CDs signed by Phil Manzanera only available via the SDE shop
Singer-songwriter Tim Finn – best known for founding Split Enz and being part of Crowded House during the Woodface era – and Roxy Music guitar legend Phil Manzanera have collaborated on a new album called Caught by the Heart.
The 10-track album features mature, sophisticated pop covering a wide range of styles and genres including rock, pop, prog, Latin (Mambo! Salsa!, Luz Distinta), reggae (The Cry of the Earth), classical (La Ruleta De La Fortuna), chamber orchestra type pieces. According to Phil, “no genre was off-limits”.
Manzanera’s extensive musical palette coupled with Tim’s literate and well observed lyrics – as well as the phenomenal range of international guest musicians – has resulted in what is described as “a shapeshifting album and a remarkable collaboration”. I can tell you that SDE has been lucky enough to have a sneaky preview of the whole record and has been enjoying it immensely! It’s sophisticated, emotional and wonderfully varied.
The album was recorded in lockdown. 45 years after they first worked together (Phil produced the 1976 Split Enz album Second Thoughts) the pair have each been busy in their respective home studios some 12,000 thousand miles apart. It has sparked an real artistic creativity and they have jointly written 23 new songs!
Other musicians on the album include Yaron Stavi, Guy Pratt, Frank Portaoundo (bass), Steve DiStanislao, Javier Weyler (drums), Anna Phoebe (Violin), Matteo Saggese (piano), Yazz Ahmed (Flugel Horn), João Mello (saxophone) and there’s additional vocals by Elliot Finn and Ann Masina.
Caught By The Heart was produced by Phil Manzanera and Tim Finn and recorded by all the musicians in the UK, US, South Africa, Germany and New Zealand and was mastered at Abbey Road.
The album will be released on 27 August 2021. There is no vinyl release at present but there will be an initial run of CDs and SDE is proud to support this physical release by exclusively offering CDs of Caught by the Heartsigned by Phil Manzanera! These are limited to just 250 copies and will also come with a Caught by the Heart postcard (note the CDs themselves will be signed, not the postcard).
Don’t miss out on this – you can place your order via this link or using the button(s) below.
Tracklisting
Caught by the HeartTim Finn & Phil Manzanera/signed CD
Fantastic value since the 2CD of Flaming Pie has a brilliant 21-track bonus disc with a great selection of home recordings, demos, acoustic tracks and B-sides!
The Charlatans‘ self-titled fourth album will be reissued in October as a remastered coloured vinyl pressing.
Originally released in 1995, the album features three hit singles including ‘Just When You’re Thinkin’ Things Over’ which reached number 12 in the UK charts.
The Charlatans reissued on 2LP yellow ‘marbled’ vinyl (click image to enlarge)
Like the original, this vinyl reissue spreads the album across two records and comes in a gatefold sleeve. The pressing is on marbled yellow vinyl and the audio is cut from a 96kHz/24 bit transfer, with vinyl mastering by Frank Arkwright at Abbey Road.
The group was put together by Prince and 40 years ago The Time‘s eponymous debut album was issued. This new expanded double album offers six bonus tracks on the second LP. They are: ‘Get It Up (Single Edit)’, ‘Girl (Edit)’ , ‘Cool (Part 1)’, ‘Cool (Part II)’, ‘After Hi School (Single Edit)’ and ‘The Stick (Single Edit)’. Sadly, no CD version of this.
Level 42‘s 10th studio album, Forever Now, will be released as a limited edition coloured vinyl pressing next month.
The long-player was issued in 1994 on RCA/BMG, but was never released on vinyl in any major territories, although strangely Discogs does indicate a that a Columbian pressing exists. The album was reissued in 1996 (on the Resurgence label) on CD with a revised/expanded track listing and then in 2009 Edsel released a two-CD expanded edition.
This new vinyl edition is pressed on 180g silver/black ‘marbled’ vinyl and maintains the original 11-track version.
