Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Elvis Costello, King of America and Other Realms (UMe) 6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 140-gram Black LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 140-gram Gold Nugget LP: Official Store / uDiscover Music / The Sound of Vinyl Elvis Costello is looking back on his tenth
Fanny Walked the Earth: Cherry Red's "The Reprise Years 1970-1973" Expands All-Female Band's First Four Albums
When Fanny - a.k.a. June Millington (guitar), Jean Millington (bass), Alice De Buhr (drums), and Nickey Barclay (keyboards) - came to Reprise Records in 1969, the foursome became the first all-female rock band to be signed to a major label. Championed by Richard Perry, Fanny went on record four albums for Reprise, notch two top 40 singles, open for acts including Humble Pie, Jethro Tull, and Slade, and even back Barbra Streisand on a couple of songs. Their catalogue has been well-served over
Alice Cooper's 'Muscle of Love' Has Never Been Sold Before (Like This)
Alice Cooper's final album - well, the final album with Cooper's original band of the same name - is getting a deluxe treatment this year. Available on 2CD/Blu-ray and pink double vinyl exclusively at Rhino.com, 1973's Muscle of Love gets expanded with unreleased alternate versions of every track on the album and lengthy, track-by-track liner notes by writer Jaan Uhelszki, drawing from new interviews with Cooper and his surviving bandmates (rhythm guitarist Michael Bruce, bassist Dennis
Maybe This Year: Steve Perry Plots Third Reissue of Holiday Album 'The Season'
Until a few years ago, fans wondered if Steve Perry - the best known voice of blockbuster rock band Journey - would ever sing again after a lengthy absence from the public eye. After a celebrated comeback album in 2018, Perry ended his shortest gap between solo releases three years later, with the holiday album The Season; this Christmas, it's being reissued a third time on a new label, with even more new material. True to its name, The Season 3 is the third iteration of Perry's holiday
So Amazing: Companion Album to Luther Vandross Documentary Features Unreleased Songs
One of this year's documentary darlings at the Sundance Film Festival, a look at the life and career of Luther Vandross, makes its theatrical debut in select cities this week. Ahead of its wider, planned streaming release in 2025, Legacy Recordings will issue a new double-disc anthology of his work, accompanied by several rare and unreleased tracks. Never Too Much: Greatest Hits, available December 13, offers 20 tracks on two CDs that represent the cream of Vandross' solo career. In addition
Release Round-Up: Week of October 25
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Blue Magic, Stop to Start: The Atco and WMOT Recordings (SoulMusic/The Second Disc) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Cherry Red) Let the sideshow begin! SoulMusic Records and TSD are proud to unveil a new 6-CD box set dedicated to the sweet 'n funky soul stylings of Philly quintet Blue Magic ("Sideshow," "Three Ring
The Weekend Stream: October 19, 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. A brief week offers some unusual soundtracks, an even more unusual Beach Boys homage - and plenty of Christmas curiosities! Various Artists, Pulp Fiction (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Geffen) (iTunes / Amazon) This weekend, the iconic songs-and-dialogue album for Quentin Tarantino's classic film Pulp Fiction - featuring favorites
Release Round-Up: Week of October 18
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. Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers, Long After Dark: Deluxe Edition (Geffen/UMe) 2CD/Blu-ray Audio: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD/Blu-ray Audio (with Amazon-exclusive stickers): Amazon U.S. 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Tom Petty Store (Exclusive) Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers' fifth studio
From Scores to Soul: Craft Recordings' RSD Black Friday Slate Includes Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, More
It's that time of year again! With Record Store Day's annual Black Friday event happening just weeks away - on Friday, November 29 - news has arrived of what to expect from each label. Craft Recordings' ever-eclectic slate features classic jazz, rare soundtracks, vintage soul sides, and more from an array of boldfaced names including Max Roach, Curtis Mayfield, Isaac Hayes, Angelo Badalamenti, and others. You'll find the full list below, with descriptions provided by the label for all
