The Smiths have been apart far longer than they were together in the mid-1980s, making the Manchester quartet today less of a band and more of an idea. It’s interesting to see how a new deluxe edition of The Queen Is Dead (Warner Bros. 0190295783372), the group’s most lauded album, interprets that thesis through its content and packaging. While the band may have made for a mere cult sensation in America, but in their native England (where success was fleeting but far more consistent), they spoke for members of a disaffected generation…
Release Round-Up: Week of October 20
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! George Michael, Listen Without Prejudice 25 (Columbia/Legacy) 2-CD (Disc 1 & 2 Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3-CD/1-DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Legacy is delivering a deluxe edition of George Michael’s classic 1990 album. Listen Without Prejudice 25 sees release in several formats. The biggest is a 3-CD/1 DVD box set. The first CD contains a remastered version of the original album. The second disc is the CD premiere of…
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Rush Say Hello To “A Farewell To Kings” For 40th Anniversary
Rush are issuing a deluxe album box set for their fifth studio album, 1977’s A Farewell To Kings, this winter. In stores December 1, the 40th anniversary edition of this album–the first of the Canadian prog legends’ discography to go gold in the United States–will be paired with a full concert from 1978, remixed from the original multitracks by original album producer Terry Brown and significantly expanded from its original release as part of the live set Different Stages in 1998. Fans can now hear the full suite from 2112 in this…
Review: David Bowie, “A New Career in a New Town: 1977-1982”
I. Art Decade Keep Up with David’s Changes, read an insert from the David Bowie Fan Club packaged in original pressings of the artist’s 1977 album Low and painstakingly replicated on the edition included in the new 11-CD (or 13-LP) box set A New Career in a New Town 1977-1982. Indeed, it was no small feat to follow the restless artist’s many transformations. 1975’s Station to Station saw the formal introduction of The Thin White Duke, a nattily-dressed but rather unpleasant fellow; who would the chameleonic musician become next? A New Career,…
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Before Love Went Out of Style: Cherry Red Reissues Dudley Moore’s “Today”
Long before he got caught between the moon and New York City, engaged in Foul Play, or counted to 10, Dudley Moore was a well-known renaissance man: a talented comedian, writer, actor, composer, and classically-trained jazz musician. Cherry Red’s El imprint has recently reissued Moore’s 1972 trio album, Today, featuring his interpretations of original songs and favorites by Henry Mancini, Burt Bacharach, and the team of Harry Warren and Mack Gordon. Today, originally released on Atlantic Records, followed a decade’s worth of sporadic jazz recordings on labels including Parlophone, Decca, and London…
Tori Amos, Richard Hell Lead Rhino’s Record Store Day Black Friday Slate
Rhino Records is planning 11 titles for this year’s Record Store Day Black Friday–and two of them are fairly unexpected catalogue treats from two very different artists. First up, the label has announced an upcoming expanded edition on CD and LP of Richard Hell & The Voidoids’ Blank Generation. Hell, a founding member of Television and one of the key figures of early punk rock in New York and beyond (his personal style of spiked hair and safety pins is said to have influenced Malcolm McLaren’s Sex shop and the look of…
Fill Your Nights With Song: Real Gone Expands Debby Boone’s “You Light Up My Life” for Its 40th Anniversary
Forty years ago this week, Meco’s “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band” was knocked from the top of the Billboard Hot 100 after a two-week run at the peak position. The new chart-topper would remain in that spot for an additional 9 weeks and become the biggest-selling single of the entire 1970s. And what was that song? You might first guess it was perhaps something by the Bee Gees, who were in their own historical chart-run at this moment. But it was actually “You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone. The record-smashing single…
Peaches En Regalia: Frank Zappa’s “Halloween 77” Shows Collected On New Box Set
If you ever wanted to look in the mirror and see the famously mustachioed visage of Frank Zappa staring right back at you, has Zappa Records got a box set for you! Halloween 77, due on Friday, October 20, celebrates the 40th anniversary of the musical iconoclast’s run at New York’s late, lamented Palladium from October 28-31, 1977. The “costume box set” includes a mask and costume certain to spice up your trick-or-treating, in addition to a candy bar-shaped USB drive featuring six shows (158 songs, total) in 24-bit WAV format audio. …
Hitch a Ride To Rockaway Beach: Ramones Light Fuse On “Rocket To Russia” Reissue
