A box set from Cherry Red this fall will offer nearly everything from the first decade of The Bangles’ discography. Watching the Sky: The Bangles Box Set will join together on four CDs the band’s three studio albums (All Over the Place (1984), Different Light (1986) and Everything (1988)) – most with non-LP single, B-side and remix material – plus a further bonus disc of rare material, including the group’s pre-major label studio material. It’s 27 bonus tracks in all, plus a liner notes essay on the group by John Earls of Classic Pop. It’s due out September…
The Weekend Stream: July 5, 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. Lots of Fourth of July musical statements were made this week, from a Prince rarity coming out of the vaults to Ben Folds’ surprisingly politically charged, surprise live album. Plus, the last two albums by a terrific British rock band and a new song from an American classic rock act reflecting on its 30 years together (even the last few tough ones). Prince and The Revolution, “America” (NPG/Legacy) (Apple /…
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Make It Fast, Make It Urgent: Foreigner Add More to ‘4’
Foreigner is bringing 4 to the fore with a new deluxe box set devoted to their blockbuster fourth album. Available September 12, this new edition of 4 will include a new remix of the original 1981 album and three discs of unreleased material, including studio outtakes, unheard songs from the recording sessions, instrumental mixes and selections from the band’s world tour of 1981-1982. A Blu-ray Audio will include the album remix (plus the newly-released “Fool If You Love Him,” available as the new single from the set below) in high-resolution stereo, as well as…
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Anyway, Here’s a Deluxe Edition: Oasis’ ‘Morning Glory’ Gets Reissued
We’re days away from Oasis’ unimaginable reunion tour kickoff – and we’re at least getting some new reissue out of the whole thing. The British rock icons will offer a slightly expanded edition of 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, pairing a 2014 remaster of the album (which initially came with additional bonus material) with a bonus EP of new unplugged mixes of four of the album’s tracks (plus a non-album B-side, “Acquiesce.” The group’s songwriter/guitarist Noel Gallagher and Callum Marinho built these new versions from the original multitrack recordings in Noel’s…
Inside Out: Phil Collins Plans 40th Anniversary Vinyl Box, Blu-ray Audio for ‘No Jacket Required’
Phil Collins is taking his Jacket to the cleaners and coming back with a whole new cut. Following a similar recent deluxe set for Both Sides, the Genesis drummer/singer’s most commercially successful solo album, 1985’s No Jacket Required, is being revisited for its 40th anniversary in two new formats. There’s a new “Fully Tailored” 4LP set that offers a new half-speed master of the album, cut at Abbey Road Studios and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, along with three discs including all the live tracks and demos from a 2016 deluxe CD plus non-album sides and…
Party on the Patio: ZZ Top Doubleback on New Limited Vinyl Box from Rhino High Fidelity
ZZ Top are revisiting their biggest hitmaking days on vinyl. From the Top (1979-1990) is a new limited 5LP box set as part of Rhino’s High-Fidelity initiative, featuring new pressings of the Texas trio’s most pop-friendly material: Degüello (1979), El Loco (1981), Eliminator (1983), Afterburner (1985) and Recycler (1990). (it follows a similar set issued last year.) All vinyl masters have been cut from the original stereo tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal. The luxe package reproductions include glossy, heavyweight gatefold jackets plus new liner notes by author James Austin (with commentary throughout by…
So Long and Good Night: My Chemical Romance’s Breakthrough Gets a New Remix
“Long ago / Just like the Hearse you die to get in again…” With those dramatic words, most fans had their introduction to a new kind of emo band: New Jersey’s own My Chemical Romance. More than two decades after catapulting into the mainstream with 2004’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, the band have revisited it with a new expanded and remixed edition. Re-released by Reprise on June 6 and available on CD, vinyl and digitally, Three Cheers now features a striking new remix from original engineer Rich Costey and four unreleased bonus live…
I Predict a Riot: Kaiser Chiefs’ Breakthrough Debut Goes Deluxe for 20th Anniversary
Kaiser Chiefs’ debut album is going big for its 20th anniversary this summer, in a variety of formats. Employment will be available July 25 from UMR in a trio of physical formats. The newly remastered album, including the singles “I Predict a Riot,” “Modern Way” and “Everyday I Love You Less and Less,” will be pressed on both 3CD and vinyl formats with a bonus track, “Riot” B-side “Take My Temperature” and redesigned album artwork. The remainder of the 3CD set offers B-sides, compilation appearances, demos, remixes and live material from the…
Stand Inside Your Love: Smashing Pumpkins Revisit ‘Machina’ Duo in New Vinyl Box
The Smashing Pumpkins are revisiting the material that initially marked their final bow with a sprawling, unusual box set. 2000’s Machina/The Machines of God will be remastered and reissued on CD and double vinyl from UMe on August 22. Additionally, a new box set, Machina (Aranea Alba Editio), will offer a remixed and resequenced, 48-track quintuple-album drawing from Machina, its sequel Machina II/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music and assorted B-sides, plus a further three LPs of 32 rarities and outtakes, with more than 30 tracks entirely unreleased. Now here’s where things get a little…
