Elvis had a lot riding on his December 1968 NBC-TV special. Once the brightest star in the galaxy - and one whose every freeing move caused ripples in American society - he was no longer at the top of the charts. A string of lightweight movie musicals had rendered the once-"dangerous" entertainer as wholesome as apple pie. At the time of the broadcast, Elvis' most recent single ("Guitar Man") had failed to crack the top 40 and he hadn't had a chart-topper since "Good Luck Charm" in 1962. He
Release Round-Up: Week of November 30
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Neil Diamond, 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition (Capitol/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Neil Diamond revisits a 50+-year career with a new 6-CD, 115-song retrospective box set featuring hits, rarities, and 15 previously unreleased tracks including the original demos of "America" and "I Am...I Said." Everything is packaged within a deluxe hardcover book-style format. 50th Anniversary Collector's Edition expands upon 2017's
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Eagles, “Legacy”
Just Find a Place to Make Your Stand On the list of the United States' five best-selling albums of all time, one name stands tall - the only artist to lay claim to two of those five titles. That artist is, of course, a band: Eagles. 1976's Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) sits atop the list at 38 million copies sold; Hotel California is third with 26 million. The ten tracks on the former are all modern-day standards, each and every one of them still a radio staple. Though the original
La-La Land’s Wondrous World: Soundtrack Giant Plans ‘Potter,’ ‘Bond’ and More Archival Releases
Hours of unreleased soundtrack music? Oft-requested titles from favorite composers and popular film series? It's definitely Black Friday season at La-La Land Records! The venerable soundtrack label closed the book on 2018 with five brand-new film and television score expansions - a total of 18 discs' worth of material, including three works involving one of the most successful living soundtrack composers and projects related to two world-renowned franchises. First up, La-La Land's successful
THE SECOND DISC’S 2018 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!
Another Cyber Monday is upon us, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it's time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring more than 50 essential selections for the music enthusiast in your life! We've filled the guide with box sets (such as the David Bowie title to your left!) as well as archival releases and holiday music favorites that will make great stocking stuffers. So just click here to access this year's top picks, reflecting the diversity of music released this year in
Release Round-Up: Week of November 23
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! CHIC, The CHIC Organization 1977-1979 (Atlantic/Rhino) 5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 6LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada This new box set, available in 5-CD and 6-LP formats, brings together new Nile Rodgers Signature Edition remasters of CHIC's first three albums plus Sister Sledge's CHIC-produced We Are Family and a bonus disc of period single edits and 12-inch mixes. The vinyl edition includes additional text
Review: David Bowie, “Loving the Alien [1983-1988]”
And if you say run, I'll run with you... "I want you to make a hit." In one of the essays accompanying the beautiful new 11-CD or 15-LP box set Loving the Alien [1983-1988], the fourth such collection of David Bowie's chronological discography, Nile Rodgers recalls his surprise at the artist's instruction. "A hit? You just did Scary Monsters, bro," the CHIC leader replied. But Bowie was adamant; he wanted Rodgers, enlisted as his producer, to make a hit. The year was 1983 and the album
Release Round-Up: Week of November 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Fleetwood Mac, 50 Years: Don't Stop (Warner Bros./Rhino) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 5LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada In celebration of its 50 years, Fleetwood Mac is issuing a new career-spanning collection featuring 50 songs on either 3 CDs or 5 LPs. These include hits, favorites, and a smattering of rarities such as the CD premiere of 2013's "Sad Angel"
You Know His Name: Chris Cornell’s Legacy Celebrated In New Box Set
Last year, the world lost one of the greatest voices and songwriters of modern times -- Chris Cornell. From his work in Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, Audioslave, and his solo career, Chris's music defined a generation of rock music. Tomorrow, November 16, UMe will release a new collection that celebrates his legacy of song. Entitled Chris Cornell, the set comes in a variety of configurations: 1-CD distillation, 2-LP, 4-CD, and super deluxe 4-CD/1-DVD/7-LP. There will also be digital versions
Put On The Red Light: New Vinyl Box Collects The Police’s Studio Recordings
Over the course of just five albums released between 1978 and 1983, The Police synthesized pop, rock, new wave, and world music sounds including, most notably, reggae into a style all their own. Incorporating influences of punk and jazz into the mix, their sound still reverberates today. Vocalist-bassist Sting, guitarist Andy Summers, and drummer Stewart Copeland called it a day before 1986 was out, reuniting in 2007-2008 for a phenomenally successful tour before going their separate ways yet
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
They Say It’s Wonderful: Impulse! Collects John Coltrane Takes on “1963: New Directions” CD and LP Sets
Jazz historians have long designated 1963 as a pivotal year in the genre's history, thanks in no small part to John Coltrane's indelible contributions to jazz that year. In the summer, Impulse! stunned jazz fans worldwide when they unveiled a lost Coltrane artifact, entitled Both Directions at Once, that reaffirmed Coltrane's excellence. The unreleased recording session within showed the saxophonist wholeheartedly exploring new territories in jazz. Though that session remained unreleased for 50+
