Author: Paul Sinclair

The Rolling Stones / Sweet Summer Sun: Hyde Park Live / extra editions

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

The Rolling Stones / Sweet Summer Sun: Hyde Park Live

Just as it seemed as if the number of formats of The Rolling Stones’ Sweet Summer Sun Hyde Park Live release couldn’t get any more confusing, it just has.

We outlined the five different purchasing options earlier this month, but now feel the need to update you with the latest choices open to you.

Amazon UK haven’t really got their act together with this release, and for a long time didn’t include the top-of-the-range ‘deluxe’ edition which consists of 2CD+DVD+Blu-ray and a book. However, for a few days last week they DID introduce this option (around £30) only for it to disappear soon after. Those of you in Europe can pick it up from Amazon in Germany.
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Paul McCartney / “New” album cover

Posted on by Paul Sinclair
AlbumCover_Large
This is the confirmed album cover for Paul McCartney’s “New”

Paul McCartney has revealed the final cover art for his forthcoming album New.

The image was produced by design consultancy YES and is a warmer, softer and 3D variant of the black and white design that – it turns out – has been a placeholder for online retailers thus far.
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Nirvana / In Utero: In Pictures

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Nirvana / In Utero 20th Anniversary reissue photo gallery
In Utero – 20th Anniversary Reissues (click to enlarge)

Nirvana‘s third and final studio album In Utero is reissued today in a variety of formats.

Here we bring you an extensive photo gallery covering every format available, from four-disc super deluxe edition box set, to the single CD remaster. If you haven’t already pre-ordered this reissue, we hope these pictures will give you a feel for what’s on offer at the different price points.

Super Deluxe Edition 4-disc Box Set

The Super Deluxe Edition box set is the most expensive version of the In Utero reissue you can buy, retailing at around £80. The four discs included are the original album remastered (by Steve Albini) plus B-sides and bonus tracks; a 2013 mix of the original album, plus demos; the audio from the MTV 1993 Live & Loud broadcast and a DVD featuring the Live & Loud show, including songs not originally broadcast and 12 extra performances from rehearsals and other shows.
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Out This Week / 23 September 2013

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Nirvana / In Utero Super Deluxe Edition reissue

Nirvana / In Utero 20th Anniversary Edition

Universal push the boat out with this 20th Anniversary Edition of Nirvana‘s In Utero being offered as a 4-disc Super Deluxe Edition, a 45RPM 3LP vinyl set (including 8 bonus tracks), two-disc deluxe, single disc remaster and later this month a hi-res Blu-ray audio. Read more
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Miles Davis / “The Collection” Japanese Blu-spec CD2 box set

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milesdavis_coll

Sony Music Japan will issue Miles Davis The Collection (aka Masterpiece Collection) box set in October, which features Blu-spec CD2 reissues of Miles Davis’s 24 albums (Blu-spec CD2 is a high-fidelity format compatible with standard CD players).

This limited box set features the 20 single CDs and four double CDs, all packaged in standard jewel cases. It comes with seven postcards featuring black & white photos of Miles.

Miles Davis / The Collection is released on 15 October 2013

Albums in the box set (all Blu-spec CD2)

  1. Round About Midnight
  2. Miles Ahead
  3. Milestones
  4. 1958 Miles
  5. Porgy & Bess
  6. Kind Of Blue
  7. Sketches Of Spain
  8. Someday My Prince Will Come
  9. My Funny Valentine
  10. Four & More
  11. Miles In Berlin
  12. E.S.P.
  13. Miles Davis
  14. Sorcerer
  15. Nefertiti
  16. In A Silent Way
  17. Bitches Brew
  18. A Tribute To Jack Johnson
  19. On The Corner
  20. Get Up With It
  21. Agharta
  22. Pangaea
  23. The Man With The Horn
  24. You’re Under Arrest

PICTURES / Woodstock 40 Years On and The Last Waltz box set reissues

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wood_angle

As announced back in July, Rhino have a schedule of releases this autumn that involved taking classic box sets and repackaging (and repricing) them for the modern age.

At the end of September we will see Buffalo Springfield and Crosby Stills and Nash sets hit the market, but here we concentrate on two boxes released last week: Woodstock 40 Years On: Back To Yasgur’s Farm and The Last Waltz by The Band.
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The Killers / “Direct Hits” deluxe

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direct_hits

Update 11/11/13 – The DVD has been dropped from this deluxe edition – it is now only a single CD with the three bonus tracks.

The Killers celebrate ten years of music, with their first hits collection, appropriately titled Direct Hits.

