In a career spanning more than 50 years, Luciano Pavarotti brought opera to the masses, singing with a host of popular artists from Bono and Meat Loaf to Frank Sinatra and Elton John. He won five competitive Grammy Awards, a pair of Emmys, and a Kennedy Center Honor, along with numerous recognitions from his native Italy, France, and Monaco. At the time of his death on September 6, 2007 at the age of 71, he had sold over one hundred million records, while The Three Tenors - the opera
(Don't) Walk On By: Dionne Warwick's "Make It Easy on Yourself: The Scepter Recordings 1962-1971" Due in June on 12 CDs from SoulMusic, Second Disc
"I am so very thrilled about this wonderful collection of my recordings! It is truly something that I myself would buy." - Dionne Warwick, 2025 For more than six decades, Dionne Warwick has been synonymous with musical excellence. The six-time Grammy Award winner, 2024 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee, and Kennedy Center Honoree remains one of the most-charted vocalists of all time, with a whopping 56 singles having made the Billboard Hot 100 between 1962 and 1998 and over 100 million
The Weekend Stream: March 29, 2025
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. Classic Motown in concert, long-lost favorites from a country icon, a live country take on a Fab Four favorite, Gary Numan's mid-'80s works, new music from Bachman-Turner Overdrive and a documentary on a late, great Australian musician...there really is a lot of ground to cover, and that's not even all of it! Marvin Gaye, Marvin Gaye Live!
Release Round-Up: Week of March 28
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. Fleetwood Mac, 1975 to 1987 (Warner/Rhino) 5CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 6LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Rhino.com (with bonus 12") Fleetwood Mac's 1975 to 1987 is exactly what it states: a box set of Fleetwood Mac (1975), Rumours (1977), Tusk (1979), Mirage (1982) and Tango in the
Whitesnake Remaster Five Live Albums for New Box Set
After years of reissues and remixes from hard-rockers Whitesnake at Rhino Records, you'd be forgiven for wondering what the label could still do with David Coverdale's catalogue. That question is now answered with a box set assembling remastered editions of five latter-day live records. Access All Areas: Live, available April 25, is an 8CD collection offering sets recorded between 2004 and 2015 and released over the last two decades. The albums featured are Live...In the Still of the
We Were So in Phase: Wang Chung Join Hits and Rarities on New Compilation
The time has come to take your baby by the hand and check out a new compilation from '80s pop hitmakers Wang Chung. The group will release a new double album of hits and rarities, Clear Light / Dark Matter, on May 9. It'll include the singles "Dance Hall Days," "Everybody Have Fun Tonight" and "Let's Go!" plus tracks from their cult classic soundtrack from the film To Live and Die in L.A. - along with rare material (including the A-side of their debut single) and even a few unreleased demos.
Get Together (With Yourself): High Moon Expands Lotti Golden's Cult Classic "Motor-Cycle"
"Motor-Cycle transported me back to the '60s in a way not many records do...There's no irony or second-guessing: Golden's all in, a psychedelic daughter of the Beat generation, among her equally hippie cohort, in swirls of free-loving, drug-chasing, multiracial, pan-sexual abandon... The album is a mother lode, not unlike Daniel Johnston or The Shaggs, say, for its multi-level fascination." High Moon Records has quoted groundbreaking punk legend Richard Hell in describing Lotti Golden's 1969
Another "Saturnight": Cat Stevens' 1974 Japan Live Album Comes to CD, Vinyl
Even today, Japan remains a thriving capital of recorded music - and, in particular, physical media. In the 1970s, it wasn't uncommon for top-tier American artists, from Andy Williams to The Supremes, to record live albums exclusively for the Japanese market. Among those artists was Yusuf, a.k.a. Cat Stevens, whose 1974's Saturnight: Live from Tokyo was the singer-songwriter's first concert LP. Now, following its reissue last November as part of Record Store Day's Black Friday event,
Cuts The Deepest: Edsel Celebrates P.P. Arnold on "Soul Survivor" Box Set
