Features

Formats:

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

Genres:

CCM, Classic Rock, Folk, Funk, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Amy Grant, Don Julian, Harold Wheeler, Melanie, R.E.M., The Donnas, Various Artists, War, Wilco, Wildside

The Weekend Stream: February 1, 2025

February 1, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 3 Comments

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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Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Benny Goodman, Def Leppard, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Sammy Kaye, Sheena Easton, Simple Minds, Tommy Dorsey

The Weekend Stream: January 25, 2025

January 25, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 2 Comments

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 quiet week previews a new album by The Doobie Brothers, revisits the latest from one of TSD’s favorite indie singer-songwriters, and so much more – plus a reminder of how you can help one of our favorite reissue labels, one that’s been affected by the ongoing fires in California. Doobie Brothers, Walk This Road (Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) The Doobie Brothers are giving a preview of their…

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Classic Rock, Comedy, Country, Disco/Dance, Folk, Latin, Rock

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Ernie Kovacs, Hank Snow, Livingston Taylor, Steve Wariner, The Doobie Brothers

Release Round-Up: Week of January 24

January 24, 2025 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. Badfinger, Head First: 50th Anniversary Edition (Y&T) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Head First, originally intended to be Badfinger’s eighth album and third for Warner Bros. Records, was recorded in 1974 but shelved until 2000. That release presented a rough mix by Apple Studios engineer Phil McDonald; now, 25 years later, it’s been remixed and remastered under the supervision of keyboardist Bob Jackson – the…

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Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Badfinger, Bob Dylan, Dan Fogelberg, Eric Clapton, Jeannie Piersol, Tim Weisberg, Van Morrison

Release Round-Up: Week of January 17

January 17, 2025 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. Vince Guaraldi, Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown: Original Soundtrack Recording (Lee Mendelson Productions) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Lee Mendelson family continues its series of debut releases from the Peanuts animation library with this premiere audio release of the score for 1975’s Be My Valentine, Charlie Brown. The 50th anniversary release includes Vince Guaraldi’s complete 22-cue score plus eight never-before-heard bonus tracks. Guaraldi was joined…

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Genres:

Disco/Dance, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Soundtracks

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Ari Axelrod, Gracie Abrams, Various Artists, Vince Guaraldi

The Weekend Stream: January 11, 2025

January 11, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 4 Comments

Welcome to 2025’s first edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! We’re catching up on some of our favorite artists adding albums to stream and download, plus country soul and remixes aplenty – as well as a list of resources to help our friends and family in the music business affected by the California wildfires. The Damnwells, One Last Century / No One Listens to the Band Anymore (Poor Man) Century: iTunes / Amazon No One: iTunes / Amazon Last month, Brooklyn-born…

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Blues, Disco/Dance, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock

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Brownstone, Dobie Gray, INXS, Kanye West, Michael Jackson, The Damnwells, Was (Not Was)

Release Round-Up: Week of January 10

January 10, 2025 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Rosanne Cash, The Essential Rosanne Cash (Rumble Strip) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) After a website-exclusive release, The Essential Rosanne Cash hits retail today. This newly-curated set brings together 40 of Cash’s most treasured recordings – half from her tenure on Columbia Records and the other from mostly 21st century work on the Capitol, Manhattan, and Blue Note labels. The non-chronological anthology, overseen by…

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Country, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Auli'i Cravalho, Joan Armatrading, Little Richard, Ringo Starr, Rosanne Cash, T Bone Burnett

The Weekend Stream: December 21, 2024 – and a Merry Discmas to All!

December 21, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 11 Comments

Welcome to 2024’s final edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! With no Release Round-Up this Friday and a few weeks of peace and quite from (and for!) us until 2025, we’ve got a few more treats for you under the tree from Wham!, Elton John, Bruce Springsteen, Miles Davis, Archie Bell & The Drells and so much more! Wham!, Last Christmas (Epic/Legacy/Sony Music U.K.) (iTunes / Amazon) For its 40th anniversary, Wham!’s holiday classic was reissued on various physical…

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

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Aphex Twin, Archie Bell and the Drells, Bruce Springsteen, Earth Wind and Fire, Elton John, George Michael, INXS, John Williams, Miles Davis, Wham!

