If you keep kicking yourself for not picking up anything by British rock group Editors, now's your chance to get it all in one buy - and then some. The Birmingham band has recently begun work on their fourth studio album, and has put together a massive compilation of nearly all of their work to date for release in February. Unedited collates the band's first three albums - 2005's The Back Room and U.K. chart-toppers An End Has a Start (2007) and In This Light and On This Evening (2009) - along
The Search is Over: Two Survivor LPs Coming Back to CD
British indie label Rock Candy Records is putting two Survivor albums back in print: 1983's Caught in the Game and 1984's Vital Signs. These two LPs followed Survivor's 1982 smash "Eye of the Tiger," famously featured on the soundtrack to Rocky III; interestingly, only one of them had any degree of success. Caught in the Game was mostly a stiff, only managing No. 82 on the Billboard charts (the same position as pre-success LP Premonition in 1981) and the title track, the only single, did not
What Catalogue Titles Got Grammy Nominations?
While you may or may not be fussing over this year's mainstream Grammy nominees (count this writer in the latter category), The Second Disc wanted to congratulate nominees for catalogue-related pursuits. One catalogue title has been nominated for Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package, two got nods for Best Album Notes and Best Historical Recording is pretty self-explanatory. (Also, interestingly, the title track from posthumous Michael Jackson compilation This is It was nominated for
The Second Disc's Crystal Ball
Today being the first day of December, we're really entering the home stretch of another year. With that in mind, we present a neat little discussion topic for your perusal. With a new year creeping around the corner, there's going to be an inevitable crop of reissues coming our way next year. Billy Joel and Paul Simon are having their catalogues redone, and reissues from George Michael and Thin Lizzy are going to brighten up the bleaker months of winter. We can even expect offerings from Ozzy
Reissue Theory: Andy Gibb
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. The new Bee Gees box set prompts this post to look at the "other" Gibb brother who enjoyed a great deal of success - yet is sadly not around to continue making great music. As Joe's review of the new Bee Gees box set Mythology shows, young Andy Gibb was a pretty integral member of the musical family. Though he wasn't part of the ensemble that Barry, Robin
Review: Bee Gees, "Mythology: The 50th Anniversary Collection"
I've gotta get a message to you. The Bee Gees are celebrating half a century in the business we call show, and Rhino has invited fans to the party with the release of Mythology: The 50th Anniversary Collection, a new four-disc box. There's always something unmistakable about a family's vocal blend. The Gibbs belong to the same tradition alongside the Everlys, the Wilsons, the Jacksons, the Carpenters, and so many others. Family was foremost on Barry and Robin Gibb's mind when creating
Review: "Michael Jackson's Vision"
When Michael Jackson was declared dead on that fateful Thursday in June of 2009, most of us healed our pain through the songs. Compact discs flew off store shelves and MP3s funneled through Internet connections in an attempt to recall those days when MJ was the King of Pop. It was these kinds of public celebration - I recall at least one set of speakers blaring "The Way You Make Me Feel" that week in midtown Manhattan - that took center stage for most of us. As a result, it seemed that the music
A Wave of Melba Moore Reissues Coming in 2011
Fans of R&B singer and Tony winning actress Melba Moore have got some good news coming their way: nearly all of her LPs from the '80s are coming out on CD between now and March. Moore, the daughter of jazz bandleader Teddy Hill, rose to prominence on Broadway as a cast member in Hair and won a Tony for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Purlie in 1970. Five years later, she began a recording career on Buddah and Epic - but it wasn't until the early '80s and a switch to
Details on the Graham Parker Box
To clarify from a post from earlier today, we present some info on Offical Bootleg: The Bootleg Box, the new box set from Graham Parker. It's six discs of bootleg shows from the British singer's career, all previously released for download by Parker himself. Most of the shows are solo, save for the first disc, an ill-quality but widely traded show with The Rumour in 1975. It looks to be a nice treat for fans of Parker and his music, and the set is actually quite a steal, particularly for an
Review: Paul Williams, "Someday Man: Deluxe Expanded Edition"
There are certain albums a person returns to, over and over again. These albums often transcend time and genre, and chances are you can name a few of them that reside in your own music collection. I'm talking about that special album you might play when you're down, or when you just need a visit from an old friend to remind you of another time. At The Second Disc, we frequently strive to remind you of those albums. Through the years, one such record for me has been Paul Williams' Someday Man.
Reissue Theory: Band Aid
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. Twenty-six years after its release, this newest installment takes you back to Band Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" Exactly 26 years ago, for better or worse, the British supergroup Band Aid released "Do They Know It's Christmas?" a single that kicked off a flurry of activity to raise money, aid and awareness for African famine and relief. Monday,
Taylor, King, Vaughan, Joel, More Due from MoFi in 2011
Start saving your pennies now. In an eye-opening move, audiophile specialty label Mobile Fidelity has announced a massive slate of releases across the CD, SACD and LP formats scheduled for 2011. Longtime collectors of audiophile masterings may get a thrill at seeing the “Original Master Recording” banner above the works of classic artists ranging from Tony Bennett and Ray Charles to Carole King and James Taylor. While this writer has some quibbles (why no CDs or SACDs for Bennett, Frank
"Nowhere" Goes Somewhere for 20th Anniversary (UPDATED 11/29)
Another deluxe title is on its way from Rhino Handmade next month, and it's a good one for any shoegaze fans out there: Pitchfork reports that the label is reissuing Nowhere, the debut LP by Ride, for its 20th anniversary. Ride were a British alt-rock band in the tradition of The Cocteau Twins, The Jesus and Mary Chain and My Bloody Valentine. All of those outfits were deemed "shoegaze" bands by the British music press, a term which would describe bands heavy on distorted but melodic guitars.
