It was 25 years ago today that two massive, historic concerts were organized for African famine relief. Live Aid, performed in London's Wembley Arena and Philadelphia's JFK Stadium on July 13, 1985, was one of those rare overblown rock success stories - dozens of superstars and members of rock royalty coming together not at the […]
Continue ReadingToday, the 25th anniversary reissue of R.E.M.'s Fables of the Reconstruction hits stores. Athens, Georgia's favorite rock band has spent the past five years or so establishing their place in the pop-rock firmament: since 2006, the band's early recordings for I.R.S. Records - a six-year span between 1982 and 1987 - have been the center […]
Continue ReadingAfter what feels like ages, new cover art and a final track list has been revealed for the 10th anniversary deluxe edition of Queens of The Stone Age's Rated R. The remastered original LP - the band's first on Interscope Records - will be pressed alongside a disc of B-sides and nine tracks recorded live […]
Continue ReadingFrom beloved, semi-official Morrissey Web site True to You comes the news that Morrissey's singles compilation Bona Drag (1990) is getting a deluxe reissue for its 20th anniversary with six unreleased vault tracks. Released between Moz's solo debut in 1988 and Kill Uncle in 1991, Bona Drag included some of the ex-Smiths frontman's best early […]
Continue ReadingCowboys from Hell, the major-label debut LP by Pantera, is going to be released this fall in a number of deluxe packages. Cowboys, released on Atco after Pantera changed their sound from '80s glam metal to a more thrash/groove-oriented setting, was a breakout hit for the band. Vocalist Phil Anselmo's pipes were reminiscent of Rob […]
Continue ReadingIf you told anyone following the music industry in 1958 that David Seville's musical legacy would be eagerly consumed by kids more than 50 years into the future, they might laugh. After all, Seville's greatest "discoveries" aren't exactly real - they're in fact a trio of animated chipmunks named Alvin, Simon and Theodore. And their […]
Continue ReadingThere's lots of label action to report today, so let's just jump right in: Hot on the heels of this week's release of Stevie Wonder's Talking Book and Laura Nyro's Time and Love: The Essential Masters, Audio Fidelity has announced two more titles to receive the 24K Gold CD reissue treatment. Coming up are two […]
Continue ReadingA quick note that Experience Hendrix, LLC has put the entire Dagger Records discography up for digital purchase via the Web site of Jimi Hendrix. Since 1998, Dagger has been releasing "official bootleg" material from Hendrix's brief but influential career, from live recordings to outtakes compilations. All of them had been issued through direct-order CDs […]
Continue ReadingThe news of the Apple Records catalogue getting a new remastering and reissuing is one of the many catalogue stories one should file under "cautious optimism." It is awesome to have these classic, underappreciated records from luminaries like Badfinger, James Taylor and Billy Preston back into local record shops, bearing fresh digital remasters by the […]
Continue ReadingThe music industry is too often based upon unreachable expectations. An artist will sell millions of copies and gain critical acclaim and widespread public admiration on one album, and get lambasted come the next record for not perfectly matching the arc of their predecessor. Ridiculously, nobody takes the time out to realize that holy crap, […]
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