Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the week's best new titles! The Left Banke, Strangers on a Train (Omnivore) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Omnivore brings The Left Banke's 1978 reunion album - featuring Steve Martin Caro, Tom Finn, and George Cameron - to CD for the first time, and adds a previously unreleased 2001 session from Michael Brown, Caro, and Finn. Scott Schinder provides the liner notes, and Michael Graves has remastered the
While The Second Disc prides itself on connecting people to reissues and box sets they can keep on their shelves, it's no secret that listening audiences are also digital - catalogue music lovers, too - and our passion is connecting people to music from the past that they might adore. So we've introduced a new feature: The Weekend Stream, which focuses on hidden gems that recently made it to digital channels that might make your playlists a little brighter! Madonna, Madame X - Music from the
Once again, Record Store Day here in the U.S. looks a little - make that a lot - different this year. The usual offerings have been split among two dates in 2021 with Drop 1 taking place tomorrow, June 12, at your local independent record retailer. Drop 2 then takes place on July 17. Every retailer is handling the Drop a bit differently thanks to the necessary accommodations for social distancing, smaller crowds, and better safety precautions. So please check in with your favorite store to
Among Universal Music Group's RSD Drop offerings for Record Store Day's two-pronged 2021 celebration include a previously unreleased live double album from Tears for Fears. Live At Massey Hall captures the British rockers supporting sophomore album Songs from the Big Chair as it starts to take off worldwide. When the group started a four-date stand at the Toronto theatre at the end of May 1985, "Everybody Wants to Rule the World" was on its way to topping the U.S. charts. ("Shout" would
Think back to your days listening to pop music in the '80s - say, for the sake of argument, 1985. Thriller's wrapped up its run of seven hit singles. Bruce Springsteen's Born in the U.S.A. is in the middle of its own seven-hit stretch. Purple Rain made Prince a juggernaut - and Tears for Fears, the British duo behind the moody, electronic The Hurting (1983) have broken into the mainstream with the progressive psych-pop of 1985's Songs from the Big Chair, including back-to-back chart-toppers
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! John Lennon, Gimme Some Truth: The Ultimate Mixes [Various Formats] (Capitol/UMe) 2CD/Blu-ray Deluxe Edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Today would have been John Lennon's 80th birthday. To mark the occasion, Capitol and UMe have released
Time to eat all your words, swallow your pride, open your eyes: Tears For Fears are finally giving their third album the deluxe treatment. The Seeds Of Love, the British duo's 1989 release, will be made available October 9 from UMC in a number of formats. The crown jewel is a 4CD/Blu-ray box featuring a new remaster of the album by Andrew Walter at Abbey Road, rare B-sides and remixes, 23 previously unreleased demos, mixes, outtakes and rehearsal audio, plus a long-awaited 5.1 surround remix
To mark the 35th anniversary of Tears For Fears' most successful album, 1985's Songs From The Big Chair, UMC has announced that both deluxe box set editions of the British duo's first two albums will go back into print this year. One of the most potent one-two punches from an act in the '80s, Tears For Fears burst on the scene with 1983's The Hurting, a moody, icy album blending elements of rock and electronic music. Formed around singer/songwriters Roland Orzabal and Curt Smith (who also
Welcome to this week's Release Round-Up! Elton John, Diamonds [Various Formats] (UMe) 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 3CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 2LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 1CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Elton John looks back on his extraordinary career with a new retrospective collection, available in 1-CD, 2-CD, 3-CD, and 2-LP formats. Get all of the details right here! R.E.M., Automatic for the
If you caught them during their recent co-headlining U.S. summer tour with Daryl Hall & John Oates, you know that Tears for Fears have lost none of the power and style that made them a juggernaut of '80s pop. Now, with a new album on the horizon (their first in more than a decade), the duo are reintroducing themselves to audiences with a newly curated single-disc collection. Rule The World: The Greatest Hits showcases all the most popular songs from the Bath-born duo of
The Monkees, The Monkees: Super Deluxe Edition (Rhino Handmade) (Exclusively available directly from label) It's Monkeemania all over again: Davy, Micky, Peter and Michael are back with a 3-CD expansion of their debut album featuring 100 tracks - 45 of which are previously unreleased! ABBA, Gracias Por La Musica: Deluxe Edition (Polar/Universal) (Amazon U.S. Link TBD / Amazon U.K.) ABBA is saying "Thank You for the Music" - in Spanish! The band's Spanish-language 1980
Following 2013’s deluxe box set reissue of Tears for Fears’ The Hurting, Universal U.K. has announced the November 3 release of a similarly-impressive box set dedicated to the group’s 1985 album Songs from the Big Chair. This 4-CD/2-DVD box brings together a remastered edition of the original album and its single B-sides, two discs of rare period remixes and edited single versions, a DVD-Audio containing high-resolution stereo and 5.1 surround mixes courtesy of ace engineer Steven Wilson, and a