Review: Bruce Springsteen, "The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story"
In 1978, Bruce Springsteen famously mined the darkness on the edge of town, but it was unknown until recently that he considered living in the light of those same New Jersey streets. Flush with the success of Born to Run but drained from a prolonged battle with his former manager, Springsteen considered all avenues in creating the follow-up to the album that changed everything. And much like the eventually-resulting Darkness on the Edge of Town upped the ante from that 1975 landmark, the
Reissue Theory: The Waitresses
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. The more-or-less official start of the Christmas season has us revisiting a band behind a popular modern holiday song and the other music they released in their brief but notable run. "Bah humbug!/But that's too strong/'Cause it is my favorite holiday..." Those first lines kick off one of the most unabashedly fun Christmas power-pop carols of the past 30
Friday Feature: "Fantasia"
For reasons unknown to this writer, the animated output of The Walt Disney Company is not always seen as "high art." That one can see even the Disney films of the late 1980s and early 1990s and see merely crass commercialism is shocking. The hand-drawn features Disney's studio has been releasing since 1937 are absolute proof of "cartoons" as controlled works of art, an image Disney did everything he could to perpetuate. No more evident was Disney's commitment to art than with Fantasia, first
Rhino to Get Warm and Tender for Percy Sledge in New Box Set (UPDATED 11/26)
Rhino Handmade's next big title is a box set devoted to Percy Sledge's tenure with Atlantic Records. Before he was the "King of Country Soul," Sledge was an Alabama-born former hospital worker, playing with a soul combo on weekends. In 1966 he signed to Atlantic, and, following a break-up with a longtime girlfriend, recorded a simple, heartfelt single, "When a Man Loves a Woman." The impassioned, off-the-cuff delivery (an entirely honest one - Sledge improvised the lyrics on the spot) helped
La La Land's Year-End Releases Are a Really Big Deal
It's not Hook, but La La Land Records has another title of John Williams' from the same part of the alphabet in their last batch, as well as several other hotly-requested titles from some of the most beloved composers of the modern age. A full rundown is after the jump!
Happy Thanksgiving from The Second Disc!
A quick note on behalf of myself and Joe wishing you, the treasured reader, a happy Thanksgiving. We may fuss and gripe about reissues and box sets, mastering errors and badly packaged discs - but we are continually thankful for your patronage. We thank all who have read our work, told their friends, linked to us from other sites - cumulative hit counts are somewhere above 230,000 since starting in January, which is tremendous and exciting. We will be back tomorrow to provide you a reprieve
Gold Legion Prepping Vintage '80s Titles
A pair of LPs from EMI's 1980s catalogue is coming out on CD through the Gold Legion label. The first up is Don't Suppose, the solo debut album from Limahl in 1984. The uniquely coiffed, uniquely named singer (whose stage name was a rearranged version of his real surname, Hamill) had recently left (or had been asked to leave) the band Kajagoogoo (of "Too Shy" fame). Don't Suppose was not a success in itself, but yielded two U.K. hits, "Only for Love" and the theme to the film The Never Ending
Back Tracks: INXS
As promised, today's Back Tracks takes a look at the music and reissues of INXS in honor of its fallen frontman, Michael Hutchence, who died 13 years ago yesterday. Don't change after the jump.
Early White Stripes LPs Coming Back to Vinyl
The White Stripes have announced the reissue of their first three LPs on 180-gram vinyl through founder Jack White's Third Man Records label. Formed in the late 1990s in Detroit, vocalist/guitarist Jack and drummer Meg White created a unique sound that was forged in the classic traditions of garage rock, punk and blues. Their lo-fi, powerful tunes earned massive critical acclaim in the early 2000s, even as fans and critics sought to find out the truth behind the duo's unusual relationship.
Intrada Draws "First Blood"
Not to be outdone by Varese Sarabande's batch of soundtracks from yesterday or La La Land's forthcoming Black Friday announcement, Intrada has made two more catalogue soundtracks available for order. While Intrada has become a power player in the catalogue soundtrack world in the past decade, the label has actually been around for 25 years. Their first significant release was the premiere CD edition of First Blood, the Jerry Goldsmith score to the iconic Sylvester Stallone film. (It was given a
Review: The Stooges, "Have Some Fun: Live at Ungano's"
Perhaps more than any other band, you can learn a great deal about The Stooges without ever taking a really close listen to their music. For instance, when Raw Power, the band's final album before a lengthy split, was remastered and reissued in 1997, chaotic lead singer Iggy Pop personally remastered the album to be as unlistenable as possible. Volume levels were at a violent, threatening level - a potent reminder of the band's sonic death wish and Pop's iconic, self-destructive attitude. The
Release Round-Up: Week of November 23
With most retailers putting out their new releases today to get a jump on the inevitable holiday weekend blitz, here's the big catalogue releases for the week a day early! Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson's Vision (Epic/Legacy) A three-DVD set that includes just about any MJ video you could be searching for. Of course, the one unreleased clip just officially hit the Internet, making you wonder what the fuss is all about. Oh wait, it's Michael Jackson. (Official site) Jay-Z, The Hits
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 360
- 361
- 362
- 363
- 364
- …
- 384
- Next Page »