Paul McCartney is not dead, but he is digital: a new beta version of his website, developed with Hewlett-Packard, brings his solo catalogue to fans through a cloud service, along with a host of interactive features. Fans can stream all of his studio albums (including collaboration projects like The Fireman and Twin Freaks) through a jukebox, and premium members can download that jukebox as a desktop app. Additionally, a new "Rude Studio" section of his site allows fans to play and mix
The Second Disc Buyers Guide: The 100 Greatest Reissues of All Time, Part 8 (#65-61)
We continue our look at the many reissues of the 100 greatest albums of all time, as selected by Rolling Stone in 2003! We'll explore the various versions of these classic albums on disc, letting you know which audio treasures can be found on which releases. It's a marvelous night for a "Moondance" before we go "Back to Mono," roll with the Stones and then take in latter-day classics from the 1980s and 1990s! 65. Moondance, Van Morrison (Warner Bros., 1970) Van Morrison’s 1968 Warner Bros.
Herrmann at Fox Box: A Surprising Sell-Out
When Varese Sarabande announced their last release of the year to be "a whopper," they weren't kidding. What's more surprising, though, is the reception it received. Bernard Herrmann at 20th Century-Fox continues the label's yearlong celebration of his life and work in what would have been his centennial year. (Compilations from his television work with Alfred Hitchcock and and expanded version of his co-written score to The Egyptian were other Varese sets honoring the composer this year.)
Holiday Tunes Watch, Part 4: Starbucks to "Let It Snow" With Dylan, Diamond, Aretha, Elvis and More
With each holiday season inevitably comes a new Christmas-themed compilation CD from Starbucks, combining rare and familiar tracks from artists new and old, designed as the perfect accompaniment for that venti skinny Peppermint Mocha! 2011’s entry in the annual series, Let It Snow, features Michigan singer/songwriter Rosie Thomas’ recording of the Jule Styne/Sammy Cahn title song, along with fifteen other tracks. Some tracks are from the “usual suspects” (Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley) and others
Review: Neil Diamond, "The Very Best of Neil Diamond"
They don’t make ‘em like Neil Diamond any more. Then again, did they ever make ‘em like Neil Diamond? When the self-described solitary man of lean, tough Bang Records rockers like “Cherry, Cherry” and “Kentucky Woman” eventually gave way to the literally glittering superstar of such dramatic fare as “I Am…I Said” and “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” it became all too easy to forget the man’s C.V. as a singer, songwriter and producer. Diamond discovered world music some 15 years before his friend
The Second Disc Buyers Guide: The 100 Greatest Reissues of All Time, Part 7 (#70-66)
Our look at the many reissues of the 100 greatest albums of all time, as selected by Rolling Stone in 2003, soldiers on! We look at the masterings and expansions of these classic albums on disc, letting you know which audio treasures can be found on which releases. Today's a full house of rock royalty, with a Piano Man, a King of Pop, a soul legend and two albums by Led Zeppelin! 70. Led Zeppelin, Physical Graffiti (Swan Song, 1975) Led Zeppelin's sixth album could've easily not happened had
Come to the Sunshine: Now Sounds Expands, Remasters Harpers Bizarre's "Feelin' Groovy"
Leon Russell might have been reluctant to return to his pop music roots when producer Lenny Waronker invited him to sit in the arranger's chair for Harpers Bizarre's 1967 debut album. But in retrospect, a Master of Time and Space must have been involved in any LP that listed among its credits Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, Paul Simon, Richard Rodgers and Sergei Prokofiev! The California quintet's Feelin' Groovy long-player is still one of the boldest, most imaginative and most fun debut albums
Release Round-Up: Week of December 6
Neil Diamond, The Very Best of Neil Diamond (Columbia/Legacy) A new single-disc greatest hits compilation that unites classic Columbia stuff with early works for Bang and Universal and the excellent, newer stuff he's been doing with producer Rick Rubin. The E.T. song, though? Not here. Watch for Joe's review later today! Amy Winehouse, Lioness: Hidden Treasures (Universal Republic) The late, lamented neo-soul singer memorialized with a posthumous album. Fred Wesley & The J.B.'s, The
Motown Magic: The Marvelettes, Smokey Robinson Album Anthologies Continue
There’s Motown magic in the air! Though the year is drawing to a close, the fine folks at Hip-o Select are making sure that there are plenty of sounds from the Motor City to fill the stockings of even the most discerning music collectors. The label has just announced the continuation of two series of comprehensive archival releases. The 4-CD set Forever More: The Complete Motown Albums Vol. 2 collects the remaining output of the marvelous Marvelettes, the first girl group to make a splash at the
Flashback With The Bee Gees' "Main Course"
