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The Weekend Stream: September 5, 2026

September 5, 2026 by The Second Disc | 10 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. Two major years linger in this latest column: 2006 (where two pop legends recorded blockbuster albums that are newly expanded) and 1976 (origin of no less than five left-field titles coming back into digital print). Beyoncé, B’DAY (20th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION) (Parkwood/Columbia) (Apple / Amazon) Two decades to the day after it was released (and, indeed, on her 45th birthday),…

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Country, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Beyoncé, Hector Lavoe, Kelly Garrett, Nelly Furtado, Paul Kelly, Selena, Sheena Easton, Timbaland, Woody Shaw

Release Round-Up: Week of September 4

September 4, 2026 by The Second Disc | 5 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Ben Folds Five, Ben Folds Five (30th Anniversary Edition) (Capitol/UMe, 2026) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Piano-pounding alternative trio Ben Folds Five have revisited their first album – both versions of their first album – for a new expanded edition. The group’s self-titled debut has been remastered and expanded, one year after its 30th anniversary…

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Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Folk, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock

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Aaron Tveit, Ben Folds Five, Bing Crosby, Cat Stevens, Dexys Midnight Runners, John Coltrane, Lea Michele, Micky Dolenz, Pink Floyd, The Cranberries, The Gentrys

Total Freedom: Two George Michael Live Releases – One with Wham! – Due This Year

September 2, 2026 by Mike Duquette | 1 Comment

If you’ve never caught George Michael in concert, this year will see the release of not one but two peak-era releases showcasing his live skills – an EP of unreleased live cuts with Wham!, and a full concert album from 1988’s tour in support of solo debut Faith. Both projects are tied to recent or forthcoming film releases. 10 Days in China – The Live EP follows the recent release of Wham! 10 Days in China, unbelievably the third documentary on the duo in the last four years. (The first, a self-titled, career-spanning documentary, bowed…

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Pop, Rock

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George Michael, Wham!

This is Not a Review of Prince’s ‘Timeless.’ Here’s Why

September 2, 2026 by Mike Duquette | 13 Comments

Until yesterday, this was going to be a pretty standard review of Timeless (NPG/Paisley Park 19958 44929-2), the newest posthumous Prince project, arriving just over a decade after his tragic passing. You would read about how unusual it is at this juncture to release a short compilation of unrelated outtakes from the Minneapolis icon’s storied vault, one not curated by him or guided by his examples, one that reminds you of projects we’d love to have on our shelves – a pre-1999 deep dive, a complete presentation of his final concerts (or any…

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News, Reviews

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

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Prince

Ben Folds Five: 30th Anniversary Edition

September 1, 2026 by Joe Marchese

2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Piano-pounding alternative trio Ben Folds Five have revisited their first album – both versions of their first album – for a new expanded edition. The group’s self-titled debut has been remastered and expanded, one year after its 30th anniversary mark. This 2CD or 180-gram 2LP release pairs that original album, featuring seminal tracks like “Underground” and “Philosophy,” with a mostly unreleased “Shelved First Attempt” featuring many of the same tracks (and a few others) recorded in an earlier session. Both sets offer expanded liner…

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Pop, Rock

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Back to Black: 20th Anniversary Edition

September 1, 2026 by Joe Marchese

3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Zoetrope LP: Official Store UMe reissues the late Amy Winehouse’s 2006 triumph Back to Black on October 23 (the Friday before its official anniversary on October 27) in a variety of formats, most notably 3CD and 3LP sets packed with more than two dozen bonus tracks. (In a coup for CD buyers, five B-sides and three live cuts will not be on the 3LP set, which is pressed on clear vinyl.) Additional pressings of the original album will be available, including a…

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Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Head Games: Super Deluxe Edition