‘Forever Now’ reached number 19 in the UK charts in 1994
Forever Now was the last Level 42 album to feature Mark King, Mike Lindup and Phil Gould (the latter returning for this record). While the band were by this point far from their commercial peak, the album still spawned three top 30 singles in the UK with the title track peaking just inside the top 20.
This new pressing is limited to 1500 units worldwide, comes with an insert and is numbered. It will be released by Music On Vinyl on 20 August 2021.
The SDE shop has a guaranteed allocation of stock. so pre-order your copy by clicking on this link or simply using the button below.
Fans are set to be disappointed AGAIN as the saga of the long-promised Blondie box set continues, with band drummer Clem Burke tweeting about further delays.
The box set, which we were told in August last year was “coming soon”, has been confirmed by Blondie as including “extensive liner notes and essays, complete discography and historical photographic history hard cover books plus rare unreleased bonus material”. It was expected on CD and vinyl in 2021, but due to vinyl production capacity issues – first highlighted by SDE back in April – the record company appear to be pushing it back to next year. See Clem’s tweet below:
Unfortunately due to vinyl production delays it looks like release date moved to 2022. https://t.co/SEZHOIhrtd
Oct 2018: ‘Heart of Glass’ 12″ issued to whet fans’ appetites
Aug 2020: No news for nearly two years, then the band post on their website that “The first Blondie archival box set coming in 2021”
Feb 2021: A graphic novel (by Z2 Comics), Against The Odds is announced. The $500 super deluxe pre-order includes a “very special Blondie music bundle”. This graphic novel is expected “in the fall of 2021”
May 2021: Clem Burke tweets that the box set is “definitely” coming out in August 2021
July 2021: Clem Burke tweets that “Unfortunately due to vinyl production delays it looks like release date moved to 2022”.
The Against All Odds graphic novel was announced in February
How does this impact the graphic novel?
Anyone who has ordered the very expensive super deluxe edition of the Against The Odds graphic novel (which offers “an imaginative take on an oral history of the band, interspersed with artistic interpretations of 10 songs from their catalog”) has a right to be concerned. It is not clear what the relationship between the forthcoming box set and the “very special Blondie music bundle” that comes with the super deluxe edition is, but some purchasers have assumed – given the cost – that this super deluxe version of the graphic novel is going to ship with the very box set we have been waiting for. If that is indeed the case, then clearly Blondie can not deliver Against All Odds in the fall of 2021 when the box has gone back to 2022 (although ominously there’s a disclaimer on the Z2 Comics site that reads: “Blondie music elements will be shipped separately”)
Also, while vinyl production delays can’t be solved with a wave of a magic wand, UMC do have the option of releasing the box set in 2021 on CD (where there are no such problems) and only delaying the vinyl edition. Not ideal from their point of view, admittedly, but what about fans who have been waiting since late 2018?
What do Blondie have to say about this?
SDE has reached out to Blondie’s representatives for clarification on these issues, but in the meantime fans will have no choice but to wait and just hope that the box set happens at some point, one way or another.
What are your thoughts on this situation. Leave a comment or vote on the SDE poll below.
Six physical formats including 136-page, 6-disc Art Book edition
The The‘s Royal Albert Hall show of 2018 (attended and reviewed by SDE) will be released across many formats in October as The Comeback Special: Live at the Royal Albert Hall.
The gig was one of three London dates in a week (the others being at The Troxy and Brixton Academy) and was filmed by legendary film-maker Tim Pope
Performing live for the first time in 16 years (there was a headline appearance at Denmark’s Heartland Festival a few days before the Royal Albert Hall concert) the band featured previous members James Eller on bass, DC Collard on keyboards and Earl Harvin on drums and new member Barrie Cadogan on guitar, alongside Matt Johnson
The 24-song performance will be released across a number of formats including two-CD, 3LP clear vinyl, 3LP black vinyl, blu-ray and DVD and there will be a special super deluxe version known as the Art Book Edition because the contents come packaged in a 136-page book which tells the whole story behind The Comeback Special with hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos, film stills, contributions and stories, as well as six discs including exclusive audio content (across two bonus CDs), plus director Tim Pope’s film of the concert on both Blu-ray and DVD.