When Warner Music Group’s Rhino arm announced its licensing of the Bee Gees catalogue in 2006, hopes were high, and the campaign’s initial release certainly didn’t disappoint. The Studio Albums: 1967-1968 contained expanded mono/stereo editions of the group’s first three “canon” albums with a generous amount of unissued tracks. The promise of more collections to come from the Brothers Gibb archives was particularly enticing. Then, the 30th anniversary of Saturday Night Fever came and went, with
The Second Disc Buyers Guide: The 100 Greatest Reissues of All Time, Part 6 (#75-71)
The hits just keep on coming! The latest part of our TSD Buyers Guide, which counts the reissues of the albums in Rolling Stone's 100 greatest albums of all time (as selected in 2003), features some classic hard rock and soul and a lot of CD pressings (if not as many bonus tracks in this batch). We begin below with one of the heaviest albums of all time! 75. Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin II (Atlantic, 1969) Led Zeppelin II is arguably the band's heaviest and rawest work in studio, in part
Birth of a Big Star: Omnivore Expands Alex Chilton's 1970 Recordings
Over a year and a half after his untimely passing in the spring of 2010, former Box Tops and Big Star frontman Alex Chilton's loss leaves a profound hole in the hearts of power pop lovers everywhere. Leave it to one of our favorite up-and-coming reissue labels, Omnivore Recordings, to memorialize him twice this year - first with a special vinyl reissue of Big Star's Third for Record Store Day, and now with Free Again: The 1970 Sessions, an expansive look at his songwriting work just before Big
The Second Disc Buyers Guide: The 100 Greatest Reissues of All Time, Part 5 (#80-76)
It's almost the weekend, and we've got the perfect set of tunes to rock your Saturday and Sunday! It's Part 5 of our first-ever official Second Disc Buyers Guide, in which we look at the 100 greatest albums of all time, as selected by Rolling Stone in 2003, through the filter of when and how these classic albums have been reissued, remastered and repackaged. If you've ever wondered to yourself which versions of these albums to buy for certain bonus tracks and the like, we're your one-stop
Holiday Tunes Watch, Part 3: John Denver, Muppets Go "Urban" on Vinyl
Is the outpouring of love for the new Muppets film still not enough for you? Of course not! So you'll be happy to know that there's yet another great musical collectible (after Disney's fun reissue of the 2006 A Green and Red Christmas) that celebrates our fur and felt friends, not to mention one gone-but-not-forgotten pop favorite: a vinyl reissue of the beloved holiday album by John Denver and The Muppets. Maybe it was his just-offbeat-enough sensibilities in public - the onstage good-natured
Friday Feature: "An American Tail"
Let's get the opinions out of the way: An American Tail is not a great movie. I'm not even sure it's a good movie; I probably wouldn't even be writing this had it not been an early childhood favorite. But while the film doesn't quite pan out as a cohesive piece of work, there are some great parts - an interesting approach to plot and animation, and certainly a brilliant batch of soundtrack writing - that make the film worth writing about. The thing you have to remember about An American Tail,
The Second Disc Buyers Guide: The 100 Greatest Reissues of All Time, Part 4 (#85-81)
Here comes the fourth part of our first-ever official Second Disc Buyers Guide, in which we look at the 100 greatest albums of all time, as selected by Rolling Stone in 2003, through the filter of when and how these classic albums have been reissued, remastered and repackaged. If you've ever wondered to yourself which versions of these albums to buy for certain bonus tracks and the like, we're your one-stop shop. We've got quite a hand here today, with two Queens and a Boss to start, so let's
Holiday Tunes Watch, Part 2: Andy Williams' Favorite Things Collected For 2011
Early in November, Andy Williams took the stage at his Moon River Theatre in Branson, Missouri and announced to the crowd that he is fighting bladder cancer. "I do have cancer of the bladder," Williams, 83, told the shocked crowd. "But that is no longer a death sentence. People with cancer are getting through this thing. They're kicking it, and they're winning more and more every year. And I'm going to be one of them." He received a standing ovation upon announcing his intention to return to
Holiday Tunes Watch, Part 1: New Bing Crosby "Christmas" Collection Offers Up "Sessions" and More
What would Christmas be without the voice of Bing Crosby? And with radio stations going all-Christmas earlier and earlier each year, chances are you've already lifted your seasonal spirits with Crosby's famous recording of Irving Berlin's "White Christmas," still the biggest-selling single of all time. Or perhaps you've heard "Jingle Bells," with The Andrews Sisters vocally supporting Crosby. But Crosby's holiday catalogue runs quite deep. Last year, Collector's Choice Music and Bing Crosby
And the Catalogue Grammy Nominations Go To...
