Phil Collins is getting ready to open the vaults. Warner Music Group has just announced its partnership with Collins to make the superstar artist’s solo albums available worldwide through WMG. Though Collins’ American fans have long been used to seeing his solo releases on WMG’s Atlantic Records label, fans in the U.K. and Ireland were used to seeing the Virgin Records logo on Collins’ classic solo records such as Face Value, Hello, I Must Be Going and No Jacket Required. This deal marks the first time that all of Collins’ solo records…
Review: Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, “Best of Songs”
In a career spanning almost thirty years on both independent and major labels, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ has refused to be pigeonholed. The band, formed by Kevin (or Kevn) Kinney in 1985 has happily leaped from genre to genre, drawing on hard rock, country, pop, punk and other influences. Between June 2012 and January 2014, the band – now consisting of Kinney, founding member Tim Nielsen, Sadler Vaden and Dave V. Johnson – recorded a series of four EPs from which a tight, all-killer, no-filler collection has been culled. The simply-titled Best of…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 12
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! We kick off with a quartet of releases drawing on never-before-released live material! Leonard Cohen, Can’t Forget: A Souvenir of The Grand Tour (Columbia/Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Leonard Cohen offers ten selections – including two songs never previously recorded and a pair of covers – from his recent world tour. Andrew Gold, The Late Show – Live 1978 (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) You’ll say “thank you for being a friend” to Omnivore Recordings for this first-ever release of Andrew Gold’s 1978 concert at West…
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Rare, Unreleased and Live 1965-2012
The late soul man, best known for his tenure as an Apple Records recording artist, is celebrated on this 2-CD anthology drawing on a period of nearly fifty years. The set (released last month in the U.K.) includes an entire concert from San Francisco in 1976, live BBC recordings, and previously unissued studio material from the 1970s onward.
Review: The Pretenders CD/DVD Reissue Series
Chrissie Hynde, Pete Farndon, James Honeyman Scott and Martin Chambers may have taken the name of The Pretenders, but anybody paying attention soon realized that there was nothing “pretend” about this band – not its brash amalgam of British and American styles (Hynde was a U.S. émigré; the other three were Brits), not its unabashedly punk approach to a classic rock sound, not its effortless, cool swagger. 1979’s Pretenders launched the band on a journey that continues to this day. It’s been a long, strange trip filled with ups (ten albums, numerous…
Release Round-Up: Week of May 5
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! Oddly, releases were split between yesterday and today, but both days add up to a wealth of titles in nearly every genre! Without a doubt, this is one of the most packed weeks yet this year! Jackie DeShannon, All the Love: The Lost Atlantic Recordings (Real Gone) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) All the Love–The Lost Atlantic Recordings brings together DeShannon’s entire 1973 Atlantic Records material in one place for the first time, including seven previously unreleased tracks plus her four collaborations with Van Morrison and the…
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Angel Dust: Deluxe Edition
Faith No More’s 1992 album gains a bonus disc with seventeen rare tracks.
The Real Thing: Deluxe Edition
Rhino expands Faith No More’s 1989 album with a second disc featuring 12 bonus tracks.
From Out of Nowhere: Two Faith No More Albums Go Deluxe
This May, Faith No More, the hard-rocking San Francisco band, will unveil Sol Invictus, its first new album since 1997. To mark the occasion, Rhino Records is revisiting the pair of albums that solidified the group’s place in the rock pantheon: 1989’s The Real Thing and 1992’s Angel Dust. On June 9, the label will reissue both albums as two-disc sets, with each containing a second disc of rarities. In addition to the CD sets, Rhino will issue 2-LP. 180-gram black vinyl editions with the original albums plus selections from the CD…
10,000 Light Years Ago
10,000 Light Years Ago marks the first solo album since 1977 for the Moody Blues’ bassist/vocalist/songwriter! It features guest contributions from Ray Thomas and Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues as well as guitarist Chris Spedding, and includes songs such as “Those Days in Birmingham,” “Love Passed Me By” and the title track! The U.K. edition (linked to below) includes a bonus DVD!
Loaded: Jeff Beck Offers “Live+” With Tour Performances, New Studio Recordings
With Jeff Beck currently hitting the road once more, the time is right for Atco’s upcoming release of Jeff Beck Live+ culled from performances on the legendary guitarist’s 2014 tour with ZZ Top. The May 19 release features 14 live cuts along with Beck’s first two studio recordings since 2010. Beck’s tour last year with ZZ Top was curtailed due to the injury of the band’s bassist, Dusty Hill; Live+ will arrive in the midst of the April 30-May 10 tour dates for ZZ Top and Beck. On May 12, Beck will resume…
Live+
Guitar hero Jeff Beck returns with a new live album culled from his 2014 tour. Two new studio tracks round out the set.
Best of Songs
Indie southern rockers Drivin’ N’ Cryin’ return with a 10-track, 180-gram vinyl LP culled from the 32 songs on their four acclaimed EPs originally released between 2012 and 2014. The band touches on hard n’ heavy rock, psychedelia, pop, blues and punk on this tight, diverse collection, packaged in the style of a 1970s K-tel compilation!
