Blues

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Jimmy Page, Led Zeppelin, The Black Crowes

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The Weekend Stream: February 1, 2025

February 1, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 3 Comments

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! A new charity cover from Def Leppard, reissues of classic albums by Simple Minds and Sheena Easton, and a mess of vintage jazz is on the menu today – plus a heads-up for a forthcoming way to help the ongoing California wildfire relief effort. Def Leppard, Stand by Me (Bludgeon Riffola/Mercury/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon) While also a single from the new Netflix film Bank of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger…

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The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Benny Goodman, Def Leppard, Duke Ellington, Glenn Miller, Sammy Kaye, Sheena Easton, Simple Minds, Tommy Dorsey

Unplugged: Enhanced Edition

January 29, 2025 by Joe Marchese

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada To coincide with a newly-upgraded presentation of the original MTV Unplugged special (streaming on Paramount+), Surfdog is reissuing the original 1992 live album in an “enhanced” edition which boasts a slightly reorganized and expanded 2CD or 2LP sequence, a brand-new mix, and highlights from a never-before-heard audio interview with Clapton discussing the songs in his set shortly before playing them in that session. (All of the musical material was previously released in 2013 on Rhino’s expanded edition of the album; that edition offered additional…

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Running on Faith: Eric Clapton’s ‘Unplugged’ Gets Remixed and Expanded

January 27, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 5 Comments

Eric Clapton’s most transformative late-career work will be itself transformed this spring. The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer will reissue an “enhanced” edition of 1992’s live album Unplugged, boasting a slightly reorganized and expanded 2CD or 2LP sequence, a brand-new mix and highlights from a never-before-heard audio interview with Clapton discussing the songs in his set shortly before playing them in that session. It’ll be available May 9 through Surfdog Records, to which Clapton has been signed since 2013. A newly upgraded edition of the seminal MTV Unplugged performance, featuring the…

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Digital Download, Digital Streaming

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Eric Clapton

The Weekend Stream: January 11, 2025

January 11, 2025 by Mike Duquette | 4 Comments

Welcome to 2025’s first edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts! We’re catching up on some of our favorite artists adding albums to stream and download, plus country soul and remixes aplenty – as well as a list of resources to help our friends and family in the music business affected by the California wildfires. The Damnwells, One Last Century / No One Listens to the Band Anymore (Poor Man) Century: iTunes / Amazon No One: iTunes / Amazon Last month, Brooklyn-born…

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The Weekend Stream

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Genres:

Blues, Disco/Dance, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock

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Brownstone, Dobie Gray, INXS, Kanye West, Michael Jackson, The Damnwells, Was (Not Was)

Release Round-Up: Week of November 29

November 29, 2024 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! While most labels are concentrating today on Record Store Day’s Black Friday releases, we’ve chosen to spotlight a few non-RSD titles out today, as well. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Tommy Steele, On Air (Stage Door Pop) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Stage Door Records’ Pop imprint celebrates The Happiest Millionaire and Half a Sixpence star Tommy Steele with On Air, a collection of 31 tracks culled from his 1964 U.K. radio series The Tommy Steele Show. None of these tracks have been released since their original broadcast sixty…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, DVD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Country, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Dorsey Burnette, Eric Clapton, Heather Nova, Leo Sayer, Mercury Rev, Sparks, Taylor Swift, Todd Rundgren, Tommy Steele, War

Release Round-Up: Week of November 15

November 15, 2024 by The Second Disc | 8 Comments

George Harrison Living in the Material World 50th SDE Cover

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today…and, with the holidays approaching, it just might be the biggest release week of the year! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. George Harrison, Living in the Material World: 50th Anniversary (Dark Horse) 2CD/2LP/1BD/1-7″: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada As the studio follow-up to his landmark triple album All Things Must Pass, George Harrison further explored his spiritual and physical selves on…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray, Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Comedy, Country, Disco/Dance, Folk, Holiday, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Try to See Things Their Way: Ace Preps ‘Here, There and Everywhere,’ Third Collection of Beatles Covers Through a Black Lens