One of P.P. Arnold's early sides for Immediate Records was titled "Am I Still Dreaming?" The song, which the artist born Patricia Ann Cole in Los Angeles wrote at the encouragement of none other than Mick Jagger, is one of the 57 songs on 3 CDs assembled by Edsel Records on the dream of a box set appropriately entitled Soul Survivor: A Life in Song. The collection, compiled by the singer and Michael Mulligan, traces the onetime Ikette's career from her signing to Andrew Loog Oldham's label
Feel the Force: Disney to Release Japanese Box Set of 'Star Wars' Music with TV Scores Making CD Debuts
Fans making the pilgrimage to next month's Star Wars Celebration event in Japan can keep an eye out for a new box set fitting in perfectly with the country's commitment to music on CD. Available in limited quantities during the event at Makuhari Messe in Chiba City, Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025: Original Soundtrack Box Set brings together scores from 23 films and television series in the universe created by writer/director George Lucas, with exclusively designed artwork. While none of the
The Weekend Stream: March 22, 2025
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 short week offers a classic from Paul McCartney in Atmos, a comedian going (maybe) straight, a cabaret performer going proudly queer and some words on a master of music videos. Wings, Venus and Mars (Atmos Mix) (MPL) (Apple / Amazon) Yesterday saw the release of a half-speed mastered vinyl LP of Wings' fourth studio album, 1975's
Their Latest Trick: Dire Straits Expands 'Brothers in Arms'
Dire Straits' biggest album is getting expanded for its 40th anniversary. 1985's Brothers in Arms will be available in a variety of formats, including a 3CD or 5LP set that pairs the classic album with a live show from the period. The album, which featured two of the band's biggest singles including the American chart-topper "Money for Nothing" and "Walk of Life," will also feature 16 pages of liner notes offering new insight on the album through interviews with the band's frontman/guitarist
Release Round-Up: Week of March 21
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. Tina Turner, Private Dancer: 40th Anniversary Edition (Parlophone/Rhino) 5CD/1BD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Pearl LP with art card: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Picture Disc: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Tina Turner's smash 1984
Long Distance Love Affair: Sheena Easton Box Set Offers 25 Unreleased Tracks
Sheena Easton's latest reissue collaboration with Cherry Red covers familiar ground in a slightly new way. Modern Girl: The Complete EMI Recordings, Vol. 1 is a 5CD set that will cover the bulk of the Scottish singer's first five albums - Take My Time (1981), You Could Have Been with Me (1981), Madness, Money and Music (1982), Best Kept Secret (1983) and the Spanish-language hits album Todo Me Recuerda a Ti (1984) - while also premiering more than two dozen unreleased tracks. The set, available
They'll Be There for You: 10 Record Store Day Exclusives Getting CD Releases
The Record Store Day round-up marches on! After covering in detail the vinyl offerings from Universal Music Group, Legacy Recordings, Rhino Records, BMG, Craft Recordings, Real Gone Music, Omnivore and U.K. labels Cooking Vinyl and Demon Music Group, we've still got a few things to highlight...notably, the work of labels who are serving one of Record Store Day's least-served fans. There are plenty of business and financial reasons why some Record Store Day titles are limited solely to vinyl,
Record Store Day the U.K. Way: British Labels Line Up Vinyl Exclusives
Our ongoing Record Store Day 2025 guide has covered the exclusive titles coming on April 12 from Universal Music Group, Sony's Legacy Recordings, Warner Music's Rhino, BMG and Craft Recordings, as well as titles from favorite indie licensors like Real Gone Music and Omnivore. Next up, we're taking a look at international releases from two of our favorite U.K. labels! British label and artist services hub Cooking Vinyl has planned a half-dozen titles for RSD, running the gamut from stalwarts
My Heart Skips a Beat: Omnivore Premieres Long-Lost Buck Owens Concert
Hey Buckaroos! Omnivore Recordings has unearthed what they're describing as the earliest full concert recording of Buck Owens and his legendary band onstage, and they're bringing it to fans on March 28. The Exciting Sounds of Buck Owens and His Buckaroos Live from Richmond, Virginia, 1964 arrives on vinyl - no CD version has been announced yet - with eighteen cuts from the Bakersfield group. The album captures Owens, Don Rich, Doyle Holly, Tom Brumley, and Willie Cantu at the peak of their
