The fall is almost upon us - which means some of the most exciting release weeks of the year are just around the corner! We hope you've checked out Ted's farewell to the sounds of summer, because we're kicking off September right here with a new release from Second Disc Records - as well as goodies from The Doors, Eydie Gorme, Micky Dolenz, Peter Frampton, Pugwash, and many more! To our U.S. readers, we wish you a safe and happy Labor Day weekend filled with great new (and old)
A lost chapter of The Doors' story is finally coming to light this fall. On September 4, Rhino will reissue for the very first time on officially-sanctioned CD and 180-gram vinyl the two albums released by The Doors - John Densmore, guitarist Robby Krieger, and keyboardist Ray Manzarek - following the 1971 death of Jim Morrison: Other Voices (1971) and Full Circle (1972). The albums will be made available as a two-CD set, newly remastered by The Doors' longtime associate and original Other
Rhino isn't resting on its laurels for Record Store Day! The label has announced its biggest slate ever for Record Store Day, with 30 limited edition 12-inch, 10-inch, and 7-inch vinyl releases due on Saturday, April 18. Full details as provided by the label for all titles can be found below. As always with RSD, these releases will be available exclusively at select independent music retailers on April 18, and you can find the list of participating shops here! a-ha - Take On Me 7-inch
Our Black Friday Record Store Day shopping list has just gotten a little longer! Following our recent announcement of Legacy Recordings’ slate for November 28, we have news of the offerings coming your way from Omnivore Recordings, Rhino and Varese Sarabande! For the gang at Omnivore, it’s all about amazing indie pop! The label recently reissued Game Theory’s debut album Blaze of Glory, and on November 24, the Omnivores will unveil the first U.S. release of the band’s compilation Dead Center.
Oasis, Definitely Maybe: Chasing The Sun Edition (Big Brother/Ngrooves) Oasis' debut album is remastered and expanded; the first in a planned series of multi-format reissues from the legendary Britpop band. 1CD remaster: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.2LP remaster: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.3CD deluxe edition: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.3CD/2LP/1 x 7″ box set: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Billy Joel, A Matter of Trust: The Bridge to Russia (Columbia/Legacy) The Piano Man's 1987 sojourn to the USSR is
With April 19's Record Store Day a little more than a week away, it might be time to start making those checklists! We've already filled you in on exciting releases from Legacy Recordings, Real Gone Music, Sundazed, Omnivore Recordings, Varese Sarabande and many others, but today it's all about Rhino! The Warner Music Group catalogue arm has a bumper crop of more than 25 exclusive offerings from some of the biggest names classic rock, vintage R&B and beyond - including The Doors, Grateful
Another year...another Black Friday. Yes, it's that time of year again in which consumers start off the holiday shopping season on a mad, frenetic note. This year is another one in which numerous big-box retailers in the U.S. have made headlines by blackening Thursday, or Thanksgiving Day itself, by sales starting on the holiday. So many might give thanks that the folks behind Record Store Day are waiting until the traditional Friday to release their twice-yearly slate of exclusive releases. As
R.E.M., Green: 25th Anniversary Edition (Warner Bros./Rhino) The Athens, Georgia rockers celebrate the quarter-century mark of their first Warner Bros. LP with a new 2CD deluxe edition featuring an unreleased live show from 1989. (2CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) (LP: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K.) Huey Lewis & The News, Sports: 30th Anniversary Edition (Capitol/UMe) Another hit-filled rock LP paired with a live disc; this one sees live versions of every hit and album cut from Sports over Huey
UPDATE (4/26/2013): Wow! A little over a year later, these sets are available to pre-order. Happily, SACD and vinyl configurations will exist for all of The Doors' studio efforts in this period. Additionally, 2,500 numbered copies of an SACD or vinyl box, entitled Infinite and featuring textured slipcase packaging with a new essay by former Rolling Stone editor Ben Fong-Torres, will be available. Both of these are pre-orderable at the above links with a May 14 release date. Individual pre-order
Peter Gabriel, So: 25th Anniversary Edition (3CD Deluxe Edition: U.S./U.K.; 4CD/2DVD/2LP Box Set: U.S./U.K.; Classic Albums: So DVD (U.S./U.K.)/BD (U.S./U.K.)) (Real World) A year late for the actual 25th anniversary (PG never was one for deadlines), So sledgehammers record shops with a variety of expanded formats, including one of many mega box sets released this year. The Beatles, Love Me Do (50th Anniversary Single) (U.S./U.K.) (Capitol/EMI) Originally bungled due to a mispressing, The Fab
Though Jim Morrison died more than 41 years ago, the fire of The Doors continues to burn bright. The past year, once christened The Year of the Doors, has brought a number of projects to light, such as the DVDs, CDs and LPs pertaining to the 40th anniversary of the seminal L.A. Woman album, and the campaign from Analogue Productions that will eventually encompass both 45 RPM LP and multichannel SACD reissues of the core catalogue. On October 23, The Doors' July 5, 1968 performance at the
