Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Andy Williams, Emperor of Easy: Lost Columbia Masters 1962-72 (Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Real Gone Music has the first-ever collection of never-before-heard music from Andy Williams' Columbia Records years. Emperor of Easy: Lost Columbia Masters 1962-72 boasts 20 selections direct from the Columbia vault encompassing 16 previously unreleased studio outtakes and four rare singles. Every track on Emperor of Easy
Rag, Mama Rag: The Band’s Self-Titled Album To Be Given 50th Anniversary Box Set Treatment
It's been fifty years since The Band released their self-title album, lovingly referred to by fans as "The Brown Album." To celebrate the anniversary of the pioneering release, The Band will be reissued in a variety of expanded editions on November 15. These follow last year's similar reissues of the group's debut, Music from Big Pink. While The Band was primarily recorded in Hollywood - in Sammy Davis, Jr.'s pool house, no less! - the feel was decidedly rustic. The sessions took on a
Release Round-Up: Week of September 27
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Beatles, Abbey Road: Anniversary Edition [Various Formats] (Apple/UMe) Super Deluxe 3CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Deluxe 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Abbey Road celebrates 50 with a variety of editions built around a new 2019 stereo mix by Giles Martin
UPDATE WITH NEW RELEASE DATE: Lost For Words: Pink Floyd Looks Back on Gilmour Era In ‘The Later Years: 1987-2019’
EDIT: Due to production and logistical delays, the deluxe box set of 'Pink Floyd The Later Years' and the digital equvalent will be released on December 13, 2019. The highlights 2-LP / 1 CD package and the digital equivalent will keep the release date of November 29, 2019. In a move that's sure to please fans of latter-day Pink Floyd, the band has announced a new, 18-disc multimedia box set due on December 13. The Later Years: 1987-2019, which celebrates the band's David Gilmour-led
Release Round-Up: Week of June 14
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Johnny Mathis, Killing Me Softly with Her Song/When Will I See You Again (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music continue celebrating Johnny Mathis' discography with two albums on one CD. 1973's Killing Me Softly with Her Song and 1975's When Will I See You Again both spotlight Mathis' silky interpretations of the day's greatest hits. Killing Me Softly with Her
Release Round-Up: Week of May 31
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Hootie & The Blowfish, Cracked Rear View: 25th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Atlantic/Rhino) 3-CD/DVD Deluxe: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2-CD Expanded: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Hootie and the Blowfish are revisiting their 21x platinum smash Cracked Rear View with a new 3-CD/DVD Deluxe Edition and 2-CD Expanded Edition. The Deluxe Edition includes a new
Force Majeure: Tangerine Dream Classics, Outtakes, and Surround Mixes Abound on “In Search of Hades” Box
Tangerine Dream was among the "true pioneers of electronic and ambient music, and the albums they recorded for Virgin Records between 1973 and 1979 remain classics of the genre" - so says progressive rocker and remixer extraordinaire, Steven Wilson. And he should know, as Wilson has been heavily involved in a Tangerine Dream box set that spotlights the era, entitled In Search of Hades: The Virgin Recordings 1973-1979. Due from UMC/Virgin on June 14, In Search of Hades celebrates Tangerine
Holding Court: King Crimson Announces 50th Anniversary Plans with New Single, Box Sets, Tour, and More!
