Close your eyes and think of your favorite childhood vacation destination. That familiar locale, perhaps a constant lake house where you dreamt of the perfect summer and did your best to achieve it. The silly family rituals, the bonds you made with others, the warm feeling that comes with those kind of memories. Now picture that same destination, revisited as a luxurious, all-expenses-paid package. There's not a worry in sight, no shortage of requests to be fulfilled by servers and staff - the
Paul McCartney, McCartney: Deluxe Edition / McCartney II: Deluxe Edition (MPL/Concord) The next entries in the Paul McCartney Archive Collection, Macca's first two purely solo LPs, originally released in 1970 and 1980. You've got your choice of formats: regular remasters, double-disc deluxe editions packed with extra content, vinyl sets or super-deluxe editions in hardback book cases (McCartney's deluxe edition adds a DVD while McCartney II adds another CD and a DVD). (Official site) The
The wait is over. We continue our discussion of Marvin Gaye's classic What's Going On, to be released as a super-deluxe edition on June 7, with reissue producer Harry Weinger. In this portion of the discussion, Weinger touches on the always-hot topic of remastering the source material, a thought on super-deluxe box sets, and future projects to honor both Gaye's legacy and other Motown greats. Read on after the jump!
The 10th anniversary reissues of Alicia Keys' Songs in A Minor now have track lists with some tantalizing unreleased material - but how much you get, as is so often the case, depends on which version you buy. As previously reported, the singer/songwriter/pianist's Grammy-winning debut LP is being expanded across several formats for its 10th anniversary. A "deluxe edition" will feature a bonus EP of rare and unreleased songs, including two previously unheard demos. A long-boxed "collector's
Now departing from San Francisco: it's Jefferson Airplane! While the classic band's live reissue series launched by Collector's Choice Music remains in limbo, fans of the classic rock line-up of Grace Slick, Marty Balin, Paul Kantner, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady and Spencer Dryden don't have to fear! Both BGO Records and Friday Music have a rich slate of Airplane projects to keep the group flying high! Friday Music kicks things off with a 180-gram vinyl LP remastering of the ironically-titled
Take it from one who knows: the Record Store Day-exclusive 78 RPM release of The Beach Boys' "Good Vibrations" and "Heroes and Villains" wasn't easy to come by. You've now got another chance, however, to own a special Beach Boys collectible vinyl single. At the same time, you can help a great cause. Among the highlights of Al Jardine's 2010 solo album A Postcard from California was "Don't Fight the Sea," a track reuniting Jardine with Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston and even Carl
Bob Dylan, In Concert: Brandeis University, 1963 (Columbia/Legacy) Did you miss this when it first came to pass as a bonus disc with Amazon orders of the latest Bootleg Series? Here's your second chance. (Official site) Danny Elfman, The Tim Burton/Danny Elfman 25th Anniversary Music Box (Warner Bros.) Can you believe it? These things are finally starting to ship after four months and endless posts of addressing speculation and delays. (Official site) Jimi Hendrix, South Saturn Delta / Band
UPDATE 4/4: This isn't particularly new, but in case anyone stumbled upon this post, there was some initial confusion as to the existence of bonus tracks on the Diary of a Madman set. Everything has now been properly edited. Original post: Last year, Legacy promised to turn October into "Rocktober" with the reissues of Blizzard of Ozz and Diary of a Madman, the first two solo albums by Ozzy Osbourne. Those reissues were unsurprisingly well-received by fans, particularly following the revelation
Tom Waits' voice may not be for everyone, but there were bigger problems than that to notice on the recent repressings of his first four albums on red vinyl from Rhino. The reissues, put out several months back, have been plagued with sporadic problems that seem to lie with the mastering or transfer onto vinyl. Fortunately, Anti- Records has begun an exchange program and promised their customers that these problems will be corrected and avoided for future vinyl reissues of the Waits
Mark your calendars if you haven't already, music fans: April 16 is the fourth annual Record Store Day! What started as a small declaration of independence for brick-and-mortar, mom-and-pop record stores in the face of industry decline has blossomed into a worldwide celebration with goodies provided by major and independent labels. And because lots of record store fans are also big into catalogue stuff like you and me, a lot of the RSD exclusives focus on reissues or anniversary repressings in
It's Hollies-mania all over again! Back on February 15, we tipped you to a vinyl box set due April 19 collecting some of the Manchester quintet's toughest-to-find tracks. But it gets better. On the same date that Sundazed releases the Lost Recordings and Beat Rarities box, the label will also continue its vinyl LP reissue series for the band with brand-new releases of Beat Group! and Bus Stop. These 1966 albums for Imperial Records were, respectively, The Hollies' third and fourth American
Mark your calendars, Hendrix fans: another batch of Experience Hendrix/Legacy reissues are coming your way. Next month, Legacy will reissue three more titles in the Hendrix catalogue. The first is South Saturn Delta, a 1997 outtakes compilation first released during Experience Hendrix's partnership with MCA. That set, which featured plenty of sought-after outtakes in a more official context, will be pressed onto compact disc as well as vinyl. Then there's a DVD reissue of Hendrix's January 1,
Warner Bros. Records issued a press release last week touting their forthcoming vinyl reissues for Record Store Day, and the results are pretty neat for catalogue enthusiasts. We already told you about the upcoming Flaming Lips vinyl box, and several other classic WB-oriented LPs are coming for the special event, too. Audiophile editions of Eric Clapton's Unplugged, Fleetwood Mac's Rumours, Jimmy Eat World's Bleed American and the first two LPs by Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers will be pressed
