It's no rumor and there's no fooling: Graham Parker's first proper solo album is getting expanded on CD this April 1 from Iconoclassic Records. "I've always been striving to make a record that sounds beautiful," Parker told Musician about his first without backing band The Rumour. "I think Another Grey Area sounds beautiful. Everything is in the right place...the whole thing holds together." Coming off the critical success of 1980's The Up Escalator, Parker recruited polished rock producer
Keeping the Faith: Billy Joel's "Japanese Singles Collection" Arrives on 2 CDs and 1 DVD
Last weekend, Billy Joel played his first concert of 2022 at Hollywood, Florida's Hard Rock Hotel and Casino; he's scheduled to resume his long-running residency at New York City's Madison Square Garden on February 12 after a brief postponement due to the Omicron variant. The piano man is celebrating his 50th year as a solo artist with a variety of projects including the recent release of The Vinyl Collection Vol. 1 which reissued albums from his first decade. Over in Japan, the end of 2021
Release Round-Up: Week of January 28
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Various Artists, Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised): Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (Legacy) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Legacy Recordings delivers a soundtrack to Questlove's acclaimed 2021 documentary Summer of Soul, chronicling the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Live recordings are featured from headliners including The 5th Dimension, Nina Simone, David Ruffin, Sly & The Family Stone,
Back to Where You Once Belonged: The Beatles Premiere Complete, Official Rooftop Concert Audio Tonight
The Beatles' Get Back on Disney+ was the streaming event of 2021, but the celebration of all things Fab hasn't slowed down in the new year. The expansive three-part series from director Peter Jackson arrives on DVD and Blu-ray on February 8; then, on March 18, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame opens a new exhibit, The Beatles: Get Back to Let It Be. This immersive complement to Jackson's documentary will run at the Cleveland museum until March 2023. But before the home video release and the
That's Entertainment! U.K. Avid Label Reissues "Judy at Carnegie Hall" in February
In the pantheon of live albums, one title stands tall over 60 years after its initial release. Judy at Carnegie Hall powerfully captured the essence of the supernova that was Judy Garland. The lavish 2-LP set, issued on Capitol Records, preserved Garland's electrifying concert of Sunday, April 23, 1961. It spent 95 weeks on the Billboard chart, 13 of them at Number One. At the Grammy Awards, Judy handily picked up five of them including Album of the Year (the first by a female artist) and Best
Review: Frank Zappa, "200 Motels: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - 50th Anniversary Edition"
Frank Zappa called 200 Motels "a surrealistic documentary." Leonard Maltin described it as a "visual, aural assault disguised as a movie; completely berserk, freeform film...some of it ingenious, some funny, but not enough to maintain [an] entire film." Roger Ebert compared the surreal musical to the work of experimental composer Harry Partch before observing that it "assaults the mind with everything on hand...a full wall of sight-and-sound input." Zappa never wrote and directed another
Feel Like Making Live!
Jazz fusion great Bob James and his Trio return with a new live set including renditions of his most famous tunes including Taxi theme "Angela" and "Westchester Lady" as well as a new rendition of Elton John's "Rocket Man." Available on a hybrid stereo and multichannel SACD (playable on all CD players) plus a standard MQA-encoded CD, a 2-LP vinyl set, and digital formats.
