Two decades ago, an earnest British singer-songwriter with a distinctive, keening voice had a hit that would, for better or worse, define the arc of his career as a musician. This month, James Blunt is gamely revisiting his debut album, Back to Bedlam, with a new deluxe edition and an outlandish promise of what he'll do if it's a chart success at home. Available on October 11, the remastered and expanded Bedlam will come with a bonus disc of demos of the entire album, plus four additional
Wild and Crazy: Rhino Collects Steve Martin's Comedy Albums
There aren't many comedians funnier than Steve Martin. Though the gray-haired funnyman only spent the better part of a decade performing as a stand-up before pursuing acting, writing, and even bluegrass originals, Martin's brilliant blend of highbrow, lowbrow and absurdist humor made him one of the most head-turning entertainers of his generation. Rhino Records will celebrate his funniest sides with a new box set in November. Steve in a Box: The Warner Years (1977-1981) brings together all
The Weekend Stream: September 28, 2024
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. There's a lot of killer stuff on the list today, including two new singles from rock icons, a digital expansion of one of Sting's best-loved albums, live David Bowie coming from the vaults, a Stevie Wonder syllabus and much more! The Cure, "Alone" (Polydor) (iTunes / Amazon) For the first time in 16 years, The Cure are set to release a new
All Around Man: Rory Gallagher's BBC Recordings Set for Heavy Duty Box
The influential guitar work of Rory Gallagher will be celebrated next month in an exhaustive box that collects hours of his live recordings for the BBC. The BBC Collection, available October 11, is an 18CD/2 Blu-ray set that mines both the radio service and the late musician's personal archives to bring together his in-studio appearances, live concerts, television specials and even a radio documentary. This box, of course, supersedes a 1999 double-disc collection of BBC highlights, offering
The Jungle is Your Head: U2 Prep 'Atomic Bomb' Box
Hello, hello: U2 will revisit their 11th album - and, depending on where you stand, the end of one era and the start of another - with a deluxe box set edition of How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The set, available November 22 - exactly 20 years to the day of its original release - will feature five CDs or eight LPs of music: the original album, new collections of unreleased demos and vintage remixes, and the debut audio release of Vertigo 2005 - Live from Chicago, released on DVD in 2005 in
Hold Me Now: Thompson Twins Go Back 'Into the Gap' with Deluxe Reissue of Breakthrough Album
Beloved British pop group Thompson Twins will revisit their seminal fourth album, 1984's Into the Gap, in a new deluxe edition from BMG this fall. Newly remastered by Frank Arkwright, the triple-disc set will include the original album - including U.K. Top 10s "Hold Me Now," "Doctor! Doctor!" and "You Take Me Up" - alongside 30 bonus tracks, including all the extras from the original British cassette edition of the album, nine B-sides and single edits making their CD/digital debuts, and
Pictures Came and Broke Your Heart: Cherry Red to Release Bruce Woolley and The Camera Club Collection
Everyone knows the story: at the stroke of midnight on August 1, 1981, the new cable station Music Television (MTV) first aired, playing a steady stream of heretofore little-seen "music videos" that redefined pop music for the rest of the decade. Their first, of course, was The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star": a prescient choice, though not even a single from the '80s (it topped the U.K. charts and dented the U.S. Top 40 in 1979!) - and, as a new collection from Cherry Red underlines, The
The Weekend Stream: September 21, 2024
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. Some socially minded rock is on the digital docket, as well as more than a dozen releases from one of England's best-known frontmen. Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Live Series: Songs of Conscience (Columbia/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Who but The Boss to offer a selection conscientious tunes with a whole new spin? These tracks
Dying to Meet You: Judas Priest's Debut Revisited with Definitive Remix
