The wide berth of reissues, box sets and compilations across major and independent labels the world over, means some releases can fall through the cracks at times. At The Second Disc, it was always an early mission to make sure the labels handling catalogue soundtrack reissues did not suffer this fate. Intrada, Film Score Monthly, Kritzerland, Varese Sarabande - all are essentials for the catalogue music fan with a taste for soundtracks, and their work is hard to ignore. La La Land Records,
Rumor Alert: Does Axl Think "Better" of "Democracy"?
It goes without saying that Chinese Democracy has one of the most bizarre histories behind any album in rock and roll history. While most expected Guns N' Roses to dissolve in the 1990s after nearly all of its members left or were ejected from the band, lead singer and solo original member Axl Rose was insistent that the band's next album would come out. He remained insistent at various intervals between 1999 and the album's eventual release in 2008, by which point the band lineup shifted around
Full "Vs.," "Vitalogy" Reissue Details Announced
Pearl Jam fans will have a few more black (silver?) circles to spin when Vs. and Vitalogy are reissued this March - and now we've got full details on the sets, including deluxe formats. We mentioned a few days ago that Amazon had shown track listings for each album that had three bonus tracks apiece. It was also assumed that there would be a box combining both expanded albums with additional swag, not unlike 2009's Ten monolith. And now we have details on all that and more. First of all, in
Review: Tim Buckley, "Tim Buckley"
When Tim Buckley is discussed today, it's most often in the context of his son Jeff, and the eerie similarities between the lives of father and son, both of whom died at tragically young ages. So Rhino Handmade's expanded two-CD remaster of Tim Buckley's debut (Rhino Handmade RHM2 526087, 2011) isn't just a celebration of a folk-rock classic, but a stunning reminder of his talent on its own considerable merits. Tim Buckley's eponymous debut remains a haunting work by a haunted man. Yet like
A Little More "Love" is All You Need: iTunes to Release Another Beatles Album, Expanded
Despite the less than stellar reception by yours truly, The Beatles' partnership with iTunes has been a massive boon for The Fab Four's catalogue. And that boon looks to get a little bigger next week, when EMI and Apple release another one of the band's albums for download: the soundtrack to Love, the band's Cirque du Soleil show. Created in 2006 for The Mirage in Las Vegas, Love combines the artistic and acrobatic aesthetics of the Montreal-based entertainment troupe with the music of The
Reissue Theory: George Michael's Different Corners
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. With the reissue of George Michael's most flawless pop album, today's installment takes you into the corners of the world pop music scene to prove how part of the musical culture he really was. The reissue of George Michael's iconic Faith album has your humble catalogue correspondent excited. Really excited. So excited that today's Reissue Theory talks
Review: George Michael, "Faith: Legacy Edition"
It won't make any sense in today's media-saturated world, but in 1987 and 1988, George Michael was inescapable. The idea that one single artist could grab multiple genders, races, cliques and generations by the shoulders with his or her music is all but impossible today, but the man born Georgios Kyriacos Panayiotou did just that. Faith, released by Epic Records in the fall of 1987, put six tracks in Billboard's Top 5 (two-thirds of them No. 1 hits), netted him a Grammy Award for Album of the
Cherry Pop Reissues Wendy & Lisa Album
Cherry Pop has announced details for a new reissue that will have Prince fans excited: an expansion of Wendy & Lisa's sophomore album, Fruit at the Bottom. Childhood friends, band mates, lovers, soundtrack composers - Wendy Melvoin and Lisa Coleman have had a lengthy, prolific career in the music industry. Both daughters of session musicians, Coleman was approached by Prince in 1980 to play keyboards for his Dirty Mind album. Three years later, with the exit of Dez Dickerson from the band,
Feel Good Music: Flying Burrito Brothers Live Set Coming from Hip-o Select
