Vinyl Me Please is at it again! Following their celebrations of Blue Note, Motown, and Ghostly International, the subscription service is set to release a new volume of their acclaimed VMP Anthology Series. This time, they’re shining a light on the history of Stax Records. As with previous volumes, The Story of Stax Records will be told in four chapters. The eight albums included in the box will be wrapped in “secrecy sleeves” that can be unveiled at specific points in the journey. Though titles have not been revealed, VMP has announced…
Holiday Gift Guide Review: MoFi Gives the Audiophile Treatment to Dylan’s “Blood on The Tracks” and J. Geils’ “The Morning After”
Over the years, Mobile Fidelity has cemented itself as one of the leaders in the audiophile re-issue realm. From deluxe 45rpm box set affairs to more bare-bones remasters, the label has been known to go the extra mile to make every album sound its best. Two of their recent reissues have arrived at Second Disc HQ: the extravagant 45rpm One-Step remaster of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks and the slimmed-down remaster of J. Geils Band’s The Morning After. Both titles are sure to please that audiophile on your gift-giving list! Admittedly,…
Release Round-Up: Week of December 6
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Who, WHO [Various Formats] (Polydor) Standard CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Who Online Store Deluxe CD: Target U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Who Online Store Standard LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / The Who Online Store Indie record shop 2LP edition: Bull Moose / HMV Deluxe 45rpm 2LP/EP: The Who Online Store Cassette: The Who Online Store Format Bundles: The Who Online Store Japan SHM-CD: CD Japan The Who return with their…
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Say You Love Me: Rhino Collects Classic Fleetwood Mac Titles in New Color Vinyl Box Set
Fleetwood Mac were untouchable in the ’70s and ’80s, releasing five consecutive multi-platinum albums from 1975 to 1987. Their self-titled “White Album,” Rumours, Tusk, Mirage, and Tango in the Night dominated the airwaves and the album charts, and the band became one of the best-selling acts of the decade. This Friday, December 6, those five landmark albums will be released in a new color vinyl box set called Fleetwood Mac: 1975-1987. It features the 1975 album Fleetwood Mac — which introduced the Buckingham-Nicks configuration — pressed onto white vinyl; the era-defining Rumours on clear vinyl; the ambitious double-album Tusk…
His Name Is: Eminem’s Breakthrough ‘Slim Shady LP’ Gets Expansion For 20th Anniversary (UPDATED 11/27)
UPDATE (11/27/2019): Months after this digital release, UMe will release the expanded The Slim Shady LP as a 2CD or 3LP set on December 13! Links are below. ORIGINAL POST (3/29/2019): In his two-decade career, Marshall Bruce Mathers II, better known as Eminem, stunned audiences and critics alike with vivid and sometimes disturbing imagery, rapid-fire delivery, and lyrics that were as witty as they were personal; as tongue-in-cheek as they were acerbic. This year marks 20 years since Eminem released his major-label debut, The Slim Shady LP, which launched him from the underground…
Holiday Gift Guide Reviews: A Spotlight on Cherry Red’s Eclectic Offerings
The holidays are almost upon us, and The Second Disc will soon be launching our annual Holiday Gift Guide! As part of the festivities, we will also be offering long-form reviews over the next month about certain titles deserving of an extra spotlight. Today, Sam’s taking a look at a handful of recent releases from Cherry Red! Few labels can claim as diverse a roster as the Cherry Red group. Between their wealth of sub-divisions, there’s bound to be something special in store for everyone. As the temperatures drop and the holidays…
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Thanks For the Dance: Leonard Cohen’s Final Farewell Reviewed
“I’m ready, my lord…” so sang Leonard Cohen on You Want It Darker, his final album that hit shelves just weeks before his death. If You Want It Darker was his farewell, then Thanks For the Dance – released today from Columbia/Legacy – is a gift from beyond. The album was completed by son Adam Cohen, as the younger Cohen had been instructed. The pieces were in various stages of completion when Adam began to reappraise the work. Some were no more than vocal tracks with no accompaniment at all. Yet, in their completed form…
Nothing Sweeter: Rocksteady Royalty Alton Ellis’ “Greatest Hits” Gets Expanded Reissue from Cherry Red
Cherry Red Records’ Doctor Bird imprint is committed to uncovering and reappraising the early years of reggae, ska, Calypso, rocksteady, and mento music, and few figures are as instrumental in the development of those genres as Alton Ellis. Starting with his first recordings in 1960, the gifted songwriter, singer, and performer quickly garnered a reputation as one of Jamaica’s greatest musical exports. Moving on from the American R&B style that inflected his earliest recordings, Ellis signed on to the Treasure Isle label, run by producer Duke Reid. Through his work on Treasure…
Back To The ‘Boutique’: Beastie Boys Remixes Feature On EP Series
