Another Monday release date, ostensibly to get the jump on an abbreviated week with the Thanksgiving/Black Friday holiday! And it’s another big week, to be sure. The Rolling Stones, Some Girls: Deluxe Edition (Rolling Stones/UMe) Whether you think it’s the last truly great Stones album or not, it’s hard to deny that this is the biggest of the deluxe releases this week. (That super-deluxe edition, with a bonus DVD and vinyl, doesn’t disprove the notion, either.) Bob Seger, Ultimate Hits: Rock and Roll Never Forgets (Capitol) Seger’s Greatest Hits (1994) was the biggest selling…
U.K. Joy Division Box Collects Singles (and More) on Vinyl (UPDATED 11/17/2011: and CD)
UPDATE: More than a year after this set came out, a U.K. CD counterpart has been noticed on Amazon with a December 27 street date. Like the original post, this was also first noticed by our friends at Slicing Up Eyeballs. Original post: As reported by Slicing Up Eyeballs, Rhino’s U.K. branch is releasing a special collector’s box of Joy Division singles in December, to commemorate the 30 years since iconic frontman Ian Curtis died. The vinyl box, +- (Plus Minus), will feature ten 7″ records containing all the Joy Division singles. Now, of…
Just a Little Louvin: Classic Country Duo Rediscovered By Light in the Attic
When the time came to fete the Louvin Brothers with a tribute album, the stars came out: James Taylor, Johnny Cash, Glen Campbell, Dolly Parton, Emmylou Harris, Linda Ronstadt, Alison Krauss and Merle Haggard were just some of the artists featured on 2003’s Grammy-winning Livin’, Lovin’, Losin’: Songs of the Louvin Brothers. All of those musicians had openly admitted their debt to Charlie and Ira Louvin, a.k.a. Charlie Elzer Loudermilk (1927-2011) and Ira Lonnie Loudermilk (1924-1965). Though Ira’s untimely death curtailed what should have been a lengthy career, the music recorded by…
The Wonderful World of Elvis: Follow That Dream Offers New Releases For Fall and Winter
Since its establishment in 1999, the Follow That Dream label has been a collector’s dream for fans of Elvis Presley. Taking its name from Presley’s 1962 film of the same name, Follow That Dream has operated as an authorized “bootleg series,” reissuing Elvis titles of varying origins (soundtracks, studio albums, live gigs) in expanded editions with an emphasis on previously unreleased session material, alternate takes and unheard performances. These titles are available exclusively through international fan clubs and the official ShopElvis.com website. Adding to its roster of roughly 100 releases, Follow That…
Tuesday Takes: Rolling Stones Offer “Some Girls” Vinyl Single, Ace Goes to Muscle Shoals with Aretha, Etta and Irma
When a classic soul fan thinks of the “Muscle Shoals” sound, chances are he’s referring to the music made at Rick Hall’s FAME (that’s Florence Alabama Music Enterprises!) Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. Though the House that Hall Built has been celebrated on past anthologies, none has been quite so comprehensive as the 3-CD set due for release from U.K.-based Ace Records. The FAME Studios Story 1961-1973 (KENTBOX 12, 2011) is the result of two years’ worth of research conducted by Ace in the FAME vaults and the latest release in an…
Lost Highway, Found on Vinyl: 10th Anniversary Box Coming Next Month
With a name like Lost Highway Records, it might be tough to parse the mission statement of such a company – unless, of course, you know your Hank Williams. In fact, they’ve been supplying fans with some of the best in alternative rock and country. And now, to celebrate a decade in business, next month sees the release of a mega-vinyl box set highlighting some of the label’s best output. Lost Highway, founded in 2000 by Luke Lewis, started their existence off with a bang, distributing the massively successful soundtrack to O…
Steve Perry’s “Street Talk” Gets Vinyl Reissue
It’d be easy to imagine former Journey frontman Steve Perry doing little besides sitting on a pile of money and denying the opportunity to reunite with his old band. In fact, the singer has been hard at work revisiting his solo debut, Street Talk, for an audiophile release. Perry, who has effusively praised the quality of Journey’s forthcoming Greatest Hits Volume 2 release, recently took to The Mastering Lab in Ojai, California, to remaster his hit album alongside engineer Robert Hadley for a 180-gram audiophile vinyl package. In a statement, Perry discussed the…
The Takeover, The Break’s Over: Jay-Z Reissues “The Blueprint” on Vinyl
Timing is everything, especially in the hip-hop world. So what does it say about Jay-Z that he somehow managed to make a positive out of one of the darkest days in American history? A vinyl reissue of his landmark The Blueprint may provide some answers to that question. The man born Shawn Carter had already established himself as a rapper/entrepreneur of the highest order. The grit and realism of his first album, 1996’s Reasonable Doubt, placed him high on the list of rappers to watch, particularly due to the implicit support of fellow…
Deftones Go “Elite,” Release Vinyl Box
