Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they may someday see. Today, we honor a recently deceased disco queen by telling the story of her unusual brush with chart success. Word crept out last night that former disco diva and adult film actress Andrea True passed away earlier this month. At Second Disc HQ, it certainly prompted a few spins of her signature hit "More, More, More," one of disco's most senseless earworms. It also prompted
Concord Collates "Charlie Brown Christmas"
Christmas time is here! Okay, maybe not yet, but that's not stopping Concord Music Group from releasing another set of holiday-ready discs from the Peanuts universe today. The Charlie Brown Collection is a four-disc set featuring some of the best seasonal music written for Charles M. Schultz's boy named Charlie Brown. Of course, much of that musical credit goes to Vince Guaraldi, the composer of 17 Charlie Brown television specials, including the iconic A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965.
Soulful and Seductive: Grateful Dead, Glen Campbell, The Roches, Bill Medley, Maynard Ferguson Kick Off Real Gone 2012
Are you ready to get gone, Real Gone, with the new kids on the reissue block? The label founded by Gordon Anderson and Gabby Castellana is following its debut slate (reviews to come!) with an eclectic group of releases for January 2012 that will start the New Year off right! One batch of titles is due January 24, with the remaining releases arriving the following week. Few artists have had a career as legendary as that of Glen Campbell, and few have been as brave in the face of tragedy.
Release Round-Up: Week of November 21
Another Monday release date, ostensibly to get the jump on an abbreviated week with the Thanksgiving/Black Friday holiday! And it's another big week, to be sure. The Rolling Stones, Some Girls: Deluxe Edition (Rolling Stones/UMe) Whether you think it's the last truly great Stones album or not, it's hard to deny that this is the biggest of the deluxe releases this week. (That super-deluxe edition, with a bonus DVD and vinyl, doesn't disprove the notion, either.) Bob Seger, Ultimate Hits: Rock
U.K. Joy Division Box Collects Singles (and More) on Vinyl (UPDATED 11/17/2011: and CD)
UPDATE: More than a year after this set came out, a U.K. CD counterpart has been noticed on Amazon with a December 27 street date. Like the original post, this was also first noticed by our friends at Slicing Up Eyeballs. Original post: As reported by Slicing Up Eyeballs, Rhino's U.K. branch is releasing a special collector's box of Joy Division singles in December, to commemorate the 30 years since iconic frontman Ian Curtis died. The vinyl box, +- (Plus Minus), will feature ten 7" records
Review: R.E.M., "Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011"
R.E.M.'s Part Lies Part Heart Part Truth Part Garbage 1982-2011 (Warner Bros. 529088-2) marks the fourth compilation by the Athens band in my collection. As a young teen, I fell in love with their melodic, confident pop/rock with In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003 - but that was only part of the picture. The rest would be filled in by the 2006 release of And I Feel Fine...The Best of the I.R.S. Years 1982-1987, which captured the quartet at what may be their creative peak. (The third
Reissue Theory: Barry Manilow, "Live at the Troubadour 1975"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we take a look back at notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Today's column takes a slight departure, looking at an album that never was, but certainly could be. We present Barry Manilow's Live at the Troubadour! Rolling Stone may have famously proclaimed him "the showman of our generation," but when Clive Davis signed Barry Manilow to the fledgling Arista label, he was anything but. Manilow was a longtime accompanist,
ODB's "36 Chambers" Reloaded for Deluxe Set
Indie label Get On Down Records is preparing a lavish deluxe reissue of Return to the 36 Chambers, the solo debut by late, iconic Wu-Tang Clan member Ol' Dirty Bastard. Almost no one could have predicted the meteoric success of the Wu-Tang Clan, upon the release of 1993's landmark Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers, a seminal East Coast hip-hop record that slow-burned its way to a million copies by 1995 and spawned definitive tracks like "C.R.E.A.M." and "Method Man." That said, the gritty,
When The Saints Go Marchin' In: Louis Armstrong Goes to Storyville in New Box
Louis Armstrong’s going to Storyville! The venerable Copenhagen-based jazz label, founded in the early 1950s by Kurt Emil Knudsen, has just released a new box set that happens to be third major box in 2011 alone for the one and only Louis Armstrong. Following Universal’s Satchmo: Ambassador of Jazz and The Complete Masters, Storyville’s efficiently-titled The Armstrong Box arrived last Tuesday. The 7-CD/1-DVD set falls somewhere between those two projects; Ambassador of Jazz is the first
Curt Was Mayfield - and Now It's Reissued
