Today, the 25th anniversary reissue of R.E.M.'s Fables of the Reconstruction hits stores. Athens, Georgia's favorite rock band has spent the past five years or so establishing their place in the pop-rock firmament: since 2006, the band's early recordings for I.R.S. Records - a six-year span between 1982 and 1987 - have been the center of much catalogue attention from EMI and Universal (each has a piece of the I.R.S. catalogue). The four members of the band - vocalist Michael Stipe, guitarist
News Round-Up: Coming Soon from Audio Fidelity, Kritzerland & Masterworks Broadway
There's lots of label action to report today, so let's just jump right in: Hot on the heels of this week's release of Stevie Wonder's Talking Book and Laura Nyro's Time and Love: The Essential Masters, Audio Fidelity has announced two more titles to receive the 24K Gold CD reissue treatment. Coming up are two 1980s classics: Rickie Lee Jones' 1989 Flying Cowboys, produced by Walter Becker of Steely Dan, and Billy Idol's Rebel Yell, the 1983 album that catapulted Idol to superstardom. Steve
Back Tracks: The Apple Tree, Part I
The news of the Apple Records catalogue getting a new remastering and reissuing is one of the many catalogue stories one should file under "cautious optimism." It is awesome to have these classic, underappreciated records from luminaries like Badfinger, James Taylor and Billy Preston back into local record shops, bearing fresh digital remasters by the team that did a pretty darn good job on last year's Beatles remasters. But there are things we have to remember as fans. First, pretty much all
Reissue Theory: D'Angelo, "Brown Sugar"
The music industry is too often based upon unreachable expectations. An artist will sell millions of copies and gain critical acclaim and widespread public admiration on one album, and get lambasted come the next record for not perfectly matching the arc of their predecessor. Ridiculously, nobody takes the time out to realize that holy crap, for some fleeting moment, an artist unified the public through their music. Even if an artist is only fleetingly consistent (like Guns N' Roses) or
Reissue Round-Up: To the Moon with Simon
Here's a handful of blurbs that we can thank MusicTAP for bringing to our attention from Legacy Recordings: There's a date on the calendar (August 10, to be exact) saved for a 10th anniversary reissue of Modest Mouse's The Moon and Antarctica. The band's major-label debut was previously reissued in 2004 (after the mainstream success of follow-up album Good News for People Who Love Bad News and its hit single "Float On"); that reissue saw the LP get a brand-new remix and four live bonus tracks
Come Back When You Grow Up: Lost Bobby Vee Tracks to See Release
The early 1960s could be thought of as the era of the Bobbys: Darin, Rydell, Vee. Despite rising to prominence in the unfairly-derided period between the birth of rock & roll and the British Invasion, these post-Elvis pop stars all stormed the charts and left behind great recorded legacies. Darin was a multi-faceted entertainer who touched on pop, standards and folk-rock with equal ability before passing away at a too-young age, Rydell waxed some of the most indelible pop confections out of
Rick Nelson Box Set Raves On
A hat tip to MusicTAP for pointing this one out: Bear Family, the inimitable German catalogue label specializing in reissues from the early days of rock, is issuing the last in a series of career-spanning box sets from the late, great Rick Nelson. In 1957, Ricky Nelson, the heartthrob co-star of The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet (which starred his parents), began to develop a rock 'n' roll career that thrived throughout the rest of the decade. Next to Elvis Presley and Pat Boone, there was no
Friday Feature - "Jaws: The Revenge"
Let's get the facts out of the way first: Jaws: The Revenge (1987), the third sequel to one of the best horror films of all time, is terrible. It is quite possibly the worst movie ever made. It is so bad that I once watched the film with a friend and we ended up taking a break (with the film, not with our friendship, though that could have just as easily happened). The plot is ludicrous: Ellen Brody (Lorraine Gary), the widow of Roy Scheider's heroic police chief from the first two Jaws films,
Loesser is Always More: Happy Birthday, Frank Loesser!