The 15-track selection includes the singles from the Las Vegas band’s four studio albums, Hot Fuss (2004), Sam’s Town (2006), Day & Age (2008) and Battle Born (2012), as well as including two new tracks Shot At The Night and Just Another Girl.

A deluxe CD+DVD edition is also available which comes with three bonus tracks on the audio disc, one of which is the original demo of Mr Brightside. The DVD features a never-before-seen Killers documentary.
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Mike Oldfield / “Five Miles Out” deluxe edition review

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front

With all the focus on Mike Oldfield‘s recent sold-out-before-it-was-released Crises box set, some of the attention was diverted away from the reissue of the album before Crises, 1982’s Five Miles Out.

Universal have put together a great value three-disc set which features the original album remastered (plus two bonus tracks), performances from the Five Miles Out Tour (previously unreleased) and the entire album available in surround sound (Dolby 5.1 or DTS). There is even space for some ‘visual content’ including the promo video for Five Miles Out and a couple of tracks from a BBC TV special.
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The Waterboys / “Fisherman’s Box” new photo and bonus disc details

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Deluxe version of Fisherman’s Box (click to enlarge)

There was a little confusion (thanks to an erroneous Amazon description) around the vinyl content within the deluxe version of forthcoming Waterboys Fisherman’s Box.

This new photo confirms that the premium edition offers seven CDs and one 180g vinyl record. Six of those CDs are available in the cheaper version of this set, with the bonus disc (a collection of songs that influenced the making of the album – see track listing below) exclusive to this box. The vinyl is a remastered copy of the original Fisherman’s Blues album.

The photo also shows the three large art prints and the 32-page booklet (to the left of the green vinyl album sleeve). The contents reside in the large slipcase (the other CD-only package is a small clamshell affair).

Fisherman’s Box is released on 21 October 2013 on Parlophone.  Full track listings and further details on this set can be found here.

7CDs + LPs Deluxe box


6CD Clamshell box set

Bonus CD track listing (exclusive to deluxe version)

  1. On My Way to Heaven
  2. Meet Me At the Station
  3. Can the Circle Be Unbroken?
  4. The Gospel Train Is Coming
  5. This Land Is Your Land
  6. Honky Tonkin’
  7. I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore
  8. I’m So Lonesome I Could Cry
  9. Lost Highway
  10. Will The Circle Be Unbroken
  11. The Raggle Taggle Gypsy/Tabhair Dom Do Lamh
  12. Maggie
  13. Carolan’s Welcome
  14. The Humours of Castlefin
  15. Air: Across The Hill/Gold Ring
  16. An Cailin Alainn (The Beautiful Girl)

Herbie Hancock / The Complete Columbia Album Collection 1972-88

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Herbie Hancock / The Complete Columbia Album Collection (click to enlarge)

Sony will release The Complete Columbia Album Collection 1972 – 1988, a Herbie Hancock box set featuring 34 remastered CDs, on 11 November 2013.

This output represents all the recordings by the keyboardist and bandleader during that 17-year period when signed to Columbia Records in the US and CBS / Sony in Japan. Of the 31 albums included here, eight have never been released outside Japan. Additionally, three LPs have never been on CD, they are Sunlight, Magic Windows, and Lite Me Up.
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The Doors / R-Evolution Deluxe Edition Blu-ray and DVD

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bluray

An official release, R-Evolution is a visual story of The Doors on Blu-ray (or DVD) created from a wealth of previously unreleased footage. It combines early TV appearances with their own music films and shows the evolution of the band over their lifetime (and beyond!). This newly created collection runs for 154 minutes.

Both the DVD and Blu-ray come as deluxe editions which are packaged in a 40-page DVD sized hardcover book with a scrapbook style presentation on each track including lyrics, background info, trivia and photos.

R-Evolution is out on 25 November 2013.

Blu-ray Deluxe Edition

DVD Deluxe Edition

Track listing:
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Edsel Records reject Robert Palmer MP3 mastering claims

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Robert Palmer / Edsel Island-era reissues
“The CDs certainly don’t have MP3s on them”, Edsel’s Val Jennings told us

Online music forums are buzzing at the moment with fans claiming that Edsel’s recent Island-era Robert Palmer reissues show signs of being mastered from an MP3 source.

Using sound editing software such as Audacity, audiophiles often like to ‘look’ at the sound of tracks via waveforms – it’s a way to check the state of the mastering. Some fans of the late English singer have been doing just this with the latest reissues and are unhappy with what they see. “There is absolutely no musical information above 16 kHz, which is a dead giveaway” stated one person –  the implication being that this was an indication of an MP3 source. Many fans have emailed us in the last 24 hours asking if they should not buy the reissues and if we knew whether there was any truth in these claims.
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Roger Waters / Amused to Death SACD & vinyl pre-order

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Roger Waters / Amused to Death SACD and 200g vinyl reissue

Analogue Productions’ vinyl and SACD reissues of Roger Waters‘ 1992 album Amused To Death will be released on 5 November, according to new listings on Amazon.