Rock royalty King Crimson celebrate their golden jubilee this year and yesterday, January 13 - exactly 50 years since their first rehearsals - the band announced a wealth of new projects and plans to celebrate the momentous feat. Along with an upcoming documentary and ongoing download series, fans can expect a new tour, vinyl reissues, box sets, and live releases from the vault. We'll have full details for each release as they're announced, but to whet your appetite, here's a look at what the
Review: The Beatles, “The Beatles (The White Album): Anniversary Edition”
You Say You Want a Revolution Following the enormous, worldwide success of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, The Beatles wouldn't have been faulted had they re-entered Abbey Road Studios and created another album of robustly melodic, lavishly orchestrated songs of whimsy and wonder. But Messrs. Lennon, McCartney, Harrison, and Starr weren't interested in repeating themselves. When The Beatles arrived on November 22, 1968, roughly one and one-half years after Pepper, one didn't even
Release Round-Up: Week of November 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra, The Complete Christmas Albums (Second Disc/Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This comprehensive 2-CD, 43-track set from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music features all three of the legendary conductor's classic Columbia Christmas LPs - Joy to the World: The Music of Christmas (1959), Wonderland of Christmas (1963), and Wishing You a Merry Christmas (1965), on which he was joined by
Review: John Lennon, “Imagine: The Ultimate Collection”
You May Say I'm a Dreamer Much like the artist who created it, John Lennon's Imagine has always been an album of contradictions. While its dreamy, idealized title track has become an anthem for generations, the same LP veers from heartbreaking vulnerability ("Jealous Guy") and expressions of romance ("Oh My Love," "Oh Yoko!") to a withering, personal jab at a friend ("How Do You Sleep") to powerfully pointed social commentary ("Crippled Inside," "I Don't Wanna Be a Soldier Mama I Don't Wanna
Through A Glass Onion: The Second Disc Hears Selections From The Beatles’ “White Album” Box
NEW YORK, NY - "We live in a perfect world of [these] anodyne, Instagrammed, perfect photographs, in-tune music, and everything in time, and The Beatles weren't that. The Beatles had a heartbeat to them, and the story of 'The White Album' is the story of that heartbeat, if you'd like." Last Wednesday morning, September 26, Giles Martin was holding court for an audience of about 70 at New York's famed Record Plant. The subject was, of course, the legendary 1968 double-LP formally named The
Say It’s Your Birthday: The Beatles Mark 50 Years of The White Album with Deluxe Reissue
It's officially named for the band that created it, but to listeners around the world, the 1968 double-album will forever be known as The White Album. Its sprawling, eclectic lineup of 30 tracks showcased every side of John, Paul, George, and Ringo, and cast its musical net wider from the baroque pop majesty of Sgt. Pepper's to a heavier celebration of all things, and all sounds, rock-and-roll. Just a few of its classic songs include "Back in the USSR," "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," "While My Guitar
Release Round-Up: Week of September 7
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Led Zeppelin, The Song Remains the Same [Various Formats] (Atlantic/Swan Song) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Blu-ray Audio: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD/4LP/2DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham took the famous stage at New York's Madison Square Garden on July 27-29, 1973 for the concerts
Review: The Band, “Music from Big Pink: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition”
The house on Parnassus Lane, formerly Stoll Road, in West Saugerties, New York might be one of rock and roll's least likely landmarks, with its unassuming residential façade distinguished only by its pink siding. But the colorful house bore witness to the birth of some of the greatest songs in American pop history when Bob Dylan and his band - soon to be The Band - recorded "The Basement Tapes" there. When Capitol Records subsequently signed Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Rick
Release Round-Up: Week of August 3
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Ben Folds, Brick: The Songs of Ben Folds 1996-2012 (Edsel) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The 13-CD box Brick: The Songs of Ben Folds 1996-2012 brings together nearly all of Folds' core studio albums together with a live album and various other odds and ends. It traces his career from the first Ben Five Folds record through his solo recordings to the Five's reunion album in 2012, for a total of 194 tracks! And yes - it's shaped
My Precious: Rhino Reissues ‘Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers’ Box Set on CD, Blu-ray, Vinyl