What's Going On: 50th Anniversary Deluxe Edition
Marvin Gaye's 1971 Motown masterwork returns to vinyl in this 2-LP set marking its 50th anniversary (and delayed from 2021). It features direct-to-analog mastering from the original tapes by Kevin Gray, and includes four tracks making their vinyl debut (including the "stripped" version of the title song) plus six mono single mixes and B-sides. It's all pressed on 180-gram vinyl in a tip-on heavy stock gatefold jacket with printed sleeves featuring lyrics, track details, a brief essay honoring
Release Round-Up: Week of January 21
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! John Williams and The Boston Pops, The Complete Philips Recordings (Decca) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Decca will celebrate John Williams' 90th by turning the clock back to 1980 when the famed composer-conductor took the baton from the legendary Arthur Fiedler to lead The Boston Pops Orchestra into a new era. John Williams and The Boston Pops: The Complete Philips Recordings boasts 21 CDs and 22 albums originally released on
The Sound of Liberation Hall: Label Announces Slate Through April Featuring Flamin' Groovies, The Troggs, Tony Hazzard, Kim Fowley, More
Since its formation in late 2020, the Liberation Hall label has delivered a wide variety of releases ranging from a Dr. Demento-curated collection of novelties to a campaign from the vaults of San Francisco indie label 415 Records. Now, the label has announced a bounty of upcoming releases scheduled between now and April. The eclectic slate encompasses reggae (Peter Tosh), blues (Chicago Blues Reunion), psychedelic and garage rock (The Moving Sidewalks, The Flamin' Groovies, Kim Fowley, The
Heartaches By The Number: Morello Reissues Four 1960s Waylon Jennings Albums on Two CDs
When Waylon Jennings passed away in 2002, he was rightfully hailed as one of country music's first true "Outlaws" alongside such artists and fellow Highwaymen as Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, and Kris Kristofferson. But Jennings paid his dues on the Nashville scene before "crossing over" to superstardom with such landmark records as Dreaming My Dreams (1975), Are You Ready for the Country (1976), Ol' Waylon (1977), and I've Always Been Crazy (1978). Cherry Red's country-focused Morello label has
Release Round-Up: Week of January 14
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elvis Costello and The Imposters, The Boy Named If (Capitol/EMI) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Elvis Costello and The Imposters are back with a new, rip-roaring rock album. The band previewed many of the songs on The Boy Named If during its last concert tour; if those tunes (including lead single "Magnificent Hurt") are any indication, this set returns Costello to his spiky roots. Available on CD, LP, cassette, digital platforms,
Ride Me, Easy Rider: Cherry Red, Esoteric Collect Vinegar Joe's "Island Recordings" Featuring Robert Palmer, Elkie Brooks
Today, Vinegar Joe is best remembered for launching the careers of Robert Palmer and Elkie Brooks. The band had risen from the ashes of a group called Dada intended by co-founder Pete Gage as "a combination of Mothers of Invention/Frank Zappa, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and The 5th Dimension. Power vocalists plus brass and crazy arrangements." But that heady brew was too much for Atlantic Records' Ahmet Ertegun who urged Dada to strip away the fusion elements and concentrate on blues and rock.
Release Round-Up: Week of January 7 - David Bowie Birthday Edition
Welcome to today's Release Round-Up! While the record biz at large isn't quite into the swing of things for 2022, today does bring two releases from the late David Bowie. Tomorrow, January 8, would have been the superstar artist's 75th birthday; while he passed away on January 10, 2016, his legacy continues to burn brightly. David Bowie, Toy:Box (ISO/Parlophone) 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 6 x 10": Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Available on 3 CDs or
Have Yourself a Merry Little Discmas...
Wow! And just like that, another year has flown by. Just a few weeks before The Second Disc hits its 12th anniversary(!), this Christmas Eve it is our custom to look back on the last 12 months and take some time to think fondly of the music, magic, memories and friends that made our lives worth living. As if last year wasn't unconventional enough, 2021 packed more pop, clicks, skips and distortion than the most misguided vinyl pressings. We got vaccinated, we got boosted, we tentatively
Holiday Gift Guide Spotlight: Belinda Carlisle, "Live Your Life Be Free: 30th Anniversary Edition"
Following a well-received Go-Go's reunion in 1990, Belinda Carlisle returned to the studio to record her fourth studio album, Live Your Life Be Free. Likely the jaunt with her old bandmates inspired her, as the 1991 LP returned the singer to the sixties-inspired, girl-group milieu. Although Live Your Life failed to chart in the U.S., it hit the top ten in the U.K. and yielded four charting singles including the brisk and lusty "Do You Feel Like I Feel" which remains Carlisle's final U.S. hit