Get ready, vinyl heads: yet another vinyl box set is coming your way, this time from Reprise for Sacramento rockers Deftones. When the Deftones’ debut album, 1995’s Adrenaline, went gold (and later platinum) with considerably little promotion on MTV or radio, it could have been construed as a surprise. But the band – comprised of high school friends Chino Moreno, Stephen Carpenter and Abe Cunningham on vocals, guitar and drums, respectively, plus bassist Chi Cheng and keyboardist Frank Delgado (a guest member until 2000) – was road-tested over a lengthy period of…
Fight the Good Fight: Triumph Reissues “Allied Forces” on Vinyl
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qg_Zp3Y5BeM&hd=1] Here’s a treat for you vinylheads and Canadian rock fans out there: this week saw the vinyl reissue of Allied Forces, the hit album from Northern hard-rockers Triumph. Triumph, arguably Canada’s other revered power trio, consisted of vocalist/guitarist Rik Emmett, bassist/keyboardist Michael Levine and drummer Gil Moore. By 1977, two years after their formation, they began to rack up a string of gold and platinum albums in their native country, as well as a handful of Juno nominations for Group of the Year. But with the release of Allied Forces in 1981, their success…
The Grateful Dead, Cameo-Parkway Christmas, ? and the Mysterians, Ed Ames On Deck From Real Gone
Real Gone Music, the label founded by Gordon Anderson and Gabby Castellana, has announced its debut slate for November, and it’s no surprise that the founders of Collectors’ Choice Music and Hep Cat Records, respectively, are launching their new venture with a broadly eclectic line-up of releases crossing all genre lines. With distribution from Razor and Tie, Real Gone’s slate includes releases from The Grateful Dead, a contingent of sixties girls, legendary garage group ? and the Mysterians, and a trio of holiday releases to make your Christmas a bit brighter. On…
Still They Ride: Journey’s “Greatest Hits Vol. 2” Coming On CD and Remastered Double Vinyl
The singer/songwriter Peter Allen once commented in song, “Everything old is new again.” And that adage certainly applies to the case of Journey. Thanks to the one-two punch of television shows The Sopranos and Glee, the band’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” has become ubiquitous. Though the band’s heyday was undoubtedly the 1980s (“Don’t Stop Believin’,” reportedly the top-selling catalogue track of all time on iTunes, dates from 1981), the music of Journey is in the public eye now more than ever. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that on November 1, Columbia…
The Aeroplane Flies High: Vinyl Box Coming from Neutral Milk Hotel
As principal singer, songwriter and driving force between darling indie outfit Neutral Milk Hotel, Jeff Mangum has spent much of the last decade as one of the most mysterious and low-profile of respected musicians. It looks like things may be changing, however, thanks in part to a vinyl box set curating Neutral Milk Hotel’s discography. Ruston, Lousiana-born Mangum began recording in earnest under the Neutral Milk Hotel moniker in the mid-1990s. The collective nature of his albums (early works essentially featured whatever side musicians were available, although friends Scott Spillane, Jeremy Barnes…
Clapton Sings the Blues: Vinyl Box Set to Anthologize Late Period Albums
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHmbLs7sd5w] Vinyl enthusiasts are going to have Slowhand for the holidays. A report from fanzine Where’s Eric? announces the November release of Clapton Blues, a five-vinyl box set that encompasses three of Clapton’s great late-period blues albums. First up is From the Cradle, Clapton’s first LP since the triumphant success of his MTV Unplugged appearance in 1992. It’s a raw, straight pass of a set (the liner notes detail only two overdubs and no editing) comprised of 16 classic covers of blues legends from Elmore James to Muddy Waters. Strange as it…
Speaking of Monkees: Rhino Announces Very Limited “Head” Vinyl
A no-nonsense brief on this story, because the product may be gone by the time you read: Rhino’s taking orders on a special vinyl repressing of Head for you Monkeemaniacs out there. It’s not as involved as last year’s box set, but this 180-gram clear vinyl pressing of the album will feature a bonus 7″ single of two tracks from the Rhino Handmade deluxe edition, “Circle Sky (Live)” and “Can You Dig It (Mono Mix).” There’s only 500 of them going to be made, though, so act fast! Here’s the link, and the…
Pop-Punkers Yellowcard on Yellow Vinyl (and More) in New Box Set
If you’re a vinyl collector or have an incredibly strong sense of nostalgia for recent things, this one’s for you: pop-punk band Yellowcard are compiling their discography onto a collector’s vinyl box set. The Florida-formed, L.A.-based outfit enjoyed mainstream success with the upbeat “Ocean Avenue” (once expertly described by SPIN magazine as the song that plays right after Hoobastank’s “The Reason” at school dances nationwide). The band’s sound was pure pop with clean production and a skate-rat edge, but what set them apart was the presence of a violinist, longtime band member Sean…