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
Review: Bob Dylan, “More Blood, More Tracks: The Bootleg Series Vol. 14”
Bob Dylan began recording 1975's Blood on the Tracks in much the same manner he had begun 1962's Bob Dylan: inside the studio at 799 Seventh Avenue, New York City, alone at the microphone with just his guitar, a harmonica, and the song. In '62, the facility was Columbia Studio A, in '75 it was A&R Studios. In '62, John Hammond was the producer, in '75 Phil Ramone (the R in A&R) was manning the controls as engineer. Dylan, of course, was a much-changed man, but upon his return to
Release Round-Up: Week of November 2
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Melissa Manchester, Mathematics: The MCA Years (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music bring Melissa Manchester's 1985 MCA album to CD for the very first time in an expanded 2-CD deluxe edition! Mathematics: The MCA Years features the original Mathematics (produced by George Duke, Brock Walsh and Robbie Nevil, Trevor Veitch and executive producer Quincy Jones!) on
Visions of Paradise: Moody Blues’ “In Search of the Lost Chord” Box Set Coming on Friday
Following last year's 2CD/DVD reissue of The Moody Blues' 1967 sophomore album Days of Future Passed, UMe is going even more deluxe for the Moodies' next album, 1968's In Search of the Lost Chord. Tomorrow, November 2, the label will reissue that seminal classic as a 3CD/2DVD box comprising alternate mixes, previously unreleased tracks, and more. Mike Pinder, Ray Thomas, Justin Hayward, John Lodge, and Graeme Edge, working with producer Tony Clarke, constructed In Search of the Lost Chord
Radioactive: KISS Collects Four 1978 Solo Albums In One New Box Set
Forty years ago, the four founding members of KISS surprised fans by announcing a quartet of solo releases, all scheduled for release on the very same day: September 18, 1978. The four albums were all marketed and branded under the KISS imprimatur by Casablanca Records, and each album would be truly "solo" in that no other KISS member other than the artist would play on the record. Casablanca invested $2.5 million in the marketing effort, and announced that five million copies would be
Only You: Yazoo Collect Albums, Remixes, Rare Live Material For Vinyl, CD Box
Though Yazoo - a.k.a. Vince Clarke and Alison Moyet - only released two studio albums, the synthpop duo's music remains beloved today. Indeed, the number of compilations of Yazoo's work has far exceeded the number of LPs in their discography. On October 26 in the U.K. (and this Friday in the U.S.), the small Yazoo catalogue was revisited and expanded once again with the release of Four Pieces: A Yazoo Compendium, a new 4-LP vinyl box set. A CD edition will follow this Friday in the U.K., and
Review: “Stax ’68: A Memphis Story”
Otis Redding's "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay," the first Stax single of 1968, should have been a new beginning for the artist and label. Instead, the posthumous release ushered in a tumultuous year for the Memphis institution. The death of Redding and members of The Bar-Kays on December 10, 1967 was a tremendous loss for Stax and popular culture, but no one could have predicted the upheaval that would affect Stax and the city of Memphis in the following twelve months. That time has just
Release Round-Up: Week of October 26
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Kinks, The Kinks Are The Village Green Preservation Society [Various Formats] (BMG) 5CD/3LP/3-7″ Box Set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Kinks are going back to the Village Green - and it's grown quite a bit in size! The band's legendary fifth album, 1968's The Kinks Are The
Good News: Cherry Red, SoulMusic Collect Staple Singers’ Epic Years on “For What It’s Worth”
Stop, children, what's that sound? For nearly half a century, the sound of The Staple Singers was one of tremendous power. Roebuck "Pops" Staples, daughters Cleotha, Mavis, and (sometimes) Yvonne, and son Pervis raised their voices in song to celebrate the Lord, but also to fight for civil rights and espouse messages of positivity and resilience to listeners worldwide. At Epic Records, the group transitioned from pure gospel and blues to soul and R&B - a move that would take them to the
The Only Joy in Town: Rhino Announces Limited, 8-LP Reissue of Joni Mitchell’s “Love Has Many Faces” Box Set
The renowned songwriter, singer, guitarist, and painter Joni Mitchell will turn 75 this November. The milestone is being marked by a recently announced pair of tribute concerts in L.A., a new photo book, and now, a limited-edition, 8-disc,180-gram vinyl box set of some of Joni's finest work--53 ruminations on love and all its complexities from across her storied career, including many tracks that are brand-new to vinyl. Yesterday, Rhino officially announced the November 2 release of an 8-LP
If I Can Dream: Elvis’ Comeback Special Receives Box Set Treatment For 50th Anniversary
On December 3, 1968, Elvis Presley electrified television audiences with the self-titled special that would come to be known, simply, as The Comeback Special. Nearly fifty years later, it remains the epitome of his artistry during a period when some would have written him off. At the time of the NBC-TV broadcast, his most recent single ("Guitar Man") had failed to crack the top 40. He hadn't had a chart-topper since "Good Luck Charm" in 1962. He hadn't appeared live onstage since a benefit
Bip Bop: Paul McCartney’s Archive Collection Rolls On with Deluxe “Wild Life,” “Red Rose Speedway”
2018 has delivered an embarrassment of riches for Beatle fans, including the Ultimate Mixes of John Lennon's Imagine, Paul McCartney's new album Egypt Station, and soon, the super deluxe anniversary box set of The Beatles, a.k.a. The White Album. Today, McCartney upped the ante further with the announcement of not one, but two, new box sets in his ongoing Archive Collection series. On December 7, Macca will release deluxe, expanded editions of his first two albums with Wings: 1971's Wild Life
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