Until a few years ago, fans wondered if Steve Perry – the best known voice of blockbuster rock band Journey – would ever sing again after a lengthy absence from the public eye. After a celebrated comeback album in 2018, Perry ended his shortest gap between solo releases three years later, with the holiday album The Season; this Christmas, it’s being reissued a third time on a new label, with even more new material. True to its name, The Season 3 is the third iteration of Perry’s holiday collection, which followed third…
The Weekend Stream: October 26, 2024
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. We’re positively packed this Saturday: posthumous tracks from Van Halen, Luther Vandross and DMX; a great deluxe live set from Linda Ronstadt; plus some Halloween and Christmas surprises…and, to top it all off, a call to action to aid one of our favorite power-pop acts of the last 40 years. Edward & Alex Van Halen, “Unfinished (Between Us Two)” (self-released) (official site) Alex Van Halen just released Brothers, a heartfelt…
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The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols: Expanded Edition
Over the past decade, we here at TSD have happily partnered with Real Gone Music on an array of Christmas releases from such evergreen artists as Johnny Mathis, The Supremes, Chet Atkins, Connie Smith, and Robert Goulet. But our newest yuletide title is from our biggest ever group – bigger than Mitch Miller and His Gang or Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra! Now, we’re proud to reissue the very first Christmas album from a group numbering 360 members: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. The original mono version of The Mormon Tabernacle Choir…
Christmas Once More
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store (Gold Vinyl) Curated and remixed by Richard Carpenter, Christmas Once More presents highlights from both of Carpenters’ original Christmas albums as well as “Merry Christmas Darling” from the duo’s 2018 album Carpenters with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It offers both secular favorites (“Sleigh Ride,” “The First Snowfall/Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!,” “(There’s No Place Like) Home for the Holidays” featuring a newly-recorded drum track) and timeless carols (“Little Altar Boy,” “Christ Is Born,” “Ave Maria”). Available on CD, LP, and…
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A Special One for You: ‘Christmas Once More’ Offers New Mixes of Carpenters Holiday Classics
Christmas music was a vital part of the Carpenters canon from the very beginning. In 1970, Richard and Karen contributed their own standard to the yuletide canon with “Merry Christmas Darling,” the first of three holiday singles released by the brother-and-sister duo. Richard set to music the lyric written by Frank Pooler, choir director at the Carpenters’ alma mater of California State University – Long Beach (today the home of the Richard and Karen Carpenter Performing Arts Center), and in the process created the rare holiday perennial written in the second half…
The Weekend Stream: October 19, 2024
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 brief week offers some unusual soundtracks, an even more unusual Beach Boys homage – and plenty of Christmas curiosities! Various Artists, Pulp Fiction (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Geffen) (iTunes / Amazon) This weekend, the iconic songs-and-dialogue album for Quentin Tarantino’s classic film Pulp Fiction – featuring favorites like Dick Dale’s rapid-fire, guitar-driven instrumental “Misirlou” and a cover of Neil Diamond’s “Girl, You’ll Be a Woman Soon” by Urge Overkill…
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Release Round-Up: Week of October 18
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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I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day: Real Gone, Second Disc Premiere Original “The Mormon Tabernacle Choir Sings Christmas Carols” on CD
Over the past decade, we here at TSD have happily partnered with Real Gone Music on an array of Christmas releases from such evergreen artists as Johnny Mathis, The Supremes, Chet Atkins, Connie Smith, and Robert Goulet. But our newest yuletide title is from our biggest ever group – bigger than Mitch Miller and His Gang or Eugene Ormandy and The Philadelphia Orchestra! On November 22, we’re proud to reissue the very first Christmas album from a group numbering 360 members: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Today known as The Tabernacle Choir at…
The Weekend Stream: October 12, 2024
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. The Christmas creep may continue, but we’ve got plenty more where that came from: a new spin on a John Lennon classic, rare remixes from David Bowie, a live triumph from Céline Dion, some thrills and chills from the Alien universe – and first off, a charitable compilation built for a good cause in the wake of our country’s severest storms of late. Various Artists, Cardinals At the Window (Music’s Promise) (Bandcamp)…
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The Weekend Stream: October 5, 2024
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 Saturday brings remixes from James Brown, live rarities from Daryl Hall and – yes – a jump on some Christmas catalogue. James Brown, We Got to Change / Soul Power: The Remixes (Republic/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon) “We Got to Change” was an exciting find earlier this year: an unreleased 1970 track featuring an early version of The J.B.’s, issued to promote a multi-part documentary on The Godfather of Soul….