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Joni Mitchell, “Archives: Volume Four (1976-1980)” and “The Asylum Albums (1976-1980)”

December 20, 2024 by Joe Marchese | 4 Comments

Earlier this year, Joni Mitchell brought her now-famous Joni Jam shows to the Hollywood Bowl for two sold-out evenings. A little more than 45 years ago, Mitchell closed out her North American tour with a series of shows some fifteen minutes away from the Bowl at the Greek Theatre; a selection from that concert closes the fourth volume of the Joni Mitchell Archives series of box sets. The Bowl shows proved another triumph for the artist who’s now widely recognized for the innovations that stunned and even divided audiences all those decades…

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Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

Classic Rock, Jazz, Pop

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Joni Mitchell

Holiday Gift Guide Review: ‘Dearly Beloved: A Prince Celebration’

December 20, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 3 Comments

The holidays are a time of good cheer and gratitude, where we all (in theory) come together to share in a common joy. There has not been a lot of common joy if you’re a Prince fan; we don’t need to re-litigate it more than we did this summer, but it’s worth noting that the quest to make intriguing, posthumous Prince projects under the current estate organization has maybe gotten worse than when we published our editorial. But there have been celebrations of The Purple One that honor his restless creative spirit….

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Country, Disco/Dance, Electronic, Everything Else, Funk, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Andre Cymone, Dead or Alive, Kenny Rogers, Martika, Paula Abdul, Prince, Robyn, Stephanie Mills, The Bangles, The Pointer Sisters

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Alice Cooper, “Muscle of Love: Deluxe Edition”

December 19, 2024 by Joe Marchese | 2 Comments

Rare is the album that’s better remembered for its packaging than its contents. But that may well be the case with the band Alice Cooper’s seventh (and final) album, 1973’s Muscle of Love. As it followed the Platinum-certified international chart-topper Billion Dollar Babies, hopes were high for the LP. It was greeted by lukewarm critical assessments, though, and “merely” reached No. 10 on the Billboard 200 and No. 34 on the U.K. Albums Chart. As such, it was inevitably considered a disappointment. (It did go Gold.) But fans – and even those…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Rock

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Alice Cooper

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Steve Martin, ‘Steve in a Box’

December 16, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

At this point in time, CD box sets have been a going concern (especially around the holidays) for nearly 40 years. Thousands of them have been released, and with the unexpected shift toward listening on vinyl (who’d have thought?) and digital (particularly streaming, which has a near-total grasp on music consumption today), you’ve got to have a really strong angle to encourage fans to part with some extra money and add new titles to their shelves. What more can be done? you (and sometimes we at The Second Disc) wonder. Stand-up comedy…

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Steve Martin, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Comedy

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The Weekend Stream: December 14, 2024

December 14, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 3 Comments

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 Christmas cheer from The Damnwells and Jody Miller, a Record Store Day reissue from Tegan and Sara, mid-’70s fun from The Flying Burrito Brothers to Freddie Prinze and a new spin on a John Williams classic. Plus, a way to help a dear friend and collaborator of the TSD team. The Damnwells, Xmas Eve (Poor Man/Pasadena Records) (iTunes / Amazon) Cult-favorite Brooklyn-bred quartet The Damnwells put out one…

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

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Faith Hope and Charity, Freddie Prinze, J. Cole, John Williams, Reba McEntire, Tegan and Sara, The Damnwells, The Flying Burrito Brothers

Release Round-Up: Week of December 13

December 13, 2024 by The Second Disc | No Comments

It’s Friday the 13th, but it just might be your lucky day for reissues! Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Luther Vandross, Never Too Much: Greatest Hits (Epic/Legacy) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada In conjunction with a new documentary film, Legacy Recordings issues a new double-disc anthology of the late Luther Vandross’ work, accompanied by several rare and unreleased tracks. Never Too Much: Greatest Hits offers 20 tracks on two CDs that represent the…