November 14, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

As fans prepare for the release of the new Disney+ documentary Beatles ’64, chronicling The Fab Four’s legendary inaugural trip to America, U.K. label Ace Records has an exciting release coming that same weekend, featuring nearly two dozen Black artists paying tribute to a series of songbooks that owed so much to soul music and rhythm and blues traditions. Here, There and Everywhere: Black America Sings Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, available November 29, is the seventh of Ace’s “Black America Sings” releases, which began with a 2011 entry on Bob Dylan and…

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Formats:

CD, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Release Round-Up: Week of October 18

October 18, 2024 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Long After Dark: Deluxe Edition (Geffen/UMe) 2CD/Blu-ray Audio: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD/Blu-ray Audio (with Amazon-exclusive stickers): Amazon U.S. 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Tom Petty Store (Exclusive) Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers’ fifth studio album has gotten a deluxe makeover. Geffen/UMe have revisited 1982’s oft-overlooked Long After Dark, originally released on Backstreet Records, in various formats including 2LP and 2CD+Blu-ray. The bonus disc, featuring outtakes…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop

Tags:

Albert King, Ella Fitzgerald, Jake Shimabukuro, Jane Monheit, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Lou Reed, Mick Fleetwood, NRBQ, Ray Charles, Stevie Ray Vaughan, The Kinks, The Pogues, Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers

Rhino’s Record Store Day Black Friday Lineup Includes Phil Collins, Doors, Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, Steve Martin, Yes, More

October 15, 2024 by The Second Disc | No Comments

TSD kicks off our look at this year’s Record Store Day Black Friday releases, due at participating independent record stores on November 29, with a packed slate coming from Rhino. With over 20 titles, Rhino has brought out the heavy hitters including The Doors, Joni Mitchell, Grateful Dead, Yes, Stevie Nicks, Todd Rundgren, and more. And that’s not all. There are special treats for fans of animation classic (The Carl Stalling Project) and contemporary (The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie) and a picture disc from comedy legend Steve Martin. Visit here for a list…

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Formats:

Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Comedy, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Release Round-Up: Week of October 11

October 11, 2024 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Duran Duran, Danse Macabre: De Luxe (Tapemodern/BMG) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP Box Set: Official Store Duran Duran has reissued their 2023 album on CD and digitally with three new recordings: an original instrumental, “Masque of the Pink Death,” that now opens the album; a cover of Electric Light Orchestra’s “Evil Woman”; and “New Moon (Dark Phase),” a re-recording of the band’s 1984 Top 10 hit “New Moon on…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Folk, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock, Soundtracks

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Duran Duran, James Blunt, Lady Gaga, Melanie, Rory Gallagher

All Around Man: Rory Gallagher’s BBC Recordings Set for Heavy Duty Box

September 27, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 4 Comments

The influential guitar work of Rory Gallagher will be celebrated next month in an exhaustive box that collects hours of his live recordings for the BBC. The BBC Collection, available October 11, is an 18CD/2 Blu-ray set that mines both the radio service and the late musician’s personal archives to bring together his in-studio appearances, live concerts, television specials and even a radio documentary. This box, of course, supersedes a 1999 double-disc collection of BBC highlights, offering not only about 75% previously unreleased material but even recordings that never even hit the…

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Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

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Rory Gallagher

Release Round-Up: Week of September 13

September 13, 2024 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Louis Armstrong, Wonderful World: The Best of Louis Armstrong (Verve/UMe) CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada This 13-song sampler draws on Satchmo’s 1951-1967 recordings for the Decca, Verve, Kapp, and ABC-Paramount labels and includes many of his most beloved songs as both a vocalist and trumpeter such as “Hello, Dolly!,” “What a Wonderful World,” “A…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock

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Amy Grant, Continental Drifters, Frank Zappa, Lightnin' Hopkins, Louis Armstrong, Nick Lowe, Sonny Terry, Tori Amos, Vince Gill

Joy in Repetition: Cherry Red’s ‘Dearly Beloved’ Pays Tribute to Prince, the Songwriter

September 10, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 4 Comments

Between the muted 40th anniversary celebration of Purple Rain and the bizarre drama over an estate-sanctioned Netflix documentary on his life and career, Prince fans could probably use a win lately. A new compilation from Cherry Red looks like it might finally offer one. Dearly Beloved – A Prince Songbook is an unexpectedly robust-looking 3CD set that will pay tribute to the Minneapolis icon as a songwriter – one whose classic hits have become pop standards, with so much talent overflowing from his person that he penned more than a few massive hits…