The reissue was announced in January this year, with James Guthrie (who originally mixed the album) remastering from the original analogue tapes.

Amused To Death will be available on 200-gram double LP and Stereo Hybrid SACD.

SACD

2LP Heavyweight Vinyl (200g)

Out This Week / 16 September 2013

Posted on by Paul Sinclair

diving_board_sde

Elton John / The Diving Board

The new album from Elton John is offered as an expensive Super Deluxe Edition as well as a standard deluxe, but a proliferation of ‘exclusive’ versions in US retail chains frustrates fans . Read more
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Bros: “Push” reissue improved thanks to SuperDeluxeEdition readers

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push_improved

Cherry Red Records have made a last minute change to their reissue of Bros’ 1988 album Push –  first announced via this blog  earlier this month – and it’s all down to the passion and enthusiasm of SuperDeluxeEdition readers!
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Fleetwood Mac / “Boston” 3CD set

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cover

The live recordings on this new three-CD set feature the classic blues line-up of Fleetwood Mac (Mick Fleetwood, Peter Green, Danny Kirwan, John McVie and Jeremy Spencer) and date from February 1970 when they played three nights at the Boston Tea Party venue.

The tapes were originally left unissued, following Peter Green’s departure shortly after the gigs, but were remixed and remastered in the late nineties for individual issues of the three separate nights. They have been trotted out a number of times since, and this new set collects the three nights together, using the re-mastered recordings to present a complete document of these shows.

The release comes packaged in a round box with a 24-page book and – just what you wanted – five beer mats (!). The booklet contains new sleeve notes and reworked artwork.

Track listing:
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Mike and the Mechanics / The Singles 1986-2013

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singls

Although fans might have preferred a 25th Anniversary Edition of The Living Years, Genesis ‘spin-off’ Mike & The Mechanics have announced a new greatest hits set due out on 21 October.

As well as singles like All I Need Is A Miracle, Over My Shoulder, and The Living Years, The Singles 1986-2013 will include B-sides, rarities and unreleased recordings and a brand new track When My Feed Down’t Touch The Ground.

Universal appear to have given retailers the impression that this two-CD set is a CD+DVD combo, but there is no confirmation of this anywhere and it appears to be a simple error. The two versions listed online are likely to be a one-CD edition and the 2CD version with the rarities/new track/unreleased song on the second disc. The Mike and the Mechanics website, only confirms a two-CD set.

Full track listing:

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Japanese CD of the Day / Manic Street Preachers: Stars and Stripes

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manics
Stars and Stripes (click to enlarge)

Stars and Stripes (ESCA 5630) was a 1992 Japan-only release of Manic Street Preachers‘ songs from the Generation Terrorists era.

If you look closer at the image about, you’ll notice that this release actually has the subtitle “Generation Terrorists US Mix”. The reason for this is that four of the eight tracks – Slash ‘n’ Burn, Nat West–Barclays–Midlands–Lloyds, Little Baby Nothing and You Love Us are different mixes from the UK/European versions (remixed by Michael Brauer) and feature the live drumming of American session drummer Zachary Alford.
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Jethro Tull / Benefit 2CD+DVD Collector’s Editon

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Tull_exploded_packshot

Jethro Tull‘s 1970 album Benefit is to be reissued as a special collector’s edition featuring two CDs of audio and a audio-only DVD with new stereo and surround mixes.

The first disc contains the album’s 10 original tracks, plus five bonus tracks that include both the U.K. and U.S. stereo versions of Teacher. All the songs are newly mixed by Steven Wilson (who also did the surround mixes) and approved by Ian Anderson. The second disc includes newly remastered versions of rare tracks and singles recorded around the same time as Benefit, such as Sweet Dream in both stereo and mono.
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PICTURES / Chic: The 12-inch Singles Collection vinyl box set

Posted on by Paul Sinclair
chic_front
Click to enlarge

There is something rather appropriate about this vinyl box set of five 12-inch singles, featuring the best of Chic in extended form.

Call it a link back to those heady days of Studio 54 in the late 1970s, but pulling the record from the sturdy slipcase, sliding the 180g vinyl from its thick sleeve (with period design) and putting the needle down – accurately – with the hiss of anticipation, is a satisfying ritual far removed from pressing ‘play’ on a CD remote control, or clicking on an MP3 file.
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