Some four decades ago, Barclay James Harvest delivered one of their first great albums, and a towering achievement in the prog-rock genre. This past winter, EMI reissued the record in a manner quite befitting of its classic status. Once Again was the band's second album for Harvest Records, put out three years into their tenure with EMI. With notable tracks like "Song for Dying," "Galadriel" and "Mocking Bird" (the latter of which remains one of the band's most iconic songs), and the backing of
Back Into Battle with The Art of Noise
It's with great pleasure to find out that The Art of Noise's debut effort, Into Battle with The Art of Noise (1983), will be reissued as part of ZTT/Salvo's ongoing Element Series in April. And hardcore Art of Noise fans have a lot to be excited about this new release. The Art of Noise. Those four words signify a bizarre advent in '80s pop music - perhaps the ultimate marriage of music and technology (a staple of almost all popular art released that decade), a template upon which much of modern
Reissue Theory: Stevie Nicks Solo - and Beyond
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we reflect on notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. With anticipation running high for a new album from Stevie Nicks in a few months, we bring you a special look back at her first two solo albums - which have never been expanded - and that one record she's on that fans have been anxiously waiting for an official CD release... This post is dedicated with love to Stephen Sears, a good friend of The Second Disc. Today is his
Short Takes: The Kinks are Koming Stateside, B.A.D. Reissues Planned, MBV Insanity, More Live Dead
Those upcoming deluxe reissues of the first three Kinks LPs in the U.K. this April are coming to American record stores too! They've been set for April 12, one week after the British release date. (Thanks to MusicTAP for the tip!) Buried at the bottom of a press release touting the forthcoming Big Audio Dynamite reunion tour - no doubt spurred on in part by last year's pretty great deluxe reissue of their first album - there's a mention that Legacy is working with B.A.D. on more Legacy Editions
Run for the Hills! New Iron Maiden Compilation Due in May
Iron Maiden's latest studio release may be called The Final Frontier, but the band - whose latest leg of The Final Frontier World Tour is set to kick off tomorrow in Mexico and wind through South America and Europe through August - still have a few tricks up Eddie's rotting sleeve. On May 23 in the U.K. (and a day later in the States), the band will release From Fear to Eternity: The Best of 1990-2010, a compilation spanning their most recent two decades. Intended as a companion piece to 2008's
A Rumor That Would Put Me in a "State of Shock"
It's one of my favorite Michael Jackson stories: not long after Thriller, Jackson and Randy Hansen collaborate on a few songs together, one of which ends up on The Jacksons' mostly-forgettable Victory in 1984. That song, "State of Shock," is recorded as a duet with Mick Jagger and becomes the biggest hit off the album. The thing is, though, that Jagger wasn't meant to sing the song. Hansen was. And Hansen isn't even a real person. It's the pseudonym of one Freddie Mercury, the Queen frontman
Legacy Readies for Boy-Band Mania with "NKOTBSB" Compilation
For teenage girls of two different eras, the New Kids on the Block and the Backstreet Boys were the apex of pop music. Both of them were impossibly successful teen quintets created by astoundingly lucky impresarios who had or would soon strike gold with similar acts (NKOTB Svengali Maurice Starr also bought New Edition onto the pop music scene, while now-disgraced BSB producer Lou Pearlman would also make stars out of NSYNC). When both groups announced late last year that they were
Release Round-Up: Week of March 15
Queen, Queen / Queen II / Sheer Heart Attack / A Night at the Opera / A Day at the Races: Deluxe Editions (Island/UMe) Deluxe editions of the band's first five albums are out in the U.K., all remastered with bonus discs of rare or unreleased content. (They'll be out in the U.S. in May!) (Official site) Nick Lowe, Labour of Lust (Proper (U.K.)/Yep Roc (U.S.)) Lowe's New Wave classic, featuring the immortal "Cruel to Be Kind," is reissued on both sides of the Atlantic, featuring all the tracks
Rare Alfred Newman Score to "Counterfeit Traitor" Debuts from Kritzerland
It's not too great an exaggeration to state that without Alfred Newman, we probably wouldn't be discussing film music here at The Second Disc, or anywhere else. In a career spanning 40 years and some 200 films, Newman played an integral, early role in the art of composing original music for cinema. He was rewarded with a whopping 45 Academy Award nominations and nine wins, and even made music the family business. Brothers Lionel and Emil had impressive careers, while sons Thomas and David
Will "Psycho" Sale Pave the Way for a Long-Awaited Release?