This year marks the 30th anniversary of the Beastie Boys album Paul’s Boutique and the band has celebrated with the digital/streaming debut of 6 EPs of hard-to-find material. The past months have seen the release of the 1989 EP An Exciting Evening At Home With Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, along with Love American Style EP, and newly curated collections from Capitol/UMe: Hey Ladies (Remixes), Shadrach (Remixes), Shake Your Rump (Remixes), and Looking Down The Barrel of a Gun (Remixes) . These collections bring together a wealth of live versions, B-sides, remixes, edits, and other rarities…
Back in the USSR: Elton John Announces “Live From Moscow 1979” on CD and Vinyl
2019 marks the 40th anniversary of Elton John’s landmark tour of Russia, where he stunned audiences as the first rocker to perform in the country. His concerts there were intimate events where he performed alongside percussion master Ray Cooper. The stripped-down duo performances showed a side of Elton that had rarely been seen in the preceding decade, as he revisited classics and new songs alike with a fiery intensity. Elton’s May 28 show was broadcast on the BBC and tapes of the show quickly made the rounds among his legion of fans. …
Birds A-Plenty: Bert Jansch’s “Avocet” To Receive Expanded 40th Anniversary Vinyl Reissue
Few figures have been as influential in the development of the acoustic guitar as British folk revival hero Bert Jansch. His 1965 self-titled debut brought him instant renown among other guitarists, including Jimmy Page, Neil Young, Paul Simon and more. He continued on as one-fifth of Pentangle and released a litany of stunning albums, both solo and with the likes of John Renbourn. But when the boundary-pushing guitarist recorded his 1979 album Avocet, he was creating something decidedly different from any other album he’d made up to that point. Initially only released…
You Can’t Lose It: Ronnie Wood and Guests Pay Tribute to Chuck Berry on “Mad Lad”
Legendary Rolling Stones and Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood has announced his latest project, a tribute to Chuck Berry called Mad Lad. Out today from BMG, the album was recorded live at Tivoli Theatre on November 13, 2018 with his backing band, The Wild Five, along with special guests Ben Waters on piano and Imelda May on vocals. The album is available in several configurations. There’s a standard CD version housed in a digipak, a standard heavyweight LP edition in a gatefold sleeve, and two box sets. The “standard edition” box set includes…
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Release Round-Up: Week of November 15
Welcome to another installment of Release Round-Up! Here’s what’s on the way this week. David Bowie, Conversation Piece [Various Formats] (Parlophone/Rhino) Conversation Piece box set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Space Oddity 2019 Mix CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Space Oddity 2019 Mix LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada “Space Oddity” 360 Reality Audio single: Amazon HD / TIDAL / Deezer Links TBD The 5-CD box Conversation Piece traces David Bowie’s development as a songwriter and performer throughout 1968-1969 with home demos, BBC sessions, and studio recordings with his friend and collaborator John “Hutch” Hutchinson and the mime group Feathers. The box also…
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Revolution Rock: The Clash Celebrate Landmark Anniversary With “London Calling Scrapbook” and Vinyl Reissue
When The Clash released their third studio effort, London Calling in December 1979, they unleashed an instant classic. The double album — with its diverse blend of punk, reggae, rockabilly, ska, R&B and jazz — was quickly heralded as a high-water mark for the band and for punk music. John Rockwell of The New York Times wrote in 1980 that London Calling “reveals depths of invention and creativity barely suggested by the band’s previous work.” The same yearm Down Beat ‘s Michael Goldberg asserted that the album “defines the state of rock…
Calling Rastafari: Omnivore Collects Reggae Gems from the Nighthawk Catalogue on “Send I A Lion”
The ever-eclectic Omnivore Recordings has announced a new reggae retrospective that puts the spotlight on the indie label Nighthawk Records. Send I A Lion: A Nighthawk Reggae Joint is due November 15 as a CD, 2-LP or digital collection. The 20-track compilation was compiled and annotated by Nighthawk founder Leroy Jodie Pierson, who had initially envisioned it as a blues label. In 1979, five years after Nighthawk began, Leroy was instead in Kingston producing local talent. Nighthawk would go on to release albums by Culture, The Gladiators, Ethiopian, Junior Byles, Justin Hinds, Winston…
Not Over You: Cherry Red Revisits Lalah Hathaway’s Earliest Albums With “It’s Somethin’: The Virgin Years”
Cherry Red’s 90/9 imprint celebrates the early works of the multi-Grammy winner soul-jazz singer Lalah Hathaway with a new collection called It’s Something: The Virgin Years. Fully approved by Hathaway, the 2-CD set brings together her self-titled debut and her follow-up Virgin album A Moment and is supplemented with a wealth of bonus material, including hard-to-find remixes, single edits, B-sides, and the Japan-exclusive track “Night and Day.” Add to it the 20-page booklet of rare photographs, liner notes, interviews, and discographical information and the collection promises to be a must for fans….
