Sex, drugs and rock and roll have been closely linked since, well, the dawn of rock and roll itself. But those who have been lucky enough to make a living in the rough-and-tumble world of rock have also frequently given themselves over to more noble pursuits. George Harrison’s 1971 Concert for Bangla Desh wasn’t the first time a rock superstar had performed for charity, but The Quiet Beatle’s star-studded event is rightfully considered the first benefit concert of such stature. Since then, there have been numerous other events bringing together rock’s biggest…
Merry Christmas, Baby! “A Very Special Christmas” Reissued with New DVD at Target Stores
If you can get over the shock of a good amount of holiday CDs available on the shelves at Target, you’ll find a surprise new exclusive: a reissue of the classic 1987 compilation A Very Special Christmas with a brand new DVD about the long-running holiday benefit series. Produced by acclaimed engineer-turned-label impresario Jimmy Iovine, A Very Special Christmas featured the brightest stars in pop music, from Springsteen to Madonna, recording new versions of classic carols (plus one modern classic, Run-D.M.C.’s “Christmas in Hollis”). Nearly all of its 15 tracks have become staples of…
Back to “The Labyrinth”: Sting’s Lute Album Revisited with Live Tracks
It’s likely the first time in history a “450th anniversary edition” of an album will ever be released! Universal is repackaging Sting’s esoteric 2006 outing Songs from the Labyrinth to commemorate the anniversary of the birth of the 16th century English composer to which Sting paid tribute on the album. Even for a fellow as intensely…Sting-like as the man born Gordon Sumner, you could be forgiven for seeing Songs from the Labyrinth as a tough sell. Working solely with Bosnian lutenist Edin Karamazov, Sting sang the melancholy works of Dowland (1563-1626), who earned contemporary accolades…
They Shall Be “Released”: Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Joni Mitchell, U2, Peter Gabriel, Miles Davis on Amnesty International Box
Since its founding in 1961, Amnesty International has endeavored “to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.” The Nobel Peace Prize-winning international human rights organization has, naturally, attracted a number of high-profile supporters over the years. In 1988, a number of those men and women took the road to spread Amnesty’s message and raise funds via the Human Rights Now! world tour. The 25-city trek was headlined by Bruce Springsteen, Sting, Peter Gabriel, Tracy…
Review: Julio Iglesias, “1 – Greatest Hits: Deluxe Edition”
How to define Julio Iglesias? Perhaps the iconic Spanish entertainer can be best summed up by the numbers. In a career spanning well over 40 years, Iglesias has recorded 80 albums, sold 300 million records, and sung in 14 languages. Now, Iglesias, who will turn 70 later this year, has been feted with the first American release of a new collection with a number in the title. 1 – Greatest Hits, already a multi-platinum seller in numerous Spanish-speaking territories, has arrived in the U.S. from Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings as a…
A&M Records Celebrates Half-Century Mark with Three-Disc Compilation
Ask the most voracious of music trivia buffs what “A&M Records” stood for and they’ll tell you simply: Herb Alpert, noted jazz trumpeter and bandleader; and music promoter Jerry Moss, a duo who crafted the label from Alpert’s garage in 1962. 50 years later, with the upcoming release of the three-disc A&M 50: The Anniversary Collection, it’s clear that A&M stood for something else, too: one of the most intriguingly eclectic rosters in pop history, encompassing everything from jazz and modern R&B to New Wave and singer/songwriter pop. (There’s been a great amount…
“Chimes of Freedom” Flashing for Bob Dylan and Amnesty International
Let’s face it, Bob Dylan tributes aren’t exactly uncommon. That said, one of the most ambitious albums of its kind is coming down the pike, set for January 24 release. Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan is a specially-priced 4-CD set containing 73 Dylan songs in renditions from an incredibly broad array of artists. Most of the tracks were recorded specifically for this project, but since a handful are previously unreleased tracks of an older vintage (and Dylan’s own 1964 released take of “Chimes of Freedom,” appropriately enough, closes out…
And the Catalogue Grammy Nominations Go To…
Safely tucked underneath a controversial slate of Grammy nominations in the major categories – seriously, Rihanna’s Loud got an Album of the Year nod and Kanye West’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy didn’t? – there were a fantastic batch of reissue and box set-oriented nominations in this year’s 54th annual ceremony. Without further pithy commentary, here they are: Best Boxed or Special Limited Edition Package Radiohead, The King of Limbs (ATO Records) Donald Twain & Zachariah Wildwood, art directors Bruce Springsteen, The Promise: The Darkness on the Edge of Town Story (Columbia/Legacy) Dave Bett & Michelle Holme, art…