It's perhaps the second-best Prince news next to CD remasters: Prince's three albums of the 1980s are being repressed on vinyl. Dirty Mind (1980), Controversy (1981) and the double-album 1999 (1982) are all being repressed on 180-gram vinyl. While they don't seem to (and likely will not) boast new remastering, it's particularly interesting to see Prince's Warner Bros. catalogue getting any kind of attention by Rhino - especially some of the earlier, bawdier works that the devout Jehovah's
Joan Baez recently announced the reissue of her 1992 album Play Me Backwards as a nicely expanded set - but you'll have to pony up if you want it in the States. Play Me Backwards marked a lot of firsts for the folk singer: her first album in Nashville since Come from the Shadows (1972), her first of many collaborations with songwriters/producers Kenny Greenberg and Wally Wilson, her main collaborators for most of the 1990s and her first music video, for the track "Stones in the Road." The
James Brown, The Singles Vol. 10 1975-1979 (Polydor/Hip-o Select) The Godfather of Soul's penultimate complete singles compilation from Select. One more to follow! (Hip-o Select) Carole King and James Taylor, Troubadours: The Rise of the Singer-Songwriter (Hear Music) A new documentary on the California singer/songwriter scene of the 1970s, coupled with a bonus disc of some of the best songs from that period. (Amazon) Various Artists, Icon (UMe) Budget compilations from artists across the
Smokey Robinson, The Solo Albums Volume 4 (Motown/Hip-o Select) The Motown great's next two vintage studio albums (Love Breeze and Where There's Smoke) go back into print on one CD with a bonus B-side instrumental added on. (Hip-o Select) Teena Marie, ICON (Motown/UMe) The late, great Motown singer is canonized in Universal's budget compilation series. (Amazon) Phil Collins, No Jacket Required (Audio Fidelity) The Genesis frontman/drummer's biggest and best pop LP gets the 24K gold CD
Metallica are reissuing their Garage Inc. compilation in several vinyl formats. Garage Inc. was a double-disc set released in 1998 that showcased the multiple rock influences of the L.A.-based metal gods. One disc was comprised of newly recorded covers of favorites from Black Sabbath and Thin Lizzy to Bob Seger and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The other disc was another collection of covers that the band had previously released on singles and EPs (notably the then-out-of-print 1987 EP The $5.98 EP: Garage
As we fast approach April 16 - this year's Record Store Day, the music geek's Christmas - we're starting to see more vinyl reissues happening in independent stores especially for the occasion. Two of the most recent ones take us back to the rock and roll sound of the 1990s, from traditional grunge to spacier, experimental styles. Twenty years ago, Matthew "Slim" Moon formed a record label in Olympia, Washington, with the intention of putting out eclectic records, from spoken word to punk. That
With a new batch of reissues out in the U.K. and an upcoming retrospective exhibition running in London later this month, Queen's 40th anniversary campaign is going strong. The same week that said exhibition, Stormtroopers in Stilettos, opens at the Old Truman Brewery on Brick Lane, Island will release a two-track downloadable single of "Keep Yourself Alive (Long Lost Retake)" b/w "Stone Cold Crazy." The A-side, from a proposed 1975 single in the U.S., was released on Hollywood Records' 1991
The King has returned: Follow That Dream, Sony's "official bootleg" label for Elvis Presley catalogue projects, has announced its two newest titles for February, a live set and a vinyl reissue. First up is White Knight in Vegas, a 1969 performance at Las Vegas' International Hotel, the biggest showroom on the strip at the time. Fresh off the iconic NBC comeback special some nine months prior, Presley began his stint at the venue in late July, and this show captures Elvis at his showiest.
Oddly, Slayer's The Vinyl Conflict box, which came out in November, sort of flew under The Second Disc's radar. But today, we have a very special reason to make sure that doesn't happen again. This 11-LP box features all of the iconic metal band's albums for Def Jam (yes, this was toward the end of Rick Rubin's tenure with his label) and American Recordings (the label Rubin subsequently created), from 1983's Reign in Blood to 2009's World Painted Blood. All are remastered and pressed on
Singer-songwriter Jack Johnson's first album is slated for remastering and reissue this spring. Brushfire Fairytales was the Hawaiian musician/surfer/environmentalist's first release, on the label Enjoy Records in 2001. Enjoy - now known as Everloving - licensed the album to Universal, Johnson's home since then, with the stipulation that the master tape return to their possession after 10 years. With that time now passed, Everloving has enlisted Bernie Grundman to remaster the record for
Fans of Nigerian musical maverick Fela Kuti have something to celebrate: a whole bunch of Fela-related reissues are coming in the next few weeks from Knitting Factory Records. The blog Altered States reports that a multi-LP vinyl box set will street on February 1. Consisting of six of Fela's albums - 1975's Everything Scatter and Expensive Shit, 1977's Fear Not for Man and Sorrow Tears and Blood, Teacher Don't Teach Me Nonsense (1986) and Beasts of No Nation (1989) - in reproductions of their
Another incredibly short one as we get closer to Christmas! Michael Jackson, Michael (Epic) A posthumous collection (the first of many) consisting of 21st century outtakes by The King of Pop. Did he sing them all? I don't know, but I know I'll buy this if only to make Will.i.am angry. (Official site) Dio, Holy Diver (Niji) The classic Dio album remastered and pressed onto picture vinyl by the late singer's own Niji label. (Facebook page) Bad Religion, 30th Anniversary Box Set