1976’s Can’t Hide Love, recently reissued by Big Break Records, wasn’t jazz singer Carmen McRae’s first venture into contemporary territory. Like so many other interpretive vocalists who had begun their careers in a pre-Beatles world, McRae found herself adopting an “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em” credo towards the increasingly prevalent rock genre, which […]
Continue ReadingThough Jim Morrison died more than 41 years ago, the fire of The Doors continues to burn bright. The past year, once christened The Year of the Doors, has brought a number of projects to light, such as the DVDs, CDs and LPs pertaining to the 40th anniversary of the seminal L.A. Woman album, and […]
Continue ReadingThe Super Deluxe stakes continue to be raised with the announcement of two more mega-boxes due before 2012 is out: (greatly!) expanded editions of King Crimson’s 1973 Larks’ Tongues in Aspic, and Jethro Tull’s 1972 Thick as a Brick. Both albums were the fifth studio effort of their respective bands, both are landmarks of the […]
Continue ReadingThe future may be incredibly uncertain for iconic alt-rockers Sonic Youth, following last year's separation of founding members Thurston Moore and Kim Gordon. But fans will certainly be satiated with a forthcoming release of an archival concert from the band. Smart Bar, Chicago 1985 captures the band in the midst of touring behind their sophomore […]
Continue ReadingFor all their theatricality, it was only recently that Queen were commemorated with a full-blown musical. Now, in honor of the tenth anniversary of that endeavor, We Will Rock You, a newly-remastered and expanded edition of the original cast recording is due from Island in the United Kingdom. Conceived by Queen and Ben Elton (a onetime […]
Continue ReadingSleigh bells ring – are you listening? Legacy Recordings certainly hopes you are, as a bounty of new holiday-themed collections is coming your way. The first Classic Christmas Album arrived last year, a compilation of Christmas favorites from Tony Bennett (including a previously-unreleased version of “What Child is This?”). More titles are on the horizon […]
Continue ReadingIt was the reunion everyone wanted, but possibly never expected. On December 10, 2007, at London's O2 Arena, Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham (John's son) took the stage as Led Zeppelin for the first time since the band broke up in 1980. (Page, Plant and Jones had several tepidly-received reunions […]
Continue ReadingOoh, what a lucky man I am! Chances are you will be, too, if you’ve been anticipating the just-launched series of deluxe reissues from Emerson, Lake & Palmer, available now from Razor and Tie in the U.S. and Sony Music internationally. It’s back to the very beginning for the progressive rock supergroup, with 1970’s eponymous debut […]
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