The exclusive art book edition of The Comeback Special (click image to enlarge)
The art book edition features:
Previously unseen artwork by Andy Dog, lyrics to all songs on the set list, a foreword by Pete Paphides, contributions by band members and collaborators’
Conversations by Candlelight’, a Radio Cinéola broadcast over a bottle of Jura whiskey with Matt Johnson and Tim Pope + acoustic snippets of selected songs
‘Book Narration’, a Radio Cinéola broadcast with Matt Johnson and Jackson Ewald Johnson offering a guided tour of the book
‘Morning Becomes Eclectic’ (interview + 6 acoustic performances at KCRW in LA during the tour: ‘The Beat(en) Generation’, ‘Heartland’, ‘This Is The Day, ‘Slow Emotion Replay’, ‘Armageddon Days’, ‘Lonely Planet’)
Exclusive 10” vinyl featuring ‘DJ Food’s ‘Stolen Moments’ remix of ‘Global Eyes’ and ‘I Saw The Light’ performed at Festival No. 6 (only available on the official album store)
There will be a special premiere of the film of The Comeback Special at The Troxy in London on 1 October 2021. Any orders from the official artist store gives the purchaser exclusive access to tickets for this premiere.
All formats of The Comeback Special: Live at the Royal Albert Hall will be released on 29 October 2021.
Marillion‘s second album, 1984’s Fugazi, will be issued as a multi-disc deluxe edition, across two formats, in September.
The album reached number five in the UK albums charts and spawned the singles Assassing and Punch & Judy, both of which were top 30 singles. Fugazi was also the first Marillion album to feature Ian Mosley on drums and percussion, replacing Mick Pointer – the other band members were Fish, Steve Rothery, Pete Trewavas and Mark Kelly.
The 2021 deluxe reissue is available as a 3CD+blu-ray deluxe set or a 4LP vinyl box. Both feature a new stereo remix by Andy Bradfield and Avril Mackintosh, who also remixed the deluxe editions of Script For A Jester’s Tear and Clutching At Straws.
Fugazi 3CD+blu-ray deluxe edition
The CD and vinyl deluxe sets also both include a live show from The Spectrum, Montreal, Canada recorded in 1984. This spans two CDs or three vinyl records.
As with previous sets the blu-ray offers a 5.1 mix of Fugazi and a hi-res stereo version of the new 2021 mix, as well as the live concert as well. There is also loads of bonus material on the blu-ray including a look at the fascinating story behind Fugazi in a new documentary, called The Performance Has Just Begun, which features all the band members talking about how the album came to fruition. This is followed by the band giving an insightful track-by-track commentary of the album, as well as the music video of ‘Assassing’ with both the original and remix audio. As if that wasn’t enough, the blu-ray also features seven bonus tracks including demos and alternate mixes.
Fuguzai deluxe edition will be released on 10 September 2021. SDE members be sure to give the 3CD+blu-ray box a reader rating by scrolling to the top of this post!
Note: The 3CD+blu-ray deluxe is available via the SDE shop using this link or the button below!
SDE has the lowdown on which versions of the hits are on this new vinyl set
Universal Music will issue an Thin Lizzy ‘best of’ across two vinyl records at the end of this month.
Greatest Hits features 22 tracks and including all the hits you’d expect including ‘Whiskey in the Jar’, ‘The Boys Are Back in Town’, ‘Jailbreak’, ‘Don’t Believe a Word’, ‘Dancing in the Moonlight’ and ‘Waiting For An Alibi’.
Thin Lizzy’s Greatest Hits on 2LP vinyl
Despite less than exciting cover art, this new package might be of interest since it doesn’t just make do with a load of album versions, but rather collects mostly original seven-inch edits. There’s a few exceptions, including the extended version of ‘Waiting For An Alibi’ which boasts an extra verse.
Muse celebrate the twentieth anniversary of Origin Of Symmetry by releasing this new edition on 2LP vinyl which features “remixed and remastered audio” as well as ‘re-imagined’ artwork.
