On March 1, 2022, Harry Belafonte turned 95 years old. Though the actor, singer, and humanitarian largely retired from performing in the early years of the twenty-first century, he’s remained active with the causes near and dear to his heart. On November 5, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame will honor this American legend with its Early Influence Award, a recognition previously bestowed on such musical heroes as Louis Armstrong, Nat “King” Cole, Woody Guthrie, Mahalia Jackson, and Hank Williams. To mark the occasion, Sony Music has teamed with Acoustic Sounds’…
Live at the Bon Soir: Greenwich Village, November 1962
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Hybrid Stereo SACD / LP: Impex Records Barbra Streisand’s 1962 live album recorded at New York’s tiny Bon Soir – once intended to be her very first Columbia Records LP release – gets a long-overdue premiere marking the superstar’s 60th anniversary with the label. It arrives in multiple formats including standard CD and digital release from Columbia/Legacy; hybrid stereo SACD (playable on all CD players) from Impex Records; and 180-gram black vinyl LP from Impex Records. Live at the Bon Soir features the near-two dozen songs recorded on…
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Can’t Buy a Thrill
180-gram Remastered LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada UHQR: Analogue Productions Stereo Hybrid SACD: Analogue Productions Geffen/UMe and Analogue Productions kick off their sonic overhaul of the Steely Dan discography with the band’s 1972 debut album Can’t Buy a Thrill. Each title in the series will be available on standard 180-gram remastered LP; a limited edition UHQR vinyl box set with the pressing at 45 RPM on 200-gram vinyl; and as a stereo hybrid SACD (playable on all CD players).
Go Back, Jack, Do It Again: Steely Dan’s Discography Gets Overhaul from UMe, Analogue Productions
Between 1972 and 1980, Steely Dan – the loose unit of like-minded musicians and singers led by songwriter-producers Walter Becker and Donald Fagen – released seven albums on the ABC and MCA labels. While Steely Dan was never a “singles artist,” charting just three top ten hits, the band’s albums were era-defining affairs; six of their LPs have attained at least Platinum status in the United States, with the seventh respectably going Gold. Now, that epochal catalogue defined by immaculate production, top-notch musicianship, irresistible pop hooks, intricate jazz-based arrangements, and quirky, biting…
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 30-year run: Star People (1983), Decoy (1984), and You’re Under Arrest (1985). The collection features studio outtakes as well as a complete live performance, What It Is: Montreal…
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Animals [2018 Remix]
1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Link TBD / Amazon Canada SACD: Acoustic Sounds CD/LP/BD/DVD Gatefold Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Pink Floyd’s tenth album Animals arrived in January 1977, after 1975’s Wish You Were Here and before 1979’s The Wall. Coming between those two epochal works, Animals was initially dismissed by some critics. Consisting of just five tracks (two short bookends and three lengthy compositions), no singles were released and Animals became somewhat of a hidden gem – despite having peaked at No. 2 in the United Kingdom and No. 3 in the United…
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Meeting of the Spirits: Impex Premieres Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia’s “Saturday Night in San Francisco”
Two months into a joint tour, Al Di Meola, John McLaughlin, and Paco de Lucia took the stage at San Francisco’s Warfield Theatre on Friday, December 5, 1980. The three acoustic guitarists, intuitively connected to one another, employed no rhythm section or other instrumentalists. Their tight interplay was nothing short of magical; one could hear a pin drop in the 2,300-seat venue. Di Meola remembered the evening as “a night of pure balls to the wall. But highly inventive balls to the wall.” The concert was preserved by Columbia Records as Friday…
Pigs on the Wing: Pink Floyd Reissue “Animals” with Long-Awaited Surround Remix
Pink Floyd’s Animals arrived in January 1977, after 1975’s Wish You Were Here and before 1979’s The Wall. Coming between those two epochal works, Animals was initially dismissed by some critics. Consisting of just five tracks (two short bookends and three lengthy compositions), no singles were released and Animals became somewhat of a hidden gem – despite having peaked at No. 2 in the United Kingdom and No. 3 in the United States. This fall, fans will have a chance to rediscover Animals as its long-awaited 5.1 surround sound mix is released…
Release Round-Up: Week of June 3
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, highlighted by our newest Second Disc Records release and featuring a selection of the week’s other new titles! Stoney and Meatloaf, Everything Under the Sun: The Motown Recordings (Second Disc Records/Real Gone Music) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Real Gone Music) Stoney and Meatloaf’s Everything Under the Sun: The Motown Recordings from Second Disc Records and Real Gone Music is the ultimate celebration of late rock superstar Meat Loaf’s singular collaboration with the extraordinary, Grammy-nominated Shaun Murphy (who went on to sing for more than four decades with Bob Seger…
