The B-52’s are returning to Mesopotamia. This Friday, August 21, the band will revisit 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. Following two back-to-back albums (1979’s self-titled debut and 1980’s Wild Planet), The B-52’s were creatively tapped out. Moving the group into a house in upstate New York to concentrate on writing only inflamed tensions further. A compilation, Party Mix!, was issued in 1981 as a stopgap measure to…
Light Shine on Me: The Waterboys Revisit “Fisherman’s Blues” with New “Atlantic Rain” Box
Since bursting onto the post-punk scene with 1983’s self-titled album The Waterboys, the band led by Scottish singer-songwriter Mike Scott has lived up to its moniker as “the big music.” The Waterboys’ sound has taken in rock, folk, rhythm and blues, soul, pop, country, classical, jazz, and beyond. Perhaps no album in the band’s catalogue, however, was more expansive than their fourth album, 1988’s Fisherman’s Blues. Recorded over two years in Dublin and Galway by Scott, saxophonist/mandolinist Anthony “Anto” Thistlethwaite, violinist Steve Wickham, bassist Trevor Hutchinson, and many others, Fisherman’s Blues found…
Formats:
Genres:
How Sweet It Is: Rhino’s New Quadio Batch Includes James Taylor, James Gang, David Gates, Herbie Mann
Rhino’s Quadio series has recently announced its latest batch of four titles, and as usual, they comprise a quartet of eclectic titles from the 1970s. Two singer-songwriters – James Taylor and Bread’s David Gates – are joined by soul-jazz titan Herbie Mann and the rockers of The James Gang. Each Blu-ray Audio Disc in the Quadio series includes the original four-channel quadraphonic mix with a high-resolution 192/24 stereo mix, with both sourced from the original analog tapes. (The lone exception here is the Herbie Mann quad mix, which was sourced out of…
How It Is Done: Cherry Red Collects The Riot Squad, Including David Bowie Recordings, On New 3CD Collection
The Riot Squad only released seven singles on the U.K.’s Pye label between 1965 and 1967. But thanks to the discovery of Joe Meek’s Tea Chest Tapes, the story of the band that might be best known for a short-lived collaboration with David Bowie can now be told in full. I Take It That We’re Through: Anthology 1965-1967 arrives from Cherry Red’s Strawberry imprint on August 21, with 3 CDs and 83 tracks (40 of which are previously unreleased and another 14 of which are new to CD). Ron Ryan (guitar), Graham…
Don’t Let Go: Real Gone’s August Lineup Includes En Vogue, Obituary, Elephant’s Memory, and Absolute Grey
Real Gone’s August slate of releases hitting stores tomorrow, August 7, spans from the 1970s to the 1990s and includes genres from soul to rock death metal to punk (!) on vinyl and CD. Read below for more details on each title! Absolute Grey formed in September 1983 in Rochester, New York, consisting of vocalist Beth Brown, guitarist Matt Kitchen, bassist Mitchell Rasor, and drummer Pat Thomas. Drawing inspiration from the melodic guitar work of bands such as R.E.M., Rain Parade, and the Paisley Underground movement, Absolute Grey developed a distinctive sound…
Wowie Zowie: Frank Zappa’s “Freak Out!” Goes Super Deluxe For 60th Anniversary
Freak Out! Frank Zappa’s 1966 Verve Records debut with his band The Mothers of Invention was a call-to-arms to the Los Angeles underground music scene. Subverting notions of traditional pop and rock, the album blended searing social commentary with doo-wop pastiches, rhythm and blues, absurdist comedy, jazz, and musique concrete. Even today, the Mothers’ clarion call to the counterculture sounds like no other album, but it was just a portent of things to come from Zappa. On September 25, Zappa Records and UMe will revisit Freak Out! on the occasion of its…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Being Rhythmically Admired: Elvis Costello’s Debut Gets Box Set Edition This Fall