A third 40th anniversary deluxe edition is coming from the Ramones and Rhino, featuring the band’s third album, Rocket To Russia. With punk rock reaching a fever pitch in the summer of 1977, the Queens quartet and Leave Home’s producer and engineer, Tony Bongiovi and Ed Stasium, again came together to record another hard-hitting album of urgent but melodic tunes. Drawing from surf rock influences (and featuring a significantly bigger budget than their previous two records), Rocket To Russia was praised by critics for its humor and pop-friendly sensibilities, with tracks like…
I Want My Baby Back: RPM Collects Los Bravos’ Best on “Black Is Black”
What 1966 record from a Spanish band with a German lead singer was written and recorded in England before becoming a top 5 hit in America? The answer, of course, is “Black is Black,” the No. 4 smash from Spain’s Los Bravos. Cherry Red Records’ RPM imprint has recently released a definitive 2-disc compendium from the group. Black is Black: The Anthology 1966-1969 boasts 60 tracks on 2 CDs from the band most often thought of as a “one hit wonder” in the United States. Los Bravos was formed as a combination…
Rule the World: The Greatest Hits
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Tears for Fears has curated a new 16-track anthology spanning 1983 to the present, available on one CD or two LPs. Rule the World: The Greatest Hits features two new songs in addition to classics and favorites. The CD is available on November 10, with the vinyl edition following in early 2018.
Greatest Hits: God’s Favorite Band
Greatest Hits: God’s Favorite Band tells the Green Day story across 22 tracks on one CD or two LPs. (The band’s last compilation was 2001’s International Superhits!, released before the American Idiot years.) It’s the first Reprise-era set to include anything from the Lookout Records years (opening track “2000 Light Years Away,” from the 1991 album Kerplunk), and also features two new recordings: a version of Revolution Radio track “Ordinary World” with guest vocals from country singer Miranda Lambert, and the new song “Back in the USA.”
Ultimate
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Bryan Adams rounds up the best of a 35+-year career on this new anthology. Ultimate features 21 tracks including two new recordings, the single “Please Stay” and “Ultimate Love.” The Canadian singer/songwriter/photographer’s biggest hits are here, including some of his biggest breakthrough singles during the ’80s (“Cuts Like a Knife,” “Heaven,” “Summer of ’69”), soundtrack smashes from the ’90s and ’00s and two tracks from his most recent album, 2014’s Get Up!, which paired Adams and longtime songwriting partner Jim Vallance with the instantly recognizable…
Among His Souvenirs: Bing Crosby Celebrated with Deluxe Reissue and New Rarities Anthology, Supremes Duet Included
Saturday, October 14, marked 40 years since the passing of one of America’s legendary vocalists, Bing Crosby. The famed crooner could fairly be recognized as the father of pop singing, treating the microphone and the studio of essential components of his art, and bringing intimacy to the form. On December 8, Bing Crosby Enterprises will team with UMe for new two titles in the Bing Crosby Archive Collection. New Tricks: 60th Anniversary Deluxe Edition and Among My Souvenirs: More Treasures from the Crosby Archive are both being released with the cooperation of…
Sweet Country Music: Craft Recordings Collects Rarities on “Stax Country”
Encompassing artist anthologies, box sets, compilations and more, the Stax 60th anniversary campaign has explored the label’s history from various angles. So far, all releases have concentrated on its rich legacy of southern soul; now, Craft Recordings is turning its attention to the twangy side of Memphis with Stax Country. Due on October 20 on CD and digital platforms with a vinyl edition to follow on November 10, this new collection brings together rare and previously unreleased country tracks recorded under the Stax umbrella on imprints such as Enterprise and Truth. With…
Can’t Stop This Thing He Started: Bryan Adams Plans New “Ultimate” Set
Bryan Adams is releasing a new compilation encapsulating the best of his 35-plus-year career into one disc. Ultimate, available November 3, features 21 tracks including two new recordings, the single “Please Stay” and “Ultimate Love.” The Canadian singer/songwriter/photographer’s biggest hits are here, including some of his biggest breakthrough singles during the ’80s (“Cuts Like a Knife,” “Heaven,” “Summer of ’69”), soundtrack smashes from the ’90s and ’00s and two tracks from his most recent album, 2014’s Get Up!, which paired Adams and longtime songwriting partner Jim Vallance with the instantly recognizable production…
Teatro: The Complete Sessions [CD/DVD Edition]
Willie Nelson’s 1998 album, produced by Daniel Lanois (Bob Dylan, U2) and featuring Emmylou Harris on rich harmonies, is expanded as a CD/DVD edition. The CD adds seven previously unreleased session outtakes, while the DVD features an entire performance of the album directed by filmmaker Wim Wenders.