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Dick Van Dyke, Irwin Kostal, Julie Andrews, Richard M. Sherman, Robert B. Sherman, The Sherman Brothers

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Holiday, Pop, R&B/Soul

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Anais Mitchell, David Grisman, Foghat, Jason Robert Brown, Jefferson Starship, Jerry Garcia, Luther Vandross, Stephen Sondheim, The Doobie Brothers, The J. Geils Band, Wham!, Yachtley Crew

Holiday Gift Guide Review: ‘Mary Poppins: 60th Anniversary Collection’

December 10, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

I. In Every Job That Must Be Done, There is An Element of Fun When you’re a child – no matter where you’re from, or how perceptive you may be about such things – it’s easy to get a sixth sense about something you watch or read and just feel is different from the rest of what you’ve watched or seen. The Wizard of Oz is that way for many people. So too is Mary Poppins, P.L. Travers’ series of books about a magical nanny that was adapted into a colorful musical film by Walt…

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Holiday Gift Guide

Formats:

Box Sets, Vinyl

Genres:

Soundtracks

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The Weekend Stream: December 6, 2024

December 6, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

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. Elton John’s most recent recording gets a remix, plus some rare Prince-produced ’90s R&B, a comeback track from one of 2010s pop’s most underrated performers, and some Christmas curios you’ll have to hear to believe. There’s even a tearjerker music video from…Coldplay? Check it all out! Elton John, “Never Too Late” (Acoustic Version) (Mercury/EMI) (iTunes / Amazon) Elton’s recently released team-up with Brandi Carlile, which closes the documentary…

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Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Disco/Dance, Holiday, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

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Bing Crosby, Brandi Carlile, Coldplay, Dick Van Dyke, Elton John, INXS, Jevetta Steele, Mark Mulcahy, Prince, Sky Ferreira

Release Round-Up: Week of December 6

December 6, 2024 by The Second Disc | 2 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. Laura Nyro, Hear My Song: The Collection 1966-1995 (Madfish) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Madfish) Over three years after the release of its 8LP vinyl box set American Dreamer 1967-1978, the Madfish label is returning to the discography of late singer-songwriter Laura Nyro for the 19CD box set Hear My Song: The Collection 1966-1995. This collection includes every one of Nyro’s original studio albums, six live albums (two of which are previously…

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Formats:

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

Genres:

Classic Rock, Folk, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

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Al Jarreau, Bill Evans, Bing Crosby, Christopher Cross, Flamin' Groovies, Henry Mancini, Jesse Malin, Laura Nyro, Lucinda Williams, Melanie, Nancy Wilson, Roxette, The Blasters, The Rolling Stones

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Bob Dylan and The Band, “The 1974 Live Recordings”

December 4, 2024 by Joe Marchese | 4 Comments

Bob Dylan and The Band 1974 Live Recordings

Big things often come in small packages. Such is the case with Legacy Recordings’ recent excavation of Bob Dylan and The Band’s 1974 tour. 40 concerts took place over 30 dates and 21 cities, with Dylan, Robbie Robertson, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel, Levon Helm, and Rick Danko even playing two shows in one day in many markets. The 1974 Live Recordings takes the form of a tiny cube, packing in 27 discs and 431 tracks (417 of which are previously unreleased). The set contains every professionally-recorded Dylan track from the concerts, and…

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Formats:

Box Sets, CD

Genres:

Classic Rock, Rock

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Bob Dylan, The Band

Holiday Gift Guide Review: The Beatles, “1964 U.S. Albums in Mono”

December 3, 2024 by Joe Marchese | 10 Comments

Any Time at All Did The Beatles save rock and roll? If John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr didn’t save the still-young form, they certainly gifted it with a reinvigorating, exhilarating jolt of musical euphoria the likes of which hadn’t been seen before – and hasn’t been duplicated since. The scene was early 1964. Buddy Holly was long gone, and the big hits had dried up – at the moment, at least – for Jerry Lee Lewis and Little Richard. Elvis had served his time in the Army and…

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Formats:

Box Sets, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Pop

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The Beatles

THE SECOND DISC’S 2024 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!

