Whether you were surprised or not by the death of talented yet troubled singer Amy Winehouse this past summer, it's hard to deny that her tragic passing at age 27 of alcohol poisoning cut short one of the most promising young careers of the 2000s. In December, Island Records is set to commemorate that promise with an album of unreleased demos and outtakes from Winehouse's final years. Lioness: Hidden Treasures captures Winehouse's powerful, retro-soul voice through demos and rarities recorded
Happiness Is: The Association's "Insight Out" Expanded and Remastered
Who's trippin’ down the streets of the city / Smilin' at everybody she sees / Who's reachin' out to capture a moment? Everyone knows it’s Windy! And most everyone knows Ruthann Friedman’s 1967 pop classic which not only hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart but was featured on The Association’s third album and first long-player for Warner Bros. Records, Insight Out. But everyone would be forgiven for thinking that the LP was entitled Windy, so prominent was the name of the single on the album
Back in the Saddle Again: Aerosmith's "Rocks" Receives Lavish Japanese Reissue
Sony Music Japan has an interesting treat for Aerosmith fans this week: a special anniversary edition of the band's classic Rocks with all sorts of bonus swag. The news of new Japanese remaster/reissues of Columbia's Aerosmith catalogue (as well as some Joe Perry Project titles) wouldn't normally be much to write about on The Second Disc. All sorts of SHM-CD remasters and repackaged titles come out in the East all the time. But the particularly lavish treatment of Rocks, in honor of the LP's
Review: The Beach Boys, "The Smile Sessions" Part One: What's Past is Prologue
Tomorrow, November 1, marks the release of The Beach Boys’ SMiLE, the most legendary lost album of all time. In recognition of this landmark, The Second Disc is launching a three-part series looking at the SMiLE mythos, including a review of the various editions of The SMiLE Sessions. Before we begin to explore these collections, however, we’d like to offer a bit of perspective and back story on SMiLE: what was, what is, and what might have been. Welcome to Part One: What’s Past is
La-La Land Scares Up "Friday the 13th" Box Set
Ki-ki-ki-ki ma-ma-ma-ma. These wordless sounds have become shorthand for fear in the form of Jason Voorhees, the antagonist in the long-running Friday the 13th horror film series. Since the low-budget flick bowed in 1980, grossing nearly $40 million domestically on a budget of $550,000, it spawned a massive cottage industry of sequels and spin-offs. (All told, ten Friday the 13th films, one remake and one crossover, 2003's Freddy vs. Jason - which pitted the series' murderer against Freddy
Happy Halloween! Taking a Bite Out of "Son of Dracula"
Happy Halloween! To celebrate this spookiest of holidays, we're bringing you a special holiday reprise from The Second Disc Archives in which we revisit the immortal, undead "Son of Dracula," starring Harry Nilsson and Ringo Starr! October 2010 will bring a major reissue campaign devoted to the Apple Records discography, seeing most of that storied label’s output arrive in editions remastered by the same team behind the Beatles’ catalogue overhaul last year. But one Apple-related LP is among
WHAM!'s "The Final" to Be Reissued as CD/DVD Set
In five years, George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, as the U.K. pop duo WHAM!, released two albums, one compilation and a dozen singles. Only one of those releases placed anywhere beneath their native Top 10. No matter what you think of the group's candy-coated pop stylings, those are incredible numbers in such a short period of time. We could debate the impact of WHAM! all day - and this author would certainly side with them. (Their debut album Fantastic is, at worst, throwaway pop, and
The Boys Are Boxed: Thin Lizzy "BBC Sessions" Set Coming Soon
With the recent wave of expanded reissues of the Thin Lizzy catalogue across the pond (in some cases after years of waiting), it's easy for eager fans to ask what comes next. The answer is quite a doozy: November sees the release of a massive seven-disc box set that captures the band's various live stands recorded by the BBC. The set has everything stored in the BBC archives, including sessions with the likes of Bob Harris and John Peel through the '70s, two sets at London's Golders Green
Propiniquity: The Monkees' "Instant Replay" Box Set Is Finally Here