With Buddy Holly glasses, a slender frame, and a famous moniker, Elvis Costello burst onto the album scene in July 1977 with My Aim Is True. Though critics and listeners alike were quick to place the artist born Declan Patrick MacManus as a punk or new wave artist, his musical roots ran far deeper. My Aim Is True, produced by Nick Lowe, set Costello on the uncompromising path to a current tally of 33 studio albums, six live sets, numerous singles and EPs, and a still-flourishing concert career. Now, on October 2,…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Hungarian Rhapsody: Queen’s Final Filmed Concert Set for Multi-Format Remix, Reissue
The last concert Queen recorded with original frontman Freddie Mercury is getting dramatically restored for its 40th anniversary this fall, with presentations on multiple audio and video formats. Queen Budapest – recorded at the Hungarian capital’s Népstadion in the summer of 1986 – will offer the legendary show with newly remastered footage (digitized by the country’s National Film Institute and restored at 4K high-definition by Peter Jackson’s Park Road Post team) and remixed audio from the original multitracks. The complete concert audio will be released on triple vinyl for the first time,…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
The Word: The Beatles’ “Rubber Soul” Is Remixed, Expanded For New Box Set
Beep-beep, beep-beep, yeah: a remixed and remastered Rubber Soul is on the way from Apple Corps. The Beatles’ sixth studio album, 1965’s Rubber Soul is often considered to be the Fabs’ “folk-rock” album, but its mélange of styles makes it far more than that. Now, with the release on October 2 of a 4CD or 5LP/7″ box set as well as a single-disc Blu-ray, 2CD and 2LP expansions and CD and LP remixes, it’s a richer and fuller collection than ever. With a schedule free of concert and film commitments, The Beatles…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
New Revelations: Genesis’ Debut Gets New Remix, Expansion from Cherry Red
From Genesis to Revelation, the debut album from prog-rock legends Genesis, is no stranger to reissues due to its complicated ownership history. But this year, on the eve of the group’s 60th anniversary, Cherry Red’s Esoteric label will prepare the most expansive editions of the album ever pressed – versions approved by the group’s original founding members, including original vocalist Peter Gabriel and longtime members Tony Banks and Mike Rutherford. Available as a 4CD/Blu-ray box set or smaller 2CD and 2LP offerings, the centerpiece of all sets is a set of new…
They Got It All: John Du Prez’s Score for “Weird Al” Yankovic’s ‘UHF’ to Get Premiere Release
For as long as it’s been since “Weird Al” Yankovic achieved the unlikely feat of topping the Billboard 200 with his 14th album Mandatory Fun in 2014, fans have wondered what’ll inspire him to start making more music. The generationally-beloved parodist indicated at the time that he wasn’t planning on focusing on full-length albums – indeed, he let his longtime contract, starting at Scotti Bros. in 1983 and ending at Sony Music’s RCA Records, lapse – and subsequent works were few and far between. Most notably, he recorded two polka medleys – one of songs from…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Just a Sweet, Sweet Fantasy: Mariah Carey Celebrates 30 Years of ‘Daydream’ with Expanded Editions
Mariah Carey surprised fans earlier this month with a generous digital expansion of her 1995 smash album Daydream. Physical versions of the 30th anniversary set are forthcoming – but, to quote one of the album’s biggest hits, the variations in track list might have you feeling kinda hectic inside. Legacy Recordings’ 2CD-equivalent digital offering, issued on July 17, added 21 rare and unreleased bonus tracks to the original 12-track album: vintage remixes, B-sides and outtakes, writing session demos, a cappella versions and excerpts from three concerts recorded across 1995 and 1996. The physical…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
I Get So Emotional: ‘WH1TNEY’ Puts Houston’s Chart-Toppers Together on LP
Whitney Houston’s most enduring contributions to pop music history – her 11 chart-topping singles – will be celebrated on a new LP this summer. The appropriately-titled WH1TNEY, pressed on grape-colored purple vinyl, will bring together every hit that topped the Billboard Hot 100 between 1985 and 1996. From her self-titled debut in 1985, there’s “Saving All My Love,” “How Will I Know” and “Greatest Love of All”; 1987 follow-up Whitney yields “I Wanna Dance with Somebody (Who Loves Me),” “Didn’t We Almost Have It All,” “So Emotional” and “Where Do Broken Hearts Go” (these collective album…
