Judas Priest are prepping to end their live career with a bang, taking their final Epitaph tour to the U.S. from October to December. But they're not done as a band (their next studio effort is slated for 2012), nor are they done with handling their catalogue, putting out a massive singles box in October. Interestingly, they're celebrating the catalogue further with not one but two compilations around the world, both of which cover much of the same ground in slightly different ways. The first
Ol' Blue Eyes Is Back: Sinatra's "Best of the Best" Joins Together Capitol, Reprise Years
Some have said, "It's Frank's world. We just live in it." And today at The Second Disc, we're in Frank's world. We'll soon bring you a review of Concord's Frank Sinatra - Count Basie: The Complete Studio Recordings, but first comes news of an upcoming anthology that's the first of its kind. Sinatra's Best of the Best arrives on November 1 from Capitol Records and Frank Sinatra Enterprises, and is a compilation with a difference. For the first time, Ol' Blue Eyes' recordings for both Capitol
The Last Payback: Hip-o Select Releases 11th and Final Singles Set for James Brown
Five years after Hip-o Select's first exhaustive volume of James Brown's complete singles discography was committed to compact disc (and, incidentally, two decades after the Star Time box set first attempted a definitive overview of Brown's greatest musical moments on the format), the announcement of the 11th volume of the set brings the series to a close. On The Singles Volume 11: 1979-1981, the end of Brown's tenure on Polydor Records is detailed. While none of the material had the chart
UPDATED: Short Takes: "Some Girls" Super Deluxe Set Due In November, Seger Goes Digital...and Beatles in 5.1?
Mick Jagger has been hitting the promotion trail to hype his upcoming SuperHeavy album (a group consisting of Jagger, Joss Stone, Damian Marley, Dave Stewart and A.R. Rahman) which is due in stores on September 20. But the moonlighting Rolling Stones frontman let slip the news of a deluxe edition of the band's 1978 classic Some Girls, in the style of last year's revamp of 1972's Exile on Main Street. That news has since been made official. (Thank you to the dynamite folks at MusicTAP for the
It Moves Us All: "Lion King" Compilation Coming Soon
Walt Disney Records builds upon the excitement of the forthcoming Blu-Ray release (and 3-D theatrical reissue) of the studio's classic The Lion King by releasing a new compilation, available now, in honor of the timeless film. Anyone with a shred of doubt in The Walt Disney Company's ability to turn out great animated features after Disney's passing in 1966 had their fears allayed in 1989, with the release of The Little Mermaid, a high watermark of animated storytelling and musical scoring.
Review: Jimi Hendrix, "Winterland" and "Hendrix In The West"
"The story of life is quicker than the wink of an eye, the story of love is hello and goodbye...until we meet again." That poem, reportedly written by Jimi Hendrix some hours before his death, has added to the guitarist’s mystique over the years, but as usual, the restless musician was prescient. Although his entire recorded solo catalogue amounts to the work of a mere four-year period between 1966 and 1970, we’ve continued to say hello to Jimi Hendrix’s music many years after having said
Passions Just Like Mine: Smiths Mega-Box Arrives in U.S.