The score to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho - that terrifying, string-based effort by Bernard Hermann - has entertained audiences the world over since the film's release over 50 years ago. But it is one of the great crimes of catalogue music history that the original score as heard in the film has never been released on any format, be it LP, cassette or CD. That may change, if a U.K. report is to be believed. From Brighton's The Argus: Psycho has one of the most iconic film scores in movie history
Suede Catalogue Overhaul Coming This Summer
Back in September, we reported on a hits/B-sides compilation for legendary Britpop band Suede. Now, the recently-reunited band have announced a major catalogue expansion through U.K. label Demon/Edsel. In five weeks starting May 30, the label will release massive three-disc editions of each of the band's studio LPs, from 1993's self-titled debut to 2002's A New Morning. The sets will feature two CDs featuring the remastered original albums, the band's many non-LP B-sides and many unreleased
Friday Feature: "The Graduate"
“Just one word…plastics.” With that one word, spoken to the disaffected Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) by an associate of his father’s, the audience viewing 1967’s film The Graduate, could both laugh and sneer along with Benjamin. After all, “plastics” stood for all that was superficial and fake in society. Mike Nichols, directing only his second feature film after a successful Broadway career, was anything but subtle as he masterfully threaded the film’s themes throughout every aspect of
More Queen Details Emerge, Copy Editor Badly Needed for Band Website
Two quick notes from the official Queen website on the upcoming reissues: The reissues, already confirmed for release in America (woo hoo!), now have a firm release date! (Double woo hoo!!) The deluxe editions of Queen, Queen II, Sheer Heart Attack, A Night at the Opera and A Day at the Races will come out on Hollywood Records May 17. For the U.K. (who will be receiving the reissues in a week and a half), all the reissues are going to be available together as a box set. The set will be
La-La Land's Going "Mad" Next Week
Not too long ago, La-La Land Records announced it had only one title due out March 15. Now they've revealed what score they've unearthed - but it's something that's been reissued before. It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) is one of the most madcap comedies ever released by Hollywood. Part road picture - groups of people working against each other to find a hidden stash of cash in California - and part Tinseltown epic (dozens of comedians and movie stars appear in the film, including Sid
Review: Simon and Garfunkel, "Bridge Over Troubled Water: 40th Anniversary Edition"
"What's the point of [making] this album?," an impossibly youthful Paul Simon asks in the 1969 television special Songs of America. "The world is crumbling." If Simon didn't know then why he was "just" recording an album despite all of the tumult around him, he almost certainly knows now. After all, he and partner Art Garfunkel have seen Bridge Over Troubled Water make it to 40 years (actually, 41!), and have even participated in the celebration. The duo have also seen the accompanying album and
Experience Hendrix/Legacy, Round 3
Mark your calendars, Hendrix fans: another batch of Experience Hendrix/Legacy reissues are coming your way. Next month, Legacy will reissue three more titles in the Hendrix catalogue. The first is South Saturn Delta, a 1997 outtakes compilation first released during Experience Hendrix's partnership with MCA. That set, which featured plenty of sought-after outtakes in a more official context, will be pressed onto compact disc as well as vinyl. Then there's a DVD reissue of Hendrix's January 1,
Is Billy Squier's Latest Your Kinda Compilation?