That’s What Makes Us Humans Being: Van Halen’s ‘Balance’ Set for Deluxe Edition
Van Halen’s catalogue is attaining further Balance with an expanded edition of the band’s final album recorded with second lead singer Sammy Hagar. The band’s 10th studio album, released in 1995, will be reissued August 15 as a 2CD/2LP/Blu-ray set offering the remaster featured in 2023 box set The Collection II, three studio rarities, eight unreleased live tracks and a half-dozen music videos (including another live performance from the vault). Standalone 2CD and 2LP editions will be available as well; all vinyl features the complete album spread across three sides with an etching on…
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Alive and Kicking: Simple Minds Reissues Reconfigured ‘Once Upon a Time’ Box
A reconfigured version of a Simple Minds box set released a decade ago will be released this fall to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s biggest international success, Once Upon a Time. Available October 17, this 5CD edition offers the original 1985 album (featuring the singles “Alive and Kicking,” “Sanctify Yourself,” “All the Things She Said” and “Ghost Dancing”) alongside two discs of single edits, remixes and B-sides and the 1987 concert album Live in the City of Light. The discs will be packaged in three gatefold wallets alongside a booklet of liner…
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Messin’ with the Kid: Lost Blues Brothers Recordings Accompany New Graphic Novel Featuring the Band
Here’s one that might excite you no matter how many miles to Chicago you are: an unreleased set of recordings by The Blues Brothers is set for release later this year as part of a new illustrated story featuring the beloved characters. The Blues Brothers: The Escape of Joliet Jake, hitting bookshelves October 7, will pick up the story of Jake and Elwood Blues in 1997, when Jake goes missing after a jailbreak. It’s up to a detective and a youth from the same Chicago orphanage the brothers were raised in (with…
On Their Way: Mötley Crüe Collect Their Hits ‘From the Beginning’
Mötley Crüe are going back From the Beginning this fall with a new career-spanning compilation. The new CD or 2LP set, available September 12, includes more than a dozen singles and key cuts from their heyday as one of glam metal’s biggest acts (“Smokin’ in the Boys Room,” “Girls Girls Girls,” “Dr. Feelgood,” “Kickstart My Heart”) all the way to modern-day releases like 2008’s Saints of Los Angeles and 2024’s Cancelled EP. The album closes with a new recording of the band’s famed power ballad “Home Sweet Home,” featuring duet vocals with Dolly Parton. (The…
From Japan to ‘Rapture’: Deep Purple Remix, Expand Albums from Mk. II and VIII Line-Ups
Two very different albums from Deep Purple’s long history will be remixed and reissued this summer: 1975’s Made in Japan and 2005’s Rapture of the Deep. Coming from Rhino on August 15 – 52 years since the first of the concerts represented on the original LP were staged – a new super deluxe edition of Made in Japan, spanning 5CD/1 Blu-ray or 10 LPs, offers new mixes by Steven Wilson of the original album and the complete trio of concerts it came from, complete with bonus encores and a few original single edits. The band’s…
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The Weekend Stream Extra: A Guide to ‘MTV Unplugged’ on Paramount+ (Part 5)
Welcome to a special Sunday feature of The Weekend Stream, which takes a look at one of MTV’s great live music programs thanks to a recent reissue of one of its best-known episodes. We’re running a five-part deep-dive on every episode of MTV Unplugged that’s currently streaming on the station’s parent streaming network Paramount+! (Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 can be read here, here, here and here.) The turn-of-the-millennium shot in the arm afforded to MTV by a big-budget teen-pop explosion and the channel’s eventual 20th anniversary in 2001 – growth not immediately deterred by the explosion…
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To Cut a Long Story Short: Spandau Ballet’s Early Years Compiled for New Box
A new box set will trace the early years of U.K. New Wave icons Spandau Ballet – offering three formats in one package. Everything is Now – Vol. 1: 1978-1982 will collect albums, singles, live material, demos and videos from the group’s earliest period as a 6CD/Blu-ray/2LP set. The box will offer new vinyl pressings of the band’s first two LPs, Journeys to Glory (1981) and Diamond (1982); collections of 7″ and 12″ material from each album on CD; a rare full remix of Diamond issued on a 12″ box set edition of the album…
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Grab the Next Train: Marshall Crenshaw’s ‘From the Hellhole’ Collects Remixed EP Tracks
Having gained control of his first two Warner Bros. albums and partnered with Yep Roc to get expanded editions back in print, power-pop hero Marshall Crenshaw will next revisit his celebrated mid-2010s EP material with a new compilation this summer. From the Hellhole is essentially a resequenced, expanded version of #392: The EP Collection, a 2015 album drawn from tracks he’d recorded in his home studio from 2012 to 2015 and released on various 10″ EPs distributed in limited quantities to independent retailers for Record Store Day. Those discs included re-recordings of…
