A “Cliffhanger” Coming from Intrada
Intrada knows how to make film score fans hang onto every release: their latest batch includes a long-unreleased, underrated suspense score and the long-awaited deluxe reissue of a classic early ’90s action score. Released in 1993, Cliffhanger, starring Sylvester Stallone as a mountaineer unwillingly forced into a heist led by John Lithgow was a critical and commercial success, and featured a great action score by Trevor Jones. The soundtrack called back to classic scores by luminaries like James Horner and Alan Silvestri, with a captivating theme that put it head and shoulders…
Review: Ride, “Nowhere: 20th Anniversary Edition”
Rock music has a definite genre problem. When Rhino Handmade announced the reissue of Ride’s Nowhere late last year, some absent-minded reading on Wikipedia yielded a primer on the shoegaze genre. “Shoegaze” is one of those things you might encounter if you were a voracious reader of music reviews in the early ’90s, but it might have just been a word rather than a whole genre. Shoegaze was a mini-genre assigned to bands with a particular style – particularly, effects-laden guitars taking center-stage, washing over the vocal tracks in a Wall of Sound-like…
UMe Gets Impulsive with Forthcoming Box Set
Universal Music Group has an impressive array of jazz titles in their library. Defining labels of the genre like Verve and Mercury are jewels in UMe’s crown, while the catalogues of Concord and Fantasy are distributed domestically by Universal as well. One of the more arguably underrated vintage labels in Universal’s family, though, is Impulse! Records. The label, founded by Creed Taylor in 1960 as a label in the ABC-Paramount group, may not be as long-running as the others in Universal’s catalogue, but it was incredibly notable in its time, offering a…
Presidents’ Day Special Feature: Stan Freberg, “The United States of America”
Here’s one for Watson: “This actor, comedian, voice artist, singer, songwriter and advertising guru coined the name ‘Grammy’ for the annual awards bestowed by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).” The correct answer? “Who is Stan Freberg?” To list Freberg’s credits in the fields of cinema, radio, television, animation and music would take up the entirety of this column, but readers unfamiliar with those accomplishments are advised to stop reading now, order a copy of Rhino’s multi-disc box set Tip of the Freberg, and then return here. For anyone…
Iggy Pop, Live and in a Box
2010 had no shortage of reissues from The Stooges. All three of their classic studio LPs were reissued – The Stooges in a new deluxe edition from Rhino Handmade, Fun House through the repressed 1970: The Complete Fun House Sessions box set also from Rhino Handmade and Raw Power as part of Sony’s Legacy Edition series – and Handmade released a live set,
Robbie Williams Reissues to Entertain You in March
After a new double-disc compilation and a heavily-publicized reunion with U.K. boy band Take That (who will go on tour this year), EMI will have another batch of goodies for the Robbie Williams fan in your life: new CD/DVD reissues of the singer’s Chrysalis catalogue. Williams – one of the most celebrated male singers in England, with more BRIT Award wins than anyone and some 60 million albums sold worldwide – recorded seven LPs for Chrysalis between 1997 and 2006. Each one topped the British charts and featured a myriad of hits,…
D.I.Y. Dylan: Bob’s “Archive” Box Coming Soon
Maybe Bob Dylan really was a hobo. Despite his solid middle-class upbringing, it wasn’t uncommon for fans to believe that Dylan really did ride the rails slinging a bag on a stick. Dylan, for a time, even encouraged this mythology of his own making. But if he wasn’t a hobo in the literal sense, he undoubtedly was one, musically, if one defines a hobo as “one who wanders from place to place without a permanent home.” Since his self-titled Columbia debut in 1962, Dylan has travelled the path from folk to blues,…
Friday Feature: “Catch Me If You Can”
It’s hard not to be skeptical over the fact that Catch Me If You Can, the amazing “true story of a real fake,” is coming to Broadway. Modern musicals based on existing properties either hew too close to their original musical source material (if they were already rooted in song, like Footloose) or not close enough; consider Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, for instance. (Or don’t!) The few songs this author’s heard from the Catch Me musical score, sent on a promotional disc, are jaunty and fun enough – score writers Marc…
Queen Reissue Batch to Feature Another Compilation
What’s a batch of Queen reissues without some compilations? The same day of the latest catalogue overhaul in the U.K., Island will release Deep Cuts 1973-1976. True enough to its name, it will feature album sides from the first five albums, with no bonus material. While some of the tunes are known even to casual fans (“Stone Cold Crazy,” “Keep Yourself Alive”), it’s a fine enough disc for anyone who wants to dip more of their foot into the waters of Queen’s discography (or see how new remastering has treated the catalogue)….