Green Day Declare Themselves ‘God’s Favorite Band’ On New Compilation
The only thing more unusual than Green Day declaring themselves God’s Favorite Band on their new greatest hits compilation is the path that took them to such a humorously lofty claim. The East Bay, California trio–singer/guitarist Billie Joe Armstrong, bassist Mike Dirnt and drummer Tre Cool (replacing original drummer John Kiffmeyer in 1990)–were fixtures of the Berkeley DIY club 924 Gilman Street, performing and producing snotty punk releases on the independent Lookout Records at the beginning of the decade. Suddenly, in 1994, the trio burst onto the mainstream scene with Dookie, their…
Welcome To Your Life: Tears For Fears ‘Rule The World’ With New Collection and New Tracks
If you caught them during their recent co-headlining U.S. summer tour with Daryl Hall & John Oates, you know that Tears for Fears have lost none of the power and style that made them a juggernaut of ’80s pop. Now, with a new album on the horizon (their first in more than a decade), the duo are reintroducing themselves to audiences with a newly curated single-disc collection. Rule The World: The Greatest Hits showcases all the most popular songs from the Bath-born duo of singer-songwriter-guitarist Roland Orzabal and singer-songwriter-bassist Curt Smith. After…
Release Round-Up: Week of October 13
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Who, Tommy: Live at the Royal Albert Hall (Eagle Rock) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. In spring 2017, in support of the Teenage Cancer Trust, The Who played the classic Tommy in full, plus an encore set of seven greatest hits at London’s historic Royal Albert Hall. This release includes every song from the 24-track studio album performed live,…
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Wilco Uncover Sunken Treasures On Reissues of Their First Two Albums
Wilco is digging deep for new expanded reissues of their first two albums, due this December from Rhino Records. The Chicago alternative outfit was born in 1994 from the ashes of influential alt-country outfit Uncle Tupelo, following the dissolution of Jeff Tweedy and Jay Farrar’s creative partnership. Farrar went on to form Son Volt, while Wilco began with Tweedy and the rest of the band–bassist Jon Stirratt, multi-instrumentalist Max Johnson and drummer Ken Coomer–plus new lead guitarist Brian Henneman of The Bottle Rockets, who left shortly after the album was finished. Both…
Kick 30
INXS’ oft-reissued Kick gets a definitive edition for its 30th anniversary, with 3 CDs rounding up everything from the last box set plus additional, coveted remixes, and a Blu-ray premiering Giles Martin’s new Dolby Atmos mix – plus all seven original music videos and a new promo video! A vinyl edition features the original album on two half-speed mastered LPs!
Days of Future Passed: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
The Moody Blues’ sophomore album and all-time classic gets a 50th Anniversary upgrade on 2 CDs & 1 DVD with the CD premiere of the original 1967 stereo mix, plus the familiar 1978 remix and a host of (previously released) bonus tracks, as well as high-resolution stereo and 5.1 surround mixes on DVD.
Black Sea: Definitive Edition
XTC’s fourth album, from 1980, receives a Definitive Edition upgrade as a CD/Blu-ray package with new mixes by Steven Wilson and a host of additional audiovisual content.
Hotel California: 40th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
2CD/BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Rhino offers a 2-CD/1-BD deluxe edition of the 1976 Eagles classic, containing the original remastered album on CD 1, ten previously unreleased live recordings on CD 2, and a Blu-ray Audio disc with high-resolution stereo and 5.1 mixes. It’s all housed within an 11×11 hardback book-style package. Also available in 1-CD and 2-CD versions.
