The wait is over! The second wave of Led Zeppelin reissues arrive in stores today! Led Zeppelin IV premieres an entire alternate version of the album, including the Sunset Sound Mix of "Stairway to Heaven," the U.K. mix of "When the Levee Breaks" and the basic track with guitar overdubs of "Black Dog." Houses of the Holy has seven of its eight tracks in bonus form, primarily rough or working mixes. This is your place to sound off on this pair of remastered and expanded releases
Release Round-Up: Week of October 21
Ray Parker Jr. & Run-DMC, Ghostbusters: Stay Puft Edition Super Deluxe Vinyl (Legacy) The Marshmallow Man is back! The Stay Puft Super Deluxe Edition Vinyl is a limited edition collectible that every Ghostbusters fan will want to take home! Co-produced by The Second Disc's Mike Duquette, this set contains the No. 1 hit single “Ghostbusters” by Ray Parker Jr. and the “Ghostbusters” rap by Run-DMC for the film’s hit sequel, with both tracks on a white 12” single in a deluxe, puffy,
From "Last Christmas" To "Blue Xmas": Legacy's Black Friday Slate Features Wham!, Miles Davis, Hendrix, Kinks, Elvis, More
It’s that time of year again! Announcements are finally coming in for Record Store Day’s annual Black Friday event happening on Friday, November 28. Rather than storming malls and big box stores, maybe you’ll want to pay a visit to your favorite local independent record store for an assortment of exclusive vinyl goodies. Legacy Recordings certainly hopes you will; the label’s roster for Black Friday’s RSD event includes titles from heavy-hitters including David Bowie, Joe Satriani, Miles
Better Treat Her Right: Latter-Day Donna Summer Albums Expanded in the U.K.
1979 could have been called “The Year of Donna Summer.” In the last year of the 70s, Summer became the first female artist in the history of to have three number 1 singles in a calendar year: “Hot Stuff,” “Bad Girls” and “No More Tears (Enough is Enough),” a duet with Barbra Streisand. She would have had four, but alas, “Dim All the Lights” stalled at No. 2. But despite reaching the top of the charts consistently with disco records, Summer decided that she wanted to try a new sound. Her
All That I Want: Bryan Adams Expands "Reckless" for 30th Anniversary
Hot on the heels of his new studio album Tracks of My Years - a deluxe edition of which, with additional material, is due on October 27, Canadian rocker Bryan Adams is revisiting his past in another way. Tracks of My Years features Adams' recordings of classic songs from which he found inspiration as a songwriter; on November 24, he will release an expanded 2-CD/1-DVD/1-BD edition of his 1984 breakthrough album Reckless. Produced by Adams and Bob Clearmountain and originally released on the
Release Round-Up: Week of October 7
Stevie Nicks, 24 Karat Gold: Songs from the Vault (Reprise) 2-LP Vinyl + Download Card: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Standard Edition CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The Fleetwood Mac rock legend dips into her vault for a newly-recorded album of songs composed between 1969 and 1995. The album features co-production by Dave Stewart and guitar great Waddy Wachtel, and is also available in a deluxe edition exclusive to Nicks' website. Various Artists, The Classic Christmas Albums
"The Who Hits 50!"
Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, the last men standing of the original Who, have confirmed that they won’t be spending their 50th anniversary lying down. The Who will be embarking on a celebratory jaunt, The Who Hits 50, beginning in November in Glasgow, and will be releasing a double-disc retrospective to tie in with the tour. The new compilation is set for U.K. release on October 27 and U.S. release one day later on October 28. The Who Hits 50 follows such past Who anthologies as 2002’s
Magic in the Night: Springsteen's First Seven Albums Finally Remastered on CD, LP Box Set
Yesterday, Bruce Springsteen celebrated his 65th birthday. Here in New Jersey, the birth date of The Boss might as well be considered a state holiday; the occasion was marked by various events including a video presentation by Springsteen's longtime collaborator Thom Zimny at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. (Springsteen was, of course, born in Long Branch and wrote "Born to Run" in a Long Branch cottage.) But today, Springsteen's fans are the ones receiving a gift for his
Release Round-Up: Week of September 9
The Beatles, The Beatles in Mono (Apple/UMe) Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Here it is - a massive white box filled with 14 newly-remastered vinyl LPs from the Fab Four, all in original mono - just the way the boys intended all those years ago! The Midnight Special various editions (StarVista/Time Life) Deluxe 11-DVD Box Set: StarVista 6-DVD Set: Amazon U.S. 1-DVD: Amazon U.S. The groundbreaking late-night music show is celebrated on a variety of releases featuring live
Release Round-Up: Week of August 19
The Posies, Failure (Omnivore) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Omnivore expands the 1988 debut album from power-pop heroes The Posies. The new Failure restores the album’s original 12-track running order (preserved on cassette but cut down by one song on vinyl) and adds eight bonus tracks. Many of these are sourced from a long out-of-print 2000 box set and a 2004 reissue of the album proper, but one, a demo of “At Least for Now,” is being heard for the first time
The Beatles Go Mono Once More - on Vinyl
It sure has been quite a year for Beatlemaniacs looking to fill their shelves with catalogue wares from The Fab Four. Last winter saw the CD release of a second volume of BBC recordings (coinciding with a remaster of the first from 1994) and a
Get It Up For Ned Doheny: Numero Sheds Light On Southern California Troubadour, Premieres Demos with Henley and Frey
Despite the history behind it, singer/songwriter Ned Doheny's last name might be the least interesting thing about him. Yes, Los Angeles native Doheny is descended from the family for whom Doheny Drive is named, a family marked by triumph (patriarch Edward L. Doheny was at one time the second richest oil tycoon in America, second only to John D. Rockefeller) and tragedy (Edward's son, the first Ned Doheny, died in a headline-making murder-suicide). But Ned Doheny, the musician, has blazed a
Favorite Things: Resonance Celebrates Wes Montgomery, Charles Lloyd For Record Store Day, Plans Lost John Coltrane Concert For Fall
Resonance Records, known for its deluxe archival packages of recently-discovered recordings from jazz greats including Bill Evans and Wes Montgomery, has a busy 2014 ahead. The label has recently announced plans for two Record Store Day releases with more unheard Montgomery music and one RSD exclusive with never-before-released material from Charles Lloyd. Then, this fall, the label will premiere a live performance from John Coltrane for the first time on commercially released
ABBA Celebrate 40 Years of "Waterloo" with New Reissue
It may seem trite and ridiculous to Americans, but across the pond there is one competition that's bigger than any Idol or X-Factor event in the music world: the Eurovision Song Contest. For nearly 60 years, dozens of countries in the European Broadcasting Union send a song and a performer to the live event, and a winner is selected by votes. Despite the immense popularity of the contest, it's interesting how few winners achieve true global superstardom. Sandie Shaw won with her signature
Omnivore Unveils Colorful Black Friday Slate with Van Zandt, Clark, Kovacs
Here at Second Disc HQ, we know that we can count on Omnivore Recordings for some of the most colorful and fun releases for Record Store Day's Back to Black Friday shopping event! On the day after Thanksgiving, you might find yourself at your local indie record store to pick up one of Omnivore's three Black Friday collectibles. As usual, it's a diverse trio, with releases from two late troubadours - Townes Van Zandt and Gene Clark - and one legendary late comedian, Ernie Kovacs. This past
Back to Black: Legacy Unveils Record Store Day Black Friday Exclusives From Simon, Dylan, Davis, Nilsson, Hendrix & More
It's that time of year again! Though Black Friday has taken a backseat in recent years to the once-unheard-of Thanksgiving Day sales, the folks at Record Store Day still hold the day after Thanksgiving in high esteem. News has begun to trickle out about this year's RSD Back to Black Friday exclusives, and the team at Legacy has certainly put together a collection of special vinyl releases - and a handful of CDs, too - that look back to recent releases from the label and forward to future