December 2, 2024 by The Second Disc | No Comments

George Harrison Living in the Material World 50th SDE Cover

Well, today is Cyber Monday, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it’s time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring (more than) a few of our favorite things for the music enthusiast in your life. Sure, we might not have included raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but we’ve filled the guide with over 50 essential selections: sprawling box sets and deluxe vinyl editions, as well as noteworthy releases on CD from favorite artists that just might make great stocking stuffers. So just click here or visit the…

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Holiday Gift Guide

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Comedy, Country, Disco/Dance, Folk, Funk, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

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The Weekend Stream: November 30, 2024

November 30, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 3 Comments

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. The Christmas season means favorites (quite) old and (sort of) new, plus Wang Chung’s first album and a rock and hip-hop packed slasher film soundtrack. Band Aid, Do They Know It’s Christmas? EP (Band Aid Trading Limited/UMC) EP: iTunes / Amazon Single Version: iTunes / Amazon Extended Version: iTunes / Amazon Just over four decades from its original recording and release, Band Aid’s “Do They Know It’s Christmas” returns for a…

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Country, Disco/Dance, Holiday, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Band Aid, Bob Wills, INXS, Jody Miller, Raymond Scott, The Flaming Lips, The Olivia Tremor Control, Wang Chung, Yoko Ono

Release Round-Up: Week of November 29

November 29, 2024 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! While most labels are concentrating today on Record Store Day’s Black Friday releases, we’ve chosen to spotlight a few non-RSD titles out today, as well. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Tommy Steele, On Air (Stage Door Pop) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Stage Door Records’ Pop imprint celebrates The Happiest Millionaire and Half a Sixpence star Tommy Steele with On Air, a collection of 31 tracks culled from his 1964 U.K. radio series The Tommy Steele Show. None of these tracks have been released since their original broadcast sixty…

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Formats:

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

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Country, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Dorsey Burnette, Eric Clapton, Heather Nova, Leo Sayer, Mercury Rev, Sparks, Taylor Swift, Todd Rundgren, Tommy Steele, War

The Weekend Stream: November 23, 2024

November 23, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

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 Beach Boys covers with some fascinating history related to the band, a tribute to one of the greatest musical icons we lost this year, a new single from a legend of R&B and much more – plus a call to action to help a family in need. California Music, Don’t Worry Baby EP (RCA) (iTunes / Amazon) One of the most unusual branches of the sprawling family tree…

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Disco/Dance, Everything Else, Holiday, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

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Bartees Strange, Brian Wilson, Frantique, John Williams, Madonna, Quincy Jones, The Beach Boys

Release Round-Up: Week of November 22

November 22, 2024 by The Second Disc | 8 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today including a Christmas classic from Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music and a whole bunch of massive box sets! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Sings Christmas Carols (Expanded Edition) (Second Disc/Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) Over the past decade, we here at TSD have happily partnered with Real Gone Music on an array of Christmas releases from such evergreen artists as Johnny Mathis, The Supremes, Chet Atkins,…

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Formats:

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

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Electronic, Everything Else, Gospel, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Holiday Gift Guide Review: Elvis Costello, “King of America and Other Realms”

November 18, 2024 by Joe Marchese | 3 Comments

It was a fine idea at the time/Now it’s a brilliant mistake… Elvis Costello delivered a powerful surprise in 1986 when he shed his backing band, The Attractions, and teamed up with T Bone Burnett for King of America. Originally credited in the U.K. to The Costello Show (Featuring The Attractions and Confederates) and in the U.S. to The Costello Show (Featuring Elvis Costello), the album backtracked from the sleek ’80s polish of its two immediate predecessors (Punch the Clock and Goodbye Cruel World) and instead tapped into a vein closer to…

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