Features

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Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Everything Else, Folk, Funk, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Release Round-Up: Week of October 9

October 9, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Paul Simon The Quiet Celebration Concert

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Genesis, From Genesis to Revelation: Deluxe Edition (Esoteric/Cherry Red) 4CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) 2CD: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) 2LP: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) From Genesis to Revelation, the debut album from prog-rock legends Genesis, is no stranger to reissues due to its complicated…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Reel-to-Reel, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Electronic, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Andrew Lloyd Webber, Bill Wyman, Duncan Sheik, Genesis, John Prine, Joni Mitchell, Paul Simon, Pet Shop Boys, Tim Rice

The Weekend Stream: October 3, 2026

October 4, 2026 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

Stevie Wonder, Songs in the Key of Life – The EP (Motown/UMe) (Apple / Amazon) On September 28 – five decades to the day since Motown Records welcomed Stevie Wonder’s Songs in the Key of Life into the world – another miracle occurred. Loosed from Wonder’s vaults (a phrase that’s almost never been applicable in the modern catalogue music era) comes another “A Something’s Extra” collecting four outtakes from the original double album-plus-EP. (Unlike, say, Timeless, these tracks appear to be free of contemporary overdubs, only newly mixed from their original sources by John…

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Classic Rock, Comedy, Country, Latin, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Amy Grant, Bill Conti, Clannad, Devo, Divinyls, Hector Lavoe, Jim Reeves, John Williams, Kyle Gordon, Mac Miller, Stevie Wonder, The Chicks, The Rolling Stones

Release Round-Up: Week of October 2

October 2, 2026 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Beatles, Rubber Soul [Various Formats] (Capitol/Apple/UMe) 4CD: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) / Official Store (exclusive posters and art cards)(opens in new tab) 5LP/7″: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) / Official Store (exclusive posters and art cards)(opens in new tab) Blu-ray: Amazon U.S.(opens…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Andy Williams, Barry Manilow, Donna Summer, Elvis Costello, John Coltrane, Johnny Marr, Ray Charles, The Beatles, The Fall, Wynonna

The Weekend Stream: September 26, 2026

September 26, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. One of the busiest weeks this column has ever enjoyed includes new music from pop’s biggest figure, its reigning queen and one of the biggest rock bands in the world – plus a generous handful of even more rarities, remixes, re-recordings and rediscoveries. Taylor Swift, The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore (Republic) (Apple / Amazon) Like death and taxes, new…

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Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Everything Else, Folk, Holiday, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Reggae, Rock

Release Round-Up: Week of September 25

September 25, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention, Freak Out! 60th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (Zappa/UMe) 5CD/BD: Zappa.com (opens in new tab)/ uDiscoverMusic.com(opens in new tab)(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) 5LP (Pre-Master Mix & Mono Mix + 60th Anniversary Highlights): Zappa.com(opens in new tab) / uDiscoverMusic.com(opens in new tab) 2LP (Remastered 1966…

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Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Folk, Holiday, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Andrea Bocelli, Art in America, Average White Band, Ben Platt, Danny O'Keefe, Doctor Who, Frank Zappa, Jason Robert Brown, John Debney, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Marc Bolan, Peter Davison, Rachel Zegler, Randy Edelman, Randy Newman, T Rex, Taylor Swift

The Weekend Stream: September 19, 2026

September 19, 2026 by The Second Disc | 6 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. Cyndi Lauper celebrates one of her best-known albums, an Earth, Wind & Fire legend pays tribute to the man who founded the group, plus rare and unvaulted favorites from Peggy Lee, Neil Sedaka and Burl Ives, and reissues of new records by David Byrne and Wednesday. Cyndi Lauper, True Colors (40th Anniversary Expanded Edition) (Epic/Legacy) (Apple / Amazon) Of course a…

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Disco/Dance, Electronic, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Reggae, Rock