Fairy Tale: Cherry Red, Grapefruit Reissue Rock Cult Classic from Amazing Blondel Predecessor Methuselah
Before founding progressive folk group Amazing Blondel, John Gladwin and Terry Wincott played in various musical units and styles. After honing their skills in beat, blues, R&B, soul, and even California-inspired psychedelic harmony pop, the British duo turned their sights to harder rock and changed their band's name from The Gospel Garden (inspired by both The 5th Dimension's Jimmy Webb-penned opus The Magic Garden and the 1963 recording of the Langston Hughes stage adaptation Black
Review: Frank Zappa, "apostrophe ('): 50th Anniversary Edition"
Strictly commercial? Not quite. Though Frank Zappa earned his first top ten record and first Gold record with apostrophe (') - the same LP that spun off his first single to make the Billboard Hot 100 - it would be difficult to argue that the singer-songwriter-bandleader had dramatically altered his art in an effort to hit the charts. Sure, the material was a bit more focused and the album rather tight at 32 minutes in length. Yeah, the cover artwork, with its instantly recognizable,
Mama, Cradle Me Again: Madfish Collects Laura Nyro Albums, Rarities on New CD Box
Over three years after the release of its 8LP vinyl box set American Dreamer 1967-1978, the Madfish label is returning to the discography of late singer-songwriter Laura Nyro for the December 6 release of Hear My Song: The Collection 1966-1995. Whereas American Dreamer chronicled Nyro's first decade of music, the 19CD Hear My Song is a career-spanning appreciation of the artist who influenced such talents as Elton John, Barry Manilow, Todd Rundgren, Stephen Schwartz, Rickie Lee Jones, Melissa
The Weekend Stream: October 12, 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. The Christmas creep may continue, but we've got plenty more where that came from: a new spin on a John Lennon classic, rare remixes from David Bowie, a live triumph from Céline Dion, some thrills and chills from the Alien universe - and first off, a charitable compilation built for a good cause in the wake of our country's severest storms of
Ace Round-Up: Label Celebrates John Barry, Jackie DeShannon, Thom Bell, Paul Williams, Holland-Dozier-Holland
Today, we're rounding up five releases from Ace Records, all of which were released within the past few months by the U.K. label. Ace has followed up its 2022 collection dedicated to the oeuvre of composer John Barry, The More Things Change: Film TV, and Studio Work 1968-1972, with a new volume of the film maestro's works. Something's Up! Film, TV, and Studio Work 1964-1967 (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) hardly plays like a collection of runners-up, however. Barry crafted so
A "Runaway" Hit: Bon Jovi Prep Physical Deluxe Edition of Debut Album
Earlier this year, UMe celebrated the 40th anniversary of Bon Jovi's debut album with an extras-packed digital deluxe edition. Just in time for Christmas, that set is getting a physical 2CD release. The self-titled effort from the New Jersey rockers sports nine extra tracks, including previously unreleased early versions of debut single "Runaway" and new mixes of previously released live material from the band's longtime engineer Obie O'Brien. The set is packaged in a standard jewel case and
The Weekend Stream: October 5, 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 Saturday brings remixes from James Brown, live rarities from Daryl Hall and - yes - a jump on some Christmas catalogue. James Brown, We Got to Change / Soul Power: The Remixes (Republic/UMe) (iTunes / Amazon) "We Got to Change" was an exciting find earlier this year: an unreleased 1970 track featuring an early version of The J.B.'s,
Release Round-Up: Week of October 4
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. Joni Mitchell, Archives Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) (Rhino) 6CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 4: The Asylum Years (1976-1980) features six CDs (also available as a "highlights" set on four LPs) chronicling the Canadian icon's trek
Back to 'Back to Bedlam': James Blunt Expands Brilliant Debut