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Muse
Origin of Symmetry XX Anniversary RemiXX 2LP vinyl
The Rolling Stones / A Bigger Band: Live on Copacabana Beach
The Rolling Stones‘ legendary 2006 show from Copacabana Beach. This is “fully restored and remastered” concert from their ‘A Bigger Bang’ world tour and now includes four previously unreleased tracks: ‘Tumbling Dice’, ‘Oh No, Not You Again’, ‘This Place is Empty’ and ‘Sympathy For The Devil’. The 2CD+2 x blu-ray deluxe offers Rio audio on CD and a bonus gig (Salt Lake City) on SD blu-ray. There’s also a 2CD+ 2 x DVD deluxe with the same content.
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The Rolling Stones
Live on Copacabana Beach 2CD + 2 blu-ray deluxe edition
Standalone versions of Steven Wilson‘s remix of Jethro Tull‘s A album, which was reissued last year as a CD/DVD box set. The CD edition comes with five bonus tracks.
I’m delighted to say that, after some pesky delays with the printing, the new SDE book, DECADE: The best of Super Deluxe Edition 2011-2021 is out now.
The first of three planned volumes, DECADE volume one offers highlights of SuperDeluxeEdition.com content from the last ten years with superb in-depth interviews with artists, producers, reissue curators and more, along with selected features and other articles.
The 128-page book has been produced to a high standard. Each features an exclusively embossed front cover design with spot varnished highlights and these come signed by myself (SDE editor Paul Sinclair) and are individually numbered.
Praise for DECADE from SDE readers:
“An excellent book.”
“Really chuffed with my copy… Great articles and I even read your pieces on artists I don’t care for. This really is ‘holding the music in your hands’”
“A very classy publication and a right riveting read”
“A terrific read… highly recommended”
“Looks fantastic and the attention to detail throughout is impressive”
“Absolutely bloody brilliant, ten times as good as the what it sounded like”
Order your copy of DECADE via the SDE shop by using this link, or by simply clicking the button below.
Following the success of his recent offerings – Phantom Birds and The Blue Elephant – Matt Berry‘s first two albums are to be reissued as coloured vinyl pressings by Acid Jazz.
Witchazel was acclaimed back in 2011, when it was first released and any Berry fans who are not familiar with it, are still likely to know one track, ‘Take My Hand’, which became the theme tune to his brilliant TV series Toast Of London.
Witchazel is pressed on caramel-coloured vinyl
This reissue is effectively a tenth anniversary edition and sees the album pressed on caramel-coloured vinyl edition.
The second album, Kill The Wolf (released in 2013), will also be reissued at the same time. Mixing baroque folk with psychedelia it features the single ‘Medicine’ as well as ‘Gather Up’ which featured in Jemaine Clement’s What We Do In The Shadows.
This reissue reproduces the gatefold issue, complete with insert, and is pressed on bottle green vinyl.
Both Witchazel and Kill The Wolf are released on 20 August 2021.
The Now team continue to reissue the original compilations and have announced that Now That’s What I Call Music 9 is to be released, in full, on CD for the first time later this month.
Originally issued in March 1987, the 30-track various artists collection knocked U2‘s mighty The Joshua Tree from the top spot of the UK albums chart and spent five weeks at number one.
Simply Red’s ‘The Right Thing’ was a top 20 hit in the UK and a top 30 hit in America
Now 9 was actually released as a 15-track, abbreviated, single CD back in the day, but this is the first time it has been available in its entirety across two CDs, and there are no tracks missing!
The selection is very ‘1987’ and it includes some brilliant pop songs like Simply Red‘s ‘The Right Thing’, Curiosity Killed The Cat‘s ‘Down to Earth’, Erasure‘s ‘Sometimes’, Robbie Nevil‘s ‘C’est La Vie’, Mental As Anything‘s ‘Live It Up’, The Blow Monkeys‘ ‘It Doesn’t Have To Be This Way’, a-ha‘s ‘Manhattan Skyline’, the Pretenders‘ ‘Hymn to Her’ and Berlin‘s ‘Take My Breath Away’, to name but a few.