The Smiths Are Out of the Bag: Massive U.K. Box Planned
As we at The Second Disc HQ love to point out, Morrissey once set his scathing lyrical pen on record companies’ propensity for reissues on The Smiths’ “Paint a Vulgar Picture.” Currently, he must be shitting bricks: Rhino U.K. is planning The Smiths – Complete, a box set compiling the influential band’s entire discography, all newly remastered. Clever fans spotted the presence of the set on the label’s site late last night (we have super-reader Dean H. to thank for hipping us to it), and our good friends at Slicing Up Eyeballs did…
Omnivore to Sting Fans with Jellyfish Vinyl Reissues
The reign of Jellyfish was a devilishly short one. Yet with only two albums and a cataclysmic lineup change at the halfway point, Jellyfish’s output deserves a place in the edifice of power pop, alongside such luminaries as Badfinger, Cheap Trick and XTC. And now, fans will be able to enjoy those two albums on vinyl – one for the first time in the U.S. and one of them for the first time anywhere – thanks to the good folks at Omnivore Recordings. Jellyfish was the brainchild of singer/drummer Andy Sturmer and…
Release Round-Up: Week of July 19
Ramones, Ramones / Leave Home / Rocket to Russia / Road to Ruin (Rhino) 180-gram vinyl reissues of the first four Ramones records! The first 500 to buy them from Rhino directly (as seen in this post) get replica 45s with each album, too. (Official site) Andrew Wood, Malfunkshun: The Andrew Wood Story (Hip-o Select/A&M) A late, underrated icon in the early days of grunge gets his due with this triple-disc set, featuring the acclaimed DVD documentary of his life and career (which gives the set its name) plus a remastered and expanded version of Malfunkshun’s first…
Mayall’s Bluesbreakers Coming Back to CD, LP from Sundazed
Speaking of vinyl reissues, Sundazed has got three coming from John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers at the end of August. Mayall certainly had an ear for talent, as these three albums certainly prove. Blues Breakers with Eric Clapton, released 45 years ago this month, remains a pivotal moment for both Mayall and the 21-year-old ex-Yardbird, whose work on the first Bluesbreakers album earned him that immortal “Clapton is God” graffiti tag. But Slowhand’s not the only genius afoot: the standard Bluesbreakers lineup included bassist John McVie in its ranks, and Mayall recruited guitarists Peter…
Cash, Buffett Kickstart Their Way to Vinyl Reissues
A while back, The Second Disc reported on a reissue of a power-pop record, Cotton Mather’s Kon-Tiki, financed entirely through Kickstarter. It was a considerable success, certainly enough to make one think about the viability of using the project-funding website to eke out a niche in the big-enough world of music reissues. Now, there’s another reissue-heavy project from another label hitting the site, and it’s certainly cool enough to merit a mention over here. 180 Gram Records, an audiophile vinyl specialty label (whose nicely-packaged Everly Brothers vinyl box set was slated for induction,…
Release Round-Up: Week of July 12
R.E.M., Lifes Rich Pageant: 25th Anniversary Edition (EMI) The latest R.E.M. deluxe edition set features the original LP remastered alongside a bonus disc of demos, all of which are currently available for your streaming pleasure here. (Official site) Megadeth, Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? 25th Anniversary Edition (EMI) The metal heroes’ breakthrough LP, remastered and featuring a live bonus disc…and for the adventurous super-fan, a deluxe box set adds two additional alternate mixes of the album along with the album and live show on hi-res audio and vinyl. (That’s five discs and three vinyl LPs!)…
Weekend Wround-Up: Ramones Vinyl (Plus), Warhol’s Legacy, A Voyage to Honnalee on DVD
On Tuesday, July 19, Rhino is reissuing the first four Ramones albums on 180-gram vinyl with the original artwork and track lists (meaning Leave Home will have “Carbona Not Glue” on Side One). Those who order the first 500 copies of each LP directly from the label will receive a bonus 7″ with their respective albums. Legacy Recordings will release a strictly limited box set in August to commemorate the life and work of Andy Warhol. 15 Minutes: Homage to Andy Warhol will feature three CDs consisting of 17 audio components (poetry, spoken word,…
“Lonely” No More: Lost Motels Album to Be Released in August
One of the most desired unreleased records of the New Wave era will finally receive an official release, nearly three decades after it was put on the shelf. The Motels’ Apocalypso was rejected for its lack of commercial appeal by Capitol Records, which accidentally led the band to a path of brief fame in the 1980s…but it’s going to be fun to wonder “what if?” with this set. In 1981, The Motels – lead singer Martha Davis, guitarist Tim McGovern, keyboardist/saxophonist Marty Jourard, bassist Michael Goodroe and drummer Brian Glascock – were doing…
Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention
September 25, 2026