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Billy Idol, Burl Ives, Coleman Hawkins, Cyndi Lauper, David Byrne, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis, Frank Wess, John Farnham, Maurice White, Neil Sedaka, Peggy Lee, Red Garland

Release Round-Up: Week of September 18

September 18, 2026 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today…and it’s one of the biggest weeks in recent memory! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. David Bowie, The Shel Talmy Recordings (Parlophone) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store (180-gram red vinyl) The Shel Talmy Recordings collects 21 recordings the then-unknown David Bowie recorded with producer Talmy (The Who, The Kinks) during 1965, when he was a member of bands The Manish Boys and The Lower Third. Only four of these tracks…

The Weekend Stream: September 12, 2026

September 12, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. We’ve got some timely tributes to some recently deceased icons, plus rarities from The Alan Parsons Project and Matt Monro, a host of treasures from 1976, and a very unusual pair of compilations for four disco legends and a beloved San Francisco rock combo. Dolly Parton, The 1962 Mercury Recordings (Mercury Nashville/UMe) (Apple / Amazon) A surprising tribute from a label…

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Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Pop, R&B/Soul, Reggae, Rock, Soundtracks

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Andy Gibb, Barry Gibb, Bee Gees, Burt Bacharach, Dolly Parton, Eddy Grant, Huey Lewis and The News, Jim Reeves, Matt Monro, Maurice Gibb, Melody Federer, Robin Gibb, Sheena Easton, The Alan Parsons Project, The Gentrys, Tim Curry

Release Round-Up: Week of September 11

September 11, 2026 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Roches, Runs in the Family: The Warner Bros./Rykodisc Albums (Cherry Red/Lemon/Second Disc) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Runs in the Family, from TSD and Cherry Red’s Lemon Recordings imprint, is the first-ever albums collection from the genre-bending trio of Maggie, Suzzy, and Terre Roche, a.k.a. The Roches. The set features the sisters’ debut The Roches (1979) produced by King Crimson legend Robert Fripp; Nurds (1980) produced by Simon…

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Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

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Country, Folk, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Buddy Miller, Davy Jones, Eli Paperboy Reed, Manfred Mann, The Roches, The Walker Brothers

Reissue Theory: 50 Years of ‘Muppet Show’ Memories (and More!)

September 8, 2026 by Mike Duquette | 16 Comments

Welcome to another installment of The Second Disc’s long-unused column Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. As a classic force of television scores big at the Emmys this year – 50 years after their most significant series first started – it’s time to play the music, light the lights, and dream of a wider availability for the music of Jim Henson’s Muppets! There’s a major diva looming over the 78th annual Primetime Emmy Awards this coming weekend. Hacks, HBO Max’s delightful…

The Weekend Stream: September 5, 2026

September 5, 2026 by The Second Disc | 14 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. Two major years linger in this latest column: 2006 (where two pop legends recorded blockbuster albums that are newly expanded) and 1976 (origin of no less than five left-field titles coming back into digital print). Beyoncé, B’DAY (20th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION) (Parkwood/Columbia) (Apple / Amazon) Two decades to the day after it was released (and, indeed, on her 45th birthday),…

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Country, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Beyoncé, Hector Lavoe, Kelly Garrett, Nelly Furtado, Paul Kelly, Selena, Sheena Easton, Timbaland, Woody Shaw

Release Round-Up: Week of September 4

September 4, 2026 by The Second Disc | 5 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Ben Folds Five, Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary Edition) (Capitol/UMe, 2026) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Piano-pounding alternative trio Ben Folds Five have revisited their first album – both versions of their first album – for a new expanded edition. The group’s self-titled debut has been remastered and expanded, one year after its 30th anniversary…

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CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

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Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Folk, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock

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Aaron Tveit, Ben Folds Five, Bing Crosby, Cat Stevens, Dexys Midnight Runners, John Coltrane, Lea Michele, Micky Dolenz, Pink Floyd, The Cranberries, The Gentrys