Rhino is taking another journey to Middle-earth this Friday, July 27, with the reissue of the second soundtrack from director Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers - The Complete Recordings, composed and conducted by Academy Award winner Howard Shore, follows the reissue earlier this year of the Fellowship of the Ring soundtrack. Like that set it will be available in two deluxe physical formats: a 5-LP vinyl box set and a 3-CD/1-Blu-ray Audio
Back to Big Pink: The Band’s “Music from Big Pink” Turns 50, Goes Super Deluxe
The Band is returning to Big Pink for its 50th anniversary. On August 31, Capitol/UMe will reissue the seminal Music from Big Pink on CD, 2-LP vinyl, digital, and in a CD/BD/2-LP/1-7 inch single Super Deluxe Edition. Though few groups would have had the audacity to name themselves The Band, that's exactly what Robbie Robertson, Levon Helm, Garth Hudson, Rick Danko and Richard Manuel did. Big Pink was the album where the former Hawks (and former Bob Dylan backing band) crystallized the
Release Round-Up: Week of June 29
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Supremes, Sing Holland-Dozier-Holland: Expanded Edition (Motown/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Supremes' smash 1967 album featuring "You Keep Me Hangin' On" and "Love Is Here and Now You're Gone" gets a must-have 2-CD deluxe treatment, including the original mono and stereo albums, rarities, outtakes, remixes, and a live set from The Copacabana in 1967 featuring one of the last joint performances of Diana Ross, Mary
The Sun in Your Eyes: Real Gone’s August Slate to Include Alan Parsons Project, Merry Clayton, Monk Higgins, More
Real Gone Music has just announced its slate for August, and the reissues are in a variety of genres and formats, all due on August 3. First up is a standalone release of the Blu-ray Audio edition of The Alan Parsons Project's 1982 hit album Eye in the Sky. The Project's sixth album (and fifth on Arista Records) employed a variety of musical styles within a radio-friendly soft-rock framework to address typically lofty themes. This Blu-ray reissue boasts a high-resolution stereo version of
Whole Lotta Love: Led Zeppelin’s “The Song Remains the Same” Gets Super Deluxe Treatment in September
The next Super Deluxe box set from Led Zeppelin was officially announced early this morning. Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and John Bonham took the famous stage at New York's Madison Square Garden on July 27-29, 1973 for the concerts that were captured in the film The Song Remains the Same. Now that film's soundtrack, produced by Page and originally released on Swan Song in 1976, is getting the lavish reissue treatment on September 7. The Song Remains the Same follows the
Release Round-Up: Week of April 6
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, and one of the biggest Release Fridays of the year to date! Chicago, VI Decades Live: This is What We Do (Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Chicago celebrates 50 years on the road with this expansive new box set featuring 4 CDs and 1 DVD of previously unreleased live music recorded between 1969 and 2014. This set includes two complete concerts - The Isle of Wight, 1970 on CD and a Rockpalast broadcast from Germany in 1977 on
Release Round-Up: Week of March 23
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Miles Davis and John Coltrane, The Final Tour: Bootleg Series Vol. 6 (Columbia/Legacy) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Copenhagen LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada This latest volume of Miles Davis' Bootleg Series brings together five performances by Davis and John Coltrane recorded during the Spring 1960 Jazz at the Philharmonic European Tour, Coltrane's final such outing as a sideman: two shows from Paris's
To Rule Them All: Inaugural ‘Lord of The Rings’ Score Gets Vinyl, Blu-ray Reissue
From the gentlest ranges of The Shire to the highest point of Mount Doom, Peter Jackson's epic three-film adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of The Rings books is the kind of one-in-a-million success that you couldn't dare to imagine. Nearly 20 years after the inaugural film in the series, The Fellowship of The Ring, was released to theaters, Rhino Records is bringing back a crucial archival portion of LoTR lore on April 6: a generously expanded edition of Howard Shore's acclaimed,
Going to California: Led Zeppelin Goes Super Deluxe with “How the West Was Won”
Fifteen years ago, Led Zeppelin issued How the West Was Won, premiering performances from the band's June 25 and 27, 1972 concerts at the Los Angeles Forum and Long Beach Arena. Now, those seminal tracks have been newly remastered under the supervision of Jimmy Page for a surprise addition to the band's Super Deluxe library - as well as in a variety of formats, all of which are due from Atlantic/Swan Song on March 23 including the first-ever Blu-ray Audio and vinyl editions. The remastered How