Ready your credit cards! Rhino has the super-exhaustive Smiths box set ready for order in the United States. As previously reported, the set is available in three distinct formats: a box set of the band's eight main albums on CD, remastered by Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and Frank Arkwright; a box of those albums on 12 vinyl LPs and a mega-box - limited to 4,000 copies worldwide - featuring all the CDs and vinyl with 25 bonus 7" singles, art prints and The Complete Picture DVD. While it's not
Release Round-Up: Week of September 13
Jimi Hendrix, Winterland / Hendrix in the West / Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight Festival / The Dick Cavett Show (Experience Hendrix/Legacy) Another wave of Hendrix catalogue titles from Legacy, all of a live nature. The Winterland set captures The Jimi Hendrix Experience's legendary run at the venue of the same name over four discs (or one, if you're into the whole brevity thing), while In the West provides an expanded, slightly alternate presentation of the posthumous live LP. The
Jerry! Jerry! La-La Land Adds Two Goldsmith Expansions (and More!) to Library (UPDATED)
UPDATE (9/13): The order links and track lists for the new reissues are after the jump. Original post: Intrada's recent expanded reissue of Jerry Goldsmith's score to Explorers was just the tip of the iceberg for fans of the composer: La-La Land's release slate for this week will feature not one buttwo scores from the pen of the venerable film score maestro. The scores to Sleeping with the Enemy and Forever Young have been high on fans' wish lists for some time - the latter has been in the
Real Gone Rescues Shelby, Joanie and Connie: Complete Singles Coming In November
It was nearly one year ago to the day – September 13, 2010 – that The Second Disc brought you news of four exciting collections planned from Collectors’ Choice Music: Complete Singles collections from beloved sixties gals Petula Clark, Connie Stevens, Joanie Sommers and Shelby Flint. Shortly thereafter, on October 7, news broke that the Clark set had been cancelled. Gordon Anderson, the then-veep of Collectors’ Choice, confirmed to The Second Disc that “at the eleventh hour, Petula’s
A Wizard, A True Star: Edsel Rolls Out Todd Rundgren Catalogue Overhaul
He's been called a wizard, a true star, even God. But by any name, Todd Rundgren is one of music's most enduring iconoclasts. Not merely content to rest on his early career laurels as a purveyor of top-tier AM pop ("Hello, It's Me," "I Saw the Light") the restless musician has followed his muse from one direction to another over 40+-years, taking in soul (of the Philadelphia and blue-eyed varieties), pop, prog rock, jazz, funk, arena rock, avant-garde experimentalism, a cappella, musical
Special Guest Reissue Theory: Blackstreet, "Another Level"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Today, The Second Disc reflects on one of the most beloved R&B hits of the 1990s, with the help of a special guest. After this intro, the post will be taken over by Eric Luecking, head of the blog Record Racks and a contributor to Okayplayer, NPR.com and Allmusic. He'll be looking back at Another Level, Blackstreet's sophomore LP and the disc that spawned the mega-hit
Sting Strikes Again with New Best-Of
Is the recently-announced Sting box set too comprehensive, too expensive, or not stocked with enough rarities for you? Universal attempts to throw fans something of a bone with a cut-down version of the box, The Best of 25 Years, due for release in October. Admittedly, the single-disc set is a bit of an odd duck itself, omitting anything but eight of the most obvious singles alongside four bonus tracks: a new mix of "Never Coming Home" (presumably one of the newly-mixed tracks featured on the
A Salute to Heroes: Elmer Bernstein's "Men in War" Rediscovered On CD
When he was 35, it was a very good year. The “he” is Elmer Bernstein, the year is 1957. The prolific composer managed to create five unique scores for five motion pictures that year – Sweet Smell of Success, Men in War, Fear Strikes Out, The Tin Star, and Drango. The Kritzerland label has already brought the last three of those titles to CD over the past months, and now Men in War is on the docket, too! (Not that Mr. Bernstein has been ignored elsewhere. A film of a later vintage, 1979’s
Friday Feature: "Lost Horizon" (1973)
Have you ever dreamed of a place far away from it all? Where the air you breathe is soft and clean, and children play in fields of green? And the sound of guns doesn't pound in your ears anymore? Hal David's lyrics expressed a sentiment shared by many of the optimistic generation who hadn't yet felt their ideals vanquished by the reality of Vietnam and growing dissension under the White House of President Richard M. Nixon. David's words were captivatingly sung by folk artist Shawn Phillips,
Ode To A Kudu: CTI Masterworks Series Continues In October With Kudu Titles
Tuesday, August 9 brought the most recent quartet of CTI jazz titles to CD from Sony's Masterworks Jazz division. For the next batch, due October 4, the label has turned its attention to CTI's offshoot label, Kudu. Named after the long-horned African mammal, Kudu was launched by CTI's Creed Taylor in 1971. Taylor described his new endeavor as "a black awareness label, more commercial oriented than CTI and indigenous to the black popular music of the United States." Even the logo's familiar
Review: "Godspell: 40th Anniversary Celebration"
When Hair ushered in the Age of Aquarius on April 29, 1968, it heralded the arrival of the rock revolution on Broadway. The New York Times' influential critic Clive Barnes didn't mince his words, declaring that the musical was a "long-term joust against Broadway's world of Sigmund Romberg [the composer of such operettas as The Student Prince]" and more importantly, "the first Broadway musical in some time to have the authentic voice of today rather than the day before yesterday." And while the
He's Got Rhythm: Bill Wyman's Post-Rolling Stones Career Gets Boxed
When Bill Wyman took the stage on August 25, 1990 at London’s Wembley Stadium alongside his fellow Rolling Stones, few in the audience could have predicted that the evening would turn out to be Wyman’s final stand with the group he joined in 1962. That final night found Wyman truly going out on top; the Steel Wheels/Urban Jungle tour marked a return to touring for the group after a seven-year hiatus, and was among the most commercially successful concert tours ever. Word on Wyman’s decision
So Mystifyingly Glad: The Critters' Project 3 Recordings Are Coming From Now Sounds
As I type these words, I’m just a couple of miles away from the heart of Westfield, New Jersey, a bucolic suburb with a bustling and vibrant Main Street. Over the years, Westfield has boasted a number of illustrious residents, among them Charles Addams, Langston Hughes and Paul Robeson. But it should be no surprise to find that Westfield is also the birthplace of a beloved pop group. After all, New Jersey’s musical roots run deep, from Sinatra to Springsteen, the Four Seasons to Bon Jovi.
