For its April 3 release slate, the Audio Fidelity label is returning to the catalogues of two tried-and-true artists and label favorites. Having tackled James Taylor’s second, fourth and fifth albums, Audio Fidelity fills the gap in Taylor’s Warner Bros. catalogue with the release of the singer/songwriter’s third LP, 1971’s Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. Similarly, the label has given the remastered 24K Gold CD treatment to four of the five albums from Wonder’s “golden era” at Motown
What you will see after the jump are eight more of Universal's generic ICON titles, released this past Tuesday. There are two country acts, two Motown acts, two Motown compilations, one from Dean Martin and one from pop/rock band Fall Out Boy. A stranger collection you'll rarely find. I'd give a halfhearted recommendation to the Motown ones if you want to spend a little money on someone who has the distinct displeasure of never having heard any Motown song, ever. If you have more money to spend,
We're nearing the Top 20 of our 100 Greatest Reissues list, taking Rolling Stone‘s list of the greatest albums of all time and investigating their many pressings and expansions as the catalogue industry has grown. Today, journey to the past with a quintet of California rock heroes, one of rock-and-roll's early pioneers and the once-and-always Mr. Dynamite! Plus: a Beatle and a star of the Motown stable make intensely personal statements on their own! 25. Fleetwood Mac, Rumours (Warner Bros.,
We're nearing the halfway point of our list of all the reissues of Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest albums of all time. How many do you have? What are your favorites? Which ones need reissues? Don't be afraid to sound off! Today's installment has a few of my own favorite albums, and all-around classics to boot. 60. Sly & The Family Stone, Greatest Hits (Epic, 1970) Including tracks from Dance to the Music, Life and Stand! - three excellent '60s funk albums - was impressive
In Part 3 of our first-ever official Second Disc Buyers Guide, we look at five more of the 100 greatest albums of all time, as selected by Rolling Stone in 2003, through the filter of when and how these classic albums have been reissued, remastered and repackaged. If you’ve ever wondered to yourself which versions of these albums to buy for certain bonus tracks and the like, wonder no more. Today, we meet the Beatles, travel to Memphis with a beehived British soul queen, have the blues at
For most of its 35-year run, there was no better outlet for soul music on television than Soul Train. Featuring a diverse palette of R&B artists and the commanding presence of creator/producer/host Don Cornelius, Soul Train has become an institution, the longest-running, nationally syndicated show in American history - albeit one that modern audiences would be slow to appreciate, were it not for the efforts of Time-Life Entertainment in releasing several official DVDs of content from the
The Spectrum family of labels in the U.K., which includes the catalogues of what Americans count toward Universal Music Group, have a few affordable compilations on the market in the coming month from a diverse crop of artists. On May 23, the label will release compilations from Styx as well as both Fleetwood Mac and Rod Stewart. (The latter two artists, whose catalogues reside with Warner Music Group in the U.S., will focus on each act's "early years.") It's also worth noting that Spectrum has
One of the greatest albums of all time is coming to Audio Fidelity! Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life will bow as a two-disc 24K gold CD set, complete with the "A Something's Extra" EP tracks. No street date yet, but the page to order is here. The Rolling Stones have their own high-definition project to speak of: their ABKCO material is being released in FLAC format. Read more about the process at CNN. Sony Classical has another megabox coming out on March 22. Jascha Heifetz: The Album
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, here we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. With today being a national holiday in honor of an iconic civil rights leader, we take a look at an album with a song written to make that holiday a reality. [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FchMuPQOBwA] Today is a day off for many people in the United States, in observation of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., the great civil rights
Queen, Greatest Hits / Greatest Hits II (Island/UMe) Queen's 40th anniversary celebration kicks in the U.K. off with a new remaster of the band's first two greatest hits compilations on the band's new label in England, Island Records. (The music of Queen is still licensed by Disney's Hollywood Records in the U.S.) Remastered and expanded studio albums will follow later in the year, which American fans will also have to import. (Official site) Tim Buckley, Tim Buckley: Deluxe Edition
Audiophile specialist label Audio Fidelity has announced its initial trio of 24K Gold CD reissues for 2011, and it is comprised of three familiar names, all of whom have previously had titles reissued on the label: Phil Collins, James Taylor and Stevie Wonder. Already having tackled the gold CD of Collins' 1981 solo debut Face Value, Steve Hoffman returns to remaster the artist's 1985 breakthrough, No Jacket Required. Spawning four U.S. Top 10 singles, No Jacket Required was the former
It's hard to believe The Second Disc has never done an ongoing round-up of all the reissues, remasters, compilations and box sets. (Perhaps it felt redundant? Everyone does it.) But sometimes there's just so much stuff to consider - especially with the holiday season fast approaching - so it's time to jump on the bandwagon and give you, the treasured reader, a comprehensive list of what's coming out in the catalogue world this week. The Beatles, The Beatles 1962-1966/ The Beatles 1967-1970
With the fall officially underway, we’re now in the busiest time of the year for the music biz, and as this week hits its halfway point, we’re here to offer a few announcements you might have missed. Audio Fidelity offers on November 2 a 24K Gold CD version of James Taylor’s seminal 1972 album originally released on Warner Bros. Records, One Man Dog. Remastered by audio guru Steve Hoffman, One Man Dog has among its highlights the now-standard “Don’t Let Me Be Lonely Tonight.” One Man Dog joins
A new Springsteen documentary, to premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month, is the latest piece of The Boss' upcoming Darkness on the Edge of Town box set. The Promise: The Making of "Darkness on the Edge of Town," directed by Thom Zimny (who directed the documentary in the Born to Run box), will feature unseen footage from the album sessions in 1976-1978 and has been confirmed to be a part of the box, which is due in time for this Christmas. Here's a fine surprise: Motown
Yet another sub-genre of the catalogue world is the audiophile reissue. Companies like Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, Audio Fidelity and Analogue Productions specialize in reissuing classic titles for an audiophile audience, often utilizing the original master tapes for a release on gold CD, hybrid SACD or high-quality LP. With excellent sound quality as the main mandate, bonus tracks and new liner notes are rare on these releases which generally intend to replicate the original artwork and
I've been waiting for this one for a long time: Hip-O Select is releasing a new compilation of classic Motown songs in a whole new way. Motown Around the World: The Classic Singles compiles 38 songs from the label as recorded in other languages for international markets. The Supremes, The Temptations, Stevie Wonder, The Four Tops, The Velvelettes, Smokey Robinson and Edwin Starr sing the songs you know and love (plus a few folk ballads native to other countries) in Italian, Spanish, French and