While his name may not be instantly recognizable today, many of the songs penned by Frank Loesser most certainly are: “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” “Heart and Soul,” “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?,” “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat.” The man himself passed away in 1969, but his catalog lives on. June 29 would have marked Loesser's 100th birthday, and Sony’s Masterworks Broadway division marks the centennial with this week’s release of the 19-track compilation Heart and Soul: Celebrating the
Review: The Jackson 5, "Live at The Forum"
One of the oddest takeaways from watching Michael Jackson perform live was always the screaming. Watch almost anything Jackson ever commissioned for live release - snippets from Moonwalker, the Bucharest concert recorded during the Dangerous tour - and you'll see an increasingly disturbing parade of young people, sweating, screaming, crying, hyperventilating and fainting at the mere notion of a glance, point or step from the King of Pop - their king, their idol, an undying figure that law, fame
News Round-Up: Prince Possibilites, Soundtrack Bits, Plus Bon Jovi Reaction
Here's something that'll get tongues wagging: gossip blogger Dr. Funkenberry, known for his commentary and scoops around the Prince camp, reported that The Artist partook in a meeting at the headquarters of former label, Warner Bros. The idea is that his upcoming album, 20Ten, will get a release with several European publications (similar to the release of 2007's Planet Earth), but will be released through WB in the U.S. PLEASE let this mean that reissues are in the cards somewhere. Pitchfork
Back Tracks: Michael Jackson Part 1 - The Motown Years
With Friday being the year anniversary of Michael Jackson's death, The Second Disc would be at fault for not commemorating The King of Pop's recording career and its representation through catalogue preservation. But to quote a dusty outtake from The Jackson 5, we're gonna change our style. Your humble correspondent cannot possibly say anything about Jackson's career that hasn't already been said in the year since he passed away. There are plenty of other resources for such a thing - I
Reissue Theory: Brian Wilson, "Imagination"
Monday, June 21 marks the first day of Summer 2010. How appropriate, then, that the 68th birthday of Brian Wilson was a mere day earlier on June 20. Few musicians, if any, have contributed as much to the American myth of summer as Beach Boys leader Wilson. Years after galvanizing popular music with albums like 1966's much-reissued Pet Sounds and singles such as the same year's psychedelic "Good Vibrations," Wilson embarked on a solo career in 1988. Like so much of the man's journey through life,
Hip-O's Next Payback
To cap off another week of catalogue livin' and lovin', Hip-o Select has announced the ninth volume in its long-running James Brown singles sets. The Singles Vol. 9: 1973-1975 collates all of J.B.'s A and B-sides from the age, along with some duet singles with Lyn Collins and tracks by Fred Wesley and The J.B.'s. As usual, expect the photos, annotations and liner notes penned by Brown's former touring manager Alan Leeds, easily one of the most knowledgeable experts on The Godfather of Soul. Get
The Long and Short of It
If you haven't checked out the discussion on this week's post about single edits/versions on compilations, do so immediately. It's a fun, thoughtful look at an issue that some of us take for granted every now and again. It's inevitably led to a bit of thought given to the opposite consideration, too: what if labels started releasing longer versions of hits everyone knew and loved? What a delightful surprise that would be. And I keep crossing my fingers that it'll happen every now and
Close (To the Edit)
Not to disparage our treasured readers, but reader Shaun delivered one of the most thought-provoking comments on The Second Disc in awhile when discussing yesterday's post on a hypothetical Dave Matthews Band compilation. To quote: But what's with all the edits in your tracklist, Mike? Sorry, but I HATE when you buy a "best of" set and you get stuck with radio, single edits. Those hideous cuts on both "My Life" and "Pressure" on the original pressing of Billy Joel's Greatest Hits Vol I & II
Rhino Handmade Goes "On Tour" Plus a Bit of Live Dead