It took 50 years, but Judas Priest have finally perfected the way they want their debut to sound. The British metal icons will reissue 1974's Rocka Rolla on November 22 - one of the first truly sanctioned releases of the first album by the group - with a brand-new remix from the original multi-track tapes by producer Tom Allom. "I'm just thrilled," frontman Rob Halford said in a statement. "Tom Allom is giving us a second chance here with the way that a lot of the elements were lost in
What a Difference You've Made: Ronnie Milsap's Greatest Hits Come Back to Vinyl
The smooth, blockbuster country sound of Ronnie Milsap is coming back to vinyl. Craft Recordings will issue a wide-release black LP pressing of 2020's The Best of Ronnie Milsap, issued on CD and digitally not long after the label became the home for Milsap's winning streak of RCA Records albums and singles through the '70s, '80s and beyond. (A dark-red vinyl was issued exclusively for Cracker Barrel stores back then; this time around, a "tan smoke" variant will be available to Milsap's top
Love Will Save the Day: Whitney Houston's First South African Concert Set for Release in November
The power of Whitney Houston's live performance - in service of a celebration of international freedom - will be chronicled in a new album and film release from Legacy Recordings. The label, in collaboration with Houston's estate, will release The Concert for a New South Africa (Durban) on November 8, a CD and double vinyl release chronicling Whitney's first of three concerts in South Africa in the fall of 1994 - just a few short months after the first democratic election was held in the
Qu'est-ce que c'est? Talking Heads' Debut Gets Box Set Treatment
Rhino's Talking Heads revisitation won't end with Stop Making Sense - they'll release a new deluxe box set of the group's 1977 debut album, featuring rare outtakes and B-sides, a live show and the album remixed in Dolby Atmos and surround, as overseen by the band's keyboardist/guitarist Jerry Harrison. Available November 8, the super deluxe edition of Talking Heads: 77 will come in hardcover book packaging that'll feature 80 pages of rare archival photos and liner notes written by all four
I'll Wear It Proudly: Elvis Costello Coronates 'King of America' for New Box Set
When King of America became Rhino's penultimate Elvis Costello reissue in 2005, a hype sticker cheekily hailed it as "the album that fans, critics and Elvis Costello all agree on." Perhaps that's why it'll be the next of his classic albums to receive a deluxe box set this fall. King of America and Other Realms, available November 1, follows the super deluxe, vinyl-and-digital-only The Complete Armed Forces box; however, this one's primarily available on CD - six of 'em, in total. The
This Time La Luna: Duran Duran Expand 'Danse Macabre' One Year from Its Original Release
As we get closer to the time when there's a chill in the air and a penchant for "spooky season," Duran Duran are getting back into the spirit with an expanded version of their last album, meant to celebrate all things strange and unusual. 2023's Danse Macabre came just two years after the release of Future Past in 2021 - the shortest gap between new LPs from the band since the mid-'90s. The band were certainly riding high: Future Past was a celebration of what made the Birmingham group so
The Weekend Stream: September 14, 2024
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. This week brings new songs from two of our '80s favorites, a reissue from a rock supergroup, the first release from a hard-working film composer and a new stand-up comedy album with a little something extra. Duran Duran, "New Moon (Dark Phase)" (Tapemodern) (iTunes / Amazon) Friday the 13th was a perfect day for this to drop! Duran Duran
Vive Le Miles! Eighth Volume of 'Bootleg Series' Spotlights Davis' Second Quintet in France
Two years after its last entry, Legacy Recordings revives the Miles Davis Bootleg Series with a deep dive into some early '60s live recordings that showcase the birth of his second great quintet. Miles in France 1963 & 1964: The Bootleg Series Vol. 8 brings together five sets on six CDs or eight LPs: three performances from the Festival Mondial du Jazz in the summer of 1963 and two performances over a day at the Paris Jazz Festival in October 1964. (The 1964 material - which features the
Donna Summer's Classic 'On the Radio' Collection Gets Turned Up
At the end of the '70s, to cap an incredible run as one of disco's biggest divas, Donna Summer issued On the Radio: Greatest Hits Volume I & Volume II, a double album collecting more than a dozen of her biggest singles to date. This fall, Summer's reissue label Driven by the Music will revisit that set in a whole new way, creating a career-spanning, radio-ready overview of her complete career. On the Radio: Greatest Hits (Expanded), due out November 15, is a 2CD set offering 40 of
