A Sting in the Tale: Scorpions Plan New Compilation
The relentless rock of German band Scorpions made them radio staples in the ’80s and ’90s and a touring act to this day. This fall, to commemorate their 60th anniversary as a band, they’ll release a multi-format compilation bringing together songs from nearly every one of their studio and live albums. From the First Sting, available September 26, will be available as a 180-gram 2LP or 1CD set offering 16 classic singles including “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and “Wind of Change,” or a 2CD set (alternately available with a deluxe packaged…
So Here We Are: Bloc Party Expand ‘Silent Alarm’ for Its 20th Anniversary
Another seminal album of the mid-’00s indie rock boom is getting reissued this year: Bloc Party’s debut Silent Alarm. A 20th anniversary edition of the album, available on two CDs or four white vinyl LPs on September 26, will pair the original album (featuring favorites “She’s Hearing Voices,” “Helicopter,” “So Here We Are” and “Banquet”) with 23 B-sides and rarities, including nine unreleased demos and live cuts. An accompanying booklet will feature rare photos from the band’s personal collections as well as liner notes, including a foreword by the album’s co-producer Paul Epworth….
The Living Return: Cherry Pop Continues Swing Out Sister Box Set Series
U.K. sophisti-pop act Swing Out Sister is getting a new box set from Cherry Red in July – and it’s a good excuse for us to shine a light on both collections the label has recently planned for the group. Known for their international 1987 hit “Breakout,” the group – primarily consisting of singer Corinne Drewery and keyboardist Andy Connell, along with the talents of producer Paul Staveley O’Duffy, who’s produced nearly all the group’s albums – have released decades’ worth of jazzy originals and covers across some 10 studio albums and counting….
Glitter Years: Cherry Red Collects The Bangles’ ’80s Recordings for New Box
A box set from Cherry Red this fall will offer nearly everything from the first decade of The Bangles’ discography. Watching the Sky: The Bangles Box Set will join together on four CDs the band’s three studio albums (All Over the Place (1984), Different Light (1986) and Everything (1988)) – most with non-LP single, B-side and remix material – plus a further bonus disc of rare material, including the group’s pre-major label studio material. It’s 27 bonus tracks in all, plus a liner notes essay on the group by John Earls of Classic Pop. It’s due out September…
The Weekend Stream: July 5, 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. Lots of Fourth of July musical statements were made this week, from a Prince rarity coming out of the vaults to Ben Folds’ surprisingly politically charged, surprise live album. Plus, the last two albums by a terrific British rock band and a new song from an American classic rock act reflecting on its 30 years together (even the last few tough ones). Prince and The Revolution, “America” (NPG/Legacy) (Apple /…
Review: Robin Trower, “For Earth Below: 50th Anniversary Edition”
1975’s For Earth Below proved a turning point for Robin Trower. The ex-Procol Harum guitarist’s third solo set, it introduced drummer Bill Lordan to Trower’s power trio which also included singer-bassist James Dewar. Building on the success of its predecessor, Bridge of Sighs, the album became Trower’s most successful in the United States and solidified his place in the guitar-hero pantheon. Now, Chrysalis Records has revisited the blues-rock classic in a new 4CD mediabook edition, mirroring the format of last year’s reissue of Bridge of Sighs. (It’s also available in digital and…
Make It Fast, Make It Urgent: Foreigner Add More to ‘4’
Foreigner is bringing 4 to the fore with a new deluxe box set devoted to their blockbuster fourth album. Available September 12, this new edition of 4 will include a new remix of the original 1981 album and three discs of unreleased material, including studio outtakes, unheard songs from the recording sessions, instrumental mixes and selections from the band’s world tour of 1981-1982. A Blu-ray Audio will include the album remix (plus the newly-released “Fool If You Love Him,” available as the new single from the set below) in high-resolution stereo, as well as…
Anyway, Here’s a Deluxe Edition: Oasis’ ‘Morning Glory’ Gets Reissued
We’re days away from Oasis’ unimaginable reunion tour kickoff – and we’re at least getting some new reissue out of the whole thing. The British rock icons will offer a slightly expanded edition of 1995’s (What’s the Story) Morning Glory?, pairing a 2014 remaster of the album (which initially came with additional bonus material) with a bonus EP of new unplugged mixes of four of the album’s tracks (plus a non-album B-side, “Acquiesce.” The group’s songwriter/guitarist Noel Gallagher and Callum Marinho built these new versions from the original multitrack recordings in Noel’s…
Inside Out: Phil Collins Plans 40th Anniversary Vinyl Box, Blu-ray Audio for ‘No Jacket Required’
Phil Collins is taking his Jacket to the cleaners and coming back with a whole new cut. Following a similar recent deluxe set for Both Sides, the Genesis drummer/singer’s most commercially successful solo album, 1985’s No Jacket Required, is being revisited for its 40th anniversary in two new formats. There’s a new “Fully Tailored” 4LP set that offers a new half-speed master of the album, cut at Abbey Road Studios and pressed on 180-gram vinyl, along with three discs including all the live tracks and demos from a 2016 deluxe CD plus non-album sides and…