Release Round-Up: Week of April 21
Today’s Release Round-Up features an array of titles including a box set from the one and only Chairman of the Board, a number of vintage albums in surround sound, a classic reissue from a new Rock and Roll Hall of Famer, and more! Frank Sinatra, Ultimate Sinatra (Capitol/UMe) 4-CD Box: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1-CD Highlights: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 2-CD Target Exclusive: Target.com 2-LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Standard Edition DD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. The 100th birthday of Ol’ Blue Eyes is celebrated with a variety of releases under the Ultimate Sinatra umbrella,…
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The Kingbees
Omnivore remasters and expands The Kingbees’ 1980 roots-rock gem with eight previously unissued demos and live recordings on CD and DD.
Amused to Death (Remixed Editions)
Roger Waters revisits his 1992 album Amused to Death, featuring contributions from Don Henley, Rita Coolidge, P.P. Arnold, Andy Fairweather Low and Michael Kamen, in a variety of formats featuring new stereo and 5.1 surround mixes. CD CD / Blu-ray SACD Hi-res digital download 2LP 200 gram vinyl (pressed at Quality Record Pressings) Limited edition, numbered 2LP picture disc vinyl
The Second Disc’s 2015 Record Store Day Must-Haves
Tomorrow, Saturday, April 18, music fans and collectors will flock to their local independent record stores to celebrate both the sounds on those familiar round black platters and the cherished opportunity to shop for music in a physical retail environment. To many of us, both are a way of life. Each year around this time, we here at Second Disc HQ take a few moments to count down the titles to which we’re most looking forward to picking up! Our friend and founder, Mike Duquette, returns to these pages to kick things…
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Release Round-Up: Week of April 14
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up featuring box sets, deluxe editions, rare albums and more! The Replacements, The Complete Studio Albums 1981-1990 (Sire/Rhino) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Rhino boxes up the Minnesota rockers’ complete studio output in one tidy package, utilizing the 2008 remasters but sans all bonus material. Tori Amos, Little Earthquakes and Under the Pink: Deluxe Editions (Rhino) Little Earthquakes: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Under the Pink: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Rhino has expanded singer-songwriter Tori Amos’ first two albums with a second disc of non-LP…
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New “Playlist” Wave Features Ben Folds Five, DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince, Santana and More
Legacy’s long-running Playlist series rolls on with another batch of titles to be released tomorrow, April 14. This wave of titles in the budget line range from rock to R&B to rap, and span from the late 1960s right up to the 2000s. As per the standard with this series, each entry is fourteen tracks and generally has some harder-to-find edits and track choices than are generally found on budget compilations. Following a description of each title kindly provided by our friend and founder Mike Duquette, you’ll find complete track listings and…
Review: Todd Rundgren, “Global”
Almost two years ago to the day, Todd Rundgren released his 24th studio album, State. The prolific singer-songwriter-producer hasn’t been resting on his laurels in the period since State. He’s maintained a busy touring schedule both solo and with Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band, and has contributed to numerous studio projects this year including the progressive collaboration Runddans with Hans-Peter Lindstrøm and Emil Nikolaisen, and Starr’s Postcards from Paradise (on which he co-wrote and performed on the Beatles-quoting title track and also co-wrote “Island in the Sun”). But his most high-profile effort this…
Release Round-Up: Week of April 7
Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up! The Who, The Brunswick Singles 1965-1966 (UMe) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) The Who box up replicas of seven early 7-inch singles plus an eighth with The High Numbers’ “Zoot Suit” b/w “I’m the Face” on this deluxe vinyl box set. Read more here. Herman’s Hermits, The 50th Anniversary Anthology (Bear Family) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Bear Family gives the “I’m Into Something Good” and “There’s a Kind of Hush” pop stars the deluxe treatment with this new release featuring 66 tracks (spanning hits, B-sides, rarities…
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Freak Out! Frank Zappa’s Lost Final Album “Dance Me This” Slated For June Release
On June 1, the final album recorded during the lifetime of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer and musical iconoclast Frank Zappa will, at last, see the light of day. The Zappa Family Trust has announced the release of Dance Me This as the landmark 100th Official Release from the composer-artist. Though the ZFT has provided scant information, only indicating “This is it. # 100. The LAST album by Frank Zappa. It’s 1993 and YOU ARE HERE!” on the official pre-order page, it’s believed that Dance Me This was the last album…
Runddans
Runddans is described by the label as “the result of the collaboration between Todd Rundgren, Hans-Peter Lindstrom and Emil Nikolaisen. Its a spiritual magnusopus, that stands alongside Rundgren’s most worshipped trippy albums of the seventies, fusing his blue eyed soul with Lindstroms disco epics and Emil Nikolaisens studio trickery into a cosmic mix of soul, synth, pop and disco.”
Release Round-Up: Week of March 31
Today’s Release Round-Up has everything from classic country and rock to vintage jazz! Glen Campbell, Rhinestone Cowboy: 40th Anniversary Edition (Capitol Nashville) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. ) Capitol Nashville remasters and expands Glen Campbell’s smash 1975 album with five bonus tracks, including the previously unreleased “Quits,” two rare new-to-U.S.-CD single sides and remixes of “Rhinestone Cowboy” and “Country Boy (You Got Your Feet in L.A.).” Read full details here. Van Halen, remasters and Tokyo Dome Live in Concert (Warner Bros./Rhino) Van Halen: Remastered Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 1984: Remastered…
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Forever Man
Eric Clapton’s new anthology – released on the occasion of his 70th birthday – features 51 tracks on three CDs, with one disc dedicated to studio tracks, one to live recordings, and one to his explorations of the blues. Also available in 2-CD and 2-LP highlight forms, and as a digital download.