Release Round-Up: Week of December 17
Welcome to our final Release Round-Up of 2021! There are very few new releases scheduled for the next two weeks, but we'll be back in 2022! Frank Zappa, 200 Motels: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack - 50th Anniversary Edition (Zappa Records/UMe) 6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD (Original Soundtrack Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Black Vinyl (Original Soundtrack Only): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP Red Vinyl (Original
Pink Floyd Announce 'Pulse' Blu-ray, Does Not Announce Unreleased Digital Live Shows
Two exciting Pink Floyd stories have cropped up for fans of all of their eras: a standalone release of their restored Pulse Blu-ray for 2022, and a dozen unheard live shows from 1971 available to hear now. Pulse, originally released in 1995, chronicled the British band's Division Bell Tour of Europe the previous year. While the album was culled from multiple performances, the accompanying video release was taken from a performance at Earls Court in London on October 20, 1994. There, Pink
Treat Every Day Like Christmas: Varese Expands the Scores to "Elf" and "Blue Velvet"
Varese Sarabande has recently released two deluxe soundtracks to fit two very different moods. The first might put you in the Christmas spirit with an expanded presentation of John Debney's score to the modern holiday classic film Elf. The other will take you on a far darker journey with an expanded look at Angelo Badalamenti's score to Blue Velvet. First up is the deluxe edition of the score to 2003's Elf. The Jon Favreau-directed film starred Will Ferrell in his first lead role after
The Spirit of the Season: Deluxe Edition
The a cappella group fusing traditional choral, gospel, pop, Broadway, and vintage barbershop quartet styles into a fresh, original sound is celebrating the most wonderful time of the year with a new deluxe edition of 2016's The Spirit of the Season. The joyful yuletide album features clever and intricate arrangements of Christmas classics both spiritual ("O Holy Night," "Mary Did You Know," "Go Tell It on the Mountain") and secular (an Andy Williams medley, another of childhood favorites such
Holiday Gift Guide Review: Elvis Presley, "Back in Nashville"
When Elvis Presley entered RCA's famed Nashville Studio B in June 1970, expectations were high. His last major recording sessions - not counting those for the Universal film Change of Habit - had taken place at Memphis' American Sound Studio with producer Chips Moman, resulting in the acclaimed From Elvis in Memphis LP. Could he follow up that career triumph? Many would argue that he did. Rather than strictly repeat the formula, he and producer Felton Jarvis crafted the concept album Elvis
In Memoriam: Michael Nesmith (1942-2021)
Less than one month ago, on November 14, Michael Nesmith and Micky Dolenz brought their final tour as The Monkees to a close on the stage of Los Angeles' Greek Theater. The show opened with Nesmith's "Good Clean Fun," released in 1969 on The Monkees Present. The wistful reflection builds to a sweetly triumphant proclamation which the duo delivered with relish: Well, the plane is finally down/And the engines stopped their sound And I look in the crowd and there you stand And the gap that
Release Round-Up: Week of December 10
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! The Band, Cahoots: 50th Anniversary Edition (Capitol/UMe) 2CD/LP/BD/7-inch single: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD (Contents of CDs 1 & @ below): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP (2021 Mix of Original Album): Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada The Band and Capitol/UMe are in Cahoots for a deluxe 50th anniversary reissue of the group's fourth studio album. The remixed and remastered Cahoots arrives in
Summer of Soul (...or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised): Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1LP: Target.com Legacy Recordings delivers a soundtrack to Questlove's acclaimed 2021 documentary Summer of Soul, chronicling the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival. Live recordings are featured from headliners including The 5th Dimension, Nina Simone, David Ruffin, Sly & The Family Stone, Gladys Knight & The Pips, B.B. King, The Chambers Brothers, and more. Available now on CD and digital,
Runnin' Wild: Run Out Groove Announces Expanded "Super Fly" as Next Release; Voting Open Now for Labelle, Randy Newman, and More
As a writer, producer, and artist - both solo and with The Impressions - Curtis Mayfield (1942-1999) was one of the foremost exponents of Chicago soul. He penned such favorites as Jan Bradley's "Mama Didn't Lie" and Major Lance's "The Monkey Time," not to mention a string of Impressions classics including "It's All Right" and "Gypsy Woman." Mayfield's deep social conscience manifested itself in such influential anthems as "Keep on Pushing" and "People Get Ready" which established him as a
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