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Release Round-Up: Week of October 4
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, Archives Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) (Rhino) 6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) features six CDs (also available as a “highlights” set on four LPs) chronicling the Canadian icon’s trek through the latter half of the ’70s, peeling away from her always-eclectic folk-pop sound, venturing into territory inspired by jazz and fusion. Sourced from variously…
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The Weekend Stream: September 28, 2024
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. There’s a lot of killer stuff on the list today, including two new singles from rock icons, a digital expansion of one of Sting’s best-loved albums, live David Bowie coming from the vaults, a Stevie Wonder syllabus and much more! The Cure, “Alone” (Polydor) (iTunes / Amazon) For the first time in 16 years, The Cure are set to release a new album. Songs of a Lost World is out November…
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Release Round-Up: Week of September 13
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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Release Round-Up: Week of September 6
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. Neil Young, Archives Vol. III (1976-1987) (NYA/Reprise) 17CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 17CD/5BD Deluxe Set: Official Store This week’s biggest release is the long-awaited third volume of Neil Young’s long-running Archives series. Archives Vol. III (1976-1987), spans in its deluxe form a whopping 17 CDs and five Blu-rays boasting a broad array of songs and film footage: 15 unreleased songs, 121 unreleased tracks, and 11 full-length films (four of them unreleased). Housed in a…
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The Ghostman Always Rings Twice: Real Gone Reissues Frankie Stein and His Ghouls and Vincent Price for Halloween
Halloween is just around the corner and Real Gone is getting into the spirt of things with several reissues hitting store shelves tomorrow, September 6. The first and most expansive release is Frankie Stein and His Ghouls: The Complete Ghoul-Lection which collects the five albums from the group released in 1964 and 1965. These albums were aimed at children and were released on Power Records, an imprint of Peter Pan Records. Aside from novelty records like these, Peter Pan and Power released numerous book and record sets over a few decades from…
Christmas Memories
Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Barnes & Noble Barbra Streisand’s 2001 Christmas album – only her second, following 1967’s A Christmas Album – makes its premiere on vinyl. The album features David Foster and Linda Thompson’s “Grown Up Christmas List,” Stephen Sondheim’s “I Remember,” and Frank Loesser’s “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve,” among other selections in the inimitable Streisand fashion. This release has been newly remastered. Barnes and Noble will carry an exclusive red vinyl pressing. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
A Christmas Album
Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Barnes & Noble Barbra Streisand’s landmark 1967 Christmas album featuring “Jingle Bells?,” “White Christmas,” and “My Favorite Things” returns to vinyl in a newly remastered edition with one bonus track, the English-language version of “Gounod’s Ave Maria” previously available only on a Starbucks compilation CD. Barnes and Noble will carry an exclusive white vinyl pressing. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
The Best Gift: Barbra Streisand’s Two Christmas Albums Arrive on Vinyl in October
Barbra Streisand entered London’s Olympic Sound Studios in June 1966 while reprising her role of Fanny Brice in the West End premiere of Funny Girl to begin work on what would become her very first Christmas album. Four songs arranged by Ray Ellis and produced by Ettore Strata were cut at the session including “Silent Night” and the Gounod setting of “Ave Maria.” A mere two weeks following her July 14 final performance, she was onstage back in the U.S. for the first of four summer concert dates, audaciously performing “Silent Night”…
Release Round-Up: Week of August 23
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. First Choice, Love Having You Around: The Gold Mind Recordings (1977-1980) (SoulMusic/Second Disc) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) SoulMusic Records and The Second Disc celebrate Philadelphia girl group First Choice with Love Having You Around: The Gold Mind Recordings (1977-1980). This 4CD collection features expanded editions of the trio’s three original albums for Salsoul’s Gold Mind imprint, plus a specially-curated bonus disc featuring various remixes and reinventions of their timeless,…
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We Wish You (Another) Merry Discmas!
The stockings are hung, the presents are wrapped, and the time is now to wish all of our readers at The Second Disc a wonderful holiday season before we enter a brief winter hibernation until the new year! 2023 was our 13th year as (we hope!) one of the more fun destinations for music reissues, box sets and catalogue releases. The business has certainly changed a lot in that time – maybe too much vinyl, maybe not enough CDs? – but labels big and small keep finding new, old and interesting ways…
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Nice to Be Around: Extensive John Williams Box Set Released in France
If you’re a Second Disc reader, you’re no doubt aware of the immense musical power film composer John Williams has over us (and people like us!). Even a casual fan surely knows his most familiar works for the screen, from Star Wars and Indiana Jones to Jurassic Park and Harry Potter; the films of Steven Spielberg (JAWS, E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, Schindler’s List); themes for everything from Superman to the Olympics. He’s picked up five Oscars (53 nominations, second only to Walt Disney), 25 Grammys, the American Film Institute Life Achievement Award (the only composer to receive the honor),…
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Release Round-Up: Week of December 15
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As the next two Fridays will bring few, if any, new releases, this will be the final Release Round-Up of 2024, but we’ll continue to have news and reviews all next week. We’ll be back with another Release Round-Up in 2024! As an Amazon associate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Happy Holidays to all! Rosanne Cash, The Wheel: 30th Anniversary Edition (RumbleStrip Records) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP (Vinyl Me, Please Exclusive: Clear…
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The Weekend Stream: December 9, 2023
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts. More Madonna remixes, a trove of rarities from Matt Monro, and two solo albums from an Elton John sideman are all here – plus new EPs from a current Broadway star and a neat new vocal group! Madonna, Love Profusion (The Remixes) (Warner/Rhino) (iTunes / Amazon) A super-sized bundle of mixes to the final single from 2003’s American Life is the latest digital archival EP from the Queen of Pop. Matt Monro, The Capitol Rarities…
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The Weekend Stream: December 2, 2023
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts. This week’s latest includes anniversary projects from Alicia Keys, live vault material from Bruce Springsteen, an oddity from The Alan Parsons Project and possibly the only article where Taylor Swift shares space with Minor Threat! Alicia Keys, The Diary of Alicia Keys 20 (RCA/Legacy) (iTunes / Amazon) Legacy Recordings celebrates two decades of R&B pianist/singer Alicia Keys’ sophomore album, featuring the hits “You Don’t Know My Name” and “If I Ain’t Got You.” The album…
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THE SECOND DISC’S 2023 HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE IS HERE!
Cyber Monday is upon us today, which means one thing at Second Disc HQ: it’s time to launch our annual Holiday Gift Guide, featuring (more than) a few of our favorite things for the music enthusiast in your life. Sure, we might not have included raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but we’ve filled the guide with around 50 essential selections: sprawling box sets and deluxe vinyl editions, as well as releases on CD from favorite artists that just might make great stocking stuffers. So just click here or visit the handy…
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