September 1, 2026 by Joe Marchese

3CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) 1LP: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) 7″: Rhino.com Following last year’s deluxe expanded edition of Foreigner’s 1981 album 4(opens in new tab) – the band’s fourth overall album – Rhino turns back the clock to another multi-platinum album, 1979’s Head Games. Head Games is returning in a 3CD/1Blu-ray edition as well as a standalone 1LP vinyl edition of the new album remix at the centerpiece of the full box set. The Super Deluxe 3CD/1BD edition…

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

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The Quiet Celebration Concert

September 1, 2026 by Joe Marchese

Paul Simon came out of live retirement for his acclaimed Quiet Celebration tour, reflecting his acknowledged hearing loss with new arrangements of classic favorites alongside a full presentation of his Seven Psalms album. This live album recorded at Seattle’s McCaw Hall features both acts of the concert, including Seven Psalms, “Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard,” “The Boxer,” “Homeward Bound,” “Graceland,” and more. (As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases.)

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CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming

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And The Music’s All Right: “The Who By Numbers” Goes Super Deluxe

September 1, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 7 Comments

May 1975 found Pete Townshend turning 30 and troubled by thoughts of the future. What would it hold for The Who, the music business, and rock and roll itself? He poured his anxieties and emotions into The Who by Numbers, the October ’75 release of which would become the band’s seventh studio album. On October 30, Polydor and UMe celebrates 51 (!) years of The Who by Numbers with a new 5CD/1Blu-ray Super Deluxe Edition. Sessions for the album began in April 1975 and continued through early June, with producer Glyn Johns…

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

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John Entwistle, Keith Moon, Pete Townshend, Roger Daltrey, The Who

One Step Closer to the Danger Zone: Foreigner Sets Expanded Remix of ‘Head Games’

August 31, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 5 Comments

Following last year’s deluxe expanded edition of Foreigner’s 1981 album 4(opens in new tab) – the band’s fourth overall album – Rhino is turning back the clock to another multi-platinum album, 1979’s Head Games. On October 30, Head Games will return in a 3CD/1Blu-ray edition as well as a standalone 1LP vinyl edition of the new album remix at the centerpiece of the full box set. Head Games marked a time of transition for Foreigner. Co-produced by Roy Thomas Baker (Queen, Dusty Springfield), Mick Jones, and Ian McDonald, it featured Lou Gramm…

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

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Foreigner, Lou Gramm, Mick Jones, Peter Frampton

The Weekend Stream: August 29, 2026

August 29, 2026 by The Second Disc | 5 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. New singles from U2 and Peter Gabriel, expanded reissues from OK Go and The New Christy Minstrels, SuperVisible surprises and some new cast albums – you’ll find them all here, plus tributes to the many, many artists we lost this week. U2, “Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah” (Rubyworks) (Apple / Amazon TBD) The boys of U2 are fully roused for a new…

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Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Country, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Reggae, Rock

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A Certain Ratio, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Eddy Grant, Fania All-Stars, Lori Yates, OK Go, Peter Gabriel, Post Malone, Rachel Zegler, Shane MacGowan, The New Christy Minstrels, U2, Walt Mink, Ween

Release Round-Up: Week of August 28

August 28, 2026 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. Prince, Timeless (NPG/Legacy) CD: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) LP: Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) / Official Store(opens in new tab) (140-gram Purple Marbled Vinyl) Ten years after his tragic passing, a newly-curated release from Prince’s vault offers 10 unreleased tracks spanning his entire recording career – mostly unconsidered, in their respective forms, for any formal versions…

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

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Classic Rock, Funk, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Reggae, Rock, Soundtracks

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Bananarama, Bob Marley, Bob Marley and the Wailers, Engelbert Humperdinck, Genesis, Gerry Beckley, Joan Jett, Klaus Nomi, Marco Beltrami, Prince, Sara Bareilles, The Stooges

She Was Trouble: UMe Celebrates 20th Anniversary of Amy Winehouse’s ‘Back to Black’ with Deluxe Edition