Safely tucked underneath a controversial slate of Grammy nominations in the major categories - seriously, Rihanna's Loud got an Album of the Year nod and Kanye West's My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy didn't? - there were a fantastic batch of reissue and box set-oriented nominations in this year's 54th annual ceremony. Without further pithy commentary, here they are: Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package Radiohead, The King of Limbs (ATO Records) Donald Twain & Zachariah Wildwood,
The Second Disc Buyers Guide: The 100 Greatest Reissues of All Time (Part 3: #90-86)
In Part 3 of our first-ever official Second Disc Buyers Guide, we look at five more of the 100 greatest albums of all time, as selected by Rolling Stone in 2003, through the filter of when and how these classic albums have been reissued, remastered and repackaged. If you’ve ever wondered to yourself which versions of these albums to buy for certain bonus tracks and the like, wonder no more. Today, we meet the Beatles, travel to Memphis with a beehived British soul queen, have the blues at
Reissue Theory: The Cure, "Standing on a Beach/Staring at the Sea"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. The recent success of some U.S. dates from The Cure have us thinking about their first compilation - a must-own for alt-rock fans when it was released a quarter-century ago - and how its best configuration deserves a release on CD. With a catalogue that stretches back to the late '70s and starts off far more solidly than most bands, it was a treat to see The Cure celebrate
Young Manhood, Revisited: Kings of Leon to Release Vinyl Box Set
In the past decade, there have been plenty of bands hawked as the one to save rock music and radio from the doldrums it's sat in for far too long. But few were agreed upon quite like Kings of Leon, whose Southern and blues influences, coupled with some alternative sensibilities and an arena-worthy sound, made them one of the hottest bands in the world of late. And this December, RCA is set to celebrate their path to "hottest band" status with The Early Vinyl, a lavish, seven-LP box set
The Second Disc Buyers Guide: The 100 Greatest Reissues of All Time (Part 2: #95-91)
Welcome to our brand-new, exhaustive feature to take us to the end of another great year for reissues and box sets: our first-ever official Second Disc Buyers Guide! From now until Christmas, we’re taking you on a delightful trip through the 100 greatest albums of all time, as selected by Rolling Stone in 2003, through the filter of when and how these classic albums have been reissued, remastered and repackaged. If you’ve ever wondered to yourself which versions of these albums to buy for
Soundtrack Round-Up: Intrada Commits "Robbery," La-La Land Bows Final Titles for 2011
The end of the calendar year is a boom time for all those working in reissues, especially the soundtrack labels. Today, six major titles go on sale that are certainly worth a look here at Second Disc HQ. Intrada's two latest sets, announced last night, are pretty major. One is a brand new reissue of the score to The Great Train Robbery, Jerry Goldsmith's classic soundtrack to the film directed by author Michael Crichton from his best-selling novel. Though the score is no stranger to CD, having
UPDATE: Doris Day Opens The Vaults For “My Heart” and There's Plenty For Beach Boys Fans, Album Gets U.S. Release
The vault has finally been opened! Sony Music U.K. has confirmed a release date and track listing for singing legend Doris Day’s long-awaited My Heart, on which your humble correspondent first reported in August 2010 and revisited back in November! Thanks to the fine folks at Doris Day Tribute for spreading this news! My Heart marks Doris’ first album of original studio material in some seventeen years, since The Love Album, and it features a number of tracks that will be of interest to the
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