Hip-o Select has put up a new release for order at the top of the week: a live set by country-rock pioneers The Flying Burrito Brothers. The FBB were the brainchild of Gram Parsons and Chris Hillman, upon leaving The Byrds. The duo were the initial nucleus of the multi-musician ensemble. At the time of the recording of Authorized Bootleg: Late Show, November 7, 1970 The Fillmore East, New York, NY, Parsons and original bassist Chris Ethridge had left and were replaced by Rick Roberts and Bernie
Dionne, Natalie, Nancy Reissues Coming from Soulmusic Label
Cherry Red's got soul. Mike and I reported last week on the impressive slate planned by Cherry Red's Big Break Records label. A smaller yet equally rich line-up is on the way from another Cherry Red division, Soulmusic.com Records.On February 14 in the U.K. and one week later stateside, the label will reissue five classic albums from a trio of accomplished vocalists: Nancy Wilson, Dionne Warwick and Natalie Cole. Perhaps most exciting is the two-on-one CD release of Wilson's 1974 Capitol
Release Round-Up: Week of February 1
George Michael, Faith: Legacy Edition (Epic/Legacy) There's going to be a review of the two-disc/one-DVD edition of this album (also available as a deluxe box set) coming up later today, but let me say right now: Damn. If you forgot how good this record was - how it makes a lot of '80s pop look temporarily flawed and full of effort - go buy this immediately. I'll wait. (Official site) Bob Marley and The Wailers, Live Forever: September 23, 1980 - The Stanley Theatre, Pittsburgh, PA (Tuff
Would New Queen Reissues Ever Take on the World Someday?
For catalogue fans, the announcement of the track listings for the upcoming Queen reissues was the hot story of the week. New versions of the band's first five albums, each expanded with a host of bonus tracks, are due in the U.K. in March as part of the band's new licensing agreement with Universal Music Group - and there's plenty of room on the fence, because many have taken a stand for or against the sets. To this writer, the track lists probably could have been better - but can't they all
Friday Feature: "Almost Famous"
Thank you, Cameron Crowe. You had me at "hello." You cost me plenty, but my record collection has long been grateful for the education! The integration of popular song and cinema has been around as long as the talking film itself, since the day Al Jolson prefaced his performance of "Toot, Toot, Tootsie (Goodbye)" with the epochal dialogue "Wait a minute, wait a minute, you ain't heard nothin' yet!" These lines from 1927's The Jazz Singer, the first feature-length "talkie" in which
Reissue Theory: Cher, "A Woman's Story: The Warner Bros. Years"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. Before Madonna, before Lady Gaga, there was Cherilyn Sarkisian LaPiere Bono, better-known as Cher. Today, we look at a largely forgotten period of the diva's career, now entering its sixth(!) decade. Cher's latest hit song may be titled "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me," but really, who thought we had? We listeners don't need a modest little Diane Warren
La La Land to Get a "Clue" in February
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHEpuz_gUGM] The mystery has finally been solved: it was La La Land Records, on the Internet, with a batch of CDs. Well...in other words, it's been confirmed that one of the label's most hotly-anticipated releases is happening soon: the world-premiere release of John Morris' score to Clue (1985). Clue, of course, comes from a simpler time when movies based on board games and television shows weren't the only ideas circulating throughout Hollywood. In
Review: "The Very Best of The Rat Pack"
What do we know about The Rat Pack, that famed group of celebrity rogues and rapscallions that defined American cool in the early '60s? You might not know that only a third of the classic members of the group were initially included; The Rat Pack was initially made up of actor friends of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall, including Frank Sinatra but not Dean Martin or Sammy Davis, Jr. But after Bogart's death and the subsequent release of Ocean's 11 in 1960, the classic image of The Rat Pack -
Aretha Opens "The Great American Songbook"
Can't wait for that massive 11-CD/1-DVD box set, Take a Look: Aretha Franklin Complete on Columbia? Or maybe you're just looking for the perfect Valentine's Day gift? Either way, Legacy may have the disc for you. Next Tuesday, February 1, will see the under-the-radar release of Aretha Franklin's The Great American Songbook from Columbia/Legacy, compiling 18 of the tracks from that massive box set on one CD. Oddly, this release features the same cover art as the upcoming box, not due for