‘It’s Doesn’t Have To Be This Way’ would be The Blow Monkeys biggest UK hit, peaking at number five.
But the compilation also signposts the shifting musical landscape. Ben E King‘s ‘Stand By Me’ and and Jackie Wilson‘s ‘Reet Petite’ reminds us of the British public’s penchant for putting old songs at the top of the charts (Boris Gardener‘s ‘I Want To Wake Up With You’ was on Now 8) and the power of TV/advertising. Meanwhile, Steve ‘Silk’ Hurley’s ‘Jack Your Body’ paved the way for House/Acid House scene. Perhaps surprisingly, given this is 1987, there are no Stock Aitken Waterman-produced songs on this collection.
Now That’s What I Call Music 9 is released as a two-CD set on 23 July 2021.
Amazing deal in Italy for the massive and slightly over the top 11LP vinyl super deluxe of U2‘s album from 2000. This same box is currently £172 in the UK and $165 in the USA.
Mark Knopfler/Local HeroHalf-speed mastered vinyl LP
Excellent vinyl reissue and according to Miles Showell who did the half-speed mastering and the detective work on the tapes, this is “probably the first time Local Hero has ever been mastered from the original source”
a-ha/East of the Sun West of the MoonPurple vinyl pressing
German deals continue with this great price for what is actually the only vinyl reissue of a-ha‘s East of the Sun West of the Moon that has ever been issued!
Another German deal. Get this price with an automatic discount at checkout. Still fairly expensive for what you get but it’s almost HALF of what this Neil Young box set cost in the UK when it was first released.
Fantastic price for a fantastic album. Nicely packaged too with the gatefold sleeve instead an outer slipcase. The front cover here is a slight variant which is exclusive to Amazon in the UK
Four CDs of Shep Pettibone remixes • 2 x 2LP vinyl sets • Limited quantity of both CDs and vinyl SIGNED by Arthur Baker
Fans of classic ‘Eighties’ extended remixes should rejoice as Demon Music announce a newly-minted ‘DANCE MASTERS‘ series – available on CD and vinyl – hosted by the legend that is Arthur Baker. Each series will be a multi-disc, ‘various artists’ collection of reworkings and the common thread that links everything together will be a focus on one remixer – and who better to start off with than Shep Pettibone!
The man is one of the best dance remixers of all time and his name will be familiar to fans of pop music who bought 12-inch singles (or CD singles, or cassette singles) in the 1980s. Regardless of who the artist was – whether it was Pet Shop Boys, Duran Duran, New Order, Level 42, Depeche Mode, Elton John, George Michael or Erasure, to name but a few – the Shep Pettibone remix was like a seal of quality. He rarely disappointed.
Whether Shep was working in the sphere of synth-pop, rock, rap or dance, the man with the strange name had the magic touch of maintaining the integrity of the original song, while creating a new and distinctive sound of his own. Don’t take my word for it, here’s what his ‘rival’ Arthur Baker has to say about him:
“What Shep Pettibone had that most other mixers did not, was a true radio sensibility. He inherently knew what would work on the airwaves, but was equally comfortable in a club setting, as a DJ and a fan, so he knew what worked both on the dance floor and on radio. That was a deadly combination. Shep was also very open to all types of music and acts. From UK alternative sounds to NYC street sounds. From campy pop to gospel disco and electro R&B, Shep nailed them all and brought his expert sheen and sense of excitement to each of them. I am incredibly proud to open the Dance Masters series with this collection of some of his best work.”
ARTHUR BAKER
While we’re all used to the familiar 12-inch remix compilations, theming an entire remix collection around one remixer is something new and probably hasn’t really been done before because the licensing challenges are significant with ‘repertoire’ littered across many different labels. But with Dance Masters Demon have succeeded in overcoming such obstacles and its four-CD variant (which will undoubtedly be the most popular format) offers 46 remixes, all by Shep Pettibone, compiled and sequenced by Wayne Dickson (BBR/Groove Line Records) in conjunction with series curator Arthur Baker.
