With the run-up to Christmas approaching full speed, the holiday's musical queen is looking to take back her crown. To celebrate the 30th anniversary of Carey's Merry Christmas and its unforgettable, cross-generational hit single "All I Want for Christmas is You," the Elusive Chanteuse will deliver an expanded version of the album on vinyl, featuring material from its most recent reissue and a 24-page booklet in a hardbound package with some holiday surprises. To boost "All I Want for
The Year In Review: The 2023 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z - Part One
Happy 2024! Welcome, friends, to The Second Disc's 14th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! As we yet again look to a new year with optimism and a hopeful spirit, we recognize the many roles music has played in our lives. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc wishes to recognize 2023's cream of the catalogue music crop - those exemplary reissues and box sets, big and small, that proved to be truly outstanding for music lovers worldwide. After much deliberation, we're excited to unveil our
Release Round-Up: Week of November 10
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. The Beatles, 1962-1966 (Apple/Capitol/UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The famous "red" compilation chronicling The Beatles' early years returns in a new, expanded edition featuring extra songs and brand-new stereo mixes by Giles Martin and Sam Okell. "I Saw Her
Release Round-Up: Week of November 3
Welcome to another packed Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the many titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Beatles, Now and Then (Apple/Capitol/UMe) Various Formats including CD single: The Beatles Online Store 7-inch clear single: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 7-inch blue single: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 12-inch black vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Target-exclusive red 12-inch
Release Round-Up: Week of October 20
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the many titles being released today as we inch closer to the holiday shopping season! As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Nancy Sinatra, Keep Walkin': Singles, Demos, and Rarities (1965-1978) (Light in the Attic) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Standard Black 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Zodiac Blue 2LP: Nancy's Bootique Highway Song Yellow 2LP: Nancy's
True Faith: New Order's Classic Compilation 'Substance 1987' Gets Expanded
Style over Substance? New Order offered both on their unforgettable 1987 compilation - and it's getting expanded as a 4CD set this fall. The newly-remastered Substance 1987 collects once more a dozen classic sides from the British electronic band, from 1981's ceremony to the then-new "True Faith" as well as exclusive updates of "Temptation" and "Confusion." The double vinyl is pressed on black or retail-exclusive red and blue discs, while the 2CD and double cassette (the latter exclusive to
Then a Hero Comes Along: Mariah Carey's 'Music Box' Goes Deluxe with Unreleased Outtakes, Live Concert
The third time was the charm when Mariah Carey released Music Box three decades ago. The elusive chanteuse last week announced plans to expand her third album with a wealth of rare and unreleased bonus material. Released as a 3CD or 4LP set on February 24, 2024 but available digitally now, the new expansion of Music Box features the original 10-track album expanded with international bonus track "Everything Fades Away"; a disc of studio material, including the unheard teaser "Workin' Hard,"
Let Me Out: Brian May, Eddie Van Halen Trade Licks on 'Star Fleet Project' Reissue
Having reissued and expanded Brian May's Back to the Light and Another World, UMe will turn fans' attention to the Queen guitarist's first-ever solo project, a 1983 collaboration with a collection of stellar musicians - including a team-up with another one of the most iconic guitarists of the age. Star Fleet Project, issued 40 years ago, was a three-track album clocking in at just under half an hour, but here it's being expanded two two discs featuring the original contents of the album
Love Comes Quickly: Pet Shop Boys Collect 35 Years of Singles on "Smash"
Pet Shop Boys are looking back on 35 years of music with a newly remastered singles collection to be released on June 16 in a variety of formats. Synthpop duo Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe released their debut single in 1984 with "West End Girls." The strikingly original song melding catchy pop and irresistible dance rhythms was generally well-received but Tennant and Lowe suspected it hadn't met its full potential. The following year, they re-recorded a new version with producer Stephen Hague
Release Round-Up: Week of March 24
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today. Elton John, Honky Château: 50th Anniversary Edition (Rocket/UMC) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Hot on the heels of his final U.S. live performances, Elton John is looking back with a 50th anniversary edition of his 1972 LP Honky Château. The reissue will feature the original album (boasting such classics as "Rocket Man,"
Release Round-Up: Week of March 17
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! U2, Songs of Surrender (Interscope) 4CD (40 tracks): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP (40 tracks): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Deluxe CD (20 tracks): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada CD (16 tracks): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP (16 tracks): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada U2 is revisiting its discography on the new project Songs of Surrender. The album takes its name from the
The Magic Number: De La Soul Catalogue Coming to Streaming, with Some Amendments
One of the biggest omissions in hip-hop digital catalogue history is finally being corrected next month - and it comes alongside some news of what it'll sound like and a deeply ironic tragedy concerning the group in question. On March 3, the first six albums by rap trio De La Soul - 1989's landmark debut 3 Feel High and Rising, De La Soul is Dead (1991), Buhloone Mindstate (1993), Stakes is High (1996), Art Official Intelligence: Mosaic Thump (2001) and AOI: Bionix (2001) - will finally be
Release Round-Up: Week of February 3