Two decades ago, an earnest British singer-songwriter with a distinctive, keening voice had a hit that would, for better or worse, define the arc of his career as a musician. This month, James Blunt is gamely revisiting his debut album, Back to Bedlam, with a new deluxe edition and an outlandish promise of what he'll do if it's a chart success at home. Available on October 11, the remastered and expanded Bedlam will come with a bonus disc of demos of the entire album, plus four additional
Wild and Crazy: Rhino Collects Steve Martin's Comedy Albums
There aren't many comedians funnier than Steve Martin. Though the gray-haired funnyman only spent the better part of a decade performing as a stand-up before pursuing acting, writing, and even bluegrass originals, Martin's brilliant blend of highbrow, lowbrow and absurdist humor made him one of the most head-turning entertainers of his generation. Rhino Records will celebrate his funniest sides with a new box set in November. Steve in a Box: The Warner Years (1977-1981) brings together all
The Weekend Stream: September 28, 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. There's a lot of killer stuff on the list today, including two new singles from rock icons, a digital expansion of one of Sting's best-loved albums, live David Bowie coming from the vaults, a Stevie Wonder syllabus and much more! The Cure, "Alone" (Polydor) (iTunes / Amazon) For the first time in 16 years, The Cure are set to release a new
The Jungle is Your Head: U2 Prep 'Atomic Bomb' Box
Hello, hello: U2 will revisit their 11th album - and, depending on where you stand, the end of one era and the start of another - with a deluxe box set edition of How to Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The set, available November 22 - exactly 20 years to the day of its original release - will feature five CDs or eight LPs of music: the original album, new collections of unreleased demos and vintage remixes, and the debut audio release of Vertigo 2005 - Live from Chicago, released on DVD in 2005 in
Pictures Came and Broke Your Heart: Cherry Red to Release Bruce Woolley and The Camera Club Collection
Everyone knows the story: at the stroke of midnight on August 1, 1981, the new cable station Music Television (MTV) first aired, playing a steady stream of heretofore little-seen "music videos" that redefined pop music for the rest of the decade. Their first, of course, was The Buggles' "Video Killed the Radio Star": a prescient choice, though not even a single from the '80s (it topped the U.K. charts and dented the U.S. Top 40 in 1979!) - and, as a new collection from Cherry Red underlines, The
Crawling from the Wreckage: Omnivore Preps Double-Disc Collection of Dave Edmunds' Complete Swan Song Singles
From his very first solo hit in 1970 (a cover of Dave Bartholomew's "I Hear You Knocking") to his final album release (2015's On Guitar...Rags and Classics), Welsh guitarist-singer-songwriter-producer Dave Edmunds proselytized for the power of pure rock-and-roll. Whether stripping the sound down to basics or doing a spot-on emulation of Phil Spector's Wall of Sound, Edmunds emphasized the joy of the genre. In January 1972, he released his first solo album: Rockpile. Its title would augur
Dying to Meet You: Judas Priest's Debut Revisited with Definitive Remix
It took 50 years, but Judas Priest have finally perfected the way they want their debut to sound. The British metal icons will reissue 1974's Rocka Rolla on November 22 - one of the first truly sanctioned releases of the first album by the group - with a brand-new remix from the original multi-track tapes by producer Tom Allom. "I'm just thrilled," frontman Rob Halford said in a statement. "Tom Allom is giving us a second chance here with the way that a lot of the elements were lost in
What a Difference You've Made: Ronnie Milsap's Greatest Hits Come Back to Vinyl
The smooth, blockbuster country sound of Ronnie Milsap is coming back to vinyl. Craft Recordings will issue a wide-release black LP pressing of 2020's The Best of Ronnie Milsap, issued on CD and digitally not long after the label became the home for Milsap's winning streak of RCA Records albums and singles through the '70s, '80s and beyond. (A dark-red vinyl was issued exclusively for Cracker Barrel stores back then; this time around, a "tan smoke" variant will be available to Milsap's top