ABBA are set to release their latest - and as of a few years ago, truly - career-spanning compilation this fall. Available October 25 on two CDs or four LPs, The Singles (The First Fifty Years) updates the concept of 1982's The Singles (The First Ten Years), a double album which collected 23 of the group's A-sides (including new tracks "The Day Before You Came" and "Under Attack," effectively the final works from the group after members Benny Andersson and Anni-Frid Lyngstad as well as Björn
Paul Robeson's Glorious Voice Gets Its Due on New Box Set
As an actor, singer, linguist and political thinker, Paul Robeson was one of the most accomplished Black men in America. A newly-released box set will finally give him the attention his work deserves. Voice of Freedom: His Complete Columbia, RCA, HMV and Victor Recordings is a lavish 14CD box set that serves at the definitive account of Robeson on record: a key figure of the Harlem Renaissance whose expressive bass-baritone preserved scores of American spirituals and folk songs, and a
The Weekend Stream: August 31, 2024
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. You're not hallucinating this week - there are more Daryl Hall and U2 EPs! - but there's also some great new soundtrack scores and vintage vocal jazz to peruse, too. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Daryl Hall, I'm in a Philly Mood (Epic) (iTunes / Amazon) Hall's third album, 1993's Soul Alone, was more than a
Boys from the County Hell: The Pogues' Debut Goes Deluxe for Its 40th Anniversary
To mark 40 years since their unconventional sound was loosed on the European record buying public, The Pogues' debut album Red Roses for Me will be reissued by Rhino this fall. The package will be available as a red LP on recycled vinyl - featuring a 2013 remix of the album that was first pressed on wax two years later - or a 2CD set that will make the remix available on the format for the first time, along with a bonus disc of six B-sides and a dozen live sessions for the BBC. (Those 12 tracks
Release Round-Up: Week of August 30
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Oasis, Definitely Maybe: 30th Anniversary Edition (Big Brother) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada "You'll never see them on a stage any time soon, but Oasis are putting out some unheard material on a new reissue of their debut album..." We've rarely been so happy to
Light in the Attic Compiles Lou Reed's Earliest Work for Pickwick Records
For most people - let's say the 30,000 or so people who started a band after buying their debut - The Velvet Underground was the band that introduced the world to the uncompromising rock energy of Lou Reed. As the latest archival title of his released by Light in the Attic Records will illustrate, Reed's talents were first put on record in a possibly more unusual place than with The VU. Why Don't You Smile Now: Lou Reed At Pickwick Records 1964-1965 will serve as the first official anthology
The Weekend Stream: August 24, 2024
Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc's review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. This week sees digital reissues from some familiar names (Madonna, Daryl Hall and U2) as well as some new/old music from names you might not have expected, from '90s pop-whiz New Radicals(?!) to '50s piano player Cy Walter. Plus, a heartfelt recommendation for one of the week's best new albums! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying
Blues At Sunrise: Stax Expands Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan's 'In Session'
An intergenerational meeting between two late blues guitar gods - Albert King and Stevie Ray Vaughan - will be revived on CD and vinyl in a new expanded package. Originally recorded in 1983 and first released in 1999, In Session features the six-stringers trading licks on a Canadian television program of the same name, when King was a 60-year-old living legend and Vaughan a young upstart who'd turned heads with his licks on David Bowie's Let's Dance before releasing his own powerful
Like the Very First Time: Foreigner Celebrate Rock Hall Induction with New Compilation and Single
To celebrate their induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame later this year, Foreigner will release a new greatest hits collection, including a new track that reunites the group's two most notable members. Turning Back the Time, in stores October 4 from Rhino, brings together 18 of the group's most notable radio staples, including "Feels Like the First Time," "Cold As Ice," "Hot Blooded," "Urgent," "Waiting for a Girl Like You," "Juke Box Hero," "I Want to Know What Love Is," "Say You
Soundtrack Watch: Intrada Detects 'Foul Play,' La-La Land's Big Sale
