The Blasters - The Second Disc

Release Round-Up: Week of April 17

April 17, 2026 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available this week. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. a-ha, Analogue: 20th Anniversary Edition (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) The eighth album by Norwegian trio a-ha – the late-period triumph Analogue – is the band’s latest to be expanded and reissued by Rhino. Released for its 20th anniversary, the new Analogue package includes the newly remastered album alongside a B-side and three single mixes as well as a 17-track bonus disc of mostly previously unreleased demos and alternative…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock

Tags:

Beastie Boys, Jimmy Scott, John Prine, Oscar Peterson, Romeo Void, The Blasters, Todd Rundgren, a-ha

The Weekend Stream: February 7, 2026

February 7, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome back to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. New tracks from old favorites, deep cuts, good causes, a fun recent Grammy winner, and the triumphant return of The Muppets? What more could you possibly ask for?! The Muppets, The Muppet Show Theme (2026) (Walt Disney Records) (Apple / Amazon) It’s time to play the music! The Muppet Show made a triumphant return to television this week: a special episode that aired on ABC and Disney+, produced by…

Categories:

The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

Classic Rock, Everything Else, Funk, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, Rap/Hip-Hop, Reggae, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Aaron Neville, Beck, Blink-182, Brian Blade, Bruce Hornsby, Chuck Negron, Daniel Lanois, Joe Jackson, Koji Kondo, Parliament-Funkadelic, Patti Page, Peter Gabriel, Public Enemy, Television, The Blasters, The Format, The Muppets, Three Dog Night

Release Round-Up: Week of February 6

February 6, 2026 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles available today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Roberta Flack, With Her Songs: The Atlantic Albums 1969-1978 (Atlantic/Rhino, 2026) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada) Roberta Flack’s With Her Songs: The Atlantic Albums 1969-1978 brings together the late artist’s first eight studio albums in one compact 8CD package. Albums include First Take, Chapter Two, Quiet Fire, Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway, Killing Me Softly, Feel Like Makin’ Love, Blue Lights in the Basement, and Roberta Flack. No bonus material is featured, but Discs 4-8 are newly remastered for this collection. …

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Blu-Ray Audio, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Cast Recordings, Classic Rock, Funk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Bayete, Clifton Chenier, Jimmy Lewis, Leon Ware, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty, NRBQ, Olu Dara, Roberta Flack, Sananda Maitreya, The Blasters, The Emotions, The Temprees, Yes

The Weekend Stream: October 25, 2025

October 25, 2025 by The Second Disc | 1 Comment

Welcome to another edition of The Weekend Stream, The Second Disc’s review of notable catalogue titles (and some new ones, too!) making digital debuts. We’ve got an unreleased outtake from The Beatles; a favorite ’80s band re-recording a deep cut; and a rock legend recruiting an unexpected guest on a new mix of their latest single – plus late period greatness from The Go-Betweens, Glenn Frey cutting standards and more. The Beatles, “I’ve Just Seen a Face (Take 3)” (Apple/Capitol/UMe) (Apple / Amazon) The Beatles are previewing the upcoming Anthology Collection with…

Categories:

The Weekend Stream

Formats:

Digital Download, Digital Streaming

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Jazz, Rock

Tags:

Aerosmith, Duran Duran, Glenn Frey, Hank Mobley, Patty Larkin, Soft Cell, Steve Martin, The Blasters, The Go-Betweens, Yusuf Lateef

Release Round-Up: Week of October 24

October 24, 2025 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska ’82 (Columbia/Legacy) 4CD/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 4LP/Blu-ray: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada It’s no surprise that, as Hollywood recounts the story of Bruce Springsteen’s most striking solo release with the film Deliver Me from Nowhere (out today), a box set tells the tale of the (literal) tape. Columbia Records and Legacy Recordings are releasing Nebraska ’82, a new box set showcasing the start-to-finish journey of Bruce’s most…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Blu-Ray, Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock

Tags:

America, Bon Jovi, Brandi Carlile, Bruce Springsteen, Carl Perkins, Dion, Elton John, Frank Zappa, Hazell Dean, Horace Silver, Jackdawg, KISS, Little Feat, Neil Young, Pulp, Ray Charles, The Blasters, The Pogues

Record Store Day 2025: The Best of the Rest

April 2, 2025 by The Second Disc | 7 Comments

Next Saturday, April 12, is certainly one of the most packed Record Store Days in recent memory. Since the list was announced, we drilled down on titles from Craft Recordings, Legacy Recordings, Rhino Records, Universal Music Group, Real Gone Music, Omnivore Recordings, BMG, Cooking Vinyl and Demon Music Group, as well as some notable titles that were getting later general releases on CD. Well, if you thought that was it, you’re wrong! We pored and pored over the list and are here to share with you more than four dozen one-offs, archival…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Box Sets, Vinyl

Genres:

Blues, Classic Rock, Folk, Funk, Jazz, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rap/Hip-Hop, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

A Tribe Called Quest, Adam and The Ants, Alex Chilton, Annie Lennox, Ariana Grande, Art Blakey, Beck, Bob Geldof, Boomtown Rats, Brad Fiedel, Brian Wilson, Bryan Adams, CHVRCHES, Cannonball Adderley, Cat Stevens, Charles Mingus, Cissy Houston, Clarence White, Cockney Rebel, Cynthia Erivo, Dave Stewart, Dead or Alive, Dusty Springfield, Elton John, Emmylou Harris, Eric Clapton, Eurythmics, Freddie Hubbard, George Harrison, Gloria Jones, Graham Parker, Gram Parsons, Grant Green, Jeff Bridges, Jerry Garcia, Jerry Garcia Band, Kenny Dorham, Little Richard, Maurice Jarre, Nick Lowe, Ohio Players, Parliament-Funkadelic, Paul Hardcastle, Pete Townshend, Peter Gabriel, Propaganda, Record Store Day, Roger Daltrey, Roger McGuinn, Scott Weiland, Shane MacGowan, Sinead O'Connor, Sly Stone, Sly and the Family Stone, Stephen Schwartz, Steve Harley, Suzi Quatro, Terry Hall, The 13th Floor Elevators, The Art of Noise, The Beach Boys, The Blasters, The Byrds, The Colourfield, The Everly Brothers, The Fall, The Hives, The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Meters, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Tina Turner, Tom Waits, Van Morrison, Vince Guaraldi, Wall of Voodoo, Wang Chung, Wayne Shorter, Wes Montgomery, Wynton Kelly, Yusuf

Release Round-Up: Week of December 6

December 6, 2024 by The Second Disc | 2 Comments

Welcome to this week’s Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the new titles out today. As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. Laura Nyro, Hear My Song: The Collection 1966-1995 (Madfish) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada / Madfish) Over three years after the release of its 8LP vinyl box set American Dreamer 1967-1978, the Madfish label is returning to the discography of late singer-songwriter Laura Nyro for the 19CD box set Hear My Song: The Collection 1966-1995. This collection includes every one of Nyro’s original studio albums, six live albums (two of which are previously…

Categories:

Release Round-Up

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Folk, Holiday, Jazz, Pop, Popular Standards/Vocal, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Al Jarreau, Bill Evans, Bing Crosby, Christopher Cross, Flamin' Groovies, Henry Mancini, Jesse Malin, Laura Nyro, Lucinda Williams, Melanie, Nancy Wilson, Roxette, The Blasters, The Rolling Stones