Baby I’m-A Want You: Elektra Celebrates 75 Years with Monthlong Initiative
Jac Holzman was still in college when he and pal Paul Rickolt each chipped in three hundred bucks to start a record company. That label, Elektra Records – so named for Greek mythology’s daughter of Atlas and Pleione, but with the “c” swapped out for a “k” – inaugurated its catalogue with the simply-titled New Songs, an album of poetry settings by composer-pianist John Gruen. Elektra soon shifted its emphasis to folk music, growing its discography with recordings by Theodore Bikel, Josh White, Judy Collins, Oscar Brand, and Tom Paxton before branching…
Party on the Patio: ZZ Top Doubleback on New Limited Vinyl Box from Rhino High Fidelity
ZZ Top are revisiting their biggest hitmaking days on vinyl. From the Top (1979-1990) is a new limited 5LP box set as part of Rhino’s High-Fidelity initiative, featuring new pressings of the Texas trio’s most pop-friendly material: Degüello (1979), El Loco (1981), Eliminator (1983), Afterburner (1985) and Recycler (1990). (it follows a similar set issued last year.) All vinyl masters have been cut from the original stereo tapes by Kevin Gray and pressed on 180-gram vinyl at Optimal. The luxe package reproductions include glossy, heavyweight gatefold jackets plus new liner notes by author James Austin (with commentary throughout by…
Another Ticket: Eric Clapton, Roxy Music Classics Come to SHM-CD
And the SHMs just keep on coming! Following batches of Japanese pressings of albums by Paul McCartney, Quincy Jones and Sting, two more classic catalogues from Universal Music Group are getting reissued on the format this summer: the first decade-plus of album by Eric Clapton – available this Friday, July 4 – and five titles from Roxy Music, available later in the month on July 25. Clapton’s discs – 1970’s Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs (recorded as part of Derek & The Dominos), his 1970 self-titled album, 1974’s 461 Ocean Boulevard, 1975’s There’s One…
So Long and Good Night: My Chemical Romance’s Breakthrough Gets a New Remix
“Long ago / Just like the Hearse you die to get in again…” With those dramatic words, most fans had their introduction to a new kind of emo band: New Jersey’s own My Chemical Romance. More than two decades after catapulting into the mainstream with 2004’s Three Cheers for Sweet Revenge, the band have revisited it with a new expanded and remixed edition. Re-released by Reprise on June 6 and available on CD, vinyl and digitally, Three Cheers now features a striking new remix from original engineer Rich Costey and four unreleased bonus live…
Set Your Sights on Monday: Omnivore Expands America’s “Hearts” for Its 50th Anniversary
A few years ago, Omnivore Recordings released two volumes of America’s demos under the titles Heritage I and II, chronicling the years 1970-1976. Now the label is reteaming with the band to revisit this halcyon period of the band’s history with an expanded 50th anniversary edition of 1975’s Hearts. It’s due August 8 on CD. Gerry Beckley, Dewey Bunnell, and Dan Peek were riding high in 1975. The bandmates had teamed for the first time with legendary producer George Martin the previous year for Holiday. That album peaked at No. 3 on…
I Predict a Riot: Kaiser Chiefs’ Breakthrough Debut Goes Deluxe for 20th Anniversary
Kaiser Chiefs’ debut album is going big for its 20th anniversary this summer, in a variety of formats. Employment will be available July 25 from UMR in a trio of physical formats. The newly remastered album, including the singles “I Predict a Riot,” “Modern Way” and “Everyday I Love You Less and Less,” will be pressed on both 3CD and vinyl formats with a bonus track, “Riot” B-side “Take My Temperature” and redesigned album artwork. The remainder of the 3CD set offers B-sides, compilation appearances, demos, remixes and live material from the…
Stand Inside Your Love: Smashing Pumpkins Revisit ‘Machina’ Duo in New Vinyl Box
The Smashing Pumpkins are revisiting the material that initially marked their final bow with a sprawling, unusual box set. 2000’s Machina/The Machines of God will be remastered and reissued on CD and double vinyl from UMe on August 22. Additionally, a new box set, Machina (Aranea Alba Editio), will offer a remixed and resequenced, 48-track quintuple-album drawing from Machina, its sequel Machina II/The Friends and Enemies of Modern Music and assorted B-sides, plus a further three LPs of 32 rarities and outtakes, with more than 30 tracks entirely unreleased. Now here’s where things get a little…
The Weekend Stream: June 28, 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. There’s new music from Sarah McLachlan, Public Enemy and Liam Finn, plus a new video to a one-hit wonder, a Record Store Day single gone digital, and tributes to musicians we lost this week. Peter Gabriel, In the Big Room (Real World) (Apple / Amazon) The legendary pop/rock voice has loosed a recording from his vault for larger public consumption: highlights from an intimate 2003 performance at his Real World…
Hey! Ho! Let’s Go! Rhino Boxes Ramones Albums in Atmos on “1-2-3-4!”