If you're a catalogue soundtrack enthusiast, you're usually always ready to take a chance again on a new pressing of an old favorite. Intrada's latest reissue is about to make that idea as literal as possible: a new remix and expansion of Charles Fox's score to the 1978 comedy Foul Play. Written and directed by Colin Higgins (who penned the script to Harold and Maude and later directed the comedy 9 to 5), Foul Play is a screwy Hitchcock homage about a librarian (Goldie Hawn) who gets mixed up
Two Sides of Cornbread: New Compilation Plays Tribute to Unsung Minneapolis Legend
The name Cornbread Harris might only resonate with the most devoted acolytes of Minneapolis, Minnesota's rich history of R&B music. A new compilation, produced by Harris' biographer, aims to change that. Anthology is an eight-track look into the musical career of James Harris, Jr., better known as Cornbread - a key figure and forefather in the Twin Cities' contribution to America's musical landscape. Featuring a mix of rare and unreleased material spanning from the first single Harris
Release Round-Up: Week of August 16
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Lindsey Buckingham, 20th Century Lindsey (Rhino) 4CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Rhino.com Lindsey Buckingham's earliest solo works are getting a box set from Rhino this summer. True to its name, 20th Century Lindsey features remastered versions of the three albums the Fleetwood Mac singer/guitarist issued
The Right to Sing: Cherry Red's Lemon Imprint Collects John Miles' "The Albums 1983-93"
Singer-songwriter John Miles' 1976 hit "Music," the opening track of his Decca debut album Rebel, immediately became the artist's calling card. The Alan Parsons-produced single went to the top five on the U.K. Singles Chart, also reaching the top ten in various European countries, and cracking the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. The epic prog ballad won Miles an Ivor Novello Award, and launched Miles into the stratosphere. Two well-received albums with producer Rupert Holmes followed,
St. Jimmy, Re-Canonized: Green Day Prep 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of 'American Idiot'
With 20 years' hindsight, Green Day probably meant for their seventh studio album to be big. But nobody could have predicted just how big American Idiot got - and this year's latest addition to the year-end music box set line-up will showcase just how big with a package to match. American Idiot will come back into print with a new box set spanning four CDs (or eight colored LPs) and two Blu-ray Discs. It'll feature the original album, a disc of B-sides and non-LP live tracks, 15 unreleased
Run for Home: Lindisfarne's "Mercury Years" Collected on Box from Cherry Red, Lemon
With a sound melding harmony vocals to soaring folk-rock, Newcastle upon Tyne band Lindisfarne released three studio albums - including the 1972 breakthrough Fog on the Tyne, which spent 56 weeks on the U.K. Albums Chart - before splintering. Two-fifths of the band carried on with new members for a pair of albums in 1973-74, but by '75, the group had called it a day. Then, in 1978, they were back. The album was cheekily entitled Back and Fourth, referring to the fact that the originals had
Review: Rhino's Sounds of the Summer Series - Randy Newman, Chicago, Daryl Hall and John Oates, Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons, Al Stewart, Utopia
Over the past month, Rhino has been releasing numerous titles as part of its Sounds of the Summer initiative, for a total of over two dozen vinyl releases hitting brick-and-mortar stores. These titles encompass various reissues as well as new entries in the label's ongoing Now Playing series of compilations. As of now, these LPs are all exclusive to independent record stores and Barnes & Noble locations. We've given a spin to a few of these titles! How to distill the discography of one
Turn Back Time: Cher Collects Hits on "Forever," Adds Rarities to Digital Edition
On October 19, Cher will be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. One month later, on November 19, Cher releases the first volume of her long-awaited autobiography. The Memoir: Part One will be preceded on September 20 by the superstar's latest hits anthology - her first in nearly two decades. Forever, featuring 21 newly remastered songs curated by the artist, arrives from Warner Records on 1 CD or 2 LPs (pressed on crystal-clear vinyl). On the same date, the Forever: Fan Edition
Roxy and Elsewhere: Bryan Ferry, Phil Manzanera Plan Career-Spanning Box Sets
What are the odds? Two career-spanning box sets featuring solo material by members of Roxy Music - lead singer Bryan Ferry and guitarist Phil Manzanera - will be available this fall. Ferry's Retrospective: Selected Recordings 1973-2023 will be a 5CD overview divided into thematic collections of his work outside of Roxy Music. The first is a new 20-track collection of his best-loved singles, including the U.K. Top 10s "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall," "Let's Stick Together" and "Slave to Love."