Billy Squier fans who wore out their copies of 16 Strokes (1995) or Absolute Hits (2005) now have a new compilation opportunity at the end of the month. Essential Billy Squier takes 15 of the singer/guitarist's best cuts, spanning from 1980's Tale of the Tape to 1993's Tell the Truth. All the usual suspects are here, including U.S. Mainstream Rock chart-toppers "Everybody Wants You" and "Rock Me Tonite"; the latter-day hit "Don't Say You Love Me" and of course Squier's endearing single "The
Review: Neil Diamond, "The Bang Years 1966-1968"
When it comes to Neil Diamond, I'm a believer. There's not a trace of doubt in my mind that Diamond burst onto the scene at the right time - not necessarily the night time, though I, too, thank the lord for it. No, Diamond made a big noise in the corridors of Bang Records in the period between 1966 and 1968, an era when the music business was experiencing change more rapidly than anyone could have predicted. And it was far from predictable that the somber and intense young man pictured on The
Release Round-Up: Week of March 8
Billy Joel, Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert (Columbia/Legacy) The best of the Shea Stadium farewell shows on two CDs and a DVD or Blu-Ray. Not my favorite Joel show, but it's now yours for the buying. (Official site) Neil Diamond, The Bang Years 1966-1968 (Columbia/Legacy) Two Bang LPs (and one non-album single) on a nicely put-together disc - hopefully the first of many deserved tributes to the Solitary Man on the eve of his Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction. (Official site) Simon
Paul Rutherford Says "Oh World" Once More
Since The Second Disc has started, we've seen some pretty neat catalogue projects tied to Frankie Goes to Hollywood, namely reissues of the band's original two LPs from ZTT/Salvo and a 12" remix compilation featuring rare tracks from the band. Cherry Pop has another FTGH-oriented catalogue project coming out in U.K. next week. Oh World was the first LP by Paul Rutherford, known as a backing vocalist and dancer with Frankie (and one of the two openly gay members of the band). In 1989, not long
Review: Billy Joel, "Live at Shea Stadium" and "Last Play at Shea"
One of the biggest pitfalls as a music writer is reading something - usually a review - that spells out your thoughts so well that you have no idea where to go with your own piece. Popdose editor-in-chief Jeff Giles did that alarmingly well with his scathing assessment of Billy Joel's Live at Shea Stadium: The Concert (Columbia/Legacy 88697 85424-2, 2011), calling it "pungently shitty, the nadir of a relatively distinguished career, and the type of release that justifies the awful music business
Nektar's "A Tab in the Ocean" Released in Expanded Edition
"I wonder what would happen if a giant tab of acid was dropped into the sea?" asked a member of the progressive rock band Nektar some forty years ago, recalled Roye Albrighton, Nektar's guitarist and vocalist. Albrighton and his mates parlayed their curiosity into the group's acclaimed second album, appropriately titled A Tab in the Ocean. Philadelphia's ItsAboutMusic.com label has just reissued that recording in a deluxe two-CD set also containing a bonus "lost album," In the Beginning: The
Ike and Tina Turner! Phil Spector! "River Deep" Returns in April
Producer Phil Spector should have been sitting on top of the world in 1966, just one year after The Righteous Brothers continued their wave of success with “Just Once in My Life,” “Ebb Tide” and of course, “Unchained Melody.” He had recently signed Ike and Tina Turner to Philles, but the male half of that duo was of little consequence to him. In Tina Turner’s force-of-nature voice, Spector saw the latest and arguably most powerful vehicle for his increasingly majestic musical statements. When he
Friday Feature: "Fast Times at Ridgemont High"
More than 30 years ago, Dave Cameron walked through the halls of Clairemont High School in San Diego. He had a colorful collection of friends: a middle-class, business-oriented guy, his sexually naive sister, her sophisticated best friend, the jock and nerd duo that lusted after the girls and a colorful surfer dude. What none of them knew at the time was that Dave Cameron wasn't really a high school student. He was 22, and had already graduated high school seven years prior, at the age of 15. In
Review: Jackie DeShannon and Doris Troy, Anthologized by Ace
It may have been sheer coincidence that Ace dropped I'll Do Anything: The Doris Troy Anthology 1960-1996 and Jackie DeShannon's Come and Get Me: The Complete Liberty and Imperial Singles Volume 2 on the same day. But different though these two singers may be, their similarities are striking. Both were pioneering female songwriters, with Troy penning her biggest hit, "Just One Look," and DeShannon offering up the likes of "When You Walk in the Room" and "Put a Little Love in Your Heart." Both had
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