: Sabrina Carpenter’s Grammy-Winning ‘Short ‘N’ Sweet’ Gets Expanded
Hot off her success at the Grammy Awards last weekend, pop star Sabrina Carpenter will reissue last year’s breakthrough Short ‘N’ Sweet with a bevy of new tracks – including a duet with a country legend. The expanded Short ‘N’ Sweet – this year’s winner for Best Pop Vocal Album and Best Pop Vocal Performance, and a nominee for Album of the Year – will be re-released this Friday, February 7 with five bonus tracks, including “Busy Woman” (a bonus track on a previous digital edition) and a new take on last summer’s chart-topping…
Not So Simple Songs: Ace Records Compiles Sly Stone Covers
A timely new collection will pay tribute to the work of Sly & The Family Stone through a diverse group of covers and rarely-heard singles written and produced by the group’s iconic frontman for others. Everybody is a Star – The Sly Stone Songbook is the latest entry in Ace Records’ Songwriter Series, chronicling some of the greatest modern songwriters of the last century. Naturally, the man born Sylvester Stewart is a prime candidate for such an overview. His mix of R&B, funk, pop and rock music sounded like nothing else in…
Image and Likeness: Andy Summers and Robert Fripp’s Collaborations Revisited in New Collection
A unique team-up between two celebrated guitarists – Andy Summers of The Police and Robert Fripp of King Crimson – will be revisited this spring with a bevy of new material. The Complete Recordings 1981-1984 will expand and remaster the duo’s two studio albums together – 1982’s I Advance Masked and 1984’s Bewitched – along with Mother Hold the Candle Steady, a newly-created album of outtakes from their sessions together. The Blu-ray Audio will include hi-resolution remasters of both albums, new remixes, and “Can We Record Tony?” – an audio documentary created from Fripp’s archival…
The Weekend Stream: February 1, 2025
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! A new charity cover from Def Leppard, reissues of classic albums by Simple Minds and Sheena Easton, and a mess of vintage jazz is on the menu today – plus a heads-up for a forthcoming way to help the ongoing California wildfire relief effort. Def Leppard, Stand by Me (Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon) While also a single from the new Netflix film Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger…
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New Killer Star: Live-in-Studio David Bowie Set Prepped for First Major Record Store Day Release of 2025
Well ahead of any other titles for Record Store Day, David Bowie’s estate and Rhino have announced a big one for the twice-yearly shopping bonanza: a previously unreleased live-in-studio set recorded more than two decades ago. Ready, Set, Go! (Live, Riverside Studios ’03) will be released exclusively at independent record retailers on April 12 on both CD and double vinyl. The 14-track program, recorded in London on September 8, 2003 with producer Tony Visconti and a familiar assortment of studio and live players (including keyboardist Mike Garson, guitarists Earl Slick and Gerry…
No Lightweight Sound: CD Box Set, Vinyl Reissues Chronicle Middle Period of Dub Syndicate
A scintillating collaboration between two titans of reggae – known as Dub Syndicate – will be revisited in a series of reissues covering their late ’80s and early ’90s output. Out Here on the Perimeter 1989-1996 is a new 5CD box set, available from the On-U Sound label on February 28, that features new pressings of Dub Syndicate’s studio albums Strike the Balance (1989), Stoned Immaculate (1991), Echomania (1993) and Ital Breakfast (1996), along with a new remix album of material from this period called Obscured by Version. Most of the standard albums have CD-exclusive bonus tracks and will be…
Power Up! ‘Super Mario’ Music Comes to CD and Vinyl
Video game music – particularly of a certain vintage – is kind of hit or miss in the physical catalogue space or otherwise, so it gives us pleasure to point out a few upcoming releases of music old, new and otherwise from Nintendo’s venerable Super Mario series on CD and vinyl. Available for the first time as a sprawling 3LP set, Warner Music Japan will make available the original soundtrack album to 1990’s Super Mario World – the plucky plumber’s first side-scrolling adventure for the 16-bit Super Famicom (released in 1991 in America as…
Going Back Again: Rhino Boxes Fleetwood Mac’s Classic Quintet Albums
Today in “sure, why not”: Rhino will release a box set of Fleetwood Mac’s classic albums as a quintet. 1975 to 1987, available March 28, is exactly what it states: a box set of Fleetwood Mac (1975), Rumours (1977), Tusk (1979), Mirage (1982) and Tango in the Night (1987) – available as a 5CD set or a 6LP crystal-clear vinyl box. (D2C orders from Rhino will add an additional reissue of a promotional 12″ on crystal clear vinyl, offering stereo and mono versions of Rumours-era non-album cut “Silver Springs” and that album’s standout “Go Your Own Way.”) It’s hard to imagine…
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Tell ‘Em Your Name: Goo Goo Dolls’ Breakthrough Gets 30th Anniversary Expansion
A new deluxe edition of the Goo Goo Dolls’ breakthrough album takes fans back to a time when the world got to know their name. The Buffalo, NY-born group will expand 1995’s A Boy Named Goo as a 2CD and 2LP set, due for release on March 14. In addition to the alt-rock classic, featuring “Name,” “Long Way Down,” “Naked” and others, both sets will include a previously unreleased disc of performances taped at The Aladdin in Las Vegas in the spring of 1996, featuring nine tracks from the album and two…
Premium Rush: Canadian Rock Legends Prep New Career-Spanning Box Set
A new career-spanning box set will commemorate the singular discography of Canadian rock trio Rush. Rush 50, due March 21, comprises a generous 50-track overview of the group’s output spanning their entire career across four CDs or seven 180-gram LPs, plus a 104-page hardcover book featuring new 50th anniversary artwork by the band’s creative director Hugh Syme and liner notes by David Fricke and Philip Wilding. (A super deluxe box set will include both physical formats, the hardcover book, and additional material.) The set offers five tracks released on CD for the…
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