The exclusive 4CD edition of Dance Masters: Shep Pettibone comes with a print signed by Arthur Baker (click to enlarge)
This collection highlights some of the biggest acts of the ‘80s as well as underground club acts. Some of these remixes are incredibly rare, and some of them are making their CD debut in the UK, including (extraordinarily) the 12” Shep Pettibone Mastermix of the Pet Shop Boys‘ ‘West End Girls’ (the version on Disco is a unique Shep hybrid). The same goes for the 12″ Shep Pettibone Mix of Terence Trent D’Arby‘s first single ‘If You Let Me Stay’ which is previously unreleased in the UK on any format, as far as SDE can tell (all the remixes issued here were by Michael H. Brauer). Other new-to-CD-in-the-UK remixes include Shep’s edited remix of Whitney Houston‘s ‘So Emotional’, his Club Mix of Run DMC’s It’s Tricky and the Club Love Remix of George Benson’s ‘Twice The Love’.
Other highlights include the full 9.05 Shep Pettibone Remix of George Michael‘s ‘Hard Day’, which is almost three minutes longer than the edited variant tacked onto the original Faith CD; Shep’s near eight-minute version of Duran Duran‘s lead single from Big Thing, ‘I Don’t Want Your Love’; Huey Lewis and the News‘ Hip to Be Square (Shep Pettibone Dance Mix), New Order‘s ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’ (12” Shep Pettibone Remix) and many more.
The four-CD edition comes in ‘media book’ packaging which includes a 32-page book with a foreword written by series creator Arthur Baker, a note from Neil Tennant and a “fan essay” by Billboard Magazine dance columist Bill Coleman.
On vinyl, Dance Masters is split into two double LP sets, each with 16 Shep Pettibone remixes (four per side). So that means the vinyl option gives you 32 remixes compared to the CD set’s 46. Both vinyl parts of volume one of the vinyl package are pressed on clear vinyl. Volume one part 1 is released at the same time as the four-CD set, while volume one part 2 will follow in October this year.
SDE has recently spoken to Arthur Baker about this new Dance Master series and, in particular, life as a remixer in New York in the 1980s. Look out for this candid and entertaining interview very soon
The 4CD set with Arthur Baker signed prints where available via Amazon UK but are now SOLD OUT. However, the 2LP set (Vol 1, Part 1) is still available with the signed print only via Rough Trade in the UK.
Arthur Baker presents Dance Masters: Shep Pettibone The Classic Master-Mixes will be released on 1 October 2021 (was 3 September).
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Various Artists
Dance Masters Shep Pettibone - limited 4CD set with SIGNED print
Late Seventies English pop group The Vapors are best known for their 1980 hit single ‘Turning Japanese’, but anyone looking to dig much deeper into the band’s archive will be interested in Waiting For The Weekend: The United Artists and Liberty Recordings, a new four-CD box set from Cherry Red that includes two albums and two CDs of previously unreleased demos, rough mixes, alternative and live versions.
Formed in 1978, ‘discovered’ by The Jam‘s Bruce Foxton and managed by Paul Weller’s Dad, John, the group signed to United Artists in 1979. They released two studio albums: New Clear Days in 1980 (which features ‘Turning Japanese’) and Magnets, released 18 months later in December 1981. The Vapors broke up in 1982, but reformed in 2016, playing dates for a few years. They released a new studio album in 2020 called Together.
Waiting For The Weekend: The United Artists and Liberty Recordings (click image to enlarge)
The new box set features significantly expanded versions of both studio albums on the first two CDs. Disc three features a 21-track album of alternative versions of songs from New Clear Days, all of which are previously unreleased, including four different versions of ‘Turning Japanese’.
The fourth and final CD features alternative versions of songs from Magnets and 11 tracks Live At The Rainbow 03/12/1979. Again, all of these are previously unreleased. In amongst all bonus material are three completely ‘new’ songs: ‘Move’, ‘Secret Noise’ and ‘Caroline’ that have never officially previously been released. The audio in this package has been mastered from the original master tapes retrieved from the EMI Archives
The clamshell box includes a 24-page booklet containing rare and previously unseen photos with a brand new annotation by Ed Piller.