Earl Van Dyke, The Motown Sound: The Complete Albums & More (Hip-o Select/Motown) Two discs of classic instrumentals and rare single sides from Motown's legendary Funk Brothers - their first and some of their only recordings to be credited just to them. Big Brother and The Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin, Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968 (Columbia/Legacy) From the archives of late engineer Owsley "Bear" Stanley, an unreleased show featuring Joplin and band at the legendary San
It's finally time to open the doors on the much-anticipated 40th anniversary celebration of The Doors' L.A. Woman. We first reported on the L.A. Woman festivities back in April 2011, the actual month of the anniversary. The band looked forward to the fall release of a deluxe edition of its acclaimed sixth and final album with Jim Morrison. Then in September, we passed on an update from Jeff Jampol, the steward of The Doors' legacy, announcing "The Year of the Doors" campaign and promising the
You know the drill: Rolling Stone's 100 greatest albums of all time, as assessed by us in terms of their many reissues, to bring you the best-sounding and most thoroughly expanded editions for your buck. The Band literally plays on as we kick off this installment! 45. The Band, The Band (Capitol, 1969) After the great debut Music from Big Pink the year before, The Band drew on concepts of Americana and rural history for their follow-up. There was no sophomore slump here; guitarist Robbie
For those of us who still savor the experience of shopping in a physical environment, Record Store Day has become a yearly tradition. It’s sometimes frustrating and sometimes exciting, but few could argue with an event that spotlights the hard-working independent music retailers out there who believe that brick-and-mortar retail can still thrive in the iTunes era. (Amen to that!) A more recent offshoot of Record Store Day has been the mini-event held each Black Friday, or the day after
Since its formation on April 20, 1983, The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame has inducted a slate of accomplished musicians into its ranks on a yearly basis, causing excitement, consternation and everything in between. Though the worthiness of nominees and inductees is hotly debated with each “class” and a number of distinguished artists continue to be ignored year after year, one thing can be agreed upon: a lot of great music has been played for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It continues to host
The fall is upon us, and we all know what that means: the holiday shopping season is right around the corner. Like so many years in recent memory, 2011 is marked by a crowded field of super deluxe catalogue boxes, from venerable artists like Pink Floyd, Elvis Presley, Sting, The Who, Nirvana and Jethro Tull. One more hotly-anticipated box set is Rhino's lavish celebration of The Doors' L.A. Woman, which celebrated its 40th anniversary back in April. We duly passed Rhino's initial press
It wasn't so long ago that high-resolution audio formats like SACD and DVD-Audio were shelved alongside CDs at major retailers such as Best Buy, Barnes and Noble and Borders. Yet with today's retail landscape perhaps irrevocably altered (and still evolving and shrinking, thanks to the likely-imminent liquidation of Borders), those formats have been consigned to niche shoppers. For those who discovered high-rez and 5.1 audio late, the best source for many releases has been eBay, often at
It was hard not to worry about Rhino for awhile. Since the new year kicked off, things have been eerily quiet from the venerable label and catalogue arm of Warner Music Group (currently prepping for a major reorganization). Outside of the largesse of the Europe '72 box set from The Grateful Dead and a few soundtrack selections, all was quiet. Now, one of Warner's most enduring catalogue artists looks to be getting another reissue: hot off the presses, Rhino's announced a 40th anniversary
With most retailers putting out their new releases today to get a jump on the inevitable holiday weekend blitz, here's the big catalogue releases for the week a day early! Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson's Vision (Epic/Legacy) A three-DVD set that includes just about any MJ video you could be searching for. Of course, the one unreleased clip just officially hit the Internet, making you wonder what the fuss is all about. Oh wait, it's Michael Jackson. (Official site) Jay-Z, The Hits
The more-or-less official start of the holiday shopping season kicks off next Friday, November 26. (You've probably seen decorations up in department stores by now. Even this huge Christmas fan can't blame you for shaking your head.) But giving the gift of music is important. You probably know that, and your local indie music store knows that, too. That's why this Black Friday will see a gaggle of special releases at all stores that participate in Record Store Day. There's a lot of neat vinyl
Fans of The Doors have two things to be happy about. First, outgoing Florida governor Charlie Crist is considering pardoning late frontman Jim Morrison for that little indecent exposure kerfluffle back in 1969. Second, Rhino's releasing an archival set by The Doors in two weeks. Live in Vancouver 1970 is a two-disc set capturing the band's show at the Pacific National Coliseum on June 6, 1970. The set features one very special guest: blues legend Albert King, who opened for the set and sits in
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
We catalogue enthusiasts are an odd bunch. The music industry at large is horrified about consumers not buying as much physical music as they used to - but a lot of reissue buyers, interested in the preservation of our collections and their sound quality, are still scouring record stores for purchases. Labels releasing new music have to recontextualize what constitutes "strong sales" now that albums rarely pass 250,000 copies in their first week - but our favorite reissues are lucky to have