Here's an under-the-radar catalogue release for your consideration this week: a reissue of Mayfield, a nice little solo album by Curt Smith, one-half of synth-rock legends Tears for Fears. Unless you're a major '80s pop geek, you'd probably be okay with having no idea who made up the membership of Tears for Fears. But most of our readers probably know that singer/guitarist Roland Orzabal and singer/bassist Curt Smith made the nucleus of the band that gave us "Mad World," "Shout," "Everybody
In Case You Missed It: INXS Release New Hits Set
You certainly wouldn't be wrong in debating the merits of another INXS compilation on store shelves, particularly after the good job Rhino did with 2001's double-disc Shine Like It Does: The Anthology and the breezy, single-disc The Best of INXS the next year. (The band, of course, haven't released much new material worth covering since the tragic death of original frontman Michael Hutchence in 1997.) But in the U.K., new things are happening with the band's catalogue - Universal Music has
Review: Frank Sinatra, "Best of the Best"
There’s simply no getting around it: Frank Sinatra is the voice of the Great American Songbook. That’s not to discount the dozens of other significant voices that brought life to the House That George, Ira, Irving, Cole, Jerome, Richard and Lorenz Built. (Again, just to name a few.) But Frank Sinatra’s voice, as well as his persona, has become such a deeply ingrained part of the American musical fabric that it’s hard to find new ways to present it. The body of work created by Sinatra at
Intrada Has "It," Releases Two Television Scores
Intrada's latest soundtrack releases may be from television projects, but these small screen adventures are sure to be big hits for fans. The latest entry in the Special Collection series is a two-disc presentation of the score to the 1990 adaptation of Stephen King's It. The best-selling book of 1986, It was the story of a group of young friends in 1950s Maine who thwart an interdimensional child-killing monster, only to have it return when the group settles into adulthood. The two-part
Release Round-Up: Week of November 15
A brief note before we kick off the Release Round-Up: first, an apology for missing the last one. And second, a moment of crowd-sourcing from you, our beloved readers. As nice a service as the Round-Up is, it also seems....boring. Do you agree? How might one change it up? Sound off in the comments. The Who,
Reissue Theory: Ephraim Lewis, "Skin"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Beautiful pop-soul from an artist that should have had a much longer career is the order of the day; we present a look back at Ephraim Lewis, the best '90s soul singer time forgot. If you use reissues and expanded music titles as tools to uncover an artist's body of work or to shine a light on a forgotten musician, you doubtlessly have plenty of albums you'd like to see
Just a Little Louvin: Classic Country Duo Rediscovered By Light in the Attic
When the time came to fete the Louvin Brothers with a tribute album, the stars came out: James Taylor, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Alison Krauss and Merle Haggard were just some of the artists featured on 2003’s Grammy-winning Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’: Songs of the Louvin Brothers. All of those musicians had openly admitted their debt to Charlie and Ira Louvin, a.k.a. Charlie Elzer Loudermilk (1927-2011) and Ira Lonnie Loudermilk (1924-1965). Though
I've Got Your Letters: Rivers Cuomo Announces "Alone III," "Pinkerton" Diaries Set
Until recently, you may have been wondering what to get the Weezer fan in your life for the holidays. After all, the long-running, hysterically polarizing pop/rock band haven't released any albums this year, after four albums put out since 2008 (including two in 2010: Hurley, their first for Epitaph Records, and Death to False Metal, an outtakes compilation on longtime homebase Geffen). There was, of course, also the deluxe edition of beloved sophomore effort Pinkerton from a year ago. At the
Toast of the Town: The Rolling Stones Visit Ed Sullivan with Petula, Dusty, Ella, Tom, Louis and More
Long before David Letterman called the former Hammerstein’s Theatre on 50th Street and Broadway in New York City home, the theatre was the showplace of the world, thanks to one Mr. Ed Sullivan. The former gossip columnist on the Broadway beat might have been an unlikely visitor to American homes each Sunday night between 1949 and 1971, but it was thanks to Sullivan that viewers got their first or most significant taste of such performers across the entire spectrum of entertainment. On the
Judas Priest Unfurls "Wings of Destiny" with Repressings of Early Albums
Rock legends Judas Priest have long been known for their killer blend of metal on the Columbia label in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. But two albums predating that contract - both of which are once again about to be independently reissued on CD - were fans' real first taste of the Priest. In 1974, Judas Priest, a hungry upstart rock band from Birmingham, had been together for about five years. A year before, the band's lineup had started to crystallize: lead guitarist K.K. Downing and bassist Ian
Weekend Wround-Up - Holiday Edition: Dean Martin, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons, and The Muppets!