Red’s Favourites: John Renbourn’s Formative Albums Collected on “Unpentangled” Box Set
Few figures were as instrumental to the British folk music revival as John Renbourn, whose guitar style incorporated influences from Celtic, jazz, pop, R&B, and beyond. As one-fifth of Pentangle, he and his bandmates expanded the possibilities of a folk-infused combo with odd time signatures, lengthy instrumental passages, and a repertoire that spanned decades, genres, and forms. But even before forming Pentangle, Renbourn had stunned audiences and listeners with his unique approach to the guitar, eventually earning the nickname “the stoned Julian Bream of folk guitar” from Zig Zag founder and historian…
‘Round Midnight: Craft Collects Miles Davis Sessions on “Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions” Vinyl Box
Fans of early Miles Davis ought to clear off some space on the shelf and mark their calendars for December 6. Craft Recordings continues their celebration of Prestige Records’ 70th anniversary that day with a deluxe vinyl reissue of The Legendary Prestige Quintet Sessions. Originally released on CD in 2006, the 6-LP set features every track from the classic albums Miles: The New Miles Davis Quintet (1956), Cookin’ (1957), Relaxin’ (1958), Workin’ (1959), Steamin’ (1961), plus “‘Round Midnight” from Miles Davis and the Modern Jazz Giants (1959), a bonus disc of music…
A Song For Our Fathers: Explosions in the Sky Reissue Hard-To-Find Albums on Vinyl and Digital Services
The influential post-rock outfit Explosions in the Sky celebrated their 20th anniversary with a pair of reissues of hard-to find recordings on vinyl and digital streaming services through the Temporary Residence label. How Strange, Innocence was the band’s debut album. Recorded a year before their landmark Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever, their debut features many of the hallmarks of their work: dynamic shifts, guitar harmonies, lengthy instrumentals among them. The album was originally released in a homemade batch of 300 CD-Rs in…
Rock and Soul Music: Real Gone Announces Reissues of Country Joe, Mamas and Papas, Klaus Nomi, Tony Joe White Titles
On December 6, Real Gone Music will release a quartet of reissues from a diverse lineup of country-rock, jam band, pop, and avant-garde luminaries. First up is a limited-edition, 2-LP issue of Country Joe and the Fish’s Live! Fillmore West 1969 which not only featured the legendary Berkeley band (with replacement bassist Jack Casady of Jefferson Airplane), but also their famous friends. Originally released on Vanguard in 1994, the raucous and ramshackle concert was recorded in January 1969 as a farewell to the band’s “classic” lineup. The explosive album features a lengthy,…
More Than A Memory: Garth Brooks Celebrates Career With Three Editions of “Legacy” Box Set
Garth Brooks’ ever-growing legion of fans will have cause to celebrate on November 1, when the country superstar’s new, massive box set called Legacy finally hits shelves. Legacy collects five of Brooks’ albums in one place, on vinyl for the first time ever. Fans will have three different configurations to choose from: the Limited Edition Numbered Series, the Original Analog Edition, and the Digitally Remixed/Remastered Edition. Each bundles together CD and LP editions (with bonus tracks on CD) and delivers a different way to experience five of Brooks’ albums – No Fences, The…
Gotta Groove: Craft’s “Soul Explosion” Stax Celebration Continues With 5 New Reissues
This fall, Craft Recordings will continue its celebration of the rich and varied sounds of Stax Records with a further batch of reissues in the Soul Explosion series. The year-long campaign puts a spotlight on Stax’s years as an independent label following their split from Atlantic fifty years ago. During that period, the label released a staggering 27 albums and 30 singles in just a handful of months. With a host of hits and best-selling albums from evergreen acts and new signers-on alike, Stax proved its strength as one of the top…
Oh Yeah, Alright! Kenneth Womack Tells The Complete Story of “Abbey Road” in New Book “Solid State”
When The Beatles began recording Abbey Road over 50 years ago, They weren’t the same Beatles that they’d been before. The stresses of the contentious and seemingly never-ending Get Back project, the appearances of new love interests, the managerial struggles with Apple and Allen Klein, and Dick James’ divestment of their Northern Songs copyrights caused a wedge behind the scenes that threatened The Beatles’ future. And yet, in a few short months, John, Paul, George, and Ringo managed to recapture that magic feeling once again on their swan song LP. In his…
By The Fireside: Real Gone Presents Christmas Reissues From Jim Reeves, Leroy Anderson, and Stanley Black
We’ve already filled you in on our three Second Disc Records releases for Christmas this year (including titles from Chet Atkins, Eugene Ormandy, and an all-star cast), but our partners at Real Gone Music are at it again with a stellar and surprising lineup comprising more holiday-themed reissues of treasured titles, each due out on November 8. First up is a country Christmas classic from Jim Reeves: 12 Songs of Christmas. Originally released in 1963, the perennial favorite not only displayed the country country crooner’s warm voice, but also showcased the lush Nashville…
The Seventh Circle: Craft Releases Slate of ’90s and ’00s Rock Reissues on Vinyl
Craft Recordings’ lineup this year has been a diverse one, spanning blues, jazz, oldies, salsa, and now, hard rock from the last two decades. Over the last few weeks, Craft has dished out vinyl reissues from the gothic metalcore outfit Motionless in White, alt-rock heroes Taking Back Sunday, and the grungey alt-metal group Creed. First up is a black vinyl edition of When Love Met Destruction, the 2009 sophomore EP from the Scranton-hailing industrial metal/goth-core rockers. The band had initially hit the studio to record an 11-track LP, which was released in…