I’m in Heaven: Tom Tom Club Collect (Sort of) Complete Albums for New Box Set
Chris Frantz and Tina Weymouth splintered from Talking Heads to create the side project Tom Tom Club, a loose grouping of musicians and singers also including Weymouth’s sisters and guitarist Adrian Belew. Over the course of six albums originally released between 1981 and 2012, Tom Tom Club kept fans glued to the dancefloor with original songs and diverse covers including Donna Summer’s “Love to Love You Baby,” Lou Reed’s “Femme Fatale,” and Hot Chocolate’s “You Sexy Thing.” On August 7, Rhino will assemble the group’s discography (or most of it, anyway) on…
Back For More: Cherry Red Expands Lulu’s “Independence” with Remixes, Singles, Videos, More
Scottish singer Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie was just fifteen years old in 1964 when, under the stage name of Lulu, she made listeners want to “Shout!” with a rip-roaring rendition of The Isley Brothers’ classic. She parlayed that memorable U.K. top ten hit into an international career that’s encompassed records, film and television roles, West End appearances, multiple books, and a concert career. Lulu remained on Decca Records, the home of “Shout!,” for a two-year stint, departing the label in late 1966 to sign with producer Mickie Most EMI’s Columbia Records arm…
Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story? A Decade of ‘Hamilton’ Celebrated with CD, Vinyl Box Sets
One of the biggest Broadway musicals of the last decade is getting celebrated in a big way for its 10th anniversary. Rhino has announced Rise Up! Hamilton: The Anthology, a heavy-duty 5CD or 7LP+7″ box set honoring Lin-Manuel Miranda’s acclaimed show. The set, available September 25, will include three albums’ worth of material from the musical – the original cast recording, the chart-topping covers project The Hamilton Mixtape, and the first physical release of the Hamildrops series of bonus recordings inspired by the production – along with additional audio extras, an 80-page book, and collectible ephemera….
Won’t Get Fooled Again: Four Who Classics Revisited by Analogue Productions on Vinyl, SACD, Reel-to-Reel
What’s next for Analogue Productions? How about Who’s Next? The label has announced that four classic titles from The Who will be receiving the deluxe audiophile treatment across various formats including UHQR Vinyl, 45 RPM LPs, hybrid SACDs (playable on all CD players), and Ultra Tape Reel-To-Reel Formats. My Generation and Live at Leeds arrive next week, July 24, while Tommy and Who’s Next will follow (date TBD). These releases have been sourced from the original analog master tapes and mastered by Chris Bellman at Bernie Grundman Mastering (with SACD editions mastered…
Around and Around: Grateful Dead Celebrate “Summer Magic 1985” with Massive Box Set, Standalone Concert Release
Rhino and Grateful Dead are celebrating a 40th (+1) anniversary with a new concert compendium due from Dead.net on September 18. Summer Magic 1985 is a 20CD collection featuring seven previously unreleased concerts from the legendary band’s 20 Years So Far tour. It’s limited to 10,000 numbered copies (while also arriving in high-resolution digital formats). But that’s not all; the Merriweather Post Pavilion show of June 30, 1985 will be broken out for 3CD and 4LP standalone release on the same day. The Dead’s magic in the summer of ’85 was plentiful,…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
Baby Loves That Way: David Bowie’s Early Singles, Unreleased Material with Shel Talmy Gathered for New Album
The David Bowie estate is going back toward the beginning of the late singer’s career, focusing on his early days as a blues interpreter with a famous British producer. The Shel Talmy Recordings, to be released September 18, collects 21 recordings the then-unknown musician recorded with producer Talmy during 1965, when he was a member of bands The Manish Boys and The Lower Third. Only four of these tracks were released at the time as singles, with another seven alternate and outtake versions turning up on compilations over the years; that of…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