Rhino Handmade has announced its latest title, a thoroughly expanded edition of Delaney & Bonnie's seminal live LP On Tour with Eric Clapton. In late 1969, Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett embarked on a killer tour that included some of the best blues and rock musicians of the era. Clapton was the featured performer, to be sure, but that tour also included star turns from Leon Russell, Dave Mason of Traffic, Carl Radle, Jim Gordon and Bobby Whitlock (who would form Derek and The Dominos with
News Round-up: A Soulful Tuesday
Soul music enthusiasts have had a lot to cheer about this year, with boutique labels (Reel Music, Cherry Red’s Big Break and Super-Bird) and majors (Hip-O Select) alike delivering the goods with deluxe reissues of many classic albums. Soulmusic.com is offering two new releases this week, one on its own label and one coming from Expansion Records. Thelma Houston’s 1969 LP Sunshower (Dunhill 50054) was previously available on CD as an expensive Japanese import, but Soulmusic.com brings it to the
Bacharach: Reissued, Remastered and Remixed
Hot on the heels of The Second Disc’s look at the solo recordings of Burt Bacharach, news just broke that one of the maestro’s most famous non-solo albums is receiving the limited-edition deluxe reissue treatment from the Kritzerland label. United Artists’ cast recording of the 1968 Broadway musical Promises, Promises has long been a favorite recording of Bacharach & David aficionados for introducing their songs “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again,” “Promises, Promises” and “Knowing When to
Under the Table and Dreaming (of a Better Compilation)
Last night at the Bonnaroo Music Festival, the venerable rockers of the Dave Matthews Band did an excellent job of putting the outdoor concert series to bed while kicking off yet another behemoth summer tour - their last before taking a previously-unheard-of break from touring in 2011 after some two decades on the road. The band, though still strong as ever, will benefit from the battery charge; the death of founding member LeRoi Moore in 2008 could have stopped them in their tracks, but they
Like Father, Like Son
Humorously enough, just as word spreads that a large Bob Dylan box set might be in the works, Interscope preps a catalogue compilation devoted to Mr. Zimmerman's son Jakob and his band The Wallflowers. Looking Through You - Another Collection will compile some of The Wallflowers' best-known odds and ends from singles, soundtracks and other compilations. The Wallflowers were a popular band in the late '90s alt-rock scene for a number of reasons. Yes, Jakob was the son of musical royalty, but his
On the Radio
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhTRQE2AELA] In the past week, The Second Disc has had a lot to say, whether it was about Prince, Scott Walker, Huey Lewis and The News or a few others. Every now and then, it's nice to turn the lens around to you, the reader, because we all have different songs and artists filling our head at any given time. We lead you to the weekend by throwing to another bit of open-ended discussion. Most of us were likely, in the words of Journey, raised on radio.
Box Set Round-Up: Hank Williams and Level 42
There's a pair you'd never expect to see in the same title. A few bits of news around the way regarding a few box sets coming up. First up, Time-Life has got a really large box set of Hank Williams material coming out. The Complete Mother's Best Recordings...Plus! is a 16-disc box set (including a DVD) of all Williams legendary, surviving recordings for Nashville radio station WSM (where he had his own show sponsored by Mother's Best Flour). These 72 acetates were recorded through 1951, two
The Setlist Situation, Part II
A huge debt to Vintage Vinyl News for posting the track lists of the upcoming batch of Setlist compilations from Legacy Recordings. If you haven't been following these titles, Sony's reissue label is releasing 11 budget-oriented live compilations (basically a live counterpart to their successful and sometimes collector-worthy Playlist series) on July 13. Happily, VVN's post (the information of which comes from Legacy itself) shows the discs seem rather forthcoming about recording information -
Prince Week Day 6: Life in the Madhouse
In determining what was going to make up the contents of Prince Week, a great deal of agonizing was endured over where to place Prince's many side projects. Prince, ever the purple brain trust, developed a lot of side projects over time, particularly during the beginning of his success as a pop artist. The Time, Sheila E. and Vanity 6 are still the best acts he ever squired in the early Paisley Park years, but there were plenty others that deserve a look back someday - and ultimately, the sheer
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