The Weekend Stream: March 15, 2025
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've got some early classics in Atmos from England's not-so-newest hitmakers, a soundtrack to a classic Tom Petty streaming feature, and new tracks from some of our favorite women in pop and rock! The Rolling Stones, The Rolling Stones EP / The Rolling Stones (U.K.) / England's Newest Hit Makers / Five by Five EP / 12 X 5 / The Rolling Stones
Hand of Doom: Rhino Hi-Fi Reissues Black Sabbath's "Paranoid," Alice Cooper's "Love It to Death"
This morning, Rhino announced the latest two titles in its Rhino High-Fidelity series, and both titles are available now for shipping directly from Rhino.com. With Black Sabbath's Paranoid and Alice Cooper's Love It to Death both newly remastered with lacquers cut by Kevin Gray for the audiophile-standard series, hard rock is the order of the day. Both titles are pressed on 180-gram vinyl and limited to 5,000 units each. Black Sabbath's 1970 LP Paranoid remains a watershed release, auguring
Release Round-Up: Week of March 14
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. Jimmy Page and The Black Crowes, Live at the Greek (Silver Arrow) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 6LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada A rare concert team-up between one of the great blues-rock bands of the last four decades and one of the greatest
You Raise Me Up: Reprise Collects Josh Groban's "Gems" on New Collection
On May 9, Josh Groban will kick off Gems, a five-night run in Las Vegas at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace. One week earlier, the superstar actor-singer will commemorate the concert stand with a companion album of the same name. Arriving on Reprise Records, Gems features 16 classics from Groban's discography alongside two new songs, "Be Alright" and "Open Hands." The Los Angeles native was just sixteen years old when he was introduced by his vocal coach to David Foster. Foster enlisted him
Attics of My Life: Grateful Dead Mark 60 Years with Massive Box of Unreleased Live Performances
It's little surprise that Rhino is going all-out for the 60th anniversary of the Grateful Dead. The label today announced a 60CD box set due this spring that will premiere material from some 20 shows across a quarter-century of the band's tenure. Enjoying the Ride, available May 30 exclusively from Dead.net, is a comprehensive 450-track set (nearly entirely unreleased, though a full track list has not been made available) limited to 6000 individually numbered copies. Sourced from recordings
Bright New Way: Cherry Red's Grapefruit Label Collects Complete Recordings of Noel Redding's Fat Mattress
Compilation producer David Wells' liner notes to Fat Mattress' How Can I Live? Complete Recordings on Cherry Red's Grapefruit imprint kick off with two provocative quotes. Guitarist/singer Noel Redding, best known as bassist for The Jimi Hendrix Experience: "We had to play his songs, and he'd never consider listening to any of mine." Fat Mattress' manager and Jimi Hendrix producer/mentor Chas Chandler: "It was one of the most confusing times of my life. The first Mattress album knocked me out
Watch Out! Joe Grushecky's Iron City Houserockers' "Blood on the Bricks" Gets Expanded by Omnivore
Following last year's releases of Houserocker: A Joe Grushecky Anthology and the singer-songwriter's newest album, Can't Outrun a Memory, Omnivore Recordings is returning to the Grushecky discography on March 28 with the worldwide CD premiere of The Iron City Houserockers' 1981 album, Blood on the Bricks. The band's third album, it's been newly remastered and expanded with 11 previously unreleased bonus tracks. The expanded edition will also be available digitally. Blood on the Bricks
Review: Yes, "Close to the Edge: Super Deluxe Edition"
The cover of Yes' Close to the Edge was a relatively simple one, with Roger Dean's freshly-minted "bubble type" logo atop a color gradient from black to green. But the contents within the jacket - Yes' fifth album overall, and final LP of the decade to feature drummer Bill Bruford - were anything but simple. Building on the sound and style of 1971's Fragile, Close to the Edge was an even more ambitious suite crafted by lead vocalist Jon Anderson, bassist Chris Squire, drummer Bruford,