You've probably seen the hints on Twitter, and the clues on Facebook. Now the real deal has been announced. The Monkees' 1969 Instant Replay is following in the footsteps of The Birds, The Bees and The Monkees and Head and receiving a 3-CD deluxe box set from the fine folks at Rhino Handmade. It could represent one disc for each Monkee, as Peter Tork had already departed the band by the time of the album's release in February 1969. Instant Replay is a veritable grab-bag of tracks recorded
Review: Phil Spector, "The Philles Album Collection" and "The Essential Phil Spector"
Whoa-oh, a-whoa-oh-oh-oh! Think of The Ronettes' wail, every bit as iconic a cry as a-whop-bop-a-loo-a-whop-bam-boom. Doesn't rock and roll have a way of elevating onomatopoeia to poetry? And no label made sweeter poetry in the first half of the 1960s than Philles Records. The voices of Ronnie Spector, Darlene Love, La La Brooks, Barbara Alston and the rest spoke directly to America’s teenagers. These women, alternately vulnerable and defiant, were little more than girls when they began
Lost Highway, Found on Vinyl: 10th Anniversary Box Coming Next Month
With a name like Lost Highway Records, it might be tough to parse the mission statement of such a company - unless, of course, you know your Hank Williams. In fact, they've been supplying fans with some of the best in alternative rock and country. And now, to celebrate a decade in business, next month sees the release of a mega-vinyl box set highlighting some of the label's best output. Lost Highway, founded in 2000 by Luke Lewis, started their existence off with a bang, distributing the
Review: Paul Simon, "Songwriter" and Expanded, Remastered Albums (1980-1990)
It's 1971, and Aretha Franklin has just introduced the world to "Bridge Over Troubled Water," a rousing, spiritual anthem that could have been written decades if not centuries ago. She takes the song to the top of the charts. Its notoriety leads to the rise of jobbing songwriter Paul Simon, who no longer needs to kick around the Brill Building in its waning days. Simon's career kicks off in earnest the following year with the release of his self-titled solo album. It's a quirky, offbeat
Dead News Round-Up: Of Road Trips and Blu-Rays
It's been a good year to be dead - well, The Grateful Dead, anyway - thanks to a handful of deep catalogue projects catered to the most undying of Deadheads. In the coming weeks, there are a trove of projects around and beyond Rhino's enormous Europe '72 box set, some of which indicate a bit of transition for longtime fans and collectors while still keeping an eye toward the future of preserving the band's legacy. First of all, for those who might want less than the dozens of discs in Europe
Miles Ahead: Davis' 1986-1991 Warner Years Boxed
Could anyone ever truly offer The Last Word on Miles Davis? Warner Bros. and Rhino attempted to do just that back in 2001-2002, with the planned release of a box set of the same name. Of course, the set was planned to be the last word on the trumpeter's Warner Bros. years, the last period of his lengthy career. The Last Word began as a 6-CD set, and a little sleuthing around the ‘net will yield a fascinating track listing of a 77-track comprehensive box, loaded with previously unreleased
Pink Floyd, Beatles, Nirvana, Doors Lead Off Record Store Day Exclusives On "Black Friday"
For those of us who still savor the experience of shopping in a physical environment, Record Store Day has become a yearly tradition. It’s sometimes frustrating and sometimes exciting, but few could argue with an event that spotlights the hard-working independent music retailers out there who believe that brick-and-mortar retail can still thrive in the iTunes era. (Amen to that!) A more recent offshoot of Record Store Day has been the mini-event held each Black Friday, or the day after
To the Edge of Glory and Back: Gaga Reissues "Born This Way" with Extra Discs for Holidays
It wouldn't be the holiday season without a few reissues of recent works, and we've got a big one coming up in just a month: a sprawling three-disc version of Lady Gaga's monster hit album Born This Way. Love her or hate her, the New York girl born Stefani Germanotta has gone from Madonna-aping pop singer to bizarro pop-cultural force since her 2008 debut. The release of this year's Born This Way, her second studio-length effort (following 2009's excellent EP The Fame Monster and a throwaway
Reissue Theory: Aerosmith, "Box of Fire II: The Geffen Years"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they may someday see. As Aerosmith come ever closer to finishing another new album, we imagine a box set that celebrates their first great, entirely unexpected comeback. If all goes according to plan, by next spring you could be hearing the first new, original Aerosmith album in more than a decade. Frontman Steven Tyler anticipates a March release date on the new disc, to be produced by Jack