Short Takes: Soundtracks on Tap from Barry, Horner and Mancini
It's already been a busy week here at Second Disc HQ, and the news just keeps on comin'. Three more soundtracks are due from some of the finest composers in film score history: John Barry, James Horner and Henry Mancini. Before becoming an eminence grise in the world of film scoring, John Barry was best-known as the leader of the John Barry Seven, an association which led him to one of his earliest film projects, the score to the 1960 British film Beat Girl. The long-unavailable soundtrack to
Billy Joel's Shea Play on Its Way to Disc in March
The Billy Joel floodgates are about to burst open with the release of Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert, an audio scrapbook of the Piano Man's show-stopping concerts at Shea Stadium, the last major events held at the iconic sporting arena before its closure and demolition. Already documented in Last Play at Shea - a multifaceted documentary on the longtime home of the New York Mets and the Long Island-raised rocker who performed there (to be released on DVD next month) - Columbia/Legacy will
Review: The Jayhawks, "Hollywood Town Hall" and "Tomorrow the Green Grass"
"Please don't call it 'alt-country!'," pleads The Jayhawks' archivist P.D. Larson in the liner notes to the new Legacy Edition of the band's fourth album, 1995's Tomorrow the Green Grass. But whatever you call it, the uniquely American music of the Jayhawks has endured, and is currently being celebrated by American Recordings and Sony/Legacy with two deluxe reissues produced by Larson and John Jackson. The band's major label debut from 1992, Hollywood Town Hall, has been expanded with a clutch
Upcoming Slate from Big Break Includes Edwin Starr, Patti LaBelle and More
Cherry Red's Big Break Records imprint has been the busiest arm of the U.K. reissue label group's roster by far. Joe filled you in on the expanded edition of Melba Moore's first album for Epic in 1978, but there are 11, count 'em, 11! new reissues on the slate between now and March. Of the artists covered in the latest batch, Patti LaBelle and Jon Lucien each have the most - two albums each - being reissued. For LaBelle, it's her first and third solo albums originally released on Epic, 1977's
Derek, Eric and "Layla": Details Announced for 40th Anniversary Set
Prepare to be on your knees: details have been released for UMe's upcoming 40th anniversary editions of Derek & The Dominos' Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs, due out March 8. The result of a searing, bluesy collaboration between Eric Clapton, members of Delaney & Bonnie's touring outfit and Duane Allman, Layla was a critical success but sold only moderately until the title track shot to the Top 10 some two years after the album was released. It became a multigenerational hit in the
Friday Feature: "Men in Black"
Once in a while, a great comedy comes around that makes an incredible impact on film, thanks to its quick wits, original ideas and great performances. In the 1980s, there were several great films that deftly blended comedy with science fiction and action film tropes - 1984's Ghostbusters and 1985's Back to the Future - that remain generational touchstones and modern-day classics of popular cinema. When children of the '80s say, "They don't make 'em like they used to," it's not hard to imagine
More of Melba: Moore's Epic Debut Due from BBR
By 1978, Melba Moore had already established herself as a multifaceted musical force. After making her Broadway debut as Dionne ("White Boys") in the original Broadway company of Hair, she picked up a Tony Award in 1970 for her performance in Purlie, where she introduced the showstopping "I Got Love." In 1978, she was starring in New York opposite the legendary Eartha Kitt in Timbuktu! and ready to resume her solo recording career. With stints on the Mercury and Buddah labels behind her, she
Short Takes: Early Details on Reissues from Pearl Jam, Kate Bush
A new Rolling Stone article has revealed some details about the upcoming batch of catalogue titles from Pearl Jam. The forthcoming reissues of Vs. (1993) and Vitalogy (1994) will feature "previously unheard bonus tracks (including an alternate version of “Corduroy” and a guitar-and-organ version of “Betterman”), an entire 1994 Boston show and a cassette from their Monkeywrench radio series." The article is not clear, but it seems as though both albums and bonus material may be paired together,
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