Waiting For The Weekend: The United Artists & Liberty Recordings will be released on 13 August 2021.
Warner Records have put together a collection of well known soundtrack albums which will be reissued on limited edition coloured vinyl in late summer.
These include music from trio of Quentin Tarantino films: Jackie Brown, Death Proof and Inglorious Basterds, all of which are song-based collections with choice cuts from the 1960s/1970s/1980s. They are pressed on blue vinyl, tri-colour red/clear/black vinyl and blood red translucent vinyl, respectively.
Tri-colour and splatter vinyl are amongst the offerings
Batman is represented with both the music from Batman Forever (which featured U2‘s ‘Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me’ (#2 in the UK in 1995) and the score to Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight which was a collaboration between Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard. The latter is a 2LP set pressed on neon green and violet splatter vinyl, while the former is a 2LP blue/silver vinyl pressing.
Other titles include Goodfellas (dark blue vinyl), Dazed and Confused (2LP translucent purple vinyl), Space Jam (2LP red/black vinyl) and Welcome to My Nightmare (clear vinyl), Alice Cooper‘s first solo album which became a TV special and then a concert film.
These soundtracks are released on 3 and 17 September 2021.
Family singer Roger Chapman releases his first studio album in over a decade. The album reunites him with faces from his past – including Family’s Poli Palmer as co-writer/producer and Procol Harum’s Geoff Whitehorn who contributes guitar. There appears to be no vinyl edition.
Part of Edel’s ‘ear+eye’ series, this deluxe CD+DVD edition of Live At Montreux 1991 captures the only Montreux appearance of The Moody Blues. The line up includes John Lodge, Justin Hayward, Ray Thomas and Graeme Edge and the DVD offers 5.1 and DTS surround sound.
Now 40 years since its original release, Queen‘s Greatest Hits is the biggest selling album in the UK, having chalked up 6.3m sales. Unfortunately, unless you were lucky enough to grab one of the 1000 signed bundles on their official store (guilty as charged), the reissues to mark this occasion are as dull as ditchwater. A ‘collector’s edition’ CD with a slipcase, anyone? A cassette? Frankly, it’s an embarrassing, minimum-effort approach.
Ben Liebrand‘s long-running remix compilation series continues with a new 4CD set featuring remixed classics from the Seventies and Eighties. A decent collection if you can forgive the design.
Donna Summer‘s ‘lost’ album, I’m A Rainbow, has been refashioned and remixed into something new and will be reissued later this year on CD and 2LP coloured vinyl.
The album was originally produced buy Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte in 1981 but was pulled from the release schedules later that same year. The label, perhaps with an eye on the shifting musical landscapes of that time, were apparently after something more R&B influenced.
‘I Believe In You [Figo Sound Version]’ is duet with Joe ‘Bean’ Eposito
Fifteen years later, in the mid-nineties, the album was eventually issued as an 18- track CD, although it came and went with little fanfare. This original version has been revived in recent years mind you, and formed part of last year’s Encore box set.
Now, 40 years after the original sessions I’m A Rainbow has been repurposed – edited, remixed and repackaged into what is dubbed the ‘Recovered & Recoloured’ edition.
I’m A Rainbow: Recovered & Recoloured will be released on CD and this 2LP clear vinyl pressing (click image to enlarge)
The album is now a concise, 10-track affair and each song has been ‘re-imagined’ by some big name producers/remixers such as Junior Vasquez, Le Flex, Figo Sound, Jean Tonique, Ladies On Mars and Oliver Nelson. The double vinyl actually offers five bonus remixes and in an update SDE can confirm that these are indeed on the CD (the label provided incorrect information).
I’m A Rainbow is released on CD and 2LP clear vinyl on 19 November 2021 (was 29 October).
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Donna Summer
Im A Rainbow Recovered and Recoloured - CD edition
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