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! Carole Bayer Sager, Sometimes Late at Night: Expanded Edition (Iconoclassic) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Iconoclassic Records is bringing Carole Bayer Sager's star-studded 1981 album Sometimes Late at Night back to CD, for the very first time from the original Boardwalk Records master tapes. Featuring Burt Bacharach, Michael Jackson, Marvin Hamlisch, Neil Diamond, Melissa
Got It Together: "Nancy and Lee Again" Debuts on CD in March
Following last year's reissue of 1968's Nancy and Lee, Light in the Attic is continuing its Nancy Sinatra Archival Series with the first-ever reissue of Sinatra's second duets LP with Lee Hazlewood, 1972's Nancy and Lee Again. On March 24, an expanded edition of the album will be available in CD, vinyl, four- and eight-track tape, and digital formats. Nancy and Lee Again inaugurated Sinatra's brief tenure at RCA Victor which additionally encompassed the solo album Woman (hopefully also on
Release Round-Up: Week of December 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the week's most notable new titles! As next week will see very few releases, this will be our final Release Round-Up of 2022...regular daily coverage will continue, though! See you in the new year! Frank Zappa, Waka/Wazoo (Zappa/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / uDiscoverMusic.com / Zappa Online Store) UMe and Zappa Records are chronicling Frank Zappa's 1972 in a new 4CD/1BD box set. The original
Release Round-Up: Week of November 4
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! Billy Joel, Live at Yankee Stadium (Columbia/Legacy) 2CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Billy Joel's Live at Yankee Stadium, originally released on video, is getting a major makeover. The concert film, shot on June 22 and 23, 1990, has been restored and remixed from original audio and video elements for a 2CD/Blu-ray
I Want It All: Queen's "The Miracle" Gets Super-Sized in Upcoming Box Set
Queen's thirteenth studio album, The Miracle, is coming back in a big way. On November 18, EMI (U.K.) and Hollywood Records (U.S.) will expand The Miracle into a 5CD/Blu-ray/DVD/LP box set adding alternate takes, demos, rough mixes, backing tracks, B-sides, and more. A 2-CD "highlights" edition will also be available as well as cassette and picture disc vinyl versions of the original album only. The marathon recording period commenced in December 1987 with the specter of Freddie Mercury's
Release Round-Up: Week of September 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! Miles Davis, That's What Happened 1982-1985: The Bootleg Series Vol. 7 (Columbia/Legacy) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Highlights: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The 3-CD box set (also available digitally) focuses on Miles Davis' final years at the Columbia label with which he had been associated since 1955 and on the three albums that closed out his
Release Round-Up: Week of September 9
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! The Kinks, Muswell Hillbillies / Everybody's in Show-Biz - Everybody's a Star (BMG) 6LP/4CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Muswell Hillbillies 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Muswell Hillbillies 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Everybody's in Show-Biz 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon
As You Walk on By: New Box Celebrates the Music of John Hughes Films
A wise philosopher...or maybe a punk kid...or maybe an astute screenwriter?...once wrote "Life moves pretty fast - if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." A new box set devoted to that iconic filmmaker - the late John Hughes - will help fans enjoy some of that life a little more through a diverse collection of pop songs he helped bring to the masses. Life Moves Pretty Fast. The John Hughes Mixtapes offers four volumes of songs from the writer/director's popular
To Wish Impossible Things: The Cure Prep "Wish" 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
The Cure hit their commercial stride with 1992's Wish. The band's ninth studio album and highest-charting in both the U.S. and U.K., it tapped into the burgeoning alt-rock movement while retaining the gothic sound on which The Cure made their name. Now, fans' Wishes are coming true with a 30th anniversary expansion on 3 CDs, including 24 previously unreleased tracks and a further four which are new to CD/digital. Curated by Robert Smith, Wish: Deluxe Edition is due from Rhino on October 7,
Release Round-Up: Week of July 22
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of new titles available today! Bob Marley and The Chineke! Orchestra (Island/UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) This 10-song set, recorded at Abbey Road Studios under the aegis of producer Nick Patrick, merges Bob Marley's original vocal tracks with new orchestrations played by The Chineke! Orchestra, an adventurous ensemble dedicated to increasing diversity in music. The album features many of the reggae
Not Too Late: LITA Debuts Lou Reed Archive Series with "Words and Music - May 1965"
"I was working for a record company as a songwriter," Lou Reed remembered in 1972, "where they'd lock me in a room and they'd say, 'Write ten surfing songs,' ya know, and I wrote 'Heroin' and I said, 'Hey, I've got something for ya.' They said, 'Never gonna happen, never gonna happen.'" Reed wasn't able to introduce "Heroin" to the world until March 1967 when the Verve label released The Velvet Underground & Nico. The VU's debut album disappointed commercially but became greatly
Release Round-Up: Week of May 27
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of new titles available in stores and online today! ABBA, Album Box Set (Polar/UMe) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Picture Disc Bundle: Official Store To coincide with the arena show ABBA Voyage setting sail in London on May 27, the band's 2021 studio album Voyage will be canonized in a new career-spanning box set featuring every one of the quartet's nine
Release Round-Up: Week of May 20
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of titles arriving everywhere today. The Clash, Combat Rock + The People's Hall: Special Edition (Columbia/Legacy) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Ranking Roger 7": Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Legacy Recordings will release a 2CD or 3LP expansion of The Clash's Combat Rock for its 40th anniversary. The album comes with a bonus disc of 12 rare