If you've been following these pages for the past few weeks, you've likely noticed an awful lot of coverage about Record Store Day! Well, the day is nearly here! Tomorrow, Saturday, April 21, music fans and collectors will flock to their local independent record stores to celebrate both the sounds on those round black platters and the very concept of shopping in a physical retail environment. To many of us, both are a way of life. We're doubly excited this year because one special title was
Tears for Fears, The Hurting: Deluxe Edition (Mercury/UMe) The landmark debut album from the U.K. hitmakers celebrates its 30th anniversary with a new double-disc deluxe edition stocked with rare single-only material and a deluxe box set version with a bonus disc of John Peel sessions and the In My Mind's Eye live concert film on DVD. 2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. 3CD/1DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Van Morrison, Moondance: Expanded Edition (Warner Bros./Rhino) Though Van would rather you
Looks like our Tears for Fears wishes have come true: the U.K. synthpop band's first album is getting greatly expanded as a deluxe edition and box set this year to mark its 30th anniversary. As we'd detailed around the anniversary of the album, there was certainly more than enough to go around for bonus material: many of the singles were different from what ended up on record, the typical non-LP B-sides and remixes, even a live show recorded on video. Happily, it looks like nearly all of that
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we spotlight notable albums and the reissues they could someday see. Thirty years ago today, one of the best synth-rock bands of the 1980s released their first full-length album - as good a time as any to champion the career of Tears for Fears! "Is it an horrific dream? Am I sinking fast?" - "The Hurting," Tears for Fears From the beginning of the first side of Tears for Fears' debut LP, it's honestly kind of hard to predict where they'd
Welcome to another installment of Reissue Theory, where we focus on notable albums and the reissues they may someday see. In honor of a recent milestone for one of the '80s' best synthpop bands, we present the idea of something their catalogue doesn't have but could totally need: a box set. Our friends at Slicing Up Eyeballs reminded us yesterday that March 7, 1983 was the day that Phonogram Records (and Mercury in the U.S.) released The Hurting, the debut album by British synth-rockers Tears
Here's an under-the-radar catalogue release for your consideration this week: a reissue of Mayfield, a nice little solo album by Curt Smith, one-half of synth-rock legends Tears for Fears. Unless you're a major '80s pop geek, you'd probably be okay with having no idea who made up the membership of Tears for Fears. But most of our readers probably know that singer/guitarist Roland Orzabal and singer/bassist Curt Smith made the nucleus of the band that gave us "Mad World," "Shout," "Everybody
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
Curt Smith, vocalist/bassist for Tears for Fears, is set to reissue one of his earlier solo projects this summer. Mayfield (1998) was Smith's second album, recorded under the same name as the record (Curt is Mayfield - get it?). It'll feature a new track, a new recording of the song "Trees." Smith talks about the album and other projects in this interview with social networking site Flavors. Demon Music Group's Harmless imprint is releasing another compilation of rare grooves mixed by one Tom
Two unusual listings have appeared from Universal's U.K. arm: budget-priced, double-disc compilations for ABC and Tears for Fears. They're certainly appealing to the collector of either band, but they sure are strange; the sets don't have any cohesive order about them. They're all singles, album cuts and some B-sides just sort of mixed up. Odd. In any case, they might be fun if you haven't purchased any deluxe editions or other sets with these tracks. So have a look after the jump for track
One of the hardest parts of being a reissue fan is waiting. Sometimes a project will get announced, then delayed or cancelled outright. Those long gaps between reissues can be irksome, particularly when the delay time fails to lead to any improvement or innovation in the packaging and presentation of a catalogue title. Other times, though, the reason behind the lack of a reissue is simply that nobody thinks to re-release it. Take, for instance, one of the better bands of the 1980s - Tears for
Not many people dig music from the 1980s. To a degree, I understand why. Sandwiched between the monstrous artistry of album-oriented rock bands of the '70s and the mainstream-busting advances of grunge and rap in the '90s, most of the music of the '80s was characterized by an emphasis on image (i.e.: MTV) and artifice (why hire a drummer when you can buy a Linn LM-1?). But a good song - whether it's a hit or not - will transcend its labels and packaging and hopefully turn into something you'll
Here are a couple of catalogue release tidbits, one that I'm certain is fairly new and a few stragglers I've neglected to mention thus far: Rhino has started taking pre-orders for The Prague Sessions, a new Peter, Paul and Mary compilation. The set features previously unreleased live versions of the folk group's best-known songs, backed by the Czech National Symphony Orchestra. Should be an interesting new way to hear these songs. On March 23, Eagle Records is releasing Live at Knebworth, a
Good evening and welcome to The Second Disc! Assuming you've taken a look at the page where I've explained this blog, I'd like to present a list of some of the best catalogue titles released to the public during the past year. This year was just as full of complaints about the demise of the music industry as ever (I guess part of this can be blamed on the general economic malaise gripping us all), but this really seemed to be a great year for reissues and box sets of all sorts. Two notes before