Audiophile specialty label Audio Fidelity continues to revisit familiar titles in 24k Gold CD editions with its two latest releases, both due August 23: James Taylor's 1970 breakthrough Sweet Baby James, and Heart's 1998 retrospective Greatest Hits. In the documentary film Troubadours, Carole King comments that due to the "generational and cultural turbulence...there was a hunger for the intimacy of what we did." And as 1970 began, listeners certainly did hunger for James Taylor. After the
Cold Chisel Expanded Reissues Arrive in Australia
Raise your hand if you're familiar with Cold Chisel! If you're not, don't worry - you can still pass "Go" and collect your 200 bucks. The band known as Cold Chisel comes from the home of Men at Work (of course), AC/DC, Olivia Newton-John, Peter Allen and Helen Reddy: Australia. Although the band never gained the international fame those other artists did, they remain one of the biggest acts ever in the land down under. Almost forty years after the band's founding, Cold Chisel kicked off
Joel McNeely's Score to "Squanto" Arrives From Intrada and Disney
Intrada Records sure knows how to keep promises! We first reported on the film score label’s partnership with Walt Disney Records back on June 27 when the initial release in a series co-branded with Disney was announced. That first Disney/Intrada release was Michael Giacchino’s Academy Award-winning score to Up (review here), and it was released simultaneously with John Scott’s score to the Touchstone picture Shoot to Kill, also from the Disney vaults under the Intrada Special Collection
Release Round-Up: Week of August 9
GQ, Two (Funkytowngrooves) GQ's 1980 Arista album gets the remastered treatment. (Amazon) Jefferson Airplane, Red Octopus (Friday Music) The 1975 effort from Paul Kantner, Marty Balin, Grace Slick and co. arrives on 180-gram vinyl with the mega-hit "Miracles" a highlight! (Official site) Evelyn "Champagne" King, Music Box (Funkytowngrooves) King teams with T-Life for this groove-laden RCA set from 1979! (Amazon) The Motels, Apocalypso (Omnivore) The Motels' lost album from 1981 finally
Collectors' New Choice: Gordon Anderson Launches New Label
Eagle-eyed crate diggers might have noticed a major disappearing act of late. Collectors’ Choice Music, long renowned for its diverse and eclectic line-up of releases by artists ranging from Bing Crosby to Jefferson Airplane, has quietly been allowing its label’s releases to go out-of-print. In fact, many of those titles are already commanding high prices on the second-hand market. (The beginning of the end of the Collectors’ Choice label can be read here.) Though the company’s famed
Stax Remasters Continue with Thomas, Brown and The Dramatics (UPDATED 8/5 WITH TRACK LISTINGS)
While Berry Gordy was defining “The Sound of Young America” in Detroit, Jim Stewart, Estelle Axton and Al Bell were pioneering deep, gritty Southern soul in Memphis. To many, Motown and Stax were two sides of the same coin, both offering powerhouse R&B sounds that spoke directly to the country’s youth. Since acquiring Stax from Fantasy Records in 2004, Concord Music Group has relaunched Stax as an active concern with new artists and has introduced a number of healthy catalogue initiatives
Love Hurts, But This Nazareth Box Looks Painless
Madness isn't the only artist getting a career box set from Salvo Music this year. The U.K. label is affording the same treatment to Scottish rockers Nazareth. While the band had only fleeting chart success in either the U.K. or the U.S. (enjoying early success at home with Top 10 hits "Broken Down Angel" and "Bad Bad Boy," as well as high-charting tunes like their rocking takes on Joni Mitchell's "This Flight Tonight" and Tomorrow's "My White Bicycle," and having one brief Top 10 in the U.S.