Release Round-Up: Week of November 3

November 3, 2023 by The Second Disc | No Comments

Welcome to another packed Release Round-Up, featuring a selection of the many titles available today! As an Amazon affiliate, we earn from qualifying purchases. The Beatles, Now and Then (Apple/Capitol/UMe) Various Formats including CD single: The Beatles Online Store 7-inch clear single: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 7-inch blue single: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada 12-inch black vinyl: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada Target-exclusive red 12-inch single: Target.com “Now and Then.” No matter who’s listening, the title conjures the ghosts of the past that we all confront. The voice of John Lennon – not far-removed, but viscerally present –…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Box Sets, CD, Cassette, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Classic Rock, Country, Disco/Dance, Holiday, Pop, R&B/Soul, Reggae, Rock

Greatest Hits Watch: New Compilations Coming from Bush, The Blasters and Johnny Marr

November 2, 2023 by Joe Marchese | 5 Comments

Today, we’re taking a look at three upcoming greatest hits packages (and one essential related album!) from three very different artists. The Blasters formed in 1979 in Downey, California – home of Richard and Karen Carpenter – and immediately cut a striking figure on the Los Angeles club scene. Brothers Phil and Dave Alvin, drummer Bill Bateman, and bassist John Bazz blended muscular rock appropriate to the punk era with rockabilly, early rock-and-roll, and a rootsy sensibility that sounds timeless today. They were able to share bills and win over audiences with…

Categories:

News

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Rock

Tags:

Bush, Johnny Marr, Phil Alvin, The Blasters

Play Tetris Til My Eyes Fall Out: The Second Disc’s Bandcamp Friday Picks, October 2020

October 2, 2020 by Mike Duquette | No Comments

The month’s best new release day is back! Since March, indie music retailer Bandcamp has waived their share of revenue for indie artists and labels using their platform to give “the little guys” a leg up in the face of the pandemic. The result was more music bought by more fans than any day on the site, a record broken on the first Friday of May. Bandcamp Fridays have since taken place in June, July, August, and September – plus the first of an annual occurrence when the service will donate its…

Categories:

Features

Formats:

CD, Digital Download, Digital Streaming, Vinyl

Genres:

Electronic, Folk, Pop, R&B/Soul, Rock, Soundtracks

Tags:

Bob Dylan, Dave Alvin, Drive-By Truckers, John Prine, Pearl Jam, Suzanne Ciani, The Blasters, The Feminine Complex

Release Round-Up: Week of January 14

January 14, 2014 by Mike Duquette | 2 Comments

Bruce Springsteen, High Hopes (Columbia) It’s a new album, but one assembled from songs and outtakes Bruce has been amassing for the last few years: we’ll take it (in the hope that this new album means Bruce is in a vault mood for the rest of the year)! (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. – both with exclusive DVD of the entire Born in the U.S.A. album live on the Wrecking Ball tour) Elvis Presley, The Movie Soundtracks (RCA/Sony Music U.K.) Why should the States get all the fun? An import box set featuring 20 discs of Elvis’ film soundtracks…

Categories:

News, Release Round-Up

Formats:

Box Sets

Genres:

Soundtracks

Tags:

Bruce Springsteen, Lone Justice, Lucinda Williams, Screaming Trees, Sir Douglas Quintet, Taj Mahal, The Blasters, Vinyl

Rhino Rediscovery: Wounded Bird to Reissue Handmade Titles As Budget Sets

January 13, 2014 by Mike Duquette | 12 Comments

Rhino Handmade is back! Sort of. Reissue label Wounded Bird Records will release this week seven titles originally released on Warner Music’s boutique label in the early to mid-2000s. These sets were originally handsome vault-clearing exercises for a diverse crop of artists who were on the Warner, Atlantic or Reprise labels at some point in their careers, including works by Doug Sahm of Sir Douglas Quintet, blues legend Taj Mahal, rockabilly-punk outfit The Blasters, singer-songwriter Danny O’Keefe (“Good Time Charlie’s Got the Blues”), Crazy Horse (sans Neil Young), John Sebastian and bluesman…

Categories:

News

Formats:

Genres:

Tags:

Long John Baldry, Sir Douglas Quintet, Taj Mahal, The Blasters