Straight Ahead: New Box Set Chronicles Jimi Hendrix's Time At Electric Lady Studios
Among his final and most enduring acts as a musician, Jimi Hendrix purchased a Greenwich Village nightclub with the intention of transforming it into a recording studio. A new documentary will tell that story of its creation, and an accompanying box set will highlight an unreleased trove of recordings from his few but pivotal sessions there. Electric Lady Studios: A Jimi Hendrix Vision, available September 13 as a 3CD or 5LP set, offers 39 demos and early takes from Hendrix's summer 1970
Neil Young's Third 'Archives' Box is His Biggest Yet
Neil Young has announced a big fall release: the third - and biggest - box set in his long-running Archives series. Archives Vol. III (1976-1987), slated for release September 6, will span in its deluxe form a whopping 17 CDs and five Blu-rays boasting a broad array of songs and film footage: 15 unreleased songs, 121 unreleased tracks and 11 full-length films (four of them unreleased). Housed in a box identical to Archives Vol. I (1963-1972) (2009) and Archives Vol. II (1972-1976) (2020), the
Release Round-Up: Week of July 26
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles in stores today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Loleatta Holloway, We're Getting Stronger: The Gold Mind/Salsoul Recordings (1976-1982) (SoulMusic/The Second Disc) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red) We're Getting Stronger: The Gold Mind/Salsoul Recordings (1976-1982) presents, on 5 CDs, all of the late, great Loleatta Holloway's albums for Gold Mind and
A New Day: Varese Brings Randy Newman's "Pleasantville" to Vinyl
Writer-director Gary Ross' 1998 fantasy Pleasantville transported modern-day high school students and twin siblings David (Tobey Maguire) and Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) into the 1950s sitcom of the same name, where the pair proves to be the catalyst for the fictional community's shift from buttoned-up black-and-white to provocative color. To compose the score to his high-concept film, Ross turned to a master of both satire and Americana: acclaimed singer-songwriter Randy Newman. His richly
Review: Joni Mitchell, "The Asylum Albums 1972-1975" in Quadio
The Joni Mitchell renaissance continues. Following a triumphant surprise appearance in July 2022 at the Newport Folk Festival, the singer-songwriter returned to the stage for a full-length Joni Jam in June 2023 at Washington's Gorge Amphitheatre; tickets were quickly snapped up by ardent fans who had waited roughly two decades to see Mitchell in concert once again. The evening was a transcendent one, a taste of which was supplied to the public when Mitchell and her band of friends performed
In Memoriam: Abdul "Duke" Fakir of the Four Tops (1935-2024)
Is it possible for a group like the Four Tops to be underrated? On its face, that question seems ridiculous. The Detroit vocal quartet had two dozen Top 40 hits in America between 1964 and 1988; they're in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Vocal Group Hall of Fame and the R&B Group Hall of Fame, they have a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award; Rolling Stone and Billboard both named them one of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Those are laurels
When The Weather Is High: Mungo Jerry's "Electronically Tested" Returns from 7a Records on CD, LP
The summer of 1970 was the summer of Mungo Jerry. The British band's catchy "In the Summertime" began a seven-week stay atop the U.K. Singles Chart, while in the U.S., Mungomania propelled the tune to No. 1 on Record World and No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100. Now, 7a Records is preparing for another wave of Mungomania with the well-timed release on July 19 of the band's 1971 album Electronically Tested in newly remastered and expanded editions on both CD and LP. With its mélange of varied