Short Takes: Beatles May Finally "Let It Be" on DVD, Big Country Goes Back to "The Crossing"
Could a release of Let It Be, The Beatles' harrowing 1970 documentary/epitaph, finally be happening? Director Michael Lindsay-Hogg says so. In an interview with WNYC-FM, Lindsay-Hogg discussed the film, saying, "we have been been working on it pretty much every year for the last couple of years. And the plan is, at the moment, to have it come out, I think, in 2013." A premiere release of the DVD, featuring outtakes and additional footage highlighting the making of the film, would follow a
Legacy Orders Another Round of "Playlist"
It feels like it's been a long time since the last batch of Playlist titles from Legacy (by our records, it's been five months), but a bunch of new titles are on shelves as of yesterday. There's a lot of country and modern rock in this batch, including titles from Gene Autry, Phil Vassar and Joe Diffie (on the country end) and Say Anything, Coheed and Cambria and Mudvayne (on the rock end). There's also one from rap/reggae artist Matisyahu (surely you recall the Orthodox Jewish musician, whose
Reminder: Next Wave of Paul Simon Reissues (with a Little Surprise)
Since Legacy Recordings acquired the rights to Paul Simon's back catalogue from Rhino last year, things have gone pretty much by the book. Other than a new compilation and a planned Graceland box set, things have been pretty simple, with Sony's reissue arm re-releasing the mid-2000s expanded reissues of Simon's solo albums, with the same bonus tracks as before. Next Tuesday, the new Songwriter compilation will hit stores alongside the reissues (re-reissues?) of One Trick Pony (1980), Hearts and
Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" Arriving From Analogue Productions on SACD (UPDATED)
Why Pink Floyd? EMI answered that question with the May 10 announcement of a stunning new reissue campaign for the legendary band. That program kicked off on September 27 with straight remasters of each Floyd album under the banner Discovery, plus a 2-CD Experience Edition and 4 CD/1 DVD/1 BD Immersion Edition of 1973's Dark Side of the Moon (reviewed here!). November 7 is the date for a new "greatest hits" compilation entitled A Foot in the Door, plus Experience and Immersion sets for 1975's
No Longer a "Siamese Dream": First Wave of Smashing Pumpkins Expanded Reissues Announced
Anyone worried that Billy Corgan's muse would take him away from the long-promised expanded reissues of The Smashing Pumpkins' catalogue can breathe a sigh of relief. The first two entries in the reissue campaign - 2 CD/1 DVD editions of Gish (1991) and Siamese Dream (1993) - have been announced for a November 28 release domestically (December 5 for the rest of the world). These albums - produced by Butch Vig and remastered by Bob Ludwig - are the first in a lengthy salvo of reissues promised
Review: Ben Folds, "Ben Folds Fifty-Five Vault"
When "Brick" ascended the Billboard Hot 200 to a No. 17 peak in 1998, it seemed possible that Ben Folds Five would join the ranks of Chumbawamba, Semisonic and Marcy Playground in the annals of the nineties one-hit wonder. But the band's charismatic frontman envisioned a different path. Witness some of the other artists who only scored one Top 40 hit: Janis Joplin ("Me and Bobby McGee"), Jimi Hendrix ("All Along the Watchtower"), Frank Zappa ("Valley Girl"), The Grateful Dead ("Touch of Grey")
Rhino Unleashes "Original Album Series" in Europe
Ever feel like all the fancy bonus content and packaging on some reissues totally overshadows the music? Rhino's European division must've felt so, too: they released a handful of Original Album Series boxes a few weeks ago, featuring a lot of music with a minimum of frills and a relatively low price. The titles - five albums by one artist, housed in mini-LP cardboard sleeves and put into a box - are the ideal quick, easy discography builder for new fans or collectors with a few notable gaps on
Ever the Individualist: Todd Rundgren Goes Esoteric
By the time 1993 rolled around, devotees of the musical wizardry of Todd Rundgren only knew to expect the unexpected. Warner Bros. Records had rescued 1985’s A Cappella after the album had been rejected by Rundgren’s longtime home, Bearsville. The maverick artist followed that with two efforts recorded expressly for the label, Nearly Human (1989) and 2nd Wind (1991). These two albums showed the artist as a supreme pop craftsman with would-be classics like “The Want of a Nail” and “Parallel
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