August 25, 2026 by Mike Duquette | 2 Comments

Twenty years after it became a worldwide blockbuster – and more than 15 years since her passing broke the hearts of fans everywhere – Amy Winehouse’s final album will be reissued with a host of bonus material, including unheard demos and an unreleased live set. UMe will reissue 2006’s Back to Black on October 23 (the Friday before its official anniversary on October 27) in a variety of formats, most notably 3CD and 3LP sets packed with more than two dozen bonus tracks. (In a coup for CD buyers, five B-sides and three…

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Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

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Amy Winehouse

Release Round-Up: Week of August 21

August 21, 2026 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. The B-52’s, Ancient Culture: Mesopotamia Revisited (Sire/Rhino) (Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab)) The B-52’s are returning to Mesopotamia. The band has revisited their 1982 David Byrne-produced EP on Ancient Culture: Mesopotamia Revisited, a new and generously expanded 3CD/1LP box set premiering outtakes, alternate mixes, and a previously unreleased concert from the era. The new “Full-Length Version” of Mesopotamia featured on CD and LP in Ancient Culture reassembles the…

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Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Comedy, Disco/Dance, Jazz, Pop, Rock, Soundtracks

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Alex Chilton, Anthony Hopkins, Bob Dylan, Ella Fitzgerald, Gustavo Dudamel, Jack Kerouac, John Williams, KISS, The B-52's, The Cramps, Various Artists

You Are The Magnet: Edsel Collects Walter Egan’s Early Albums On “The Collection”

August 19, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 1 Comment

Walter Egan’s first album was titled Fundamental Roll, and, indeed, the New York-born singer-songwriter was certainly on a roll. Egan and Duane Scott co-produced the 1977 album with Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham and Steve Nicks – fresh off the release of Rumours – and the Buckingham/Nicks duo returned for 1978’s Not Shy, bringing along Richard Dashut. Not Shy yielded Egan’s signature hit, “Magnet and Steel,” which went to the U.S. top ten. Now, Edsel has celebrated the first chapter of Egan’s solo career with the new 4CD box, The Album Collection 1977-1980,…

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Box Sets

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Fleetwood Mac, Lindsey Buckingham, Stevie Nicks, Walter Egan

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Throw That Beat in the Garbage Can: The B-52’s Expand ‘Mesopotamia’ EP with Outtakes, Remixes and More

August 18, 2026 by The Second Disc | 5 Comments

The B-52’s are returning to Mesopotamia. This Friday, August 21, the band will revisit their 1982 David Byrne-produced EP on Ancient Culture: Mesopotamia Revisited, a new and generously expanded 3CD/1LP box set premiering outtakes, alternate mixes, and a previously unreleased concert from the era. Following two back-to-back albums (1979’s self-titled debut and 1980’s Wild Planet), The B-52’s were creatively tapped out. Moving the group into a house in upstate New York to concentrate on writing only inflamed tensions further. A compilation, Party Mix!, was issued in 1981 as a stopgap measure to…

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Box Sets, CD, Vinyl

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David Byrne, The B-52's

The Weekend Stream: August 15, 2026

August 15, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. A lot of new singles from some old favorites, from Stephen Bishop to Jimmy Webb – plus even more outtakes from Ween, remixes from Whitney Houston, rare finds for country, comedy, hard rock and soundtrack lovers, and a must-read story about a fan letter to one of our most missed singer/songwriters. Stephen Bishop, “I Don’t Know You Anymore” (Life’s a Bish) (Apple…

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Classic Rock, Comedy, Country, Disco/Dance, Jazz, Latin, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

The Shel Talmy Recordings

August 14, 2026 by Joe Marchese

CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Official Store (180-gram red vinyl) The Shel Talmy Recordings collects 21 recordings the then-unknown David Bowie recorded with producer Talmy (The Who, The Kinks) during 1965, when he was a member of bands The Manish Boys and The Lower Third. Only four of these tracks were released at the time as singles, with another seven alternate and outtake versions turning up on compilations over the years; that makes a full 10 tracks debuting on this package, including lead track “I Want Your Love.” Some of…