Iconoclassic Plans Happy the Man’s First Two Albums, Dwight Twilley’s ‘Old Time Rock & Roll’ on CD Debut
It’s going to be one hot summer for Iconoclassic Records, who’ve got remastered editions of two prog rock classics and the first official release of a late period Dwight Twilley release coming to CD this summer. On July 4, Iconoclassic will reissue the first two albums by Happy the Man: their 1977 self-titled debut and 1978’s Crafty Hands, originally released on the Arista label. (HTM have become prog’s Taylor Swift of sorts, securing the master rights to these albums themselves to license to the label.) Formed in Harrisonburg, Virginia, the group was influenced…
Love is the Seventh Wave: Sting Digital Deluxe Editions to Make CD Debut in Japan
Starting in 2021 and continuing annually, albums in Sting’s solo catalogue have been reissued with bonus tracks for various anniversaries. This year, fans have asked themselves if that will continue, and, perhaps, if this material will ever receive a physical release. The answers appear to be “yes” and “yes, if you’re willing to import from Japan.” On July 11, Universal Music Group Japan will issue SHM-CD editions of the former Police frontman’s …Nothing Like the Sun (1987), The Soul Cages (1991), Ten Summoner’s Tales (1993) and Brand New Day (1999) with bonus discs of B-sides, remixes and edits – along…
Pieces of My Life: Elvis’ L.A. Recordings Anthologized in New Box Set
Last year’s Elvis Presley box set was Memphis, devoted to the King’s lengthy history with recording studios in the Tennessee city that became his home. Ahead of another annual Elvis Week at his Graceland estate, the next box set will trace his connections to a recording studio on the West Coast. Sunset Boulevard, available August 1, is a 5CD set featuring Presley’s work at RCA Records’ Studio C in Hollywood – one of the more important studios he’d record in through his final recording years in the 1970s. Like Memphis before it, the…
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The Weekend Stream Extra: A Guide to ‘MTV Unplugged’ on Paramount+ (Part 4)
Welcome to a special Sunday feature of The Weekend Stream, which takes a look at one of MTV’s great live music programs thanks to a recent reissue of one of its best-known episodes. We’re running a five-part deep-dive on every episode of MTV Unplugged that’s currently streaming on the station’s parent streaming network Paramount+! (Parts 1, 2 and 3 can be read here, here and here.) The seventh and eighth seasons of MTV Unplugged aired in 1996 and 1997, which were sort of its last years as a regular program. By then, the show locked into a comfortable…
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A Second Disc Interview: Timothy J. Smith Forges a New Path with SuperVisible
If you’ve been reading The Second Disc for some time, you know that one of our highlights is The Weekend Stream, our spotlight of catalogue material that makes its way – either first or primarily – to streaming and download services. The TSD team has the shelves to prove our love of CDs or vinyl, but the joy of discovering a lost classic or future favorite from the past is what really drives us, and The Weekend Stream is run in that spirit. And it might not run at all if not…
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Where to Now, St. Peter? Elton John’s RSD-Exclusive Rainbow Theatre Live Album Gets Wide Release
An archival live album from Elton John, released earlier this year for Record Store Day, is getting a wider release this summer. Live from the Rainbow Theatre with Ray Cooper will come back to LP as well as bow on CD and digital on July 25, featuring all 12 tracks from the original release plus one extra, a disc-closing rendition of “Goodbye.” The British piano pop icon, who released the collaborative studio album Who Believes in Angels? with Brandi Carlile in April, curated the album, drawn from six stripped-back dates at the London venue….
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You Can’t Sit Down: Craft Offers Rare Memphis Soul in Concert on ‘Stax Revue: Live in ’65!’
The Southern soul of Stax Records truly knew no boundaries. This summer, a classic instance of its staying power, recorded live in concert, will be revisited on a new 2CD/2LP set. Stax Revue: Live in ’65! expands a pivotal pair of concerts undertaken at the 5-4 Ballroom in Los Angeles 60 summers ago when the Memphis label – newly bolstered by a distribution deal with Atlantic Records – took several of its marquee acts to the West Coast (many for the first time) for a spirited club set packed with favorites by…
The Kinds U Find in a Secondhand Store: Paisley Park Celebration Hints At Posthumous Prince Releases
This weekend’s digital release of another unreleased Prince track could indicate the gears of the late artist’s estate could start moving once again. At a panel for the annual Celebration fan event in and around Prince’s hometown of Minneapolis and Chanhassen recording complex Paisley Park, representatives for the estate and distributing partner Legacy Recordings discussed potential box sets, vinyl releases and digital initiatives – as well as some frank discussion on the infamously-canned Ezra Edelman documentary for Netflix. Present at the panel were Prince Legacy LLC’s L. Londell McMillan, Charles F. Spicer,…
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