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You Must Believe in Spring
2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada SACD: CraftRecordings.com Craft Recordings delivers a remastered reissue of one of jazz piano legend Bill Evans’ finest studio albums, the posthumous 1981 release You Must Believe in Spring, in 180-gram vinyl, CD, hybrid stereo SACD (playable on all CD players), and digital formats. Produced by Tommy LiPuma and Evans’ longtime manager Helen Keane and engineered by Al Schmitt, You Must Believe in Spring has long been acclaimed as perhaps Evans’ best-sounding album. It was also his final studio recording with bassist Eddie Gomez and drummer Eliot…
We Will Meet Again: Craft Recordings Reissues, Expands Bill Evans’ “You Must Believe in Spring”
Last year, Craft Recordings delivered an impressive career-spanning salute to late pianist-composer Bill Evans. The title of that box set, Everybody Still Digs Bill Evans, rings true today as the label has announced a remastered reissue of one of Evans’ finest studio albums, the posthumous release You Must Believe in Spring. It’s due on June 3 in 180-gram vinyl, CD, hybrid stereo SACD (playable on all CD players), and digital formats. Produced by Tommy LiPuma and Evans’ longtime manager Helen Keane and engineered by Al Schmitt, You Must Believe in Spring has…
Train Leaves Here This Morning: Intervention Brings Dillard and Clark’s “Fantastic Expedition” to Hybrid SACD, Vinyl
Following its previous hybrid SACD and deluxe vinyl reissue of Gene Clark’s 1971 A&M Records solo classic White Light, Intervention Records is turning back the clock to 1968 to the Byrds co-founder’s collaboration with banjo legend Doug Dillard. In May, Intervention will reissue The Fantastic Expedition of Dillard and Clark on hybrid stereo SACD (playable on all CD players), while a 180-gram vinyl reissue will follow in late 2022. The singer-songwriter inaugurated his solo career in 1967 at The Byrds’ label home of Columbia Records when he joined forces with Vern and…
Eruption: Mobile Fidelity Reissues First Six Van Halen Albums on Hybrid SACD, One-Step Vinyl
Might as well jump: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has announced that Van Halen’s first six multi-platinum albums originally released on the Warner Bros. label will be coming to hybrid stereo SACD (playable on all CD players) as well as to audiophile-standard UltraDisc One-Step 180-gram, 45 RPM vinyl. The band’s incendiary debut Van Halen (1978) is due for release in the fourth quarter of 2022, with Van Halen II (1979), Women and Children First (1980), Fair Warning (1981), Diver Down (1982), and 1984 (1984) all to follow from MoFi and Warner Records. Limited…
Release Round-Up: Week of January 28
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Summer of Soul (…or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised): Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Legacy Recordings delivers a soundtrack to Questlove’s acclaimed 2021 documentary Summer of Soul, chronicling the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Live recordings are featured from headliners including The 5th Dimension, Nina Simone, David Ruffin, Sly & The Family Stone, Gladys Knight & The Pips, B.B. King, The Chambers Brothers, and more. Available on CD and digital formats, with the digital edition adding one bonus cut…
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Have Yourself a Merry Little Discmas…
Wow! And just like that, another year has flown by. Just a few weeks before The Second Disc hits its 12th anniversary(!), this Christmas Eve it is our custom to look back on the last 12 months and take some time to think fondly of the music, magic, memories and friends that made our lives worth living. As if last year wasn’t unconventional enough, 2021 packed more pop, clicks, skips and distortion than the most misguided vinyl pressings. We got vaccinated, we got boosted, we tentatively returned to concerts and live performances,…
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Takin’ Care of Business: Dutton Vocalion Reissues Bachman-Turner Overdrive, Burton Cummings, Mott the Hoople, Leonard Bernstein, More in Quadraphonic
The Dutton Vocalion label has announced its first batch of hybrid SACD releases (playable on all CD players) for 2021 including another group of long-out-of-print quadraphonic surround mixes. First up is a three-for-one release from Ian Hunter and Mott the Hoople. The first disc of this 2-SACD set presents 1974’s The Hoople (the band’s highest charting album in the U.S.) in stereo and quadraphonic; followed by a stereo-only presentation of 1972’s All the Young Dudes (featuring David Bowie’s classic title anthem) split across both discs; and concluding with the stereo-only Mott (their…
The Year In Review: The 2020 Gold Bonus Disc Awards, From A to Z
Happy 2021 and welcome to The Second Disc’s 11th Annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards! The past year has presented any number of unprecedented challenges. But music has filled a more important role than ever, providing solace, comfort, and escape in a time unlike any other. With that spirit in mind, The Second Disc once again wishes to recognize 2020’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. Despite the many delays caused by COVID-19,…