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

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Ancient Culture: Mesopotamia Revisited

August 14, 2026 by Joe Marchese

The B-52’s are returning to Mesopotamia. The band has revisited their 1982 David Byrne-produced EP on Ancient Culture: Mesopotamia Revisited, a new and generously expanded 3CD/1LP box set premiering outtakes, alternate mixes, and a previously unreleased concert from the era. The new “Full-Length Version” of Mesopotamia featured on CD and LP in Ancient Culture reassembles the track list as closely as possible to what was originally intended. Newly remastered versions of the original six EP tracks are joined by three outtakes: the previously unreleased recordings of “Big Bird” and the exotica-flavored “Adios Desconocida,” along with “Queen of…

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

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Release Round-Up: Week of August 14

August 14, 2026 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. The Monkees, Made for TV (Rhino) (Amazon U.S.(opens in new tab) / Amazon U.K.(opens in new tab) / Amazon Canada(opens in new tab) / Rhino.com(opens in new tab) / Monkees.com(opens in new tab)) Rhino celebrates Season 1 of The Monkees just in time for its 60th anniversary. This new 2CD/1LP/1Blu-ray multimedia box set brings together all of the music heard on Season 1 of the groundbreaking television series in one deluxe…

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

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Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Classical/Opera, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rock, Soundtracks

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Carly Simon, Claibe Richardson, Dorothy Loudon, Everything But the Girl, Guy Haines, Jethro Tull, John Williams, Leo Sayer, Sparks, Stephen Cole, The Monkees

Light Shine on Me: The Waterboys Revisit “Fisherman’s Blues” with New “Atlantic Rain” Box

August 13, 2026 by Joe Marchese | 5 Comments

Since bursting onto the post-punk scene with 1983’s self-titled album The Waterboys, the band led by Scottish singer-songwriter Mike Scott has lived up to its moniker as “the big music.” The Waterboys’ sound has taken in rock, folk, rhythm and blues, soul, pop, country, classical, jazz, and beyond. Perhaps no album in the band’s catalogue, however, was more expansive than their fourth album, 1988’s Fisherman’s Blues. Recorded over two years in Dublin and Galway by Scott, saxophonist/mandolinist Anthony “Anto” Thistlethwaite, violinist Steve Wickham, bassist Trevor Hutchinson, and many others, Fisherman’s Blues found…

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News, Reviews

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Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming

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Classic Rock, Folk, Rock

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The Waterboys

How Sweet It Is: Rhino’s New Quadio Batch Includes James Taylor, James Gang, David Gates, Herbie Mann

August 12, 2026 by Joe Marchese | No Comments

Rhino’s Quadio series has recently announced its latest batch of four titles, and as usual, they comprise a quartet of eclectic titles from the 1970s. Two singer-songwriters – James Taylor and Bread’s David Gates – are joined by soul-jazz titan Herbie Mann and the rockers of The James Gang. Each Blu-ray Audio Disc in the Quadio series includes the original four-channel quadraphonic mix with a high-resolution 192/24 stereo mix, with both sourced from the original analog tapes. (The lone exception here is the Herbie Mann quad mix, which was sourced out of…

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Blu-Ray Audio

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

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David Gates, Herbie Mann, James Taylor, The James Gang

The Weekend Stream: August 8, 2026

August 8, 2026 by The Second Disc | 3 Comments

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles making digital debuts, plus new works from legacy acts and even some personally curated favorites. An unexpected return from a ’90s one-hit wonder, a team-up of two pop queens, and plenty of odds and ends from 1976 will satisfy your Saturday. Various Artists, One Night Only (Music from the Motion Picture) (Back Lot Music) (Apple / Amazon) The new comedy from director Will Gluck (Easy A) involving a meet-cute on the one day non-marital sex is legal…

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