Dean Martin only recorded two Christmas albums in his career, one for Capitol (1959’s A Winter Romance) and one for Reprise (1966’s The Dean Martin Christmas Album). Yet every year, Martin’s holiday catalogue from both labels is usually reconfigured for a new release, often with songs added (singles, alternate takes, remixes), dropped or otherwise altered. 2011 is no exception, so completists might want to be on the lookout for this year’s edition of My Kind of Christmas on the Hip-o Records
Cherry Pop Laces Up Dancing Shoes with Compilation of Rare '80s, Motown Mixes
Cherry Pop Records has a major treat next week for British club junkies of the '80s: a double-disc set of rare and unreleased remixes by noted engineer Phil Harding. If you're a British pop junkie who came of age in the '80s, you're doubtlessly familiar with three names: Mike Stock, Matt Aitken and Pete Waterman. The trio of producers hit it big with Hi-NRG pop, all clean beats and shimmering synths, from Bananarama's "Venus" to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up." All told, the trio racked
The Wonderful World of Elvis: Follow That Dream Offers New Releases For Fall and Winter
Since its establishment in 1999, the Follow That Dream label has been a collector’s dream for fans of Elvis Presley. Taking its name from Presley’s 1962 film of the same name, Follow That Dream has operated as an authorized “bootleg series,” reissuing Elvis titles of varying origins (soundtracks, studio albums, live gigs) in expanded editions with an emphasis on previously unreleased session material, alternate takes and unheard performances. These titles are available exclusively through
From "Space" to "The Bottom of the Sea" in La-La Land's Penultimate Releases for 2011
La-La Land Records inched closer to the end of their 2011 reissue slate yesterday with a pair of sci-fi-oriented releases - one a reissue, and one appearing for the first time anywhere. Television fans are going to enjoy the label's newly-released three-disc set of music from the cult classic series Space: Above and Beyond. Though it only ran for one season, the scope of the show - a planned, five-year saga about a war between Earth and an alien race in the mid-21st century - anticipated the
Dreams Stay With You: Big Country's Debut to Be Expanded With Archival Demos
It looks like we've got the first deluxe edition of 2012 locked down - at least across the pond. Scottish band Big Country today announced the details for a new expansion of their fantastic debut, The Crossing, to coincide with a 30th anniversary tour across the United Kingdom. (The band reunited first in 2007 and again in 2010, both times with new vocalist Mike Peters of The Alarm, replacing late lead singer/guitarist Stuart Adamson, who died in 2001.) Released in 1983, The Crossing was a
Review: Pink Floyd, "Wish You Were Here: Immersion Box Set"
Maybe it should have been called Wish You Were Here: Unwrapped. There’s no dark shrinkwrap on the new Immersion Box Set of Pink Floyd’s 1975 Wish You Were Here, the album that followed the landmark Dark Side of the Moon. The original LP pressing of the album, of course, was wrapped and adorned with a “four elements” sticker, obscuring the photograph that gives the album its cover. The 3-CD/1-DVD/1-BD Immersion edition (EMI 50999 029435 2, 2011) is not only “naked,” but offers a different,
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 315
- 316
- 317
- 318
- 319
- …
- 367
- Next Page »