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Blues, Classic Rock, Disco/Dance, Funk, Gospel, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock

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Amanda Palmer, Andre Cymone, Crystal Waters, Dead or Alive, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Rogers, Maceo Parker, Martika, Patti Labelle, Paula Abdul, Prince, Robyn, Sharon Jones and The Dap-Kings, Sheena Easton, Stephanie Mills, The Bangles, The Pointer Sisters, Valerie Carter

In Session: Deluxe Edition

September 4, 2024 by Joe Marchese

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada An intergenerational meeting between two late blues guitar gods – Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan – will be revived on CD and vinyl in a new expanded package. Originally recorded in 1983 and first released in 1999, In Session features the six-stringers trading licks on a Canadian television program of the same name, when King was a 60-year-old living legend and Vaughan a young upstart who’d turned heads with his licks on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance before releasing his own powerful debut Texas Flood with his trio Double…

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Formats:

CD, Vinyl

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Blues

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Voice of Freedom: His Complete Columbia, RCA, HMV, and Victor Recordings

August 27, 2024 by Joe Marchese

This lavish 14-CD box collects all of the late singer-activist’s major label recordings, spanning 1925-1947. Voice of Freedom includes the first release of Robeson’s groundbreaking Victor recordings on CD (16 recordings reissued for the first time, 5 previously unreleased); the first restoration of Robeson’s acclaimed 1944 Othello stage production with Uta Hagen and José Ferrer from the original 33 master disc sides; his complete remastered Columbia albums (Songs of Free Men, Popular Favorites, Spirituals); and the first release of his historic 1958 concerts at Mother A.M.E. Zion Church, New York, and Royal…

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Holiday Gift Guide

Formats:

Box Sets, CD

Genres:

Blues, Everything Else, Gospel, Popular Standards/Vocal

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Blues At Sunrise: Stax Expands Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s ‘In Session’

August 23, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 5 Comments

An intergenerational meeting between two late blues guitar gods – Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan – will be revived on CD and vinyl in a new expanded package. Originally recorded in 1983 and first released in 1999, In Session features the six-stringers trading licks on a Canadian television program of the same name, when King was a 60-year-old living legend and Vaughan a young upstart who’d turned heads with his licks on David Bowie’s Let’s Dance before releasing his own powerful debut Texas Flood with his trio Double Trouble. As King recounts in one…

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Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughan

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Rock

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Miles Davis’ 1954 Sessions Collected on New Craft Recordings Compilation

August 21, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

Craft Recordings will commemorate seven decades since one of Miles Davis’ most pivotal early years with a new 2CD or 4LP compilation that brings everything he recorded in that period together. Miles ’54: The Prestige Recordings offers 20 tracks from several unforgettable sessions, with luminaries like pianists Horace Silver and Thelonious Monk, drummer Art Blakey, saxophonist Sonny Rollins and vibraphonist Milt Jackson offering their talents in Davis’ ensembles. The package includes a new essay by writer Ashley Kahn and in-depth session notes from Dan Morgenstern. The package commemorates both the anniversary of…

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Blues, Jazz

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Art Blakey, Horace Silver, J.J. Johnson, Miles Davis, Milt Jackson, Sonny Rollins, Thelonious Monk

Two Sides of Cornbread: New Compilation Plays Tribute to Unsung Minneapolis Legend

August 19, 2024 by Mike Duquette | No Comments

The name Cornbread Harris might only resonate with the most devoted acolytes of Minneapolis, Minnesota’s rich history of R&B music. A new compilation, produced by Harris’ biographer, aims to change that. Anthology is an eight-track look into the musical career of James Harris, Jr., better known as Cornbread – a key figure and forefather in the Twin Cities’ contribution to America’s musical landscape. Featuring a mix of rare and unreleased material spanning from the first single Harris played on in 1955 to recent recordings he’s made, Anthology is a living testament to an…

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Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

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Genres:

Blues, Jazz, R&B/Soul

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Cornbread Harris, Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Prince