No Longer Wond'ring Aloud: Details Finally Arrive For "Aqualung" Super-Deluxe Box
The super-deluxe parade continues. We first reported on the 40th anniversary box set of Jethro Tull’s Aqualung back on June 3, and now we can thank our pals at MusicTAP for revealing details of the set’s rather overwhelming contents! On October 31 in the U.K., EMI will unveil the 2-CD/1-LP/1 DVD/1 BD Aqualung box set alongside a 2-CD distillation, housed in a digipak and containing a 48-page booklet. Amazon isn’t currently showing an American release date, though a domestic arrival is
Listen to the Music of the Night: "Phantom" Box Coming to the U.K.
Two decades after The Beatles ushered in the first British Invasion, the Brits were back. This time, they had their sights set on Broadway, traditionally home to one of America’s great indigenous art forms, the musical. The British Invasion of the 1980s saw the work of American musical theatre legends like Stephen Sondheim, Jerry Herman, Cy Coleman and John Kander and Fred Ebb take a seeming back seat to lavish spectaculars imported from London, often with iconic logos and some kind of special
Queen News Round-Up: Wembley Goes Deluxe, U.S. Date Set for Last Wave of Reissues
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe0gIFxYhrk] The worldwide celebration of what would have been the 65th birthday of iconic Queen frontman Freddie Mercury has captured the public imagination something fierce - check out Google's astounding video tribute above - and The Second Disc couldn't help but add to the celebration with some news and updates on the band's ongoing catalogue endeavors. First of all, deep-pocketed fans will want to be on the lookout for a super-deluxe edition of the
Review: John Barry, "The Black Hole: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack"
When John Barry won two 1967 Academy Awards for his work on Born Free, the trophies were a vindication. Over the initial objections of his director, Barry envisioned his score to reflect a "Disneyesque kind of movie, lovely family entertainment" and fought for the dramatic integrity of that sound. Twelve years later, Barry actually got his chance to score a Walt Disney Productions motion picture. One of many science-fiction epics produced in the wake of Star Wars, Disney's The Black Hole was
The Masses Against the Classes: Manic Street Preachers Comp Coming This Fall
Specs for National Treasures, the latest compilation by Manic Street Preachers, have been announced. The new double-disc set, to be released in the U.K. October 31, presents all of the Welsh alt-rock band's U.K. singles for Columbia Records, along with one of the band's early, self-released singles ("Motown Junk") and a new cover of The The's "This is the Day," which will be released as a single later this month. A host of special packages will be made available from the group's native
Motown Memories Captured on New DVDs
Oh, for the days when there was a bounty of venues to hear the latest, greatest music on television. By far, one of the greatest vanguards of popular music in the halcyon days of the medium was Ed Sullivan, host of his eponymous show from 1948 to 1971. While Sullivan found himself somewhat bemused by the wide variety of talent he showcased - legendarily confining camera angles on Elvis Presley to tight shots that wouldn't expose too much of his gyrating hips - he generally picked performers
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 335
- 336
- 337
- 338
- 339
- …
- 384
- Next Page »