Omnivore Re-Joins Jellyfish Fan Club with Unreleased Radio Performances
Fans of eternally underrated power-pop outfit Jellyfish have had nothing but friends over at Omnivore Recordings. The label first released the band's two studio albums, Bellybutton and Spilt Milk, on vinyl. Then there was the unreleased Live At Bogart's and the Stack-a-Tracks compilation, which featured mostly-instrumental mixes of the two albums uncovered from the vaults. Now, Omnivore prepares Radio Jellyfish, a ten-track compilation of radio broadcasts recorded two decades ago. All but one
There He Goes Again: Marshall Crenshaw Launches New EP Subscription Service
Marshall Crenshaw has marched to the beat of his own drum (metaphorically speaking!) since making a splash with his self-titled 1982 major label debut. Though he hasn't exactly been away, the power pop hero has returned this week with the official release of I Don't See You Laughing Now, a new 3-track vinyl EP that also happens to mark Crenshaw's launch of a new music subscription series. With shifts in the music landscape occurring on what seems like a day-to-day basis, Crenshaw's new model
Omnivore's Black Friday Schedule: Capitol Rarities on Vinyl, Jellyfish Instrumentals on CD
We're close to that most wonderful time of the year, folks! No, not Christmas, but - well, yeah, I guess Christmas is closer than we'd all wish it would be. But ANYWAY, the wonderful time I was alluding to is Record Store Day's Black Friday event. The day after Thanksgiving, our beloved local independent record stores join forces with major and independent labels alike to release special exclusive treats as a way of thanking us for patronizing their businesses. While a full list of RSD
EMI's Beatles Single is a Bust (UPDATED 10/10)
Update (10/10/2012): The official Record Store Day Facebook page just confirmed a new date for the corrected, repressed single is October 22. Check your local stores for more details! Original post (10/5/2012): Bad news for anyone looking for EMI's repressed Beatles 50th anniversary single: you're not going to find it anytime soon. The label announced in a statement earlier this week that the single would be pulled from the release schedule. Embarrassingly, EMI cites a "faulty" pressing
Completely Fab: Beatles Remasters, Debut Single Coming to Vinyl (UPDATED)
The wait is over. This holiday season, vinyl enthusiasts and Beatlemaniacs everywhere will finally have a chance to hear 2009's long-awaited Beatles remasters on 180-gram vinyl. All of the albums in The Fab Four's official discography - 1963's Please Please Me and With The Beatles, 1964's A Hard Day's Night and Beatles for Sale, 1965's Help! and Rubber Soul, 1966's Revolver, 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the U.S. Magical Mystery Tour LP, 1968's self-titled "White Album,"
Vinyl Renaissance: Omnivore Recordings Offers Art Pepper, Josh Haden's Spain on Vinyl, Plus "Music City" Rarities
The term "record store" (two rather hallowed words in these parts!) has long been used to describe those stores that sell music, even well into the age of the CD, and now, the digital download. But lately, record store walls have been lined with more and more actual vinyl records. In 2011, more records were purchased than in any other year in the past two decades, with sales up 36 percent over 2010, to a not-too-shabby 3.9 million. Sales for 2012 are likely to best that number. Since its
Light in the Attic Gets Funky in the Country with Bobby Darin, Mac Davis, Link Wray, Bobbie Gentry and More
What the hell is "Country Funk," you ask? That's the question being posed by Light in the Attic on its new compilation, titled (what else?) Country Funk: 1969-1975. The label goes on to answer, in part, of the "inherently defiant genre": "the style encompasses the elation of gospel with the sexual thrust of the blues, country hoedown harmony with inner city grit. It is alternately playful and melancholic, slow jammin' and booty shakin'. It is both studio slick and barroom raw." Well,
Review: Jellyfish, "Live at Bogart's"
When Jellyfish's Live at Bogart's was recorded on February 21, 1991, did anybody realize that neither the band nor the venue were long for this world? On December 2, 1993, The Los Angeles Times lamented the closure of the Long Beach, California club, calling it a "mighty blow" to the local music community. Yet Bogart's actually outlasted the first iteration of the band that hailed from miles up north in the San Francisco Bay Area. Andy Sturmer (drums/vocals), Roger Joseph Manning Jr.
Ram On: Paul McCartney Archive Collection's "Ram" Coming In May [UPDATED WITH FULL TRACK LISTING AND DETAILS]
We're gonna keep this one short and sweet, dear boys and long-haired ladies. Yes, the oft-rumored Paul McCartney Archive Collection of Paul and Linda McCartney's 1971 album Ram is very close to becoming a reality. On March 22, it was officially announced that Ram will be reissued in multiple formats on May 22. But one of those formats will be a bit surprising to collectors of previous Archive Collection titles. It appears that Ram will not follow the hardcover book format of those past