Lauded Wainwright: Box Set to Honor Musical Patriarch (UPDATED)
Loudon Wainwright III has had a charmed life. The singer/songwriter has captivated audiences for decades with his witty, self-deprecating style. He’s also done an impressive job of passing on his musical gift through genetics; children Rufus, Martha and Lucy Wainwright Roche are all accomplished singer/songwriters in their own right. But his latest project is all his to celebrate: a box set spanning his idiosyncratic career, coming out in May on Shout! Factory. 40 Odd Years is to be a four-CD/one-DVD box collecting 87 tracks and three hours of live performances on video….
Big Break Delivers Big Slate of Soul Classics in March
Our friends at the U.K.-based Big Break label haven’t given much thought lately to a break! A recently-announced slate of March releases bring the label’s total catalogue to nearly 50 titles since its inception in 2009, and covers a wide and diverse swath of soulful artists. Some are returning to the label (The Pointer Sisters, Deniece Williams, Billy Ocean) and others are making their label debuts (Dennis Edwards, Ashford and Simpson, The Originals). Deniece Williams is recipient of her third Big Break reissue. My Melody was her 1981 triumph co-produced by Thom…
Blues in a Box: Legacy to Celebrate Robert Johnson’s 100th
May 8 would have been the 100th birthday of Robert Johnson, arguably the most influential figure in blues music. Of course, Johnson did not live nearly that long – he died at 27 in 1938, leaving a legacy of stirring, influential recordings on 78 RPM records and a bizarrely ill-documented lifeline (only two pictures of him are known to exist, and there’s a legend that he gained his guitar prowess thanks to a deal with the devil himself) – but his legacy remains strong. The 1961 compilation King of the Delta Blues…
The Latest Queen Reissue Update
Just a quick note to readers that Queen’s Web site has posted release dates for the upcoming reissues in all international territories. Except America of course! Over here, we’ve got a release date of “TBC,” which is perhaps better than “N/A.”
“Another Stoney Evening” Inaugurates Crosby-Nash Label
With Buffalo Springfield confirmed to play Bonnaroo and a fall tour still a possibility, Neil Young and Stephen Stills have a busy few months ahead. Well, David Crosby and Graham Nash aren’t ones to sit around waiting on their bandmates. The venerable harmonists are the latest artists to take the indie route and have announced the formation of Blue Castle Records. Its first release will arrive March 22 to coincide with their upcoming tour as a duo. On that date, Crosby and Nash will reissue Another Stoney Evening, the out-of-print album chronicling their October 10,…
Brandeis, Twice as Nice? Dylan Bonus Disc Getting Standalone Release
Those who ordered Bob Dylan’s The Bootleg Series Volume 9: The Witmark Demos 1962-1964 on Amazon got a special bonus alongside the two-disc set: a bonus disc of part of a show at Brandeis University in 1963. Culled from a reel-to-reel tape recorded and owned by Rolling Stone co-founder Ralph Gleeson, this seven-track disc is one of the earliest (if not the earliest) known live recording by the Bard. And now, in case you missed out on it the first time around, Bob Dylan in Concert – Brandeis University, 1963 is coming…
From a “SMiLE” to a Frown
The rumblings over a potential unearthing of The Beach Boys’ SMiLE was a big deal. How big? So big that when this author shared the news with friends that don’t follow music catalogue affairs as closely, even those friends were excited. This legendary lost record is something that a lot of Beach Boys fans would be willing to check out, not just the bootleg hunters and classic rock enthusiasts who are likely reading this right now. So it’s a bitter pill to swallow upon reading new comments by band member Al Jardine,…
Reissue Theory: Bobby Darin, Compiled: “The Motown Years”
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on great albums and the reissues they could someday see. At the time of his untimely death in 1973, Bobby Darin was signed to Motown Records, where he recorded one solo LP and enough material for a posthumous second LP. Despite their high quality, Darin’s Motown recordings have long been unavailable. Today’s Reissue Theory takes us back to 1970 and the final chapter in the life of the great Bobby Darin. Bobby Darin was so much more than just “Mack the Knife.”…
Bo Goes to the Beach in Hip-o Select Reissue