All Their Loving: New Mono Vinyl Box Set Celebrates The Beatles' First American Albums
This year's Beatles catalogue title will showcase the albums that introduced American audiences to the sound of the Fab Four. 1964 U.S. Albums in Mono will include new vinyl remasters of six albums distributed by Capitol Records within the first year of the British band's arrival in New York City. Uniquely drawn from the first four Beatles albums in the U.K. and other single and EP material, these albums will be pressed on 180-gram vinyl and housed in faithful reproductions of their original
Keep Yourself Alive: Queen Announce Deluxe Edition of Debut with Remixes, Outtakes and More
Queen will go back to the beginning of their recording career on a new box set edition of their debut. The Collectors Edition of their 1973 self-titled effort - now retitled Queen I - will be a 6CD/LP set featuring a brand-new remix of the album by engineers Justin Shirley-Smith, Joshua J Macrae and Kris Fredriksson; demos and studio outtakes; instrumental versions and live recordings. (A 2CD cut-down will include the new mix and the set's third disc, featuring studio alternates.) The box
Return of the Acid Queen: Rhino Brings Tina Turner's Early Works Back to CD, Vinyl
A half-century after her solo career began, the late, great Tina Turner's earliest albums will come back into print this fall - including the premiere CD release of her first solo album. Rhino, who digitally reissued Tina's four solo albums for United Artists last year, will press Tina Turns the Country On! (1974), Acid Queen (1975), Rough (1978) and Love Explosion (1979) on CD and vinyl. It's the first time the latter three have been in print in more than 20 years. The LP of Tina Turns the
Joy in Repetition: Cherry Red's 'Dearly Beloved' Pays Tribute to Prince, the Songwriter
Between the muted 40th anniversary celebration of Purple Rain and the bizarre drama over an estate-sanctioned Netflix documentary on his life and career, Prince fans could probably use a win lately. A new compilation from Cherry Red looks like it might finally offer one. Dearly Beloved - A Prince Songbook is an unexpectedly robust-looking 3CD set that will pay tribute to the Minneapolis icon as a songwriter - one whose classic hits have become pop standards, with so much talent overflowing
Weezer Awaken Ancient Feelings with Box Set Edition of Debut Album
Three decades after one of the quirkiest, catchiest rock albums of the '90s, Weezer will celebrate their self-titled debut with a box set packed with unreleased demos, studio and live material. Known the world over as "The Blue Album" - one of six self-titled albums the band has issued with color-coded covers - the debut will be reissued by UMe on November 1 as a 3CD set or vinyl equivalent spanning four LPs, a 10" EP and a 7" single. Both physical (and all digital) formats come with 40 bonus
The Weekend Stream: September 7, 2024
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. This week, there's new tracks from pop royalty (and rock court jesters), plus expansions and rarities from The 5th Dimension, The Alan Parsons Project, and a very exciting treat for fans of The New Christy Minstrels! Stevie Wonder, "Can We Fix Our Nation's Broken Heart" (Republic) (iTunes / Amazon) A gentle, unifying acoustic number from
Shot Right Through with a Bolt of Blue: New Order Outline Definitive Edition of 'Brotherhood'
New Order will release the latest in their Definitive Edition series of album reissues: their fourth album, 1986's Brotherhood. Available November 22, Brotherhood (Definitive Edition) will follow the previous three release formats, offering the remastered album on CD and vinyl along with a bonus disc of material (including nine previously unreleased tracks) and two DVDs of unseen video footage, including live concerts and TV appearances. As with previous releases, the Definitive Edition will
When All is Said and Done: ABBA Plot New Compilation with All the A-Sides
ABBA are set to release their latest - and as of a few years ago, truly - career-spanning compilation this fall. Available October 25 on two CDs or four LPs, The Singles (The First Fifty Years) updates the concept of 1982's The Singles (The First Ten Years), a double album which collected 23 of the group's A-sides (including new tracks "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack," effectively the final works from the group after members Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad as well as Björn