Release Round-Up: Week of August 16

August 16, 2024 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Lindsey Buckingham, 20th Century Lindsey (Rhino) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Rhino.com Lindsey Buckingham’s earliest solo works are getting a box set from Rhino this summer. True to its name, 20th Century Lindsey features remastered versions of the three albums the Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist issued during the 20th century – 1981’s Law and Order, 1984’s Go Insane and 1992’s Out of the Cradle – plus a newly compiled disc of eight rarities. The set…

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Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Folk, Pop, Rock

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Creed, Lindsey Buckingham, Melanie, Ten Years After

Straight Ahead: New Box Set Chronicles Jimi Hendrix’s Time At Electric Lady Studios

July 29, 2024 by Mike Duquette | 12 Comments

Hendrix Electric Lady Studios box packshot

Among his final and most enduring acts as a musician, Jimi Hendrix purchased a Greenwich Village nightclub with the intention of transforming it into a recording studio. A new documentary will tell that story of its creation, and an accompanying box set will highlight an unreleased trove of recordings from his few but pivotal sessions there. Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision, available September 13 as a 3CD or 5LP set, offers 39 demos and early takes from Hendrix’s summer 1970 sessions at the studio of the same name, recorded with…

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Jimi Hendrix, The Jimi Hendrix Experience

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Release Round-Up: Week of July 26

July 26, 2024 by The Second Disc | 7 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Loleatta Holloway, We’re Getting Stronger: The Gold Mind/Salsoul Recordings (1976-1982) (SoulMusic/The Second Disc) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red) We’re Getting Stronger: The Gold Mind/Salsoul Recordings (1976-1982) presents, on 5 CDs, all of the late, great Loleatta Holloway’s albums for Gold Mind and Salsoul (all newly remastered by Nick Robbins) plus a host of bonus tracks, both on the individual albums and on a newly-curated…

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Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Disco/Dance, Folk, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Cat Stevens, Deborah Cox, Fleetwood Mac, JD Souther, Jeff Harnar, Loleatta Holloway, Melanie, Nik Kershaw, Pete Townshend, Talking Heads, The Police

Release Round-Up: Week of July 12

July 12, 2024 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

John Lennon Mind Games Ultimate Collection

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. John Lennon, Mind Games: The Ultimate Collection (Capitol/UMe) 6CD/2BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 9LP/6CD/2BD Super Deluxe Box: Official Store 2CD (includes contents of CD 1 and 6, below): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP (includes contents of CD 1 and 6, below): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada (TBD) John Lennon’s fourth solo album Mind Games will receive a deluxe box set this summer packed with new mixes of the album’s contents as well…

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Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Allyson Briggs, Crazy Town, Dr. John, Dusty Springfield, Eric Clapton, Joe Grushecky and the Iron City Houserockers, John Lee Hooker, John Lennon, John Williams, Listening, Louis Armstrong, Marc Almond, Nick Mason, Tony Rice, Van Halen

The Weekend Stream: July 7, 2024

July 7, 2024 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This holiday weekend, three long-running digital initiatives by three very different artists had their latest installments release. Let’s check them out! Duran Duran, Notorious / Skin Trade / Meet El Presidente EPs (Parlophone) Notorious: iTunes / Amazon Skin Trade: iTunes / Amazon Meet El Presidente: iTunes / Amazon Duran Duran’s digital EP series continues into the Notorious era. Remixes and B-sides for the album’s singles – the hit title track, “Skin Trade” and “Meet…

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The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Genres:

Blues, Disco/Dance, Jazz, Pop, Rock

Tags:

Alan Parsons, Duke Ellington, Duran Duran, The Alan Parsons Project

Release Round-Up: Week of June 21

June 21, 2024 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

Joni Mitchell Asylum Albums 1976 1980 Cover

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Joni Mitchell, The Asylum Albums 1976-1980 (Rhino/Asylum) 5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rhino.com 6LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rhino.com The Asylum Albums (1976-1980) arrives on 5 CDs, 6 LPs, and digital formats, completing the Asylum period of Mitchell’s extraordinary career. Whereas 1972-1975 represented the peak of Mitchell’s hitmaking years, 1976-1980 captured her in innovative, experimental mode. Following the tour for 1975’s The Hissing of Summer Lawns, she embarked on a period of personal rediscovery…

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