Gabba gabba hey! Today, Rhino has unveiled a new box set bringing Ramones into a new frontier: that of immersive audio. 1!2!3!4! The Ramones Atmos Collection brings Queens’ favorite band into the realm of Dolby Atmos with new immersive mixes of their first four albums on Blu-ray Audio: 1976’s Ramones; 1977’s Leave Home and Rocket to Russia; and 1978’s Road to Ruin. Limited to just 2,000 copies, this set is available exclusively at Rhino.com and Warner Music’s international storefronts. The four-disc set features new Atmos remixes from original producer Craig Leon (Ramones)…
Release Round-Up: Week of June 27
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. Bruce Springsteen, Tracks II: The Lost Albums 1983-2018 (Columbia/Legacy) 7CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 9LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Lost and Found: Selections from the Lost Albums (Columbia/Legacy) 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada More than a quarter century after releasing his first major vault project, Bruce Springsteen is back with a sequel that’s even bigger. True to its name, Tracks II: The Lost Albums 1983-2018 promises not just a wealth of…
Disco Connection: Ace Releases Isaac Hayes’ “Hot Buttered Singles Volume 2”
Last year, Ace released the first of a two-volume series collecting Isaac Hayes’ single sides for the Stax label and his own Hot Buttered Soul imprint of ABC Records. As Hayes was known for his epic productions, the shorter single edits offered a very different listening experience than the full album tracks. Earlier this year, the second volume arrived, and though Hot Buttered Singles Volume 2: 1972-1976 chronicles a period in which Hayes had less crossover success, it’s nonetheless filled with the kind of grooves that only the writer-composer-singer-producer could have created….
That’s What Makes Us Humans Being: Van Halen’s ‘Balance’ Set for Deluxe Edition
Van Halen’s catalogue is attaining further Balance with an expanded edition of the band’s final album recorded with second lead singer Sammy Hagar. The band’s 10th studio album, released in 1995, will be reissued August 15 as a 2CD/2LP/Blu-ray set offering the remaster featured in 2023 box set The Collection II, three studio rarities, eight unreleased live tracks and a half-dozen music videos (including another live performance from the vault). Standalone 2CD and 2LP editions will be available as well; all vinyl features the complete album spread across three sides with an etching on…
Impossible Dreamer: Joni Mitchell Collects “Joni’s Jazz” on New Box Set
What is jazz? The question has been debated often, but now we know how Joni Mitchell might answer. On September 5, the legendary singer-songwriter’s Archives series continues with its first themed compilation, appropriately entitled Joni’s Jazz. These 61 selections – available on 4 CDs or 8 LPs – draw from nearly every core album in the Mitchell discography with just a couple of exceptions (Clouds, Ladies of the Canyon) and reflect the breadth of the artist’s immersion into the jazz idiom in all its many varied forms. Last year, in her liner…
Alive and Kicking: Simple Minds Reissues Reconfigured ‘Once Upon a Time’ Box
A reconfigured version of a Simple Minds box set released a decade ago will be released this fall to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the band’s biggest international success, Once Upon a Time. Available October 17, this 5CD edition offers the original 1985 album (featuring the singles “Alive and Kicking,” “Sanctify Yourself,” “All the Things She Said” and “Ghost Dancing”) alongside two discs of single edits, remixes and B-sides and the 1987 concert album Live in the City of Light. The discs will be packaged in three gatefold wallets alongside a booklet of liner…
Paul is Live (on SHM-CD): Five New McCartney Titles Follow Nearly a Year of Additional Discs
What’s that he’s doing? Paul McCartney has been releasing much of his solo catalogue on SHM-CD since last year – and with a new batch about to be imported to record stores, this seemed like the right time to spotlight them all. Universal Music Group has not only gone in on high-quality SHM-CDs for release in Japan, but have recently been hyping them up for stateside collectors, releasing everything from out-of-print Quincy Jones titles to the first physical editions of a series of digital expanded editions of Sting’s solo albums. (If you’re…
Messin’ with the Kid: Lost Blues Brothers Recordings Accompany New Graphic Novel Featuring the Band
Here’s one that might excite you no matter how many miles to Chicago you are: an unreleased set of recordings by The Blues Brothers is set for release later this year as part of a new illustrated story featuring the beloved characters. The Blues Brothers: The Escape of Joliet Jake, hitting bookshelves October 7, will pick up the story of Jake and Elwood Blues in 1997, when Jake goes missing after a jailbreak. It’s up to a detective and a youth from the same Chicago orphanage the brothers were raised in (with…