A wise philosopher...or maybe a punk kid...or maybe an astute screenwriter?...once wrote "Life moves pretty fast - if you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it." A new box set devoted to that iconic filmmaker - the late John Hughes - will help fans enjoy some of that life a little more through a diverse collection of pop songs he helped bring to the masses. Life Moves Pretty Fast. The John Hughes Mixtapes offers four volumes of songs from the writer/director's popular
This is a public service announcement...with bonus tracks! Legacy Recordings will release a 2CD or 3LP expansion of The Clash's Combat Rock for its 40th anniversary. The album comes with a bonus disc of 12 rare and unreleased tracks curated by the band's surviving members. As the follow-up to the sprawling triple album Sandinista! (1980), the fifth album from "The Only Band That Matters" found the group at a creative crossroads. Guitarist Mick Jones found himself feeling estranged from his
A new box set next month will anthologize most of the output of influential ska/punk label 2 Tone Records. 2 Tone: The Albums will collect eight major long-playing albums issued by the British label between 1979 and 1984: The Specials' Specials (1979), More Specials (1980) and In The Studio (1984, issued under a revised line-up and new name, The Special AKA); The Selecter's Too Much Pressure (1980); Cuban-born Rico Rodriguez's That Man Is Forward (1981) and Jama Rico (1982); and two
Michael Jackson, Xscape (Epic) Where was this three years ago? This collection of eight outtakes, augmented with tasteful future-retro production by Timbaland, Stargate, L.A. Reid and others, is possibly the best project to escape the MJ vaults yet. For the discerning fan, Epic's done you a solid, offering a deluxe package with the same songs in their untouched demo form. It's really something. Standard CD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. Deluxe CD/DVD: Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. LP: Amazon U.S. /
Demon Music Group’s Edsel Records has a packed release slate this week from a number of artists returning to the label’s roster. From Britpop heroes Suede (a.k.a. The London Suede), the label has Royal Albert Hall, 24 March 2010, a 2-CD/1-DVD set preserving the band’s reunion concert (with Brett Anderson, Neil Codling, Simon Gilbert, Richard Oakes and Mat Osman) benefiting Teenage Cancer Trust; and Sci-Fi Lullabies, a reissue of the original 2-CD anthology of the group’s B-sides released
Wow! Was it just over a year ago when a rather dubious report began circulating (that, shockingly, was picked up by many otherwise-reputable publications) that proclaimed the death of the CD was secretly scheduled by the major labels for 2012? Well, 2012 has come and (almost) gone, and it might have been the most super-sized year in recent memory for reissues, deluxe and otherwise, from labels new and old. Here at the Second Disc, we consider our annual Gold Bonus Disc Awards a companion
Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Emerson, Lake & Palmer / Tarkus: Deluxe Editions (Razor & Tie) Full review coming soon, but you should know that these are 2-CD/1-DVD sets featuring unreleased alternate takes and 5.1 surround mixes for these two classic prog-rock LPs. Dio, Singles Box Set (UMC) A U.K.-made collectible box replicating all of Dio's Vertigo 12" singles, plus the Intermission live EP and a DVD of music videos. The English Beat, Live at The US Festival '82 & '83 (Shout!
When the members of The Beat had the opportunity to create their own record label, the six-piece unit (“Ranking” Roger Charlery on vocals and toasting, Dave Wakeling on vocals and guitar, Andy Cox on guitar, Everett Morton on drums, David Steele on bass and Lionel Augustus Martin a.k.a. Saxa on – what else? – saxophone!) chose “Go Feet Records” as its moniker. Now, roughly 32 years after the band’s first album was released, it will still have your feet going in wild and unexpected directions.
Bananarama, 30 Years of Bananarama (Rhino U.K.) The U.K. division of Rhino compiles the best of the “Venus” hitmakers in this CD/DVD package out today in the U.K. and next week stateside! Read more here. The Beat, I Just Can’t Stop It/Wha’ppen?/Special Beat Service (Demon/Edsel) The complete studio output of The Beat (or The English Beat, if you prefer) gets the deluxe reissue treatment in the U.K. from Edsel as 2-CD/1-DVD sets chock-filled with extra material! Don’t miss our review of
When we reported on the dueling reissue campaigns by Edsel and Shout! Factory over the catalogue of The (English) Beat, it was pretty clear that each had its own distinct advantages. Shout! Factory's The Complete Beat box set lacked some of the bonus content and all of the video footage in Edsel's 2CD/1DVD expansions of each of the ska band's three albums. On the other hand, they were going to include The Beat in its burgeoning series of live shows from the fabled US Festival. Now, we have some
The Beat, I Just Can't Stop It / Wha'ppen? / Special Beat Service: Deluxe Editions (Edsel) The Beat's discography is expanded in the U.K. by Edsel in fashionable 2 CD/1 DVD editions. (Don't forget: a similar five-disc box is coming out from Shout! Factory in the U.S. next month.) The Miracles, Renaissance / Do It Baby (Hip-o Select/Motown) The first two post-Smokey LPs by The Miracles on one CD. The Electric Prunes, The Complete Reprise Singles / The New Christy Minstrels, A Retrospective
As previously reported, the discography of British ska band The Beat (or as they're primarily known in the States, The English Beat) is getting the expanded reissue treatment by two separate labels across the globe. Shout! Factory is releasing a five-disc box set featuring all three of the band's albums, B-sides, remixes and Peel sessions, as well as a new compilation and a CD/DVD of the band's US Festival performance in 1983. Now, we can share the details of U.K. label Edsel's forthcoming
In what is quite possibly the first such occurrence since The Second Disc opened up shop in 2010, one popular ska band from England is getting two very different sets of catalogue reissues in their native land as well as the United States. The Beat - known as The English Beat in North America - were among the top bands of the late-'70s/early-'80s ska revival in England. With an eclectic lineup (Dave Wakeling and Ranking Roger sharing lead vocals, Andy Cox on guitar, bassist David Steele,