The Weekend Stream: August 29, 2026

August 29, 2026 by The Second Disc | 5 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. New singles from U2 and Peter Gabriel, expanded reissues from OK Go and The New Christy Minstrels, SuperVisible surprises and some new cast albums – you’ll find them all here, plus tributes to the many, many artists we lost this week. U2, “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” (Rubyworks) (Apple / Amazon TBD) The boys of U2 are fully roused for a new…

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Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Reggae, Rock

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A Certain Ratio, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Eddy Grant, Fania All-Stars, Lori Yates, OK Go, Peter Gabriel, Post Malone, Rachel Zegler, Shane MacGowan, The New Christy Minstrels, U2, Walt Mink, Ween

Release Round-Up: Week of August 28

August 28, 2026 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Prince, Timeless (NPG/Legacy) CD: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) LP: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) / Official Store(opens in new tab) (140-gram Purple Marbled Vinyl) Ten years after his tragic passing, a newly-curated release from Prince’s vault offers 10 unreleased tracks spanning his entire recording career – mostly unconsidered, in their respective forms, for any formal versions…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Funk, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Reggae, Rock, Soundtracks

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Bananarama, Bob Marley, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Engelbert Humperdinck, Genesis, Gerry Beckley, Joan Jett, Klaus Nomi, Marco Beltrami, Prince, Sara Bareilles, The Stooges

In Memoriam: Dolly Parton (1946-2026)

August 26, 2026 by Mike Duquette | 4 Comments

The Second Disc joins the myriad voices of musical enthusiasts stunned by the news of Dolly Parton’s passing on August 25, 2026. Mike remembers an enduring icon who may have been the most universally beloved person on the planet. Joe’s tribute will run later this week. Ten years removed from a year when it felt like a shocking amount of musical luminaries passed away – and knowing full well that time only moves forward to make us bid others farewell – Dolly Parton’s passing at the age of 80 still stuns. In…

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Features, News

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Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Country, Pop

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Dolly Parton

The Weekend Stream: August 23, 2026

August 23, 2026 by The Second Disc | 4 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. We’re mostly looking at albums dug up from the crates of 1976, but there’s also some unreleased goodies from Peggy Lee and David Allan Coe, plus plenty more. Peggy Lee, My Guitar à la Lee (Capitol/UMe) (Apple / Amazon) A new digital EP celebrates the 60th anniversary of the late songstress’ 1966 album Guitars à la Lee…sort of! My Guitar…

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Blues, CCM, Country, Disco/Dance, Everything Else, Folk, Gospel, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Soundtracks

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Candi Staton, David Allan Coe, Engelbert Humperdinck, Eric Andersen, Jimmy Reed, Moe Bandy, Peggy Lee, Quincy Jones, Skip James, The Chuck Wagon Gang

Release Round-Up: Week of August 21

August 21, 2026 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The B-52’s, Ancient Culture: Mesopotamia Revisited (Sire/Rhino) (Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab)) The B-52’s are returning to Mesopotamia. The band has revisited their 1982 David Byrne-produced EP on Ancient Culture: Mesopotamia Revisited, a new and generously expanded 3CD/1LP box set premiering outtakes, alternate mixes, and a previously unreleased concert from the era. The new “Full-Length Version” of Mesopotamia featured on CD and LP in Ancient Culture reassembles the…

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Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

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Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Comedy, Disco/Dance, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Alex Chilton, Anthony Hopkins, Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, Gustavo Dudamel, Jack Kerouac, John Williams, KISS, The B-52's, The Cramps, Various Artists

The Weekend Stream: August 15, 2026

August 15, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. A lot of new singles from some old favorites, from Stephen Bishop to Jimmy Webb – plus even more outtakes from Ween, remixes from Whitney Houston, rare finds for country, comedy, hard rock and soundtrack lovers, and a must-read story about a fan letter to one of our most missed singer/songwriters. Stephen Bishop, “I Don’t Know You Anymore” (Life’s a Bish) (Apple…