Release Round-Up: Week of September 27
‘Tis the season! The big guns for the fourth quarter are starting to be drawn. Elvis Presley, The Young Man with the Big Beat / Elvis Presley: Legacy Edition (RCA/Legacy) The newest Elvis box set is all about 1956: five CDs of complete studio masters, outtakes, vintage audio interviews and live material. For the casual fan, the Elvis Presley Legacy Edition includes the Elvis Presley and Elvis LPs with the hit non-LP singles of that era. (Official site) Pink Floyd, Dark Side of the Moon: Experience and Immersion Editions / Discovery Remasters (EMI) So you have all the basic…
Sting Strikes Again with New Best-Of
Is the recently-announced Sting box set too comprehensive, too expensive, or not stocked with enough rarities for you? Universal attempts to throw fans something of a bone with a cut-down version of the box, The Best of 25 Years, due for release in October. Admittedly, the single-disc set is a bit of an odd duck itself, omitting anything but eight of the most obvious singles alongside four bonus tracks: a new mix of “Never Coming Home” (presumably one of the newly-mixed tracks featured on the box set proper) and three unreleased live…
A Box Set for a Brand New Day: Sting Compiled on 3 CD/1 DVD Set
Twenty-six years ago, Sting firmly established himself as a solo artist away from The Police with the jazzy The Dream of the Blue Turtles. Yesterday, Universal announced the first-ever career-spanning box set for the iconic singer, entitled 25 Years. Okay, so music geeks aren’t good at math. But what Universal did do a pretty decent job at was chronicling Sting’s greatest moments over a wildly varied career – one that plumbed personal depths for great artistic effect in the late ’80s and early ’90s with …Nothing Like the Sun and The Soul Cages,…
Reissue Theory: Live Aid on CD
Twenty-six years ago today, on two different continents, the music world came together for a worthy cause: to raise awareness of famine in Ethiopia. Live Aid, a pair of concerts organized by Bob Geldof in London and Philadelphia on July 13, 1985 and broadcasted live on the BBC, ABC and MTV, was seen in person by some 172,000 people and on television by nearly 2 billion across the globe. And, if you can believe it, none of it has ever been released on LP or CD. Granted, it’s not entirely unsurprising. Geldof…
Legacy Provides Relief for Japan
Now here’s a surprise. iTunes, in concert with the major record labels, put together a 38-song compilation called Songs for Japan, the proceeds of which would go to relief funds for the ongoing crises in Japan following a massive earthquake and tsunami that left the country in a state of peril. And now, Amazon has a listing for the compilation on CD from Legacy. (This two-disc set actually omits some of the tracks heard on the iTunes version, namely tracks by Madonna and David Guetta.) While it’s not a boon for collectors…
Reissue Theory: Sting, Compiled (UPDATED 1/12)
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, here we reflect on well-known albums of the past and the reissues they could someday see. Today’s installment concerns a former Police man and his lack of decent compilations over the past few decades. There’s something disconcerting when an artist gets to the point where they’re comfortable enough to do whatever they want, but that “whatever they want” just doesn’t count toward reissues, box sets or the like. One such example I’ve been thinking of lately is Sting, the erstwhile frontman of The Police and…
Reissue Theory: Sting – “The Art of the Heart”
This week’s Reissue Theory is something a bit different: a proposal to reissue a record that’s never actually been released! When people talk about phenomenal live artists, the conversation doesn’t often turn toward Sting’s solo career. The Police were a hell of a live act – they built their career on constant touring all over the world – but Sting’s solo career, however good, always has an air of stuffiness to it. How could the same singer currently on tour with a symphony orchestra ever be considered a loose, must-see live act?…
Reissue Theory: Version Especial por Cinco de Mayo
Today is Cinco de Mayo, so The Second Disc is going to bring you two of the most unusual Spanish-oriented pop music endeavors in recent memory. These are two deluxe editions with very different sounds, but they’re connected not only by record label group but their wacky reinterpretation for Spanish audiences. Viva la musica after the jump!
Reissue Theory: Sting, “The Dream of the Blue Turtles”
The latest issue of Rolling Stone had a cover feature about the “State of Rock: 40 Reasons to Get Excited About Music” (a cover which featured terrible pop-rap group The Black Eyed Peas, so the list was slightly less than 40). As debatable as the list might be, one item on the list was actually somewhat intriguing – up and coming band I Blame Coco, led by Coco Sumner, daughter of the irrepressible Sting. Coco is not the first Sting spawn with musical tendencies – his oldest son, Joe, fronts the band Fiction…
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