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Release Round-Up: Week of December 11
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Neil Young, After the Gold Rush: 50th Anniversary Edition (Reprise) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The 50th Anniversary Edition of Neil Young’s classic album features new art based on Gary Burden’s original album cover design. The CD is out today while the vinyl edition will be released in March, 2021 and presented in a box set with the LP and a bonus 7″ single in a newly designed picture sleeve. This set includes two different versions of the After the Gold Rush outtake “Wonderin’.” …
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Review: Joan Armatrading’s Self-Titled Album Shines on Intervention’s Vinyl Reissue
Back in 2018, we wrote about an upcoming vinyl reissue of Joan Armatrading’s self-titled album on Intervention Records. (It was actually your author’s very first post on The Second Disc!) Intervention had been making a name for themselves as the new kid on the block of audiophile labels. This imprint has since become known for its attention to detail, commitment to superior audio, and deluxe presentations. We were no doubt thrilled to hear what was to come. Well, after a slight pause, Intervention is back and has pressed up this long-awaited remaster…
Sing and Dance with Frank Sinatra
Hybrid SACD: Impex / Elusive Disc / Amazon U.S. LP: Impex / Elusive Disc / Amazon Links TBD Audiophile specialty label Impex Records celebrates Sing and Dance with a deluxe 70th anniversary limited edition vinyl LP and hybrid SACD. Both feature the full album alongside rare and previously unreleased bonus tracks. These include outtakes, orchestra-only cuts, and alternate vocal takes recorded during the tracking of the album. Due to the additional time allowed on the SACD format compared to vinyl, the SACD includes a previously unissued alternate of “It’s Only A Paper Moon” as an extra bonus. No matter which format you…
Your Sweet Voice: Matthew Sweet’s Power-Pop Classic ‘Girlfriend’ Arriving on SACD, Signed Edition Also Available
If you’ve been reading The Second Disc for any amount of time, you probably know we’re big fans of Intervention Records. Back in 2018, we profiled the label’s ongoing Matthew Sweet artist-approved reissue series and reviewed the excellent vinyl edition of 100% Fun. Now we can share the exciting news that Sweet’s breakthrough 1992 album Girlfriend is set to arrive on SACD through Intervention Records. The disc hits shops on October 16. What sets this one apart from the vinyl counterpart released back in September 2018? Well, for one, the SACD format offers…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 11
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Reba McEntire, Rumor Has It: 30th Anniversary Edition (MCA Nashville) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Exclusive Orange Vinyl: Wal-Mart Reba McEntire expands her 1990 album in a new anniversary edition with two bonus tracks on CD (an acoustic take of Bobbie Gentry’s “Fancy” recorded at the Ryman Auditorium and a dance remix of the song by Dave Audé) and one on vinyl (the acoustic recording). Read more here! The Duprees, The Coed Albums: You Belong to Me/Have You Heard (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The Best…
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Review: Joe Jackson, “Body and Soul” [Hybrid SACD]
Joe Jackson was never much of a conformist. The singer-songwriter followed up his first two albums (which dovetailed with the new wave movement and also reflected a punk spirit) with two stylistic departures before embracing classic songcraft on 1982’s watershed Night and Day. Basking in the success of the album and its singles “Steppin’ Out” and “Breaking Us in Two,” Jackson turned to film scoring with Mike’s Murder, but most of his score was discarded in favor of one by John Barry. Where would he go next? The answer came in 1984…
My Blue Heaven: Impex Preps Expanded Audiophile Reissue of “Sing and Dance With Frank Sinatra” on LP and SACD
Over the course of his long and storied career, Frank Sinatra made many game-changing moves. He released the very first pop long-playing record with Columbia’s 1948 reissue of The Voice of Frank Sinatra, pioneered the concept album with In The Wee Small Hours at Capitol, founded his own independent record label (Reprise), and transformed the art of pop vocal performance. In 1950, the future Chairman of the Board released an album (then available as either a set of four 10″ 78s or a single 33-1/3 RPM LP) called Sing and Dance with…
Phone Rings, Door Chimes, In Comes Company: Vocalion Releases Quad Mixes of “Company” and “A Chorus Line” on SACD
The U.K.’s Dutton Vocalion label is continuing its ongoing campaign reissuing quadraphonic albums on hybrid SACD (with a stereo layer playable on all CD players) with two classic Broadway cast recordings from the Columbia vaults. Both were choreographed by Michael Bennett, feature the talents of Donna McKechnie, and have orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick. Moreover, both merged classic Broadway with a powerful and contemporary sensibility. Much as Rodgers and Hammerstein had done before him, when they first masterfully integrated songs, dance, and dialogue into a dramatic whole, Stephen Sondheim would inaugurate his own…