About ‘Face’: Phil Collins’ Debut Expanded on Vinyl, Remixed for Blu-ray for 45th Anniversary
Did he miss again? Hardly. To celebrate the 45th anniversary of his debut album, Phil Collins will release a new deluxe vinyl version of 1981’s Face Value featuring all the material from the original 2016 deluxe edition and more – including some long unavailable and previously unreleased material. Available September 18 and following the example of similar box sets for No Jacket Required (1985) and Both Sides (1993), Face Value (Full Value) offers a half-speed pressing of the original album’s 2015 remaster cut by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios, plus three additional LPs including the 12…
Categories:
Formats:
Genres:
’80s Romance: Edsel Reissues “The Belle Stars” With Singles, Remixes, More
The Belle Stars’ catalogue is a relatively tiny one, consisting of just one complete studio album, a handful of non-LP singles, and a live album that didn’t see release until long after the group had broken up. Now, Edsel has reassembled the all-girl band’s audio discography in a new 3CD, 7-inch-sized box simply titled The Belle Stars – essentially a generously expanded edition of their same-titled debut LP. The Belle Stars were born out of the ashes of two-tone/ska revival band The Bodysnatchers when five of its seven members decided to press…
Ready: Cat Stevens’ “Buddha and the Chocolate Box” Returns to CD, LP, Digital Formats
Cat Stevens’ Buddha and the Chocolate Box, originally released in 1974, is the latest title in the singer-songwriter’s venerable cat-o-log to get the remastered reissue treatment. One of Yusuf’s four consecutive LPs to reach the top three in both the United States and Great Britain and his sixth A&M release overall, Buddha returns September 4 on CD, vinyl, and digital formats. In many respects, Buddha and the Chocolate Box was a homecoming for Stevens. After retreating to Jamaica to self-produce the R&B-influenced Foreigner (also reissued as part of the Cat-o-Log series), he…
In Memoriam: Bonnie Tyler (1951-2026)
For more than 50 years, the gravelly voice of Bonnie Tyler was one of pop and rock’s most distinctive. Whether bringing to life the rootsy “It’s a Heartache” or the majestic theatrical drama of “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” Tyler sounded like nobody else. The Welsh singer born Gaynor Hopkins in 1951 died earlier today at the age of 75, following a recent illness that left her hospitalized since May. Bonnie decided to pursue singing as a career after performing in a talent competition in 1969. Though she took second place to an…
All That’s Known: ‘Spring Awakening’ Bows on Vinyl with Archival Recordings
One of the most pivotal Broadway shows of the last few decades will be revisited in a special package for its vinyl debut. Spring Awakening, the striking rock musical by Steven Sater (book/lyrics) and Duncan Sheik (music), will have its original cast recording reissued for its 20th anniversary on August 14. In addition to the original songs – now newly mastered for vinyl by Ryan K. Smith at Sterling Sound – this package will also include two previously unreleased recordings of songs cut from the final production. The high-quality gatefold package includes…
Everything’s Heavy Underground: Ben Folds Five to Reissue Debut with ‘Shelved First Attempt’ Bonus Disc
Piano-pounding alternative trio Ben Folds Five will revisit their first album this fall – both versions of their first album. The group’s self-titled debut will be remastered and expanded on September 4, a year after its 30th anniversary mark. This 2CD or 180-gram 2LP release pairs that original album, featuring seminal tracks like “Underground” and “Philosophy,” with a mostly unreleased “Shelved First Attempt” featuring many of the same tracks (and a few others) recorded in an earlier session. Both sets will offer expanded liner notes featuring rare photos and commentary by Folds. It…