Hip-o Select, in addition to prepping what they’ve confirmed is the penultimate set of James Brown singles, has got a blues title coming up: a straight reissue of Bo Diddley’s Beach Party, the first live album by guitar legend Bo Diddley. Recorded over two nights in June of 1963 at a club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Bo Diddley’s Beach Party features nine of the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s original songs and an instrumental cover of fellow Chessman Chuck Berry’s “Memphis.” This set makes its first appearance on any format…
Simon’s Legacy Showing in April
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOiVaE-pKqM] A quick heads-up thanks to our friends at Pause & Play: Columbia/Legacy has set April 12 as a release date for the first batch of Paul Simon reissues. Simon’s catalogue, it was announced last year, will return to Columbia after Simon left them for Warner Bros. in the 1970s. Simon’s newest LP, So Beautiful or So What, is due out on Concord the same day, while a deluxe edition of Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water is out in March, also from Columbia/Legacy. The reissues will be drawn from the…
La-La Land Goes Straight as an “Arrow” on New Soundtrack Batch
La-La Land’s got two soundtracks ready to order today, including their first-ever expansion of a score by Hans Zimmer. The German composer is one of a remaining few “household name” composers to even the least knowledgeable of film scores thanks to titles like the Oscar-winning The Lion King, Gladiator, Rain Man, Gladiator, the Pirates of the Caribbean series and Inception. But only last year was he treated to an expanded reissue – Perseverance’s new Rain Man CD – and it was criticized for less than stellar sound quality. The LLL team, including score…
Reissue Theory: Madonna, “Like a Prayer”
By now, you’ve likely heard the 1,000th No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 – Lady Gaga’s new single “Born This Way.” The dance anthem has come under a bit of fire for critics thanks to its striking similarity to another dance-pop icon’s hit, Madonna’s “Express Yourself.” The Madonna-Gaga comparisons have been wildly obvious from the start – Italian-American, dyed blonde singers with decent if not fantastic voices, a flair for the visual and a desire to control every aspect of their iconography – but it’s the same damn chord progression…
Release Round-Up: Week of February 15
Smokey Robinson, The Solo Albums Volume 4 (Motown/Hip-o Select) The Motown great’s next two vintage studio albums (Love Breeze and Where There’s Smoke) go back into print on one CD with a bonus B-side instrumental added on. (Hip-o Select) Teena Marie, ICON (Motown/UMe) The late, great Motown singer is canonized in Universal’s budget compilation series. (Amazon) Phil Collins, No Jacket Required (Audio Fidelity) The Genesis frontman/drummer’s biggest and best pop LP gets the 24K gold CD treatment, mastered by Steve Hoffman. (Audio Fidelity) Jackie DeShannon, Come and Get Me: The Complete Liberty and…
Hollies “Lost Recordings” Box Coming from Sundazed
The Hollies have long existed in the shadow of Graham Nash’s other band – you know, the one with two or three other initials. But the lineup of Nash, Allan Clarke, Tony Hicks and Bobby Elliot plus Eric Haydock or Bernie Calvert could be equally potent. And lately, The Hollies have been recipients of a lot of well-deserved love. First came last year’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and then Sundazed kicked off a vinyl campaign reissuing two of the band’s hardest-to-find American LPs on the Imperial label. Just last…
Billy Preston’s Debut to Get Digital Reissue
Interest in Billy Preston has piqued in recent years thanks to reissues of his work with The Beatles (“Get Back,” of course one of the last great hits on The Fab Four’s recent, Grammy-winning remasters) and beyond (two albums for The Beatles’ Apple Records, reissued last year). Now, ABKCO goes a bit deeper into the vaults to release, for the first time in years, Preston’s first album. 16 Year Old Soul, released in 1963 on Sam Cooke’s SAR/Derby label, captured Preston at the very beginning. He had impressed Cooke with his session…
Metallica’s “Garage” Days Re-Visited on Vinyl Reissue
Metallica are reissuing their Garage Inc. compilation in several vinyl formats. Garage Inc. was a double-disc set released in 1998 that showcased the multiple rock influences of the L.A.-based metal gods. One disc was comprised of newly recorded covers of favorites from Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy to Bob Seger and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The other disc was another collection of covers that the band had previously released on singles and EPs (notably the then-out-of-print 1987 EP The $5.98 EP: Garage Days Re-Revisited). The new vinyl set, to be released March 1, will…