FINAL UPDATE 8/4: "Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection" and "Essential Phil Spector" Due From Legacy
Well, get a load of that! This is the photo I've been waiting for - and if you're reading this, chances are you've been waiting with bated breath, too! As of August 4, we have official confirmation that Legacy's Phil Spector Presents the Philles Album Collection is, indeed, coming on October 18, along with a two-disc retrospective as part of the label's long-running Essential series. Most purchasers of Legacy's first wave of Philles Records reissues last February took immediate notice of a
Superstar: Leon Russell's "Live in Japan" Arrives In Newly-Expanded Edition
Can anyone dispute that the Master of Space and Time has returned? Leon Russell is currently touring the country with none other than Bob Dylan, riding the wave of adulation he's received for 2010's high-profile Elton John collaboration The Union, as well as an induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. On August 9, the Omnivore label will remind listeners of just why Russell is so revered today. On that date, Omnivore will release Live in Japan, restoring to a print a 1974 Japan-only LP
Review: The Beau Brummels, "Bradley's Barn: Expanded Edition"
Before Abbey Road or Caribou, The Beau Brummels immortalized a famous recording studio as the title of Bradley’s Barn, their 1968 album for Warner Bros. Records. The San Francisco pop-rock outfit had travelled to Nashville, Tennessee to record at Owen Bradley’s storied venue at roughly the same time their contemporaries, The Byrds, were on the other side of town cutting Sweetheart of the Rodeo. Though the “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Turn! Turn! Turn!” hitmakers beat the Brummels to the punch
Sit Down I Think It's Van Dyke Parks: Music Man's "Arrangements" Arrive on CD
Forgive the hyperbole, but there’s nobody quite like Van Dyke Parks. Composer, arranger, producer, singer, musician, actor, author, raconteur, Parks is one-of-a-kind. Known for his dazzling, sometimes oblique wordplay, and sheer musical invention, Parks has contributed production, arrangements and songs to an incredible number of renowned artists over the years, often blazing new trails while harnessing his vast knowledge of popular music. For the first time, the renaissance man's work as a
Breaking Benjamin Add Deluxe Compilation in Their Diary
In our coverage of Queen reissues, we've bemoaned the lack of catalogue coverage at the band's U.S. label, Hollywood Records. Granted, the Disney-owned label doesn't need much catalogue attention when there are Disney Channel soundtracks and tween-friendly records to promote. But there is one rather interesting band on the label roster that isn't the label's typical fare: Breaking Benjamin, a hard-rock quartet from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. Their alt-metal sound - hard-driving and insistent
Reissue Theory: Bruce Hornsby and The Range, "The Way It Is"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we look back at notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Exactly 25 years ago today, a classic pop album was released, with a sound that was totally different from what was the norm at that time. Now, we look back at the debut of Bruce Hornsby, and why a deluxe version would be a good idea. There were plenty of great songs to top the Billboard charts in 1986, but only one had any sort of conscious reflection behind it. Only
A Salvo of Madness Coming in September
Many of the box sets announced this year have been pretty nuts, in some way, shape or form. But none have been quite as nutty as this one: a career-spanning box by those nutty boys in Madness. The long-running British ska band, whose large handful of U.K. hits like "Our House" and "One Step Beyond" have filled dance floors the world over, has had an exceptionally busy few years with their catalogue, offering nearly all their discography, from their early hits on Stiff Records to their late-'90s
Reissue Theory: The Time, "All-Time Greatest"
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. On the 30th anniversary of the first album by one of Prince's most notable associated acts, we picture a release that's never happened: a career-spanning compilation for The Time. Thirty years ago, a major musical milestone occurred: Prince started transforming from a freaky, funk-rock gem of the Minneapolis music scene into an all-consuming musical entity. The conduit
A Small Morsel of Live Dead Coming from Rhino
Was the insanely large Europe '72 box set from The Grateful Dead (which should be making its way to fans pretty soon) too much for you? Rhino's breaking off a little piece for you in the form of Europe '72 Volume 2, a double-disc set compiled from those 22 legendary shows. This sequel to the original triple-LP has 20 remastered performances from those wild shows on two discs, mixed from the original 16-track recordings by Dead archival mixer Jeffrey Norman and mastered by David Glasser to HDCD