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Classic Rock, Comedy, Country, Disco/Dance, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

Release Round-Up: Week of August 14

August 14, 2026 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Monkees, Made for TV (Rhino) (Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) / Rhino.com(opens in new tab) / Monkees.com(opens in new tab)) Rhino celebrates Season 1 of The Monkees just in time for its 60th anniversary. This new 2CD/1LP/1Blu-ray multimedia box set brings together all of the music heard on Season 1 of the groundbreaking television series in one deluxe…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock, Soundtracks

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Carly Simon, Claibe Richardson, Dorothy Loudon, Everything But the Girl, Guy Haines, Jethro Tull, John Williams, Leo Sayer, Sparks, Stephen Cole, The Monkees

The Weekend Stream: August 8, 2026

August 8, 2026 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. An unexpected return from a ’90s one-hit wonder, a team-up of two pop queens, and plenty of odds and ends from 1976 will satisfy your Saturday. Various Artists, One Night Only (Music from the Motion Picture) (Back Lot Music) (Apple / Amazon) The new comedy from director Will Gluck (Easy A) involving a meet-cute on the one day non-marital sex is legal…

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Country, Disco/Dance, Everything Else, Gospel, Latin, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

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Ben Folds Five, Brenda Lee, Fania All-Stars, General Johnson, Henry Mancini, Jim Reeves, Kylie Minogue, Madonna, New Birth, New Radicals, The Anita Kerr Singers, The Presidents of the United States of America

Release Round-Up: Week of August 7

August 7, 2026 by The Second Disc | 6 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Tom Tom Club, Let There Be Love (Warner/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Rhino assembles most of the Talking Heads offshoot group’s discography on a new 6CD or 7LP box set. Let There Be Love contains Tom Tom Club (1981), Close to the Bone (1983), Boom Boom Chi Boom Boom (1988), Dark Sneak Love Action (1991), The Good, the Bad, and the Funky (2000), and Downtown Rockers (2012). Get the detail on what’s included on what’s not by clicking here. Whitney…

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Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Bing Crosby, Elephant's Memory, En Vogue, Primal Scream, Strawberry Alarm Clock, The Hollywood Stars, Tom Tom Club, Various Artists, Whitney Houston

The Weekend Stream: August 1, 2026

August 1, 2026 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. It’s an alt-rock weekend to start, with a Southern country/rock rarity from the ’80s that’s worth checking out and a pop-punk favorite from the ’00s. And that’s only the start… Velvet Elvis, Velvet Elvis (Expanded Edition) (self-released) (Apple / Amazon) Velvet Elvis combined college rock with country in the late ’80s, tapping producer Mitch Easter of Let’s Active for their second…

Release Round-Up: Week of July 31

July 31, 2026 by The Second Disc | 5 Comments

Alice Cooper The Studio Albums 1975 1978

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available this week. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Alice Cooper, The Studio Albums 1975-1978 (Warner/Rhino) 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rhino celebrates the early years of shock rock legend Alice Cooper with a new 5CD or 5LP box set. The Studio Albums 1975-1978 begins with 1975’s Welcome to My Nightmare, his first proper solo album, and continues with Alice Cooper Goes to Hell (1976), Lace and Whiskey (1977), and From the Inside (1978). The collection is rounded out with a…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, CD, Cassette, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Alice Cooper, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Fleetwood Mac, Green Day, Joan Jett, Neil Sedaka, The Kinks, Wang Chung, War, Yes

The Weekend Stream: July 25, 2026

July 25, 2026 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. Oddities and curiosities abound in this Saturday’s column! Peggy Lee, “Big $pender (Girl Math Remix)” (Capitol/UMe) (Apple / Amazon) House music DJ duo Girl Math has remixed Peggy Lee’s rendition of Cy Coleman and Dorothy Fields’ Sweet Charity showstopper “Big Spender” – the title track of her 1966 album – with a modern, electronic dance sound. Spend a little time with her?…

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