Holiday Gift Guide Review: Prince and The New Power Generation, 'Diamonds and Pearls (Super Deluxe Edition)'

By Mike Duquette | December 22, 2023 | 1 Comment

I. Come On, Save Your Soul Tonight In the years since Prince's tragic death in 2016, one of the more shocking events in catalogue history has occurred: the construction of a cottage industry surrounding his vast recorded output - both his dozens of released albums and countless tracks rumored to exist in the mythic vault […]

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Stocking Stuffer Spotlight: Freddie Scott, "Other Lives," and International Pop Overthrow

By Joe Marchese | December 21, 2023 | 0 Comments

We've covered a lot of box sets this holiday season but today we're taking a look at three more compact - but no less enjoyable! - stocking stuffers!  The two titles carried by Amazon are shipping now with delivery before Christmas.  As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Freddie Scott (1933-2007) had been […]

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Short Takes: McCartney's "III"-Peat, The Rolling Stones' "Live" Racket

By The Second Disc | December 20, 2023 | 9 Comments

Paul McCartney's 2020 "lockdown" - make that "rockdown" - album, McCartney III, was seemingly ubiquitous upon its release with various-color editions on CD, LP, and cassette; Discogs currently shows 57 unique versions of the album.  (That's not counting the remix album McCartney III-Imagined or the 2022 box set which bundled III with its two predecessors […]

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Holiday Gift Guide Review: Stevie Nicks, 'Complete Studio Albums and Rarities'

By Mike Duquette | December 19, 2023 | 2 Comments

I. Has Anyone Ever Written Anything for You? When was the moment that Stephanie Lynn Nicks became inevitable? It's not as though you can just forget a voice like hers. Ever since the start of her on-again, off-again tenure in Fleetwood Mac - when her dulcet tones powered songs like "Rhiannon," "Landslide," "Dreams" (the band's first No. […]

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Holiday Gift Guide Review: Frank Zappa, "Over-Nite Sensation: 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition"

By Joe Marchese | December 18, 2023 | 1 Comment

Had Frank Zappa gone commercial?  Surely the artist who proudly embraced the slogan "No Commercial Potential" hadn't sold out to the masses.  Yet, with 1973's Over-Nite Sensation, the composer-guitarist-bandleader found himself in a particularly purple patch that resulted in two consecutive Gold albums and four straight top 40 entries on the Billboard 200.  The title […]

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