The Smiths Are Out of the Bag: Massive U.K. Box Planned
As we at The Second Disc HQ love to point out, Morrissey once set his scathing lyrical pen on record companies' propensity for reissues on The Smiths' "Paint a Vulgar Picture." Currently, he must be shitting bricks: Rhino U.K. is planning The Smiths - Complete, a box set compiling the influential band's entire discography, all newly remastered. Clever fans spotted the presence of the set on the label's site late last night (we have super-reader Dean H. to thank for hipping us to it), and our
What The World Needs Now Is Rockbeat Records
Billy Vera, Alberta Hunter and Jackie DeShannon may not have terribly much in common at first glance. But they're just a few of the artists coming your way thanks to Rockbeat Records. Yes, there's a new player in the catalogue field, and their slate of reissues proves that they're ready to make a big impression! Founded by Arny Schorr of S'more Entertainment and distributed by eOne, Rockbeat counts among its team an alumnus of Rhino Records. James Austin, the former Vice President of A&R
Impulse Buys Abound from UMe
Universal Music Group got off to a great start anthologizing the deep catalogue of Impulse! Records with a four-disc box set from Hip-o Select earlier this year. Today, that catalogue is revisited yet again, in the form of 28 albums from the jazz label's catalogue collected as two-on-one discs. The titles are pretty diverse, collecting sets from Duke Ellington, McCoy Tyner, Alice Coltrane, Art Blakey, Sonny Rollins, Milt Jackson and others. You can order each of the titles on Amazon here and
Look Sharp! New Roxette Compilation in Stores Today
As previously noted on Twitter, we're doing something a bit different with the new catalogue releases this week: rather than do a big New Release Round-Up post, we're going to do smaller posts highlighting them through the day. Why? Simple: a lot of these releases, taken on their own, are small but of enough interest to not get swept under the rug of a mega-post as such. Plus, there aren't really a whole heck of a lot of major reissues out this week anyway. We begin with a new compilation from
The Adventure Begins With Safan's "Remo Williams" and Mancini's "Moneychangers"
Raise your hand if you remember the golden age of the television miniseries! Once upon a time, the miniseries was king: Rich Man, Poor Man, QB VII, North and South, Roots, The Thorn Birds. Sprawling novels were translated into multiple evenings of rich, dramatic television, with the small screen taking advantage of a length that even big screen fare couldn’t offer. One such miniseries was 1976’s The Moneychangers, based on a novel by Arthur Hailey (Hotel, Airport) and scored by the same man
Miles Ahead: Legacy Launches "Bootleg Series" For Davis
Move over, Bob Dylan. Another legendary Columbia Records artist just a couple of spaces over on the CD shelf is receiving the Bootleg Series treatment with the September 20 release of The Miles Davis Quintet – Live in Europe 1967: The Bootleg Series Volume 1. And this release looks every inch as lavish and essential as the releases in Dylan’s similarly titled, long-running series. It’s drawn from original state-owned television and radio sources in Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, and
Omnivore to Sting Fans with Jellyfish Vinyl Reissues
The reign of Jellyfish was a devilishly short one. Yet with only two albums and a cataclysmic lineup change at the halfway point, Jellyfish's output deserves a place in the edifice of power pop, alongside such luminaries as Badfinger, Cheap Trick and XTC. And now, fans will be able to enjoy those two albums on vinyl - one for the first time in the U.S. and one of them for the first time anywhere - thanks to the good folks at Omnivore Recordings. Jellyfish was the brainchild of singer/drummer
We've Been Thinking a Lot Today About Folds' Retrospective (UPDATED)
"Soon." That's what a Legacy representative told The Second Disc as to when the label's upcoming Ben Folds retrospective package would be announced. Naturally, such a revelation is nothing short of exciting. Everyone at Second Disc HQ is a major fan of the singer/songwriter/pianist's recorded works over the past 15-plus years, from the perfect punch of Ben Folds Five's three studio LPs to Folds' increasingly prolific solo career, which has seen him collaborate with such luminaries as Joe
Back Tracks: CHIC
It's a crime that when you talk about CHIC, many of the players who made up arguably the greatest band of the disco era aren't alive to hear your words of praise. Bernard Edwards, CHIC's bassist and co-producer, died in 1997; drummer Tony Thompson passed away in 2003. Nile Rodgers, guitarist, co-producer and keeper of the CHIC flame, could easily have met the same early fate had he not been lucky enough to discover